Page 24 of Royal Ransom

“Son of a bitch!” I swore, picking up the pace. Ice oozed from me like a pale carpet, so I half-glided past the downed creature. Icaught up with Basil in seconds, sweeping him along for the ride. To his credit, he balanced well, as though we’d planned to do a little synchronized skating if we had the chance.

“I can’t tell if it’s a mountain troll or a yeti from this angle,” he said mildly, ducking just in time to avoid a chunk of stone the creature hurled at our heads. I couldn’t help but cry out when a hail of granite splinters hit my thighs.

“I don’t care what it is,” I panted. “I just want to grab Maverick and get back. Do you have any idea where he could have gone?”

“No,” Basil replied simply. “And if we can’t find him soon, I don’t think we’ll discover him alive. Janara cast her net wide, going wherever she thought you might flee. That beast won’t be the only thing guarding this castle. It might be best if you escape into winter while you still can.”

And abandon Maverick to whatever fate awaited him in these halls? I’d seen what Janara was willing to send after me. Not only no, buthell no.

Basil must have read the answer on my face because he sighed. “Very well. We’ll do this your way. Let’s slay the beast. But I warn you, my way is faster.”

“Your way stinks worse than the fuzzball back there. I’ll take my chances with the monster, thanks.”

Another sigh. “Mad, all of you.”

Basil cracked his knuckles, and red-gold sparks flashed like fireflies in the dark. The shadows receded little by little as he conjured fire into his hand. He offered me the other without looking my way.

“Come along then, your highness. We don’t have time to waste.”

Chapter Fifteen

Maverick

I thought I’d evaded the network of spells I’d been tangled in by escaping into a locked office off the main hall.

I darted in, closed the door softly behind me, and let out a silent sigh. Then the hair on my arms stood up straight. I could hear voices from somewhere in the room.

I wasn’t alone here. Shit!

I ducked behind the open door of an abandoned armoire, willing my breathing to still. My lungs burned with the effort to stay quiet. After moving so quickly, I wanted to gasp for air. But I couldn’t risk being discovered.

So for now, hallway bad, creepy office good.

And it wasseriouslycreepy. I thought I’d seen it all when I was an adjunct staff member in this hellhole. This must have been Headmaster Thorne’s living quarters at one point. It was twice as tall as it was wide, with an entire black façade all the way down to the dark wooden floor of the room’s circular base. It was cluttered with pointed furniture and birdcages occupied by sullen black birds, ravens by the looks of them. All dead and stuffed.

Dozens of stuffed crow carcasses lined the walls. Spaced between the dead birds were black and gray portraits of ugly old men whose significance to the Academy I didn’t bother to guess. The men all seemed to belong to the same type, with their long white beards and beady little eyes.

The air in here was colder than in the hall. It was also a little damp, heavier with condensation. Both of these factors gave me the feeling of being stuck in a graveyard at midnight. I pulled the ludicrous silver vest tighter around my body as though it would do me any good. If this was how Tally felt in a cocktail dress, I’d never drag her out in one again. No one should have to suffer thecold for fashion… if you could even call this fashion.

My heart pounded in my chest. I put my hand over it as if I could make it still with my mind alone. As I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, it occurred to me that Icould.

My eyes snapped open as I remembered a pulse-slowing spell Dickhead Reynard had taught Astrid before he got captured. It was a mix of ritual and medically accurate anti-anxiety techniques. It was less about the words you said and more about the feelings behind them—a manufactured good vibe, so to speak. What brought you joy? What brought you peace?

I closed my eyes and focused with all my might to pull the words from the recesses of my mind. When I managed that minor miracle, I thought about how I could cast it. I didn’t dare speak aloud with the stranger in the room, especially one who didn’t know I was loitering within the confines of his office. Hopefully, the spell would be just as potent when recited in my head. It was technically possible to do... just very difficult to attempt. Maybe two or three of my former coven could do it with any regularity.

The words came easily when I slid into a more meditative state. They weren’t the words I’d have used a few years ago.

“Snow. Peppermint fudge. Threadbare quilts. Hard cider. Tally’s hair.”

Tally, Tally, Tally.

Almost every good memory I had led back to her somehow. She was the very best thing in my life. How could she doubt that?

A question for another time. I only needed to focus on the recitation for a few moments. The effect was so instant and stark that I clapped my hand over my mouth to silence my gasp. Though my hand over my heart hadn’t moved, the beat beneath it was nowhere to be found. When I pressed down on my chest with both hands, I still found nothing. Was this what it felt liketo be a vampire?

With that thought, I understood what was happening. I’d sensed this presence before. Though, at that point, he’d drawn me into a bloody netherworld to bargain.

“Not now, Knox,”I thought desperately. The footsteps were drawing closer. I couldn’t afford to fight an internal battle with an external one so near.

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