Page 128 of Wings of Betrayal

“Thank you for that,” Kyle tells him, surprising me.

Grazen pushes off from the wall. “No problem. Now, as much as I enjoy a group of strangers breaking into my apartment, it’s probably best if we find a way for you to move on. Safely.”

I gulp. “Grazen, I’m so sorry we came here. It honestly wasn’t my intention.”

He holds a hand up. “Hang on a moment. How did you all get in here, anyway?”

Kyle opens his mouth to speak, but I stop him.

“No, it’s okay. I trust him,” I tell Kyle then turn to Grazen. “I have an ability where I can open portals. It’s new, so I didn’t really know what to expect.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Portals? That can’t be. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

I shrug. “Well, I can. Anyway, I didn’t mean to bring us here. I don’t really know what I meant to happen, to be honest. But we’ll go.”

I wave for the others to head for the exit. Once everyone’s out the door, including Kyle, I turn to Grazen.

“Again, I’m sorry about this,” I say. “The last thing I want is to get you into trouble.”

He takes hold of my wrist, and I can only hope Kyle doesn’t notice. “It’s okay, Zarla. You don’t need to keep apologising. I want to help you. Let me safely lead you out of here. Where are you going?”

I bite my bottom lip as he drops his hand. “Um, to Zalore’s castle.”

His eyes widen, and then he frowns. “Zarla, that’s suicide. You can’t break into Zalore’s castle!”

Kyle steps back into the apartment, and Grazen takes a deep breath.

“Problem?” Kyle asks.

Grazen shakes his head and turns on Kyle. “This isn’t safe. For any of you. If you’re caught… I would hate to even imagine what Zalore would do.”

Kyle slips his arm around my waist. “It’s okay. We’ll manage without your help.”

Kyle leads me out of Grazen’s apartment, and I glance back to see him staring after us, his brows drawn like he’s fighting an internal battle with himself. We hurry down the three flights of stairs until we reach the ground level, where we all look to Kyle, who seems to be the only one levelheaded enough to rally the troops.

“Everyone, be on high alert. We have the cover of darkness, for the time being. Let us use it to our advantage,” Kyle says. “Zarla, you’ve been there before. Can you lead the way?”

I pull my cloak hood over my head, and everyone else does the same. “I can. Let’s go.”

I lead the group out onto the sidewalk, where we stay close to the edge of the building amongst the shadows. There are no streetlights around here, and thankfully the moon is not in its full lunar phase, so the streets are dimly lit. We walk for about five minutes and don’t see a single soul. This part of the city looks in rough shape, with trash cans fallen over and spilling into the street at every corner. Streetlights are broken, as well as windows that line the front of the buildings down here.

I catch movement ahead and shove my body against a brick building. The others do the same, and I look to Kyle, who holds a finger to his lips. I give him a small nod then follow him to the corner, where we both carefully peek around to see what itcould have been. He uses his arm to gently guide me back farther behind him, which is annoying because I can’t see a darn thing, but I do as he wishes.

Once he seems sure we’re in the clear, he gestures for us to follow, and I move out ahead once more, leading the group through the dangerous city. It’s not long before I spot Zalore’s castle. It stands proudly in the middle of the city, towering over every other building in its vicinity. It’s as dark and sinister as I remember from the last time I was here.

There’s an alleyway not too far from the castle, across the street from us. The perfect place to regroup and hash out our next steps. Kyle spots it too, and we lead the others across the street toward it.

“That’s it?” Finlay asks, jerking his head toward the castle.

I adjust my cloak and lower my hood so it’s easier to see. “Yeah, that’s it.”

Nilo scratches his chin and shuffles from one foot to the other. “So how exactly are we to get in there? It’s bound to be guarded by watchers.”

“Well, the last time I was with a group of watchers, so we just went in the front.” I feel Kyle’s gaze on me, and I casually glance up at him.

He doesn’t look impressed.

“Great. So how are we meant to get in, then?” Em asks in frustration.

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