Page 60 of Petals for Vicious Secrets

“How many courtrades were sacrificed?” Jessica asked.

Marcus’ voice was quiet, either because he was the last one down the tunnel, or because he couldn’t find his strength as he said, “Six of us. Darren, Andela, Kyra, Oliver, Fiona and Poppy. May the stars not hinder their darkness. May Llunal shade them all.”

“May the stars not hinder their darkness. May Llunal shade them all,” the unified voices of the remaining courtrades echoed in the tunnel. Hope shook her head, but it was not the time to mourn.

For there was a growing point of light at the end of the tunnel above.

It was happening.

They were in Thyria. They had reached Corentre.

Hope stopped dead when she reached the floor level. Peeking through the opening of the tunnel, Hope examined her surroundings. Something was off. This was meant to be the courtrades’ quarters. There were meant to be Thyrian courtrades waiting for them here.

But there were only two beings in this room, and none of them bore the black clothes of the courtrades. So she grabbed her best blades by the hilts and jumped out of the tunnel, throwing each blade at the shoulder of each being.

Her feet touched the floor at the same time as a massive movement shook the land. She fell on the floor, face down, her arms protecting from any harm as chunks of rock fell from the ceiling of the surrounding room. The shouts coming from the tunnel meant they hadn’t been so lucky, and probably there was a tangle of limbs and bodies in it.

She didn’t care how strong this panomquake had been. She didn’t care that it probably had been the biggest panomquake she had ever lived. All she cared about were the two moving bodies on the floor, the smell of blood emanating from where her blades had hit exactly where she had aimed. Their shoulders, to incapacitate but not to kill. Not yet. She would need to extract some information from them before that the killing blow.

“We mean no harm,” one being said, the one at the back.

The other being was silent. His body stood up with the blade still stuck in his shoulder, as if he didn’t feel it or wasn’t bothered by it. He extended a hand in front of him, doing something with his fingers.

Hope didn’t hesitate. She threw another two blades at the being, aiming for the thighs, but he dodged them. To dodge blades at that speed… She could feel his stare penetrating hers, but he was still in the dark side of the room, even if he was walking towards her.

Her next two daggers were ready to throw. As the being stepped out of the shadows, Hope met dark blue eyes as deep as the night sky. She held her breath for half a second, as if her heart had stopped. Maybe it had stopped, because in front of her was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

And just in case, she threw both daggers at him with all her might.

The man dodged them again, his incredibly fast movements gracious despite his very muscular body. A corner of his lips curled upwards, and something Hope couldn’t identify passed through his eyes as he said, “I knew you would be worth the wait.”

A knot in Hope’s chest released, as if something that had been held tightly under many layers had unlocked.

Nina’s white hair appeared through the opening of the tunnel. The dark-haired man looked at her friend. Nina covered her mouth in shock, her ocean-blue eyes as wide as Hope had ever seen them.

Hope took advantage of the man’s distraction and a blade aimed at his other shoulder left her hand just as Nina shouted, “Hope, stop!”

But it was too late. The blade had hit home.

38

Lenna

Days, hours, or mere minutes had passed by the time Lenna recovered consciousness.

Something soft was against her back. Something soft and warm. And the pain… it wasn’t as bad. As if someone had Healed her. Lenna opened her eyes to find Jake next to her, facing up with a hand behind his head. With the state of his back, that had to be a painful position for sure. And that soft thing on her back… That was a fluffy blanket.

“I wouldn’t have thought your father’s cells came with these sorts of amenities and silver-eyed panoms willing to Heal the prisoners,” Lenna said.

“They don’t,” Jake said, not looking at her. Only now she saw they were in a not-big-enough panom-shaped cell. Shock.

She moved her shambles of a body until she was sitting, trying her best at not stretching her back with any movement, and kept her bare chest covered with the blanket.

“Why?” Lenna asked, her voice cutting at the memory of the pain inflicted by the Organ Mandor.

“Why,” Jake snorted. “Why did I bother protecting someone who doesn’t want to be protected? Or why did I think you would shut your smart-ass damned mouth when I told you so?”

“Both.”

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