Page 177 of Taken By Touch and Torment

Her eyes welled with those feelings as vast and deep as the sea. She nodded, and I saw unrestrained fire in their place.

“Are you humming, right now?” Scarlett loudly whispered, throwing me a side-eye.

“Is that not allowed?”

Dead guards lay in a river of blood behind us.

When we rose from the depths of the dungeons, we were greeted by another batch of them at the top of the stairs.

My hands were occupied, so I used my shadows to slit each throat.

I continued to hum the song that Scarlett had sung for me as we stepped over the pile of writhing, dying bodies.

Scarlett shook her head, shuddering as she did every time she glimpsed what I was carrying in each fist.

The floor rumbled, and it wasn’t from my power. I could sense a great deal of magick emanating from the heart of the palace, exactly where we were headed.

“Between the energy I was channeling and projecting outward from the dungeons, and the divisions at court… my guess is that more in-fighting has commenced,” Scarlett said. “Not everyone was happy with the regime change.”

I grinned at the image of the born crumbling from within, without a clue that Scarlett had been the one who’d orchestrated it all. “Naturally.” My smile fell, and I paused by a window.

“The main hall is just through here,” Scarlett murmured, turning to see why I’d stopped.

She followed my gaze to the crowd of born swarming the palace, soldiers and guards attempting to keep them back as magick flew through the air.

“It would appear that word of Durian’s fall from grace has landed with the masses,” I said.

“Or they don’t give a fuck who’s sitting on the throne, and they’re most concerned about going hungry and mummifying.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Not great for our escape plans, but on a macro level…”

Scarlett smiled. “Mission accomplished.”

At the sound of shouts and a loud crash, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

I needed to get Scarlett out of here.

But, first, I had gifts to bestow.

“Scarlett,” a woman whispered.

I whipped around, and a blonde woman leaped back. She raised her arms nonthreateningly, swallowing hard.

“Rune, meet Rosalind,” Scarlett said.

Rosalind looked better than she had when I last saw her, when she’d been dying in the street. I gave her a nod of respect. She took notice of what I was carrying, and her mouth fell open, her eyes wide as saucers.

“Okay, cool, cool, cool,” she said, stumbling to regain her graceful nonchalance. “I’ve already gotten out half the slaves. My top secret Rosalind road to safety remains clear, despite the peasant uprising out there.” She took a deep breath. “Please, eliminate any aunt you see. I have a feeling you two will serve as the perfect distraction so I can pull the rest of the slaves away from court.”

“My shifters say you’ve maintained contact,” I said. I’d received word of their allyship after Scarlett had already left and discovered Rosalind was alive. “Are they being helpful?”

Rosalind grinned, her gaze sultry as she threw a wink Scarlett’s way. “In more ways than one.”

“Stay safe, please,” Scarlett said.

I echoed the sentiment. “Get this last batch out and don’t look back. If we can help, we will.”

Rosalind reached for Scarlett’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Scarlett appeared surprised by the gesture, her features melting.

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