Page 78 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
“This way,” Grae whispered. “We can find our way out through the library.”
He pushed a door open to the other side of him, another portrait, and I realized then that we were hiding between the walls.
I gave Grae a look and he rolled his eyes. “Later,” he mouthed silently to me, and I had to bite back on my laughter.
He knew me too well. He knew I was going to chastise him for not sharing this secret hiding space with me. My whole life I’d spent roaming these halls with him and he’d kept this place to himself. But that momentary lightness disappeared when we heard voices echoing up from the library below.
With a finger to my lips, I locked eyes with the other Songkeepers, and we crept more carefully forward. I was one step through the portrait to the library balcony when Calla’s panicked whisper stalled my foot.
“Briar?” Calla whirled, their eyes combing through the group of us crammed into the small space. “Briar? Where is she?”
My gut plummeted as I looked around the press of faces and found Briar missing.
Calla
I SWORE I SAW HER FOLLOW US, A FLASH OF RED HAIR ON THEperiphery. She was right there. She was with us. She...
My arms flew out as I tried to move through the tight cram of bodies. “Briar?”
Grae grabbed my arm. “Calla—”
“We have to go back for her.” I pushed back toward the hallway as panic flared within me. “Didn’t you see her follow us? She was behind me, wasn’t she? She...” A panicked warble caught in my throat. “She was right there and then...” I combed back through the frantic memory of the explosion and our run. Had my mind played tricks on me? Was she separated from the group somehow? Had someone taken her?
My mate’s arms banded around me, squeezing until I couldn’t breathe as if he was afraid I might evaporate. “Calla,” he panted. “She was barricaded by the rubble in the side corridor. I saw her bolt through the servant’s passage door. She’s probably hiding there.” He looked at the balcony and the light emanating up from below. “She’ll be far safer there than here with us at least.”
I cursed my hopeful mind, my panic conjuring the image of her running alongside us only to be woefully mistaken.
“We have to go get her!” I battled his grip and Sadie joined in holding me back.
“Wewill,” she whispered. “But if she’s hidden and safe, then let’s first deal with the problem below our feet.”
“Let me go!” My voice cracked even as my limbs resigned themselves not to battle further. “I can go after her alone.”
“No,” Grae and Sadie replied in hushed unison.
“Calla.” Grae forced calm into his voice. “If she is barricaded in the servant’s passage, sheissafe. Let her remain hidden until the castle is secure. Pulling her from the hall now will just bring her back into danger.”
I didn’t know if his logic was sound. What if she was trapped under the rubble? What if Nero saw her retreat and went after her? Every part of me wished to rush back to her. But running back through the halls filled with Silver Wolves and a sorcerer king would do her no good, either. The only thing keeping me from bolting was the resolute look in her eyes when she’d returned to us. She’d always been strong in spirit, but she was hardened now, too, more resolute.
She is tough. Shewillsurvive this.
We continued through the portrait on the far side and crammed into the balcony. Sitting, we hugged our knees to our chests to hide from the glimpses of light from the boardroom below.
Thank the Gods they were all humans down there. At least they couldn’t hear our panting breaths and rapid heartbeats.
Grae sat to one side of me, Sadie to the other. As my panic finally ebbed to a solemn determination, I tilted my head, looking at Sadie for a split second before she and I both wrapped each other up in a fierce hug. Relief coursed off us. For a second I thought I might never see her again.
But that relief was short-lived. Now we had a sorcerer behind us and powerful magicians below. Even with an army circling the castle, the odds seemed to slip from our favor.
“Sweet Moon, am I glad to see you,” I signed to her.
“I wish under better circumstances,” Sadie signed back.
I grabbed her hand and elbowed Grae as we both stared down at the silver ring on her finger. “Did you get engaged?”
“Now is seriously not the time, Calla,” she mouthed, shaking her head even though her lips curled up. Navin leaned forward to look down the line at us, a proud expression on his face. Even under attack from a sorcerer, he looked like it was the best day of his life, so foolishly in love.
“If we survive this, I want all the details,” I whispered.
