Page 9 of When Storms Ruin

“No.”

I couldn’t decipher his expression in the low light, but I thought he appeared regretful. He had gone against Donika’s orders to bring us this food. Was he feeling guilty that we only had hours left? Or was this about my mother? Whatever it was, I was grateful for the meal.

Even if it was our last.

“Thank you,” I said as we finished off the plate of food and slid the tray back towards the front of the cell. Zion quietly unlocked it and took the tray, removing any evidence that anyone had been here.

“Three hours. Be ready.” He turned towards the Stormvault door, but I called out after him.

“Three hours for what? What do we need to be ready for?” I asked, “I thought we had another half a day, at least.”

“You do,” he replied, turning to meet my eyes.

I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind his gaze, or the fact that when he turned back around towards the door, the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.

“Then what does that mean?” Tess asked urgently as Zion walked away once more.

“Three hours. Be ready,” he repeated the words, calling over his shoulder without turning back. He quickly disappeared down the long, dark corridor, leaving nothing but silence in his wake.

Zion had come down to the Stormvault to warn us, but what was he warning us about, exactly? Did Donika plan to cut our deadline short? Whatever she had in store for us, I would be ready. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed as Tess and I sat in the darkness, awaiting our sentence. I would give anything to know what day it was. What time. The waiting was the worst part.

Had an hour passed already? Two?

Tess held my hand in the darkness and gave it a squeeze.

“Do you think Donika is done with us? That they will drag us back to the throne room to execute us?” she asked, uncertain.

Her voice sounded brittle and weak. Tess hadn’t fared as well in the Stormvault as I had. She didn’t have a thirst for retribution driving her. She didn’t crave vengeance the way Idid. Tess hated Donika, but my anger…my anger was personal.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, giving her hand a squeeze in return. “Whatever it is, we will face it together,” I told her resolutely.

My stomach felt hollow at the thought that we had run out of time, despite being full with the only real meal we had been given in weeks. These could be our last moments together, and we hadn’t seen Puck or Nik in weeks.

Where were they? What was keeping them away?

They had promised to come up with a plan to break us out of the Stormvault, but Nik had never even come back at all. Puck had returned a few times over the following weeks, but his visits had stopped some time ago. Had they given up? Had they left Akra entirely? Left us to our fate with Donika?

“Do you think there’s any chance Nik or Puck will come back?” she asked hopefully, voicing my thoughts once more.

Even after everything, despite how weak she had gotten, she still had hope. I admired that about Tess…but I wasn’t so certain. I was more cynical by nature.

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly.

A part of me wished to see them again, even if it was one last time. There was so much left unsaid, so many emotions still warring within me. Nik’s absence was another betrayal in itself. Had Donika found out he visited us in the Stormvault, and he had been forced to stay away? Or did he simply not care, and all of those pretty words were simply lies?

A large part of me despised him to my very core, that he could touch me and kiss me, then betray me within the samebreath. But there was a piece of me, no matter how small, that yearned for him to come down to see us.

One last time.

Zion’s words ran through my head on an endless loop. He had said we hadn’t yet met our deadline…so what was coming? Why had he been kind to us and brought us food? His words had been a warning, but without knowing what was coming…we had no way to prepare.

Was Zion on our side?

Tess and I both startled as the door to the Stormvault creaked open at the end of the long corridor. Had it been three hours already? I expected to see Zion making his way towards our cell, but the sound of multiple sets of footsteps echoed through the chamber.

Was this it? Was our time up?

I swallowed hard and turned to Tess, grabbing her hand in the darkness as the light of a lantern slowly illuminated our cell. I squeezed her hand tightly, vowing not to let go even if they had to tear us apart.

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