Page 80 of Hidden

“Now that you know who I am,” Teegar said, “please let me go. I must be freed to warn His Majesty there is treachery afoot. That was why your wolf let me go. To summon aid as fast as possible.”

“Do you need to borrow my phone?” Malatest asked dryly.

Panic rounded the fae’s eyes—or maybe it was a hangover from the spell that had held him prisoner. Either way, he looked jittery and confused. “A phone would not reach His Majesty, or anyone in his party.”

Both Izetta and Malatest crowded closer to Teegar. Devries joined them, making a perfect circle of intimidation.

“Where is this king of yours?” Devries asked.

The fae was visibly sweating now. “His Majesty is on the road to his private domain.”

“If he’s already out of cell range, how are you going to get there?” Izetta asked.

He tried to toss the hair from his eyes again. “I will run on bare feet if I need to.”

She didn’t doubt it. He wanted to get away just as quickly as he could. But he was a captain, and generally officers had better planning skills. He could, say, ask for a ride in one of the many vehicles parked right there. Or, he could keep his mouth shut about his boss’s movements like every other security detail on the planet. “How far do you need to go?”

Defiance entered the fae’s eyes. “Our roads can’t be measured in miles.”

In other words, he wasn’t about to give a straight answer.

“I have a better idea.” Malatest finally sheathed his knife. “You’ll stay with us.”

Teegar’s face fell. “Why?”

“You know the layout of the building, and we need to get inside. You’re going to lead the way.”

CHAPTER 28

Lila tore down the stairs to the dungeon, stumbling in her haste. After the blast Farras delivered, she half-expected Rafe to be sprawled at the bottom, but there was no one in sight. Was he unhurt, or had someone dragged him away? Jumping down the last few steps, she knelt and examined the tile. There was a smear of blood, but not much. That was something, at least.

Anxiety clawed her. She’d knocked Farras out, but he wouldn’t remain unconscious for long. And when he woke, he’d show no mercy. She didn’t have long to act.

She rose to her feet, wondering again where Rafe had gone. The house’s magic would have made it next to impossible for him to return upstairs. Captive or free, he was most likely still on this level.

Lila followed her usual route through the dungeon, watching the shadows and moving as quickly as she dared. The place was as bleak as ever. The widely spaced lights showed nothing but tile floor and featureless paint, without even a cobweb to give the place personality.

Still, her fae senses caught a shift in energies. It was as hard to describe as the shape of a thought or the movement of song through air, but it was perceptible. The way station felt restless, folding and reforming in subtle ways. When she stopped at Rafe’s old cell, ambient magic was all but absent. The room was empty, and the building knew it. Lila moved on.

The next cell she stopped at was the one where she’d seen packing crates stacked against the wall. At the time, she hadn’t had a reason to or time to investigate them. But now, after what Farras had told her about the drugs, she was curious enough to have a second look. She opened the door, using her fob and key code, and the overhead light came on as usual. The cell was empty and scrupulously clean, as if an army of pixies had gone over it with toothbrushes.

Frustrated, Lila left and pulled the door shut. The absence of evidence proved nothing, but it stoked her suspicions. Even if Ademar, Farras, and her mother claimed to know nothing about the Magician’s presence at the way station, the wolves had tracked him there. It seemed too convenient that the crates disappeared the moment she’d asked questions. Then again, they might have held food for the banquet or rolls of duct tape for all she knew. She’d been too slow to investigate, and now she’d lost her chance.

Cursing, Lila pressed on. The confusion spell in this part of the dungeon had weakened, at least for her. She’d been down those corridors too often now for misdirection to work. She continued to check the cells as she went, looking for Rafe and also for Teegar. She found no one and nothing.

She stopped at the last door, frustrated. There might still be a chance to find outside help, but the window of opportunity was closing. Where were the prisoners? Where was Rafe? They had to be hidden behind the shifting veil of the way station’s power.

Half-wild with frustration, Lila reached out, touching the living consciousness of the structure. Farras had summoned the place out of the surrounding forest, exactly the same way she shaped wood in her construction designs. The lord was far older than she was, his magic stronger and more sophisticated, but their power was similar enough that she understood every twist in the spell’s weave. She hoped that was enough to get the building’s cooperation. You’re made of magic. My kind of magic. Help me out.

Her awareness bumped against a fold of energy, thicker and twice as opaque as the rest. It was keeping her—and anyone else—from freely wandering past the door where she stood. Even so, she sensed her brother had been there recently. Maybe only minutes ago.

Lila deepened her contact with the flow of power. The sensation of pins and needles swept over her skin, then beneath it, reaching deep into her bones. With as much delicacy as her impatience allowed, she pushed against the magic’s flow, making herself a path.

A hallway appeared before her—one that hadn’t been there a moment ago. It looked the same as the others, with bad lighting and steel doors. This time, though, she could feel life. She’d found prisoners. I don’t have much time.

An image rose in her mind, but it was of the graves in the woods. Confused, Lila touched one door, then the next in hopes of something more. Something that would make the vision make sense. The third door stopped her in her tracks. The specifics of the image faded, replaced by the sensation of fur under her hands and cold wind in her face. Then it was her paws padding on the forest floor, her voice lifted in chorus with the pack.

Lila staggered back, shaking her head to clear it. Her perception swirled, jumbling realities for a giddy moment until she was sure what was here and now and what was other. By Titania’s wingtips, she’d found more of Rafe’s pack.

---