Page 70 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Chapter

Forty-Five

LUCILL E

“ W hy are you here, Lucille?”

I faced Aspen. My thoughts warred against each other. I wanted to leave and forget him, but I also wanted to reach out and soothe the exhaustion weighing down his shoulders.

His unruly hair lay tangled and limp on his head. His beard appeared bushy and unkept. But the most concerning was his lifeless, dull eyes, as if Lilith was sucking away his soul.

The invasive energy that haunted me surged into my toes, urging me to move. I knew what it desired. What it always desired—Aspen.

“Why the Immolation Circle?” I asked, forcing my boots to stay planted.

“Don’t,” he hissed through his teeth and clutched his wrists.

“Why does Lilith want me there? ”

Aspen gripped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m begging you.”

“Stop fighting her influence and tell me.”

He crumbled to his knees. The Hell Runes peeking from his uniform strobed between black and red light.

He was in pain. I remembered what it felt like to press my hand to those runes—and this time, he had two.

Digging my nails into my palms, I refused to bridge the distance and help him.

I didn’t want him to fight. I needed him to give me the answer.

Lilith wanted me badly. There was no doubt in my mind that she would’ve commanded Aspen to do everything in his power to either gather information that could help them steal me, or influence me to find them.

“Is there a way to the Tenebrous Kingdom through the Immolation Circle?”

“No,” he gasped. But his face twitched like the time I asked about Michael.

He was lying.

“Where’s the entrance?”

He groaned, trying his hardest to fight her.

“Tell me!” I shouted. We didn’t have time for this.

“P—” He stopped, shaking his head and clamping his mouth shut. But the harder he resisted, the darker his runes grew. “Portal!” he blurted.

“Where’s the portal?”

He pressed his hands against his mouth, trying to muffle his words. Sweat slicked his forehead as he curled into himself. “Caves.”

“Where are the caves? ”

He said something, but it was too muffled. I bridged our space and shoved his shoulders back.

“Where?”

“Past fire field,” he whispered. “Use the Ember Metal.”

I said nothing, ripping myself from the dream-walk. I opened my eyes to Oliver snacking on some food a maid brought to our rooms.

It was time for our next step.

“Let’s steal the dagger, Oli.”

His head flopped against the settee. “Oh, goodie, our suicide mission can commence.”

I sat up and grabbed his hand. “You don’t have to come. Let me risk it alone.”

Oliver turned his head to face me, pressing his lips together, and nodded. Then he ripped out a decorative pillow from behind his back and whipped it at my head. “That’s for the stupid shit that came out of your mouth.” He hit me again. “And that’s for the previous time you suggested that.”

“There’s a good chance we won’t find your sister, and we’ll end up dead, Oli. I’d rather risk my neck for Aspen alone. I don’t?—”

Oliver hammered me with the pillow, forcing me back into the couch.

“Okay. Okay!” I raised my hands to block his attack. “I’ll shut up.”

“Music to my ears. Now let’s strap on some weapons and let the chaos commence.”

Unfortunately, the only weapons we had were the two daggers Oliver always kept with him. Fortunately, I guaranteed Ronen had an arsenal to steal from .

All ready to break into his room, we opened our door and immediately had a problem.

“Rune? Why aren’t you with Ronen?”

She sat in front of us, her tongue lolling out and shadow fur moving quickly as if excited.

“What do we do?” Oliver whispered into my ear.

She headbutted my chest, seeking pets. I scratched her beneath her muzzle, thinking. Maybe it’d be as easy as just telling her to leave. It had worked before.

“Rune, we have things to do. You need to head back to Ronen.”

She tilted her head, looking as if she knew we were up to no good. At least her eyes were lightless, but we had to ditch her before that changed.

“Go to Ronen, Rune.”

Rune didn’t budge.

“It’s not working.”

“Clearly.”

There was only one solution I could think of, and it was barely a solution at all.

“Let’s rest a second, Oli.” I grabbed his arm and forced him back through our door, opening it wider and ushering Rune in.

She sprang through the threshold, her excitement palpable as she eagerly joined us. A tight knot twisted in my chest at the thought of what I was about to do next.

Placing my back in front of the doorknob, I turned the lock, and her ears twitched.

Before she could react, I shoved Oliver out of my room, followed after him, then slammed the door shut.

Hopefully, that’d hold her long enough to retrieve the dagger and leave.

She whimpered, her paws scratching frantically at the door.

I felt terrible. I hated when she cried.

Then the pawing stopped, and in the next second, she rammed against the wood.

“Rune’s going to contact Ronen! Probably right before she blows through your door!”

“I didn’t know what else to do!”

Oliver snatched my wrist and pulled me away right as Rune’s next slam created hairline cracks in the wood. “We’d better hurry.”

Ronen’s room was a short run down the hall. Oliver rushed to open Ronen’s door and hissed, jerking his hand back. “What the fuck kind of doorknob is that?” he asked, sucking the fresh blood on his palm.

“One protected by his shadows.” I reached out, felt a prick on my skin, then the lock clicked.

Oliver’s eyebrows rose.

“No clue,” I answered, walking into Ronen’s immaculate sitting area.

Oliver whistled, turning in place. “Huh. This suits him.”

“It does.” I pointed to Ronen’s wall of weapons. “It’s right there.”

Thank heavens it was. I’d played a tricky game asking for it. But we needed to know if he had it on him, and hope he wouldn’t take it to the ball.

Oliver luscelered over and grabbed the dagger. “What the—” He yanked harder, then used two hands. “Lucy, we may have a problem.”

My stomach dropped. No .

I marched over and grabbed the top of the sheath while Oliver grabbed the hilt. “One, two…”

“Three,” we said in unison, pulling as hard as we could. The knife gave easily, and we both toppled to the floor, Oliver knocking into one of Ronen’s chairs.

I glared at him.

“I swear it was stuck!”

It hummed through the leather, vibrating my skin. “Weird,” I mumbled, feeling the urge to unsheathe the blade, take off my glove, and press it against my hand. I’d forgotten how magnetic it felt to me.

Oliver stood, then helped me up. “Come on, let’s go. If we’re lucky, no one heard that.”

“Wait, we need more weapons.” I snatched a few daggers off the wall, placing them in all my empty loops. Oliver tried to do the same, but he couldn’t remove them.

I handed Oliver a blade, confused. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I, but we don’t have time. Let’s go.”

We hurried toward Ronen’s door, and right as we stepped out, Alexei turned the corner.

He was dressed in a black suit with a floral tie that matched the blue of his eyes.

He even had a matching pocket square. His hair was combed back into flowing locks, and his golden skin glowed. He cleaned up nicely.

“Aren’t you two supposed to be changed and at the ball by now? Why are you in Ronen’s room?”

“Ronen had to talk to us, and we were in there longer than we realized,” Oliver lied smoothly.

“He’s in there now? I wanted to ask him something. ”

Oliver opened his mouth, but I beat him to the punch. “Yep, he is!”

“Great. Well, hurry up and get changed. I’ll see you two down there.”

We moved out of the way, and Alexei went in, calling out Ronen’s name and shutting the door. I grabbed the handle and coated it in a solid block of ice.

“Like that’s going to hold the lightning wielder for long.” Oliver latched onto my hand, jerking me into a run.

“Did you have any better ideas?”

Oliver grumbled under his breath, which meant no.

We passed a few maids and castle staff carting around food and drink trays.

They lurched to the side as we barreled through, and Oliver cursed the entire way.

We were leaving a trail of witnesses, but we couldn’t very well run down the main stairwells.

They’d gossip about it, but what could they actually say?

It’s not like they’d report to the king that his daughter was missing. I was inconsequential to them.

Once we burst through the back doors of the castle, our uniforms heated. We sprinted to the barn, scurrying inside and slamming the big wooden doors shut.

I leaned my head against the wood and sighed. We were almost there.

Oliver elbowed me in the side. “Uhm, Lucy… turn around.”

Two sleighs led by Hellcats appeared just beyond the barn’s opening. Each held a couple dressed in dark fur-lined cloaks and overcoats .

“Neither one of us took into consideration that this might be the drop-off spot for couples coming from the city to celebrate the ball.”

“Nope,” Oliver said. “But we weren’t sure how to call Alexei’s Hellcats, so this might work out in our favor. Follow my lead.”

From experience, Oliver’s lead usually involved lying and theatrics. But as much as I didn’t want to go along with whatever plan he was concocting, I had no choice.

“Welcome to the Twilight of the Warriors Festival,” he said, walking up to the first couple and helping them out of their sleigh. “We will take care of your sleigh and cats for you.”

“It’s about time the king employed a stable boy to help with the festival. Last year, we had to do everything ourselves,” the male griped, brushing off the imaginary snow on his shoulders.

Yes, a stable boy , in a Hell Squadron uniform.

“At least they have good food and servants for the ball. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have come.”

Right. By their fancy, old-fashioned clothing and the open wounds marring the side of the male’s face, I presumed they were entitled souls from the Victorian era—with a few sticks shoved so far up their asses they were blind, dumb, and full of themselves.

She sure looked like it with that upturned, snooty nose.

“Yes, he must’ve seen the error of his ways. Luce, will you get the door for this pleasant couple?” Oliver motioned toward me. I resisted grinning at his veiled sarcasm.

“Why, of course.” I opened the barn door, and the couple walked away. It gave me great satisfaction to see the female stumble in the snow .

The next couple had already moved their sleigh to the side and unharnessed their Hellcats, placing them in an empty stall. They walked up to us, wearing modern dress.

“I would’ve said entitled pricks, but pleasant couple is more polite,” the male joked, opening the barn door I wasn’t holding to usher the female through.

“They must’ve never gotten the memo that the king provides services at the front of his castle, not the back.

If you come here, you’re choosing to do the work yourselves.

That’s how it’s always been. Enjoy your night,” he said, winking, closing the door behind him.

Oliver gave me a questioning look. “Do you think he knew what we were up to?”

“He definitely knows we’re up to something.”

“Right, well.” Oliver ushered me into the pricks’ sleigh. “Looks like karma found its next victim. Let’s get out of here.”

We slid into the sleigh, and Oliver took the reins.

“Here goes something. To Portal Lake!”

Thankfully, the Hellcats responded and took off. Unfortunately, Rune barged through the barn doors with glowing eyes and jumped into our sleigh right as the cats leaped off the cliff and blinked.