Page 17 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

“Remind me to thank Siergen later,” Tae muttered.

“If we survive this,” I whispered back, and stepped through.

The passage led us quickly toward the area near the vaults, the air growing colder with each step. The silence down here was different, thicker. Not empty, but waiting.

We bypassed the familiar turn, instead following the winding stairwell that spiraled down to the lowest level of the keep.

I froze at the base of the stairs.

Voices.

Two guards stood in the hall just beyond, speaking in low tones, too close to the entrance of the prisoner’s cell. Their weapons were sheathed, relaxed… until another patrol group approached from the left.

Damn it.

I turned to Tae, motioning sharply for him to follow me into the alcove beside the stairs, heart hammering.

But he shook his head. His mouth formed the words—They’ll see us.

“We don’t have a choice,” I hissed.

He exhaled once, then stepped forward and whispered, “Hold on.”

I grabbed his arm just in time to feel a strange ripple of heat pulse through him. Tae’s eyes sharpened, glowing faintly, just for a heartbeat.

All five guards froze. Then turned and bolted in the opposite direction, as if some unseen threat had just erupted behind them.

Their footsteps faded down the corridor.

“What the hell was that?” I breathed.

“My power?”

“What is it?”

He nodded, chest rising. “I’ll tell you later.”

We didn’t waste time. We bolted down the last set of stairs and turned the final corner?—

Only to find the heavy iron door that led to the prisoner’s chamber… open.

No guards. No wards. No chains.

Tae and I exchanged a glance, breath catching in our throats.

“Why isn’t he locked up?” I whispered.

No answer.

We stepped through the doorway.

And into the room where no prisoner was chained. Where no barriers remained.

The moment we stepped into the room, I stopped short.

“This is a prison cell?” Tae muttered beside me, his voice hushed in disbelief.

It looked nothing like the dungeon I’d imagined.