Page 68 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

Alexei took pride in how he ran that place. He considered it a reflection on himself when something went wrong. Vaara had never heard of anyone escaping the prison. Now, it had happened twice within days. Alexei must have been furious. And he tended to deal with his fury by branding it into other people’s skin.

If Alexei found Toreg, he’d be angry. Whatever he’d do to him wouldn’t be pleasant.

Vaara approached Toreg, drawing his sword. Toreg gave him a wary look. “Don’t come back,” Vaara said. “If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”

Toreg, realizing he was being offered a way out, gave a wolfish smile. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said.

Vaara gave an annoyed grunt. He pointedly didn’t look at Crow as he sawed the blade through the rope. He wasn’t asking her permission, or giving her the opportunity to tell him not to do it. The binding did nothing to prevent that, thank the Goddess.

“Much appreciated, friend,” Toreg said as he twisted out of the loose ropes.

Vaara just glared at him. Toreg gave a wave as he turned and ran, then disappeared around the corner.

Crow was watching Vaara, arms crossed. “For someone who talks so much about hating humans—”

“Be quiet,” he muttered. Crow smirked.

He walked past her, but stopped short when someone appeared between him and the road.

Alexei.

Chapter 18

Vaara froze. So did Alexei. The warden’s eyes sharpened as they fell on Vaara. Then he drew his sword and advanced toward them. The other dogs and guards appeared behind him. They blocked the path to the road, leaving nowhere to go but back to the house.

Vaara’s hand went to the hilt of his sword. He’d beaten Alexei easily, once. But that had been a long time ago, before he’d spent a year and more wasting away in a cell.

Crow grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the house. “This way.”

“We’ll be trapped in the house,” Vaara hissed even as he ran with her.

“Have you forgotten our secret exit?” she said as she pulled him through the door. Alexei and the others sprinted after them. There was a cacophony of barking from the dogs. Crow slammed the door shut, muffling the noise outside, then locked it and kept running.

Someone pounded at the door, shaking the handle. Glass shattered as windows were broken in. Vaara looked over his shoulder and spotted Alexei’s face at a window by the door.

“Keep moving, if you please,” Crow said. She stood on the cellar stairs. “Shut the door behind you, if you please.”

“For fuck’s sake, stop saying that.” Vaara shut the door at the top of the stairs, plunging them into blackness.

Crow’s breath caught. She stared at the wall, unseeing, and fumbled in her pocket for a mage torch. When she finally snapped it on, casting an anemic blue light over the stairs, she breathed again.

She looked up at him very briefly to say primly, “I like saying it,” then took the stairs down two steps at a time. Vaara followed her into the darkness. They were at the far side of the cellar when the door at the top of the stairs opened.

Crow shoved aside a crate to reveal a small door in the wall, just large enough to fit through if they got on their hands and knees. She unlocked it with her set of keys, then gestured for him to enter. “After you.”

He gave the door a wary look. Whatever was in there was better than what he could hear pounding down the stairs after them.

He crawled through the door and into a dirt tunnel filled with spiderwebs. He caught a glimpse of several small crawling things skittering away as he entered.

“This is disgusting,” he muttered, but kept moving. “The prison was cleaner than this.”

“Why do you think I had you go first?” Crow said as she locked the tiny door behind them.

“Why do you have to be…” He shook his hand as something with too many legs scrambled over it. “...the way that you are?”

“My apologies. You’re probably used to escaping your former wardens in luxury. You expected a gilded carriage, perhaps? Or a team of palanquin bearers? You’re welcome for rescuing you, by the way—again. This is twice now, remember?” Her voice had taken on a sharpness that betrayed genuine annoyance.

He glanced at her over his shoulder, taking in the lingering frustration on her face. She’d flipped off her mage torch and was squinting in his general direction. Dogs barked behind them. Voices carried through the cellar to the tunnel. He kept moving.

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