Page 53 of Deadly Alliances

But that was the least of our worries right now.

“Well, it’s the best chance you’ve got,” I said. “Look, I can’t stay much longer, but I’ll do what I can to help you.”

“No. Just let Shea work her magic,” Tobias insisted, a thread of panic in those steely eyes of his. “You’ve risked enough by coming down here.”

I knelt down to his level, locking eyes with him. “Haven’t you learned by now, Tobias Dracul? You can’t tell me what to do.”

I stood and walked out the room before he could launch an argument that would only make him injure himself worse. I wasn’t sure exactly what I could do to help him, but I was determined to come up with something. I wasn’t about to let him waste away in the dungeons—or worse—because of me.

Chapter 20

Shea

I set down my bag and tucked it under the bed, which was just a mattress on a metal twin frame. The room I’d been assigned was more the size of a large closet, with my bed against the wall on the left side and another one on the right. No dressers. No windows. There weren’t even pillows on the beds, just a thin sheet. No wonder even the humans here were so pale—they were all suffering from low-grade hypothermia.

Whoever my roommate was, they weren’t in here right now. I only had a few minutes to get myself “settled” before Hadrian summoned me again, and I had to use this tiny window of time to my advantage; this might be the last time I was ever alone in this place.

Sitting on my bed with my back to the door, I whispered the words to the communication spell, focusing on Caesar. The connection snared, and I could feel Caesar’s warm, summery presence like sunlight filling my soul.

“Caesar,” I whispered.

“Shea! Oh, thank God!” his voice sounded in my head. “What was all that? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied as quietly as I could. “The shifters attacked the castle, a failed rescue attempt for Arya. Tobias was leading the charge, and unfortunately, he and another dragon chick got captured.”

I couldn’t bring myself to confess that I had been the one to prevent them from escaping. The guilt over that fact gnawed atmy insides. But I had no choice. If I hadn’t followed Hadrian’s orders exactly, I’d be the one in that dungeon right now instead of Tobias, and I wouldn’t be of any use to anyone.

“Ugh, fucking Dracul!” Caesar snarled. “Leave it to him to try a stupid stunt like this—and fail! Goddammit. Is Arya okay? Have you found her yet? What about Julian?”

“Arya is okay. She’s being treated like a princess here, so I guess that’s…something.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that about her current stance on escaping, either. Mostly because I had every intention of changing her mind. Hell, I’d take her out by force if I had to.

“No sign of Julian, yet,” I added, my heart tightening at the thought of him. “What about you? Have you located him in the cameras?”

“No, we’re still working on mapping out the locations of each camera, but we’re almost there. I just…” He sighed. “I have no way of contacting you when I find him.”

I could feel his desperation through our connection, which only amplified my own.

“I know,” I said, his anguish eating away at my soul. “I’ll try to stay in contact with you every chance I get.”I just don’t know how many chances I’ll have.

The doorknob turned behind me, and I whipped around to see my rather mannish escort, Kristen, standing in the doorway. “Lord Hadrian is ready for you.”

I gave her my biggest grin, even as my heart was about to pound right out of my chest. “Okay. Give me just one second.”

I knelt beside the bed and turned my head away from her view as I slowly tugged my bag out from under it, whispering into thelapel of my coat. “I gotta go. Check in later.” Then I ended the connection as I popped back up.

She looked down her long nose at me, her expression unabashedly filled with disdain. She clearly thought she was better than me. She’d been here long enough to earn the position of an Initiate Prefect—which basically meant she could boss everyone else around. But I took that to mean she wasn’t good enough to be turned.

As I followed her out of my room and toward the spiral stairwell, I wondered if she’d figured that out yet. Maybe that was why she was so bitter.

My thighs began to burn again as we trudged up the stairs. After hiking through the forest this morning, and all the stair climbing during the attack, I wasn’t sure how much more my poor legs could take. Obviously, I needed to do a lot more cardio. On the bright side, by the time I left this place, I’d be more fit than I’d ever been before.

Silver linings.

Through panting and trying to keep up with Kristen’s impressive stamina, I studied each floor we passed, hoping for any sign of Julian. I knew it was unlikely he’d be down here in the Initiate quarters, but I couldn’t not try, couldn’t not hope.

Finally, we reached the lobby on the main floor, and it was a serious test of willpower to keep myself from collapsing onto the black marble floor. Kristen impatiently ushered me to a pair of beautifully carved wooden doors.

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