Page 88 of The Night Hunting

When would the sneaking out, the planning, the attacking, the missions end? Would they ever? I seriously hoped it would. All I wanted was to settle with Shane, Minsi, Tyren, and the rest of the pack, and live peacefully.

That seemed like a faraway dream now.

Not wasting any more time, I put my plan into action.

Late at night, I walked to DuMoir Castle. Though this was a vampire castle, most supernaturals were sleeping now. Shane told me that once upon a time, the vampires slept through the day and were awake at night, but when Drake met Thea and they took over the vampire and witches, Drake changed the castle’s schedule to accommodate the witches. He changed their way of life for love. Thea was one lucky woman.

I was too. Shane loved me, and I loved him, and I didn’t wish for anyone else. I didn’t want anything else. Tonight, this damn curse would be gone, and despite still having plenty of problems to deal with, it would be one big weight off our shoulders.

The vampire guards at the castle’s doors let me pass without any problem despite the hour. Inside, the castle was dim, with only a light on here and there. A few patrols roamed around the castle every few minutes, but I wasn’t worried about them.

I went directly to Thea’s sunroom. I found a wall full of potions and elixirs. It wasn’t hard to find the ones I was looking for. I grabbed a few vials, filled the pockets of my vest, and walked toward the prison.

Again, the two guards at the entrance didn’t even look at me. But they should have. I put on the enchanted mask over my mouth and nose, picked one of the vials, and threw it at their feet. The smoke rose fast, enveloping them. They fainted and slid to the floor. I hooked my arms around theirs and dragged them inside the corridor, so no one could see a pair of vampire guards knocked out.

I descended the stairs and did the same with the next set of guards. These ones, though, I didn’t bother carrying anywhere. In here, no one would see them.

I walked past them, leaving the door wide open behind me, and halted in front of Dot’s cell. “Ready to get out of here?”

Seated in the same position as before, Dot lifted her head, and brought her palms up, the blue shackle still around her wrists. “How?”

I showed her the vial in my hand. I uncorked it and let a few drops fall on the cell’s lock. It melted with a sizzling sound. I pushed the bars open and stepped into the cell. I grabbed another vial. Though Dot had the magical shackles cast by Thea, I knew she was a lot stronger than me, and without the circle or other wards around her, who knew what she could do? So I brought some insurance.

I showed her the vial with red liquid. “See this? If you break out of the cuffs, or try anything funny, I’ll throw this at you, and this will melt you similar to how the other elixir melted the lock. You won’t be able to reverse that. Understood?”

She nodded.

Another flask, another potion. I let it drip over the circle’s line. A one-inch section disappeared, breaking the circle.

With a long sigh, Dot rose to her feet and stretched, as best as she could with her hands bound. But I wasn’t done.

I stepped into the circle and pressed my hand to her chest, sending a wave of darkfire into her. She wobbled to the side, dazed. “You didn’t think I would take you out of here at your full strength, right?”

I hadn’t done this before, but when I came up with this plan earlier this evening, I asked Thea, Almae, and Lavinia random questions about magic, as if I wished to understand my darkfire better. I knew their magic was different, but some principles were the same, weren’t they? I hoped they were. Otherwise, my plan wouldn’t work at all. One of the questions was about how to make someone dizzy enough for a few minutes, and how to break it right after.

I grabbed Dot’s arm, bathed us in an elixir to mask our scent and sounds, and guided her out of the prison. She stumbled, too dizzy to do anything else. I timed it right and avoided all patrols while we crossed the castle.

Two guards stood at Shane’s door—in case Shane broke out of his magical prison. Once more, I threw an elixir at the guards’ feet before they saw us and they fainted. I pushed Dot into the bedroom, let go of her, and dragged the guards inside. I tied them up against each other with my darkfire in case they woke up before we were done.

The room was dark enough that I had to wait a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the moonlight coming from the curtain-less windows.

Shane stirred in bed and sat up.

“Sorry we woke you up,” I said, walking to the nearest lamp on a side table. I clicked it on. Yellowish light illuminated a portion of the room.

Shane’s eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of him. “What’s going on?” He jumped from the bed and approached the bars. “Raika, what did you do?”

“What I had to.” I turned to Dot, who swayed, grabbed her shoulders, steadied her, and recalled the magic I had placed inside her to make her dizzy. She inhaled and blinked as if waking up from a dream.

She recoiled from my grip. “Aren’t you full of tricks, little wolf?”

I shrugged. “I must be learning after watching you witches for so long.” I showed her the vial in my hand and backed off a few steps. “Remember our deal.”

Apprehension hit me hard for a brief second, but I pushed it aside. I released the darkfire from around her wrists. A wicked grin spread over Dot’s lips as she stretched her arms over her head.

“Are you ready, alpha?” she asked Shane.

Shane’s eyes met mine and his jaw clenched. He didn’t seem happy with this, but I knew he wouldn’t oppose it either. He looked at Dot and nodded.

---