Page 147 of Owned

Ghoul.

The next stretch of hall was a blur, and the Spire’s defenses seemed to grow weaker as we got closer.

Maybe they’d finally realized that defeat was inevitable.

They’d fucked up.

Taking Avril might have seemed like a good idea at the time—but they’d made a mistake that would put them all in their graves.

“Wait—”

Valen leaned against the wall and pressed his palm against the stone. “I can— She’s here. She’s close— Can you feel her? She’s reaching for us?”

“Yes,” Bastian said slowly. “I— Yes.”

I could feel it now.

It was a thin thread, but it was there, growing stronger with every stride.

“Let’s finish this,” I said.

We moved with lethal precision, knowing the end was near.

There were too many doors, but only one stood between us and seeing her face.

A door that wasn’t a door.

A seam in the stone.

“There—” Valen pointed, but I already knew.

My magic shattered the rock and mortar puffed in pale clouds as we strode through the rubble and into the room.

The traitors inside didn’t even have time to scream.

Bastian was on them first, spilling blood across the rough stone floor.

Valen paused and then frowned briefly in confusion before pulling out his knives to follow Bastian’s lead.

The traitors fell so easily.

This hadn’t gone as they’d hoped it would.

“Avril—”

She was slumped against the far wall, bound by a dark chain bolted to the floor. It shimmered with an enchantment and the soft glow of spells set into the uneven stone floor reflected off her pale skin.

My heart lurched, and I pushed forward, ignoring the remaining guards as they dropped around us.

“Avril—”

Her name burned in my throat.

“Get— Get it off of her,” Valen shouted.

“Wait—” I called out as Bastian lunged forward. “Keylines—”

That’s why we couldn’t sense her. That’s why she couldn’t call out to us, or defend herself.

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