I hated this. Hated all of it. “Can we get the shackles off his ankles and neck, at least?”
Malik nodded, looking down at his brother. “We can do that,” he said, his voice thick.
Reaver leaned down, his mouth opening as Kieran turned me away.
“Good gods,” I heard Malik rasp as silvery flames lit the dark walls. “You’re a fucking draken.” There was a beat of silence. “That’s why those knights were smoldering.”
Kieran’s gaze met mine as I heard a heavy chain fall, clanging off the stone. Silently, he lifted his hands to my cheeks. Another chain hit the floor. I flinched. Kieran swept his thumbs across my cheeks, wiping away tears. A third chain clattered, and Kieran’s eyes went beyond me. A few moments later, he nodded and let go. I turned to see Reaver carefully placing the bone chains still attached to the shackles on Casteel’s wrists on his too-still chest.
I looked down at my palm. The golden imprint shimmered faintly in the shadowy cell. He’s alive. I kept telling myself that. He’s alive.
Kieran went to Casteel’s side. “I’ll carry him.”
“No,” Malik bit out. “He’s my brother. And if you want him, you’re going to have to pry him from my dead fingers. I’m carrying him.”
Kieran looked as if he wished to do just that, but he relented. “Then where are we going?”
Malik strode forward. “To a friend’s.”
I followed him out of the cell, stopping long enough to place my hand on the stone. The essence roared through me as I brought the ceiling of the cell down.
No one would ever be kept there again.
We followed Malik through a winding maze of halls and tunnels until he turned into a narrow, cramped passageway that smelled of damp soil and sewage. I knew we were near ground level.
The opening ahead looked to be what remained of a brick wall. It had half collapsed, leaving an opening wide enough to squeeze through. I followed close behind Malik, my attention never straying far from Casteel. He hadn’t stirred once under Kieran’s cloak, which had been draped over him, hiding his body and the chains.
There was no time to stop and heal Casteel’s wound, something that cut at me with each step we took. But that kind of wound wouldn’t only take a few seconds to close, and we ran the risk of waking him during the process.
“What were you all planning to do when you found Cas?” Malik asked as I wiggled through the opening, the rough edges of the bricks snagging my cloak. “Fight your way out the main gates?”
Silence greeted him as I straightened, looking around. The mist was still heavy here but not nearly as thick.
“That’s exactly what you all were going to do.” Malik cursed under his breath. “Do you think you really would’ve made it out? Even if the Craven hadn’t joined in the fun?”
“What do you think?” Kieran joined us outside, followed by Reaver.
“What I think is that you all would’ve been caught down there. And even if Cas weren’t in the shape he was, Isbeth would’ve done exactly as she threatened to do once she realized that you were missing.”
“She threatened to put children on the walls and the gates of the Rise,” I answered, feeling Kieran’s gaze on me as I turned around, looking up. Above, the mist muted the glow of the streetlamps, but I could see enough to realize where we were. “The Golden Bridge.”
“Yes.” Malik started up the slope of the embankment, his hooded figure nearly disappearing into the mist. The ground was muddy and full of a slop I didn’t want to think about. “The tunnel entrance caved in there a few years ago. The Craven have been getting out from there, but no one’s fixed it.”
“Out?” Kieran questioned as several rounds of fiery arrows lit up the sky beyond the Rise. I tore my gaze from there.
“What do you think happens to the mortals the vamprys get a bit gluttonous with? Can’t let them turn in their homes,” Malik said as we cleared the embankment and continued on through the thick, still-swirling mist. “They’re dumped underground where they turn. Sometimes, they get out, you know, when the gods are angry. Of course, a sizable tithe to the Temples helps assuage that anger enough for the Craven to be dealt with.”
My eyes narrowed on Malik’s back. “And you’re okay with that? Innocent people being turned into monsters? Money being taken from people who can’t afford it?”
“Never said I was okay with any of it,” Malik replied.