Page 127 of Realm of Wind and Vines
“Alistair,” I yell. “Get in here.” Without waiting for an answer, I whirl around to face Isera and Orion. “Go out there and tell them that we have already escaped down into the city. If Lavendera isn’t here, she must be in the castle.”
While Alistair skids into the library, Isera and Orion hurry across the polished stone floor before slowing to a more regal walk as they reach the door. Grabbing Alistair’s arm, I yank him out of sight right before our fake Icehearts stride out across the threshold.
“They have already escaped,” Orion yells in Bane’s voice. “They disappeared down into the city. Find them!”
“But sir,” a hesitant voice replies from somewhere outside. “Earlier, you told us?—”
“Are you disobeying orders, soldier?”
“N-no,” he stammers. “Sir.”
“Then do as I said.”
Boots thud against the ground as the people outside rush to obey the orders. I breathe a sigh of relief and sneak up to the door.
“It’s clear,” Isera says. “Let’s go.”
Alistair and I dart out through the door. This high up, I can see out across the city and the plains beyond. Silver dragons are flying out over the grasslands in every direction. It won’t be longnow before they realize that no one is out there. And once they do, they will fly straight back to the city. That is when Draven, Lyra, and Galen will be forced to shift and shoot up into the sky in their dragon forms right above the city to draw the Silver Clan’s attention while we find Lavendera. If that happens, someone is bound to get hurt. So we need to find her first.
“They must be keeping her inside the Ice Palace,” I repeat while panic pulses inside me like crackling lightning. “We need to?—”
“More soldiers are coming!” Alistair yells.
My heart leaps into my throat as I whip my head around and stare in the direction he is pointing. Ice sinks into my stomach. He’s right. An entire hoard of Silver Clan soldiers is sprinting towards us from the direction of the barracks.
“Run!” Isera snaps.
We take off across the stone ground and up the path towards the Ice Palace. I know that Isera and Orion could probably fool this next group as well, but we can’t afford to get bogged down here. We need to find Lavendera before Draven is forced to shift in order to buy us time.
My breath rasps through my throat, which still stings from the acidic bile I vomited earlier, as I sprint up the path that has been cut into the mountain. Isera’s glittering silver dress streams behind her as she runs in front of me while Orion is bringing up the rear. Alistair and I stay in the middle where we will be least visible.
I have no idea what the soldiers below are thinking of this strange display from their emperor and empress, and I barely dare to turn around to look.
Blood pounds in my ears as I push my legs hard while hurtling up the mountainside. I suck in deep breaths.
“They’ve stopped at the library,” Orion calls from behind. The damn Unseelie King doesn’t even have the decency to sound out of breath. “It looks like they’re busy securing the building.”
“Good,” I rasp between heavy breaths.
“A detour like this wasn’t part of the plan,” Isera says from the front as we crest the hill and the side gate that is set into the high defensive walls becomes visible before us. “We’re running out of time. Ryat and the others will be forced to shift in the next twenty minutes or so.”
A desperate noise slips past my lips. I don’t want to watch my mate battle hoards of dragons practically on his own again.
“Open the gate!” Isera commands.
The dragon shifter who is guarding the side gate leaps to attention. After fumbling with his keys, he shoves the gate open right before we reach it. When I run past him, I flick one glance at his face.
My heart jerks when I realize that it’s the same guard who I tricked so many times when I was a prisoner here.
Which means that he recognizes me as well.
His mouth drops open when he sees my face, and he immediately starts reaching for his sword. But I was already moving. While sprinting in through the gate, I slash my dagger across his throat. I watch him gurgle in a breath before crumpling to the ground, blood streaming down from the wound across his throat. I feel absolutely no sense of guilt or regret whatsoever.
For a moment, I was worried that my little breakdown in the Osteria house would have made me revert back into that insecure girl who wrung her hands about everything. So I’m relieved to find that it hasn’t. I’m still willing to be a ruthless villain in order to win. I just won’t wipe out an entire clan full of people for crimes they haven’t committed once we do win.
“Friend of yours?” Orion says from behind as we run across the castle grounds.
“He knew exactly who I was,” I reply, my voice hard and unapologetic. “And I’m not taking any chances.”
