Page 90 of Forged By Heart and Claws
Thalen blinked. “Well… that’s bad timing.”
Colm stiffened beneath Briar’s grip. The fear in his face vanished, replaced by a slow, triumphant smile. “Oh,well played, Briar. You almost had me. I’m impressed.” He tilted his head mockingly. “What a vindictive little bitch you’ve become.”
Briar paled. Her lips mashed into a tight line.
I struck him hard across the face with the back of my hand. “Back to the passage!Now!”
Another crash splintered the thick wood of the door. They were using something heavy. Probably one of the axes we’d seen in the armory. Based on the speed, two were chopping at once.
“Go!” I pushed Briar toward the hidden door.
Veralt grabbed a chair and hurled it toward the entrance. The frame cracked as it slammed against the wood, buying us a second at best.
“You’re too late,” Colm choked out, laughing through bloodied teeth. “You’velost, Vad! Hurry, Calla Lily! The former king is here!”
Briar snarled, and her gaze flicked to the door, then back to Colm. Her sword trembled in her grip.
“Come on, Chaos!” Thalen yelled, already at the table. He ripped an oil lamp from its wall sconce, securing the casing so it could be carried.
I grabbed Briar’s arm. She didn’t resist as I dragged her toward the hidden entrance. We’d beensoclose.
Veralt vanished into the tunnel, Thalen right behind him. Briar darted in after, her hair whipping behind her. The main door to the observatory burst open with a final, bone-shaking crash.
“Colm!” Calla Lily’s voice rang out. “Hold on. I’m here!” Her gaze snapped to me then, and she shouted, "Guards, get them!"
I turned just long enough to see her rush in first with a dagger already in her hand and several guards at her back. She fell to her knees beside Colm and began slicing through his bonds.
I slammed the hidden door shut and yanked out the key. With one quick turn, I locked the mechanism. Something struck the door from the other side and shattered.
Thalen was halfway down the passage with his lamp held high. Its glow cast long shadows and warped them against the narrow stone walls.
Briar pressed a hand to her temple, her voice raw. “We can’t let them kill those children… all those people.”
“He won’t succeed.” I forced certainty into every syllable and shoved my sword into its sheath. “We’ll regroup. Stick to the plan. Hit them fast, hit them hard.”
Veralt gave a sharp nod and turned toward the exit. “Then let’smove.”
But before we took more than a few steps, a deep grinding sound echoed through the stone.
The wall at the far end of the passage shifted, thenslammeddown like a guillotine.
Veralt bellowed and punched the door. “It’s sealed! Feck—we’re trapped!”
I locked in place, gripping my sword as Colm’s laughter rang out from the other side of the door. We were trapped.
CHAPTER 20
Vad
My pulse thundered in my ears, syncing with the pounding on the other side of the wall. Heat crawled beneath my skin, the instinct to fight clawing its way to the surface even when there was nothing left to strike but stone.
Think.
There had to be a way out. There always was. The air thickened, smelling sour with smoke, sweat, and the sharp, metallic tang of fear.
“Open the door, Vad,” Colm said, his tone muffled yet smug.
Calla Lily giggled, the sound high and manic. “It was so thoughtful of you to have that second door installed. Very helpful.”
