I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Even if they could do nothing about those that already escaped, at least we had Dark Haven back.
But if it happened once... that meant it could happen again.
“I should venture out, see how bad it is,” Drake said solemnly.
“Take me with you,” I begged. “There’s no one stopping us anymore. Roman can come, too.”
As soon as the words left my lips, Roman was shaking his head.
“No, I don’t want to leave,” he said with enough conviction I held my hands up.
“Okay,” I said. “But I do. Please?”
Drake looked down at me like he was considering it. “Ivar and Kol have enough to deal with. They’re going to freak out if you’re not here.”
“Let them,” I said. “I can’t just stay here like fucking Rapunzel. They can deal with the grounds, and we can check the outside world.”
“Fine,” Drake relented. “But you have to stay close. I don’t know what we’re going to be dealing with out there.”
“Okay. I will,” I promised. Honestly, I’d agree to anything to get outside of Dark Haven even for an hour. “How do we get past security?”
“There’s no security anymore,” Drake admitted. “There’s very few staff members left at all outside of the kitchens and that’s only because they come in through the back entrance and leave the same way. Anyone left watching patients knows. There’s no way they don’t.”
“Perfect!” I grinned. “I’m going to go grab some shoes and a hoodie.”
It felt selfish to be excited for an outing when the world literally depended on me. But if I didn’t reset myself like this… then all would truly be lost. I was barely holding on.
Freedom and a proper nest would go alongway right now.
“Come on. We can’t do anything from the rooftop anyway,” Drake said, clapping Roman on the back as he headed for the door.
Roman’s uneasiness had him retreating the moment we got back to the third floor.
Drake waited in the common room as I changed and grabbed my wallet.
Technically, I was stuck here by law, but I doubted anyone would notice. I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to get out of this building at least for a few moments.
Dark haven was home, I had no intentions of running away. As much as I wanted to leave Helheim and all of Hel’s chaos behind.
The lobby was empty when we entered, and Drake pulled out a keycard from his pocket. He scanned it and pulled open the gate.
We made it as far as the stone gargoyles out front before Monty was in front of me.
“Where the fuck do you think you two are going?” he growled. “I can’t be here babysitting you.”
“Nobody asked you to,” I yelled right back. “We’ll be back in a few minutes, Monty. We’re going to see how bad things are out in the city and just get out of this fucking place for a minute. I need to clear my head.”
My voice was bordering on hysterical at the possibility of being yanked right back inside Dark Haven.
Monty stared at me with his soulless eyes, giving nothing away as usual, but after a few beats, he finally nodded once, disappearing in an angry swirl of shadows.
It was the best blessing I would get.
One I knew I’d pay for later. That was fine, he could punish me all he wanted as long as I could get some fresh air.
We took off on foot, walking down the block toward the sound of sirens and screams. No demons crossed our path as we wound through the business district. They were likely long gone.
Sticking around would have been suicide for them if Monty or any of his loyal demons found them. If there were even any of those left.