Bound by Darkness (Bound By Series)

43. Shadows

Chapter 43

Shadows

THALIA

It flickered above us, sparks dropping onto the tents with brilliant specks of faelight. The edges were beginning to collapse and disappear.

My head whipped to Naexi. “Does Iyanna know?—”

“Of course you idiot!” she yelled. “It’s why I even bothered finding you two. She’s trying to hold the ward with her remaining casting. She needs you both to help evacuate seeing as we’re low on available options.” Her eyes turned to me. “After the last person is rescued, you’re to report to her tent. She can’t call on the blood oath while incapacitated with the wards.”

I gave a nod. “Okay.”

“The ward is collapsing on all sides. Even if they run to one area, it might not be safe when it falls,” Naexi continued. “There’s an underground passage near the training grounds. It’ll lead them out to safety.” She brandished the sword from her back, a snarl rising in her throat. “I’m going to find Fin and Ivan as we need every hand available so get to it.”

“Kaydn. You mean Kaydn.”

Naexi’s eyes widened with recognition, but all she sent me was a nod before she ran off to the camp’s edge.

Moria turned to me. “You take this half and I’ll check the other. Meet back here after?”

I gave her a quick nod. “Be careful.”

“You too,” she said before running off into the chaos, her figure slipping behind a broken carriage.

Blood pumped in my ears as I checked the tents nearest me. Most of them were empty, but there were a few people who were stuck due to illness or injury.

“Head that way,” I said as I pointed them in the direction of the underground passage.

“Thank you. Blessed be the Mother,” an elderly woman said before her and her husband hobbled off in the direction I’d pointed.

Standing in the empty street, my eyes swiveled upward as I watched the sporadic colors appear. The ward was still holding, but how much longer could Iyanna keep it intact?

Heading back to the spot we’d parted, I double checked the tents. The last thing I needed on my conscience was another death.

“There you are!” a voice cried. Large arms swept me into a hug.

Shoving my face back a few stones, I opened my mouth to yell, but stopped as Fin’s wide grin popped into view.

“I was looking for you everywhere,” he exclaimed, his hands gripping my shoulders tightly. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” I squeaked against him as I pried my frame from his grasp. “I thought you were someone else!”

Fin glanced to the sky. “Sorry.”

The ward flickered again.

“Besides, I thought you were with Kaydn and Naexi. Did she not find you? ”

He shook his head. “Naexi did, but she’s searching for him right—Wait did you say Kaydn?” His head swiveled to mine.

“Yeah. He told me,” I answered flatly.

Fin’s eyes softened. “I should have told you?—”

“It’s okay. I know he said something to keep you quiet. I’m not mad at you.”

Fin let out a breath. “Oh gods, good. I don’t think I could handle your wrath.”

A chuckle bubbled from my chest. “I don’t think you could either, but we can talk about it later.” I pointed up the main street. “We need to make sure everyone is gone from the camp before the ward completely falls. I haven’t checked this side yet.”

“Already did,” he answered. “The rest of the tents are empty down this road. Everyone should be at the passage, including us.”

“I’m not going. Iyanna needs me in her tent.”

Fin paused. “Don’t be stupid. Going to her tent would put you at risk if the rebels storm in.”

“If I leave, she’ll call on the blood oath,” I said. “And… and I refuse to put all those people in that passage at a disadvantage. I don’t want them to die like the citizens of Laias if they hide me.”

Fin stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head. “Okay, fine, but do you need?—”

By the time he’d agreed, I’d already pulled the dagger from my side, the hilt comforting in my hand as I jerked my head toward the outskirts of town. “Let’s go.”

Fin grinned, his hand reaching at his thigh as he revealed a slightly larger dagger than mine, the tip of the blade slightly curled to rip and cause damage internally.

It was a nasty blade and the first time I’d seen the previous warrior in action.

“First thing we need to do is find Kaydn. Without him we won’t win.”

Despite my hatred for him right now, Fin was right. Without him, the Hideaway wouldn’t have a chance.

“Do you have any ideas where he could be?” I asked Fin as I searched up and down the empty streets, the tents eerie without a single soul nearby.

“No. I checked the training grounds, our tent, and Iyanna’s, but there is no sign of him anywhere.”

“He couldn’t have vanished.” It wasn’t like him to cower from a fight, especially for these people. “Maybe he?—”

A hand wrapped around my mouth, silencing my sentence as darkness enveloped me from head to toe. A scream left my lips as I raised the dagger around me, the sound muffled as I reached for anything I could get on my attacker.

Was it a rebel? Had they already infiltrated the camp?

“Thalia?” Fin’s voice rang out. “Thalia!” He yelled, his voice drifting farther and farther away from the tent I’d wound up in.

I sent my elbow flying backward, but a rough hand caught it, stopping its path in an instant.

“Shh, it’s me,” a familiar voice spoke as the hand covering my mouth lowered.

“Oh my gods. I almost stabbed you,” I hissed, shoving the dagger into the sheath at my thigh.

Kaydn rolled his eyes. “You weren’t even close with that terrible form of yours.”

“Shut up,” I said as I glanced around the room. “What are you doing in here anyway and why did you grab me like that? Let me go get Fin?—”

“I found something.”

“You… found something?”

He pointed toward the table at the back, an oil lamp propped beside some pages covered in ink.

Even with the light, it was hard to see in the room as if darkness itself clung to the walls. I could barely make out Kaydn beside me as I inched over to the table, my eyes scanning over the scribbled words.

“What are these?”

“Battle plans I found in Iyanna’s room,” he said. “She’s the traitor, Thalia, like you suggested.”

My eyes skimmed over the pages. These were battle plans and directions on how to dismantle the ward. It was perfectly written in ink.

“How did you get these?” I asked as I leaned over, my hands resting at my sides.

“After our… fight I went for a walk around the camp. I happened to overhear her talking to someone in her tent.”

Kaydn’s voice grew slightly distant as I stared at the pages.

“I waited until she left and found these on her desk. I didn’t know what to do so I snatched them up, storing them in here until I found you. You’re the only one I trusted enough to show.”

My eyes roamed over the pages as I read over the details. “Why not Fin? Why drag me in here?” I asked as my hands skimmed over the pages.

Ink blended together, smearing the words as my fingers brushed against it. My eyes stared at the fresh ink staining my fingertips. “You said you found these the day of our fight, right?”

“Yeah. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing,” I blurted as I examined the pages further.

The ink was still wet.

My heart skipped a beat as I examined the pages in depth. This wasn’t Iyanna’s writing. She’d never rush something so intricate. But as I stared in the dim lighting, recognition grew at the handwriting.

His handwriting.

Panic seeped into my bones. This was Ivan—Kaydn’s handwriting. I took a step back from the table, my arms falling behind me.

Click.

Cold pressed against my wrists, locking them into place against the small of my back. Screeching sounded within as the darkness slammed behind another set of iron doors. I was in prison cuffs. The same prison cuffs I’d been stuffed into for eleven years. The same prison cuffs designed to lock my casting. My breathing quickened.

I was in prison cuffs again .

I was in chains.

I was in chains.

Air filled my lungs rapidly, but it refused to circulate as I struggled to breathe in the tent. My body slammed into the table as I wrestled with the cuffs behind me, but they wouldn’t budge. A cry left my mouth as I yanked with every ounce of strength I had, but it wasn’t enough.

“Get me out of these, Kaydn!” I roared, a mixture of fear and anger coaxing my heart.

He stepped to the left, the glow of the oil lamp igniting further as I turned in his direction, but it wasn’t him standing there.

No, it was a hooded figure. The same person I had seen leaving his tent in Laias, the black hood unmistakable.

The figure stood in front of me, gloves covering their hands as they lifted them in greeting.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you, Thalia Carr,” a feminine voice said. Her voice was like icy daggers to my chest. “Now Kaydn, be a dear and make our guest comfortable.”