Page 123 of Bound By Roses

I turn a corner, meaning to take the path that should lead me to the spiral staircase I know opens to Arabella’s room, but her scent is far too strong here. I can’t be certain it’s her, but the soft scent of perfume is the same that mingled with the dust beneath her bed when I hid there with Kaylee the night we got her out. I have to trust the memory as much as I do my instinct and follow it deeper beneath the palace.

If she came here meaning to escape into the city, something drove her in the opposite direction.

Or she was dragged there.

This tunnel is long and narrow, and although others snake off from it, the scent beckons me forward. A door stands out to me in the darkness, and I have to work to slow my breathing and steady my heart as the thoughts of what might be waiting on the other side torment my mind.

A series of possibilities, each worse than the last.

Imelda could be waiting.

Void could be waiting.

Arabella could be dead.

I let those fears fuel me and pick up the pace. I leap in the air after the final bound and slam into the door with my shoulder. It’s strong, but not strong enough to keep me out.

Few doors are.

Hinges strain and wood cracks, and when I launch for the door again, it erupts into an explosion of splinters. I crash through and land hard atop a man clad in silver. He screams, but it’s cut short as my teeth sink deep into the small space of exposed throat peeking out beneath his helmet.

Wolfish senses tell me there are more, and before my eyes can even settle on my next target, I’m moving. A flash of light on steel has me stepping back as a sword swings in my direction. I dodge it easily, slipping under the Guardian’s arm before snapping my teeth around his wrist and crunching throughbone. I feel it crack in two places before the sword clatters to the stone floor at my side. There’s no time to finish him off as two others charge for me, weapons poised. The fear in their eyes does nothing to slow their attacks because they’re under orders they can’t refuse.

I see it now.

They knew I was coming.

I jump back, skirting around the edge of the room to take in as many details as I can. If this was a trap, I need to make sure I’m not up against the person who set it.

I spot Arabella first, gagged and hands tied behind her back, strapped to a chair at the back of the room. A man stands behind her and I recognize him instantly.

Ty.

His eyes meet mine for only a heartbeat before he’s drawing his sword and rushing forward.

Another Guardian swings for my left, so I take him down first. My claws sink deep into his chest and, judging by the blood now seeping around my paw, it was deep enough to tear open his heart.

Ty and the last remaining Guardian are both moving at me from different directions. If I move for one, the other will surely strike. I step back, counting on my speed to send me around the room to get behind them before either can strike, but as I do, Ty thrusts his blade forward.

It pierces into the back of the other Guardian and straight through the other side. Blood sprays as he kicks the man forward, dislodging his weapon. “What took you so long?”

Relief washes over me. Not even because Ty didn’t betray us, but rather because now I don’t have to kill him. He doesn’t move for Arabella and when I gaze towards her, I see that she’s already shrugging out of her bindings.

So she was in on this, too. If I didn’t arrive in time, she and Ty would have had to make it out of this on their own. If Arabella is anything like Kaylee, she’s not a fighter. Ty is good, but I’m not convinced he’s four-against-one good.

Speaking of which, there’s still one left alive, though without his right hand, he isn’t much of a threat. Even if he could get to his sword, only a fool would try. I show him my teeth for good measure, and the sight of them covered in both his and his friends’ blood is enough to have him scooting backwards across the floor.

I slow my breathing enough to shift and brace myself for the snapping and reforging of bone.

There are no wraiths in the palace, and even if there were, I should be safe here. Or, at least, safe from them. Either way, it’s worth the risk for gaining some answers.

“Are either of you hurt?” I ask over my shoulder as I stand shakily on two legs, still facing the cowering Guardian. There’s conflict in his features. He knows he can’t win, and yet a part of him wants to reach for that sword. Which makes me think Imelda ordered him to kill me.

Ty is the first to answer. “No, but we have to leave. Kill him and let’s go.”

I can smell fear in the air, but it’s not just this Guardian’s. Ty and Arabella are frightened, too.

As much as I’d like to question him, a memory of Abby resurfaces in my mind. She’s said more than once that she knows better than to question a seer, and if Ty says we have to go, then maybe Arabella’s told him something. I bend, taking the hilt of the sword in my hand.

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