Where the witch’s eyes should have been were gaping holes.
“I’ll live,” he said slowly. “Protected now. You need to get out.” His words grew clearer and stronger with each sentence, and I noticed the waviness, the lack of opacity around his edges. He was projecting himself.
“Where are you?” I demanded.
“It doesn’t matter. My fellow Wardens will be able to find me. You need to get out. Tell the Tribunal what’s happened—”
“Who took your eyes, Eliphas?” I snarled.
“Kartane,” he answered. “He tried to kill me, but the power transfer wasn’t completed, so he failed. Don’t worry. I’ll find him and win, even without my eyes.”
His second in command attacked him. That had serious repercussions.
“Why did you project here?”
“I was trying to reach you. It worked, not exactly, but it worked. You’re the only person allowed to leave—”
“I hear talking. Is there anyone here?” a singsong voice called from the hallway Raphael and I had just left. I quickly pulled an old, pure iron knife from my right boot, knowing it was possible I might have to use it.
“Go,” Eliphas ordered, then disappeared.
I didn’t say anything, turning back to grab Raphael and hauling ass.
“Who—”
“Don’t ask,” I whispered harshly as we turned around a corner. “Fuck.” We were staring at an elevator and stairwell access.
“Kaliya, I could—”
“Kaliya?” a giggling woman asked. “I’ve been looking for you.”
I shoved Raphael toward the stairwell, my heart pounding. I didn’t look back, didn’t want to.
“Run!” I yelled, knowing we were being hunted. “Now! Don’t fucking argue. Go!”
He pulled open the door to the stairwell and started running up, which was the right choice. Going down would have been a dead end. Up, I could work with.
“Don’t you want to play, Kaliya?” she asked behind me as I followed him. I knew who it was, an important reason I wasn’t looking back. It was also why I didn’t answer her. She was weaving charms into those words, a sweet trap she used to catch all of her victims. If I gave in and turned around, she would trap me in a living hell, then skin me alive. Knowing the outcome was the only reason I didn’t fall for it, feeling the tug of her magic as I ran up the stairs.
“Don’t turn around. Don’t tell her your name. I won’t say it, so if you don’t, you’ll be safe,” I told Raphael as we made it to the top. “Go, find a window. We can’t stop.”
“Okay.” He was short and simple with his response, and I was grateful for his focus. He held the door for me to run through, then slammed it closed. I found a hallway table and started pushing it over. He was able to move it in front of the door with ease. “Who is that?” he asked as we started running again.
“That fae princess I was telling you about,” I answered, my heart pounding as we ran through the halls. “Find a window. Keep an eye out for one we can jump out of,” I corrected, seeing one too small for Raphael to fit through. I could get through any of them and be okay with it, but I couldn’t leave him to find another way out. If one of the northern cell block inmates was out hunting, that meant more probably were.
“Isn’t there iron in this building that stops her from using magic?” he asked as we entered a guard lounge, panting together as we blocked one of the doors with couches before we stopped to rest in the back of the room.
“Yeah, mostly in the actual cell blocks. The fae guard need to be able to work everywhere else. With the magical defenses down, there’s really nothing stopping any of the prisoners from having most, if not all, of their powers. Except the werewolves. They have silver in their systems.”
“Are we going to get out of here alive?” he asked, and I felt the weight of the question.
“Yes,” I promised. “But first, let’s hope we lost her. Who knows who else we’ll run into.”
8
Chapter Eight
We took only a of couple minutes to catch our breath, but it was enough. The lounge had no windows, which meant we had to leave and go looking for one or find another staircase and get back to the ground floor. I gave Raphael a look over for injuries, but he was already healing nicely from the cuts and bruises. When he looked me over, I heard grumbling.