Page 107 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

There were patrols outside the mine in the light of day, just as they’d suspected. Mostly thralls as far as she could tell from this distance, but a sizeable number of them.

And still, they hadn’t received word from the humans within the mine. So much could go wrong.

So many could die.

“We won’t let that happen.” Holt had evanesced beside her, the reeds swaying slightly as he crouched beside her, but even if he hadn’t disturbed them, hadn’t spoken out loud she’d have known he was there.

Maelissa still hadn’t agreed to the use of her archers, not for this, the first step in dismantling whatever Marcus and Aurelia had been planning, but Zylah trusted Holt’s instincts and had faith in his ability to lead this attack. “What if Jesper’s down there?” she asked him.

“Then we’ll face him.” Holt held out his hand for hers. “The accelerants are ready.”

They were going with the scouts to start the fires, evanescing in groups of four to place Nye’s custom orbs into the carts, enough to set the wood alight, but not enough to trap the humans inside. And though it would have been better to attack at night, it posed too great a risk to the humans. They’d need to be awake and alert if they stood a chance of fleeing.

Before Zylah’s hand had even fully closed around Holt’s, he’d evanesced them back into the forest, a short distance away from the soldiers.

“Whatever happens today,” he began.

She took a step towards him, her fingers fisting into his shirt as she tilted her head back to look at him. “We’ll find each other. At the end of it.”

He dipped his chin in acknowledgement, his eyes searching hers before he kissed her, fingers knotting into her hair as his other hand pressed her tightly against him.

It felt like another goodbye, and Zylah resisted the urge to push him away, to tell him nothing would make her walk away from him again. She smothered the thoughts, blocking them from him, from herself, lost herself to the feel of him for one more moment before they went to join the others.

The soldiers were everywhere, preparing to move to the tree line, where some would already be making their way into the water with hollowed-out reeds to spring up onto the banks of the lake as the others moved in from the shore.

Daizin stood beside Kej as Zylah and Holt approached, shadows flickering from the Fae as he watched Kej carefully load the fire orbs into belt bags. Holt could have summoned flames to start the fire in the mine, but Nye had created the orbs to burn after rattling the ingredients inside together, with an extended burn time to allow the blazing carts to make their way into the mine’s depths.

“Careful,” Daizin murmured, a shadow darting out to catch an orb that was about to tumble from the pile. Whatever he and Nye were; however it was that they were the same, was no doubt something Nye would be exploring once all of this was over. And despite the way things had started between Zylah and Daizin back in Varda, the Fae’s similarities to Nye cemented her trust in him. It was Laydan that had betrayed them, but she knew Daizin would have felt it the most, could see it in the way his jaw clenched tight whenever the key was discussed.

“I’m not afraid of a little heat,” Kej said, flashing Daizin a grin. Daizin didn’t respond, but it didn’t deter Kej. Zylah was certain very little would.

Nye approached, Rin and Enalla at her side, two more soldiers following close behind them. They had the same smoky grey eyes as Enalla, but aside from that, nothing marked them as the half-siblings Zylah knew them to be.

“In and out,” Nye instructed as Enalla and her two siblings each took a bag of orbs. “I need the three of you back with the others transporting humans to this side of the lake as fast as you can move.” The two males beside Enalla nodded their agreement along with their half-sister.

Zylah was still trying to chip away at the compulsion, searching endlessly for something; she had no idea what it might feel like, or how she might pull it away. Holt had said it was always easier around her and at first, she’d had the same assumption he did, that it was easier because of what they were to each other, but Zylah knew there was more to it. It was the reason she’d been able to get away from Jesper the night she thought she’d killed him.

Holt reached for the nearest bag, shifting to his knees to tie a bag of orbs to her waist, his fingers sure and steady as they worked the buckles. She was reminded of the day after they first met when he’d fastened her cloak back in his cabin.

His hands lingered at her hips as he rose to his feet in front of her.Just like old times,he told her, the corner of his mouth dragging upwards.

Zylah smiled at him in return. She wouldn’t let herself feel afraid. Not for herself. Not for him. Because she didn’t want to be that frail human woman who’d run, time and time again. Didn’t want to be the half-Fae who’d let herself go numb rather than feel anything at all. Learning she was Fae hadn’t been enough to change her heart, and she knew there might always be that small voice in the back of her mind whispering to her, telling her over and over how much she’d fucked everything up. But she knew how to fight it now. Knew how to crush it and keep it at bay. How to accept who and what she was, even with all her imperfections.

“In and out,” Nye instructed one final time.

Zylah placed a hand over her bag of orbs to steady them, before evanescing to one of the carts heading into the mine.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Thefirestartedwithinminutes. Soldiers came from every direction; from the forest, from the lake, some came sliding down the loose chips of rock that surrounded the entrance to the mine.

Thralls screamed, but the ones standing guard were too outnumbered to put up much of a fight. The familiar robes of the priestesses were the first to surface from the mine, closely followed by their acolytes, all coughing and spluttering and gasping for air as thick black smoke billowed around them.

Shit.

If they’d caused too great a fire, the humans would be dead before they made it to the surface.

Zylah grabbed the nearest acolytes, their eyes going wide as they took in her pointed ears. A flash of red almost blinded her as she evanesced them away to the holding area Nye had set up back in Kerthen.

---