The Silver Siren (Iron Butterfly, #3)(18)

Creeping forward, I peeked out into the night and gently pushed the door forward enough that I could slide out and duck into the shadows. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into the night. Their arm wrapped around my throat, pressing my back against their body. My mind went through all of the drills Kael had taught me, and I reached for a pressure point on the attacker’s hand.

I heard a cry of pain, but I didn’t stop. I grabbed his wrist and twisted my own body, forcing his body weight to the ground. By controlling his arm, I controlled his whole body, but I needed to silence him before he called out for help.

Part of me wanted to kill him, but I restrained myself. I picked up the large iron lock from the ground with my left and swung it at his temple. On contact, the guard fell forward and didn’t move. Quickly, I dragged his body into the shed and gently closed the door. From a distance it wouldn’t look like it had been broken open.

I just prayed no one would take a closer look.

Where to next? I had to find Kael. I don’t care what he said—or in this case didn’t say—about the SwordBrothers, I was not going to leave him to their machinations, but first things first.

I needed a weapon.

I kept to the shadows and stayed close to the buildings. The streets were empty except for a stray cat. I looked along the rooftops of the buildings and could see silhouettes and torches. When a silhouette moved, I knew it was a sentry. I could see similar torches along the valley’s walls. A door opened down the road, and two figures stepped out of a building, walking toward a tall tower.

I followed close behind and listened to what they were saying.

“I can’t believe he came back.”

“He shouldn’t have come back,” the larger one said.

“This changes everything.”

“This changes nothing. Gwen has made her choice.”

“Have you spoken with Alek?”

“No. Not until we are sure she’s going to fail.”

Both men stopped talking but continued walking. They headed toward a tall guard tower on the south end of town. I ducked into a bush and listened as they rapped three times, then once, then twice. A slot in the door opened and a large furrowed brow peaked out.

“What do you want?”

“We want to speak to our brother,” the tall man said.

“No, he’s…” a deep chuckle spilled forth, “detained.”

“This is important.”

“You will have to wait to have your questions answered like everyone else.”

I watched as the tall man shook his head and motioned for the other to follow him. Both walked down the path and away from the tall tower.

That must be where Kael is. He had to be the one they were talking about. I looked up and saw that the tower was at least fifty feet high, with one small window and ledge on every floor. There was no entrance other than the door guarded by Mr. Gargantuan.

I slowly crept backwards and retraced my steps to the open pavilion I had seen as we came into the village—the one filled with racks of weapons. It was mostly dark. A warm light spilled out of one side of the closest home, and I could see shadows moving behind the screens. Bypassing the occupied side, I ended up in an empty training arena. I closed my eyes and felt a moment of helplessness.

No, I would just have to keep searching.

Silently, I went to the dark side of the courtyard and slid open the door. Thankful for how quiet the rice paper doors were, I kept low to the ground and closed the door behind me. I waited. I needed to start checking rooms, looking for weapons that had been put away. On my third door, I hit the jackpot. I took only what I thought I would need to escape: knives, blow tubes, grappling hooks, shooting stars, and a bow and arrow—everything an assassin needed.

Everything I needed.

Armed, I made my way to the towering pagoda that was Kael’s prison. Thankfully, the multiple ledges would give me plenty of help scaling the tower. It had been a few seasons since I used a grappling hook, and it took two tries before I was able to secure it and start my ascent. I left my bow and arrow on the ground. The bow would do little good in such a small room. At each floor, I paused and listened outside of the window before I moved on and up.

On the fifth floor I spotted Kael, chain-bound in the corner of a small stone room. Each floor had guards posted, and Kael’s floor was no exception. There were two.

My hand felt into my pocket searching for the blow dart and removing the protective cork. I had chosen the ones dipped in blue, knowing those were the sleep darts, from a previous lesson from Kael. My fingers fumbled with the dart and it slipped through my fingers, falling fifty feet to the ground.

I froze and tried to calm my nerves down. I had to be less careless.

A blindfold covered Kael’s eyes. He was gagged, looking like he was asleep, but I could tell he was feigning. His legs were a little too stiff. He probably knew I was outside of the tower and was ready to act, to help if needed.

Taking aim, I blew. The guard closest to me slapped his neck.

“What the…?” He pulled the dart out of his neck. “Sound the alarm…esca—” He fell over. The other guard turned to attack me.

I was already over the window ledge and had another dart loaded. The blowpipe was knocked from my hand by the second guard, and I launched myself at him. We rolled across the floor. I was hoping to knock him to the ground and wind him, but now I was on the bottom fighting for my life.