by Sarra Cannon
I wished I could send him some kind of message to let him know that someday, he would be free again. Just to give him any hope to hold onto in the dark days yet to come. But I couldn’t do anything to help him. Not here.
I watched them for as long as I could, their laughter reaching me through the thin glass. They seemed happy, and I wished more than anything that I could join them, just for a moment. That I could belong to them and convince them to leave the Order. Convince them that there was another way.
Maybe, if things had been different, we could have all fought together.
But in a way, I knew both of these women would someday fight against the Order’s evil, because they were a part of me. As long as I still drew breath into my lungs, a piece of them still flowed through my veins, and some part of them had made me who I was today.
I glanced up at the clock ticking above me, and realized I had stood there for way too long. The sun was beginning to set in the distance and soon, they would come inside for dinner. My time was up, but I sent up a thought of gratitude.
Thank you for this moment. This one gift.
I brought a hand to my lips and sent a kiss toward the mother-daughter pair. Then I turned around, made my way back up the stairs and out into the Hall of Doorways.
I had lingered in the past for as long as I cared to stay. Now, it was time to get back to my future.
A New Kind Of Hope
Lea
In the shuffle of the crowd leaving the arena, I searched desperately for Ezrah. While Kael and my father were occupied, I ran through the throngs of demons, begging to see his face among the others.
I nearly cried when he appeared near the east exit.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Thank God I found you,” I said, out of breath. “I need something from you, and don’t tell me you can’t do it or that it’s too dangerous. We’re beyond dangerous now. This is life and death and the future of our people.”
He looked directly into my eyes and nodded. “Tell me what you need,” he said.
“My bag,” I said. “The one the guards took from me when they first brought us here to the castle. And my bow. I have a feeling I’m going to need it before this whole thing is over.”
His face went ghostly white, and he swallowed hard. “I know where it’s being kept,” he said. “I think I can get to it, but it won’t be easy. What’s happened, Lea? Are you in danger?”
“We all are in danger,” I said. I glanced around at the demons leaving the arena. “Maybe the entire city. I don’t have time to explain, but get me that bag as soon as you can. Whatever it takes, Ezrah. I need something from inside it.”
“I’ll make up some excuse to come to your chambers tonight,” he said. “Something about your safety at tomorrow’s battle. Wait for me there.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Anything for you, my queen,” he said, bowing his head slightly. “Now, go, before anyone from the council sees us talking.”
I wanted to hug him. I’d been expecting a fight, but maybe he heard the seriousness in my voice. I had to find out what was hidden behind that door, and as soon as I had the answers I was looking for, I intended to figure out a way to get us all out of here before it was too late.
Watching Aerden go through that battle had nearly killed me. He had won, but there were still two more battles to fight before he would have a chance at his freedom. I wasn’t sure I could sit there and watch him go through that again.
I made my way back to my father and the rest of the council, and Kael narrowed his eyes at me, questioning. I simply smiled at him and took my mother’s arm, walking with her back toward the castle and not bothering to glance back.
He had his secrets, but not for long. As soon as I had that key, I had a feeling his secrets would come tumbling out of the door he kept hidden in the darkness.
* * *
Later that night, I paced the floor of my room, anxious for word from Ezrah. If he couldn’t find the bag, or if anyone saw him bringing it to me, Kael would most certainly hear about it.
Ezrah’s true identity could not be discovered without ruining everything Andros had set in place here. He was a member of the Resistance, and having him here in the castle had been extremely important over the years since my father closed the city’s gates.
But knowing what Kael was hiding in the dungeons was more important. We couldn’t afford to play it safe any longer. If the Resistance truly wanted to know what was going on in the council’s meeting and who was controlling this kingdom, I was their best hope.
When someone knocked on the door an hour later, I jumped and ran to answer it.
“Let me answer it,” Presha said, moving in front of me, as if I’d offended her by trying to do something for myself.
I bit my lip and nodded, watching anxiously as she opened the door to my suite.
“I need to speak with the princess about her security tomorrow,” Ezrah said. “Please, give us a moment of privacy and wait outside.”
Presha’s hand fluttered to her face. “Of course,” she said.
She motioned for the other handmaidens to join her in the hallway, and when the door was closed, I nearly tackled Ezrah in a hug.
“You got it?” I asked.
“Just barely,” he said, pulling the leather bag from a larger sack he had slung across his back. “One of the other guards came in and asked what I was doing in the king’s safe, but I made up some story about needing to retrieve something for the queen. As long as he doesn’t ask your mother what I was doing there, I should be in the clear.”
I took the bag over to my writing desk and opened it up, checking to make sure that everything was still there. Relieved, I touched the diamond key and closed the bag. I trusted Ezrah, but I didn’t want him to know everything until I had more answers.
“Thank you,” I said. “And my bow?”
He sighed and removed it from the sack.
I giggled like a teenager and snatched it from him. Holding it felt like coming home again. I held it to me and twirled around.
“What exactly do you plan to do with that?” he asked. “If anyone sees that you have it, I don’t know that I’ll be able to help you escape the dungeons a second time.”
“I’ll keep it well hidden until I need it,” I said, and when he raised a doubting eyebrow, I smiled. “I promise.”
“I know you’re only doing what you feel is right, but your position here is as a spy for now,” he said. “Not a warrior. The more we can find out about the council’s plans, the more we can help the Resistance.”
“The council is a sham,” I said. “There’s more going on here than any of us ever suspected. And I promise that as soon as I have the answers I’m looking for, I will tell you everything. Do you think you can get word to Andros for me?”
He frowned. “It won’t be easy,” he said. “One of our men is going on patrol tomorrow, though, so if I can get word to him before he leaves, he might be able to send a message to Andros. What do you want me to tell him?”
“Tell him to start making plans to get us the hell out of here,” I said. “The sooner the better.”
“If you manage to escape, your father will not stop looking for you,” he said. “You realize what kind of danger you’re putting yourself in even suggesting this?”
“I do,” I said. “But we can’t stay. We need to be back with our people, fighting the Order. After tomorrow, I hope to have all the answers the Resistance needs to overthrow my father and restore this kingdom. Ezrah, this is everything we’ve been fighting for. We can’t let fear hold us back.”
“I’ll find a way to get your message to him,” he said. “Find me after tomorrow’s battle in the arena. I’ll wait for you at the same exit if I can. In the meantime, hide those things in a place your nosy handmaidens wouldn’t think to look.”
“I will,” I said. I grabbed the bag and my weapon and walked toward my bedroom. “Give me two minutes, then
open the door. And thank you. I owe you.”
“You owe me nothing,” he said.
I nodded and disappeared into my bedroom, shutting the door. I searched for a place to hide these things. Presha was always going through everything around here, but since she hadn’t discovered the axe when I’d had it under my bed, I decided that was the safest place for now.
I slid my bow under the bed, tucking it near the mattress where it wouldn’t be seen unless someone was specifically looking for it.
But before I hid the bag, I opened it one more time. I removed the diamond key and tucked it into my bra. I wanted it with me at all times, so that when the opportunity came, I wouldn’t have to return to my room to retrieve it.
As I grabbed the key, though, something else glittered inside the bag that nearly made my heart stop. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I reached inside to wrap my hand around the ruby communication stone. I had completely forgotten about it, but this stone was a direct line to Mary Anne and Jackson.
I wanted to use it now, but I heard Presha’s voice in the outer room and knew I was out of time. I tucked it into my bra beside the key and quickly stashed the bag under the bed.
A moment later, Presha opened the door to find me standing on the balcony, staring out across the city, my heart racing with a new kind of hope.
In The Face Of Death
Aerden
I lay back on my bed in the cell I shared with my teammates and closed my eyes.
Visions of blood and the horror in the eyes of the men I’d defeated flashed through my mind, and I opened my eyes again.
I couldn’t sleep. My side burned like hell, and despite the assurances of the guards that a shaman would be by to ease our pain, no one had stepped foot into the prison all evening.
I sat up and paced the room, conflicting feelings running through me. Guilt. Anger. Pride. Love. Despair.
I told myself that the demons I fought today were volunteers, just like me. Demons who would rather face death than be condemned to a life of slavery in the mines. But was that really true?
Trention slept just a few feet from where I stood now, and I knew that he was no volunteer. He was forced into these games because of me, and though I had done what I had to do to keep him and the rest of my team safe today, if someone had hurt him, they would have been sentencing an innocent demon to death.
The cell across from us had been occupied by the team that opposed us just last night, but there was no sign of them tonight. I kept hoping the door to the holding area would open and those demons would hobble in, injured but alive. Healed by a team of shamans, just like the guards had promised.
But in my heart, I knew the truth.
Those demons had been taken to some room where they were forced to choose between willingly giving their life in service to the king or having it ripped from them.
I placed a hand on my forehead and fought against these feelings that threatened to overwhelm me.
There were still two battles left to go before I would have any hope of being declared free from the king’s dungeons. We had easily won the first fight and had come out of it with nothing more than a few scratches that would heal in time. But how would the next two battles go?
Nothing was guaranteed, and I couldn’t afford to let my heart get soft. I didn’t want to hurt anyone else, but I wasn’t exactly eager to sacrifice my life here, either.
For a century, I had dreamed of my freedom. I had prayed for it for a long time, but as the years went by, I found myself wishing for death more than freedom.
Death simply seemed more achievable.
But there were those who had not given up on me, despite the impossible task before them. They were willing to give everything to save my life and set me free. I would not dishonor them by dying in these games. The only one who could win my freedom this time around was me, and I was grateful for the chance to redeem myself.
Still, I couldn’t shake the sorrow and guilt of what I had done.
The door at the end of the cell block opened, and slowly, a set of footsteps approached. I woke my teammates, and by the time Reynar appeared in front of us, the five of us all stood in a row, waiting to hear about tomorrow’s battle.
“I can’t say I’m happy to see you standing here as a winning team,” Reynar said, looking pointedly at me. “But I come tonight tell you that the king has chosen for Aerden and Trention to continue on as partners in tomorrow’s battle.”
My mouth dropped open. “What about the others?” I asked.
Reynar smiled. “The rest of you will head back to the mines tonight,” he said. “Work begins first thing in the morning and continues for the remainder of your pitiful lives.”
Rushon gripped the steel bars of the cell. “But we won,” he said. “We deserve the chance to fight.”
“You deserve nothing but what the king says you deserve,” Reynar said. “Be grateful you’re alive. I doubt these other two will live to see another moon.”
Anger pulsed through me. It wasn’t fair. These men had volunteered for the chance to fight, and they had won. We all deserved the chance to keep going. But I knew that arguing with Reynar wasn’t going to get me a different result.
Morway slammed his hand against the wall and cursed. “I won’t go back there,” he said. “I can’t.”
“Would you rather die tonight in service to the king?” I asked, grabbing his arm. “Go back to the mines. I promise you that if I win my freedom, I will find a way to get you out of there. All of you.”
Reynar threw his head back, laughing. “You’re a fool if you believe you’d ever have that kind of power,” he said. “But since you will most likely die tomorrow, I’ll leave you to your foolish dreams. The rest of you, come with me now. You’ve got to be up bright and early.”
Rushon, Perrick, and Morway lined up and left the cell, their heads low and their spirits defeated. When they were gone, I wanted to run my fist through a wall.
What kind of king did this to his own people?
Trention watched as I paced the room, anger radiating from my body.
“Here, sit,” he said after a long while, pulling his legs off the side of the bed to give me room to sit. “You’re making me dizzy with all this pacing.”
“It isn’t fair,” I said.
“You of all people should know that life is rarely fair,” he said.
“I just hate this feeling of complete helplessness. I want to do something to save them. To help them,” I said. “Instead, I condemned five men to death today and had to watch my friends get sent back to the dungeons.”
“You carry so much on those shoulders of yours,” he said. “Did you commission these games? Did you condemn these demons to a life of slavery?”
“No, but—”
“There is nothing else,” he said. “We have been put in an impossible position. We must either kill or be killed. That is not our choice, but it’s the truth of our situation. Whether you decide to place the responsibility of this horror on your own shoulders is your choice, Aerden. And I thought you of all people would understand that the one thing they can never take from you is your own mind. Your own thoughts. Those are under your control, even when everything else has been taken from you.”
I quieted, listening to the wise words of an ancient demon.
“Don’t let them have this piece of you,” he said. “Master your own mind and you take your power back.”
My flesh broke out in chills at his words.
He was right.
He placed a hand on my forehead. “Your thoughts are more powerful than you realize,” he said. “Even when things seem hopeless and even when you are forced to watch great injustice performed right in front of you, it is still your choice whether to focus on the pain or whether to steel yourself for battle. You choose to be the victim or the victor. Rule your own mind, Aerden, and stop letting them chip pieces off of you as if you were made of stone.”
He moved his hand to my chest, placing his palm
above my heart.
“Show them you are made of soul,” he said. “Of love. Of strength. Show them you are free because you choose to be free.”
A tear rolled down my cheek, and I grabbed my friend’s hand. He had been like family to me here in the dungeons, and his words echoed through me as truth.
For him, I would be strong, even in the face of death.
Finding My Way Home
Harper
I stepped through the door marked with an emerald scarab beetle. I hadn’t gotten a chance to call Brooke to give her an update on how things were going or when I would be home since Rend didn’t have a phone at his house in the Alps.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure if international calling was a thing in the fifties. I was clueless about how things worked this far back.
But since I didn’t know what was going on with her here in the house, I quickly summoned my power and glamoured myself as Dr. Evers once again. Better safe than sorry these days, but I hoped more than anything that I would go downstairs and hear Brooke say that she’d found the portal and was ready to go home.
Instead, I heard Melody’s voice at the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m sorry, Detective, Dr. Evers isn’t here this evening,” she said. “I’m not sure when she’ll be home.”
I tossed Rend’s bag into the bedroom and hurried down, glad I had taken the time upstairs to glamour myself. And so incredibly grateful I had gotten enough rest over the past couple days to have all of my power back. Today, holding the glamour felt as natural and as easy as breathing.
“I’m here, Melody,” I said. I didn’t want her to send the detective away. Out of everyone I knew about in this timeline, he was the most likely to know where that portal was located. Now that I had the potions for the girls, he was my next objective.
