Page 263 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“I’ll buy you new clothes if you get blood on yours,” he tossed back.

A growl rumbled from his brother, his lip curling, but Eliza stepped between them, practically bouncing on her toes. “You two can have a brawl later. Right now, let’s go—” She paused, frowning. “You should probably fill us in a little.”

“We’re going to rescue someone being held in the Faven dungeons,” Luka answered.

“Rescue mission. Great. Let’s go,” Eliza said, grabbing Luka’s hand while simultaneously intertwining her fingers with Razik’s.

Luka didn’t let them ask any more questions, Traveling them to the very hall he needed. The wards would recognize him since he’d been staying here. These two, however, could pose a problem. Wandering through the halls didn’t seem like the wisest of options, so he settled for the hall Tessa always emerged in.

“There is a hidden entrance here somewhere,” he said, already inspecting the walls. “We need to find it.”

“Are you sure it’s hidden?” Razik asked.

He paused, looking over his shoulder. “I guess not. Why?”

“Have you checked all these doors?” he said instead, gesturing down the hall.

There were a few small doors he assumed were storage closets. He would assume if it was an entrance to a place prisoners were being held, there would be guards.

Or wards.

They wouldn’t need guards if there were wards, and Tessa wouldn’t have any difficulties getting around them because of who she was. The direct descendant of gods explained why she could always cross wards without issue. They weren’t designedto detect beings like her. They were, however, designed to sense Legacy and Fae.

“You overlook the obvious,” Razik said, less than impressed as he wrenched open a door down the hall.

“What do we do about the wards?” Eliza asked, coming up beside her mate as Luka approached.

Beyond the door was a set of stairs leading down, sconces lit by Achaz magic lining the walls.

“I don’t know,” Luka admitted.

“You don’t have a plan for the wards?” Razik demanded. “Did you plan this out at all?”

“It was kind of hard to plan when I didn’t know what we were going to find,” he shot back.

“What good is rescuing this person if we can’t get them out of here? More than that, how do you propose getting them out of the cell? I’m assuming it’s more than wards keeping them imprisoned.”

“You’d be right.”

They all turned, the three of them drawing weapons, only to find Cienna standing there. As she approached, she slipped a hand into a hidden pocket of the suit she wore, producing three vials.

“Drink,” she instructed, passing one to each of them.

Luka didn’t question the Witch, downing the contents of the vial in a single gulp, but Razik and Eliza studied the liquid, holding the vials up to the light.

“What is it?” Eliza asked.

“A potion to let you pass the wards. It will only last for an hour at most. We must be fast,” Cienna explained.

“We?” Luka asked.

“I have seen this play out many different ways over the decades. The only times you are successful is when I am along toaid you,” she replied, brushing past them and walking through the doorway.

She didn’t wait as she descended the stairs, and Luka shot his brother a look before he followed. He heard their footsteps behind him a moment later, and within minutes they’d reached the base of the stairs. Panes of glass lined the walls, and Luka peered into one, finding the cell empty. He reached out, pressing a palm to the smooth surface, then yanked it back with a curse as light speared into his being.

“The fuck?” he muttered, shaking his hand to ward off the sting. Then he went still when he saw who was in the next cell.

Valter.

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