Perhaps I had worn a similar expression the night I had run to Vincent’s bedchamber in tears, after my lover had raped me.
My mouth closed.
I thought of the expression on Mische’s face when she had seen the prince at the wedding. And I knew. I didn’t have to ask.
But she still choked out, “It’s—he’s the one who—”
The man who had taken her as a teenager. Who had Turned her against her will. Who had abandoned her to die when she got sick.
Now I understood why Mische was brought up here, to these rooms. Somewhere comfortable and attractive, rather than unpleasant dungeons. She was a gift returned to her maker. A token to keep the foreign prince’s favor.
My gaze fell to the prince’s body, which slowly sagged against the blade skewering him to the wall. I resisted the overpowering desire to spit on his corpse.
Diplomatic issues be fucking damned. I couldn’t bring myself to be sorry.
I grabbed the hilt of her sword and yanked it from the wall—and the corpse, which went sliding down to the floor with a dull thunk. I held the weapon out to her.
“Raihn needs us.”
It was all I needed to say.
She blinked, clearing almost-tears. Her jaw set. She nodded and took the sword, the prince’s blood dripping onto the tile floor.
“Let’s go,” she said.
We moved swiftly through the tunnels. I prayed that I would find Raihn at our rendezvous point—the juncture of the two paths, where we had last separated. But when we flew down that last set of stairs, nothing met us there but two darkened hallways.
Dread clenched in my stomach. But I didn’t hesitate.
“That way,” I said to Mische, and the two of us swept down the next path, the one that would take us down to the dungeons.
I knew what we were charging into before we reached the door. Mische heard it before I did, with her superior ears—but the sounds grew louder quickly, a distant thrum of banging and grunts through the walls.
I knew what violence sounded like.
Soon we were both running, abandoning stealth for speed. By the time we made it to the door, there was little doubt of what was going on beyond it. It took palpable effort to force myself to slow down as we slipped through, the tunnel letting us out into a hall just beyond the dungeons. The sounds of steel and flesh echoed against the stone walls.
Three long strides, and I was around the corner.
Movement. Guards. Steel.
Bodies.
Blood.
Raihn.
I barely took the time to observe all this before I was throwing myself into the fight.
My sword found one guard’s back, aiming straight for the heart. The blade cut through the flesh so easily, with so little resistance. Raihn flung the body off him, meeting my eyes for only a split second before he had to turn his attention to the other soldier lunging at him.
That moment, though—it was enough to convey so many things, a million shades of relief.
Raihn, injured as he still was, had been struggling against half a dozen guards—more, maybe, before we had gotten there—even with the help of his Asteris.
Now, that changed.
I’d forgotten how good it felt to fight beside Raihn. How intuitively we understood each other. How he watched my body even without watching, anticipating every move, complementing it. It was like slipping back into a comfortable jacket.
Strike after strike blended together, my awareness fading save for the next move, the next opponent. My Nightfire flared at my blade and Raihn’s Asteris surged at his, our light and dark intertwining.
Alone, he had struggled. Together, we were devastatingly efficient.
Minutes and the final body fell.
I pulled my blade from the still-twitching guard and turned to Raihn.
He swept me up in an embrace before I could even open my mouth, his face burying into the space between my neck and shoulder.
And then, just as quickly, he released me, leaving me swaying.
“What was that for?” I said.
“Your endless charms,” he replied.
Then he saw Mische and stilled. His eyes widened at the sight of her blood-covered gown.
“Where were you?” he said.
But she just smiled and shook her head, as if shaking away the vacant look that had been there moments ago. “Later. Good to see you, too.”
She was right. We didn’t have time. We were lucky that Simon’s forces were split in too many directions right now, but it was only a matter of time before either the bloodbath upstairs or down here attracted more attention.
The cells were built into the walls and barred with thick, solid metal doors, with only a small slit looking in. Raihn was already rummaging through the bodies, groping for keys, and when he found them, he tossed them in the air with satisfaction.