Page 88 of The Rebel's Prize

Lucien.

She smiled as she let him anchor her. As she watched the light. Until it suddenly flickered again, the sensation of it tugging at her.

Then it vanished completely.

Her eyes flew open, and she bolted to her feet.

"Chloe?" Silya said, her voice concerned.

"I have to go."

CHAPTER19

To Chloe's relief, once the carriage got closer to the palace, her sense of the bond returned. She had practically sprinted out of the temple, only holding back panic by the thinnest of margins and urging Oscar to hurry. He was pushing the horses, the carriage jolting beneath her, but there were limits to how swiftly it could travel in the city.

Her pulse pounded faster than the sound of the horse's hooves hitting the cobblestones. She rubbed a hand over her heart, eyes closed, concentrating fully on the bond.

Not gone. Not broken.

Whole.

Which meant Lucien was, too.

Despite the reassurance, her stomach swooped restlessly, the sudden sense of urgency that had punched through her in the temple not easing despite knowing the bond was fine. Surely it must have been her mind playing tricks on her.

Silya had planted the idea of a vision, and Chloe's mind had woven something born of all her worries. Not real. But still devastating.

What had Lucien felt when she'd broken the bond? Memory flashed through her: knees hitting the carpet, fear ricocheting through his body, finding all the empty spaces where the bond should be and filling them with wrenching loss. She braced one hand on the carriage wall, the force of it making her gasp. So real that it took her a minute to make her brain accept it was Lucien's memory, not hers.

Goddess, is that what he felt?

She owed him more of an apology. Hers had lasted minutes, and it had still been too much.

Find him first, feel guilty later.

The carriage swung into the palace grounds, the sound of the wheels changing from the clatter of cobblestones to the steadier hum of moving over gravel. She squeezed her eyes more tightly, trying to work out where Lucien was. Most of the theater troupe had been taken to the main prison, but the palace had an actual...well, they no longer called it a dungeon, rather a suite of cells used for prisoners who needed additional containment and care. Warded so heavily that apparently it was difficult to find them if you didn't know where to look.

She had a general idea, and she directed Oscar to take the carriage behind the palace itself and into the warren of other buildings that made up the complex. Her sense of Lucien grew stronger, and she smiled with relief.

"Lady Castaigne?" Lieutenant Evanne opened the door moments after the carriage came to a halt. "I thought you wanted to visit Their Graces." He jerked his head back toward the palace.

"Change of plans," she said, climbing out. "I need to go to the Imperial cells."

His brows flew up. "My lady?"

She had no time to soothe his surprise. "You heard me. Can you take me there?"

"They are—"

"You can tell me they're off-limits, but I'm part of this investigation," she said, hoping he wasn't going to be stubborn. "And while we share a rank in the army, when it comes to all of this"—she waved her arm back to the palace in a gesture meant to indicate the royal family, the aristocracy, and the whole damned empire—"I outrank you. And I may be needed, so just take me. I assure you I will deal with anyone who objects." If there were any repercussions, well, she would deal with that. Lucien would understand once she explained.

Fortunately, some combination of her doing her best impression of Imogene and Jaqueline at their most imposing, the fact that the men guarding the cells knew she was part of the investigation, and her twisting the truth slightly to say she had something to tell Lucien about the case got her through the door. Lieutenant Evanne handed her over to one of the judiciary guards, who escorted her down a level and then into a wide corridor separating two sections of the cells to where Lucien, several guards, and Rene and Lucette, two of his fellow Truth Seekers, were conferring.

As though he could sense her, Lucien turned, and their eyes met. She couldn't entirely hide the sigh of relief that escaped her. Nor could she miss his surprise and alarm as he strode to meet her.

"Is something wrong?" he demanded, his eyes rapidly scanning her from head to toe.

She shook her head. "I just—" Goddess, how could she explain without sounding mad?Distraction might be the better tactic."What are you all doing out here?"

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