Crowned (Beholder #4)(24)

I brushed the tear from Jicho’s cheek. “All right. I accept your generous offer of help.” I scanned the cell. “In that case, we now have to get out of here.”

Jicho immediately brightened. It was just like a child to forget one terror with a new diversion. How I envied him that ability. “No problem,” Jicho announced. “I can climb down and cause a diversion.”

The footsteps in the corkscrew stairs grew louder.

“But I thought you were in meditation.”

“Oh, yes.” Jicho sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t have a vision for how we’d get out of this. I only saw that we’d eventually escape.”

I paced the floor, trying to force my mind to concentrate. Sure, I didn’t have my magick, but wasn’t Amelia always saying that magick was overrated? There had to be another way to escape. With every step, the floorboards creaked ominously beneath my slippers. I froze midstep.

Suddenly, I knew exactly how we’d get out of this tower. I could only hope I had enough time left to enact my plan. Because unless I got past these mages and found the Sword of Theodora? There would be no stopping Viktor.





Chapter Eleven




Jicho and I simply had to escape this tower. In my opinion, the only way we could to do it was to pretend we’d already gone.

Fortunately, Rowan had trapped me in a tower that had been built more for storage than prisoners…And where things could be stored, they could also be hidden.

Falling onto my knees, I hooked my fingers around the edges of the nearest floorboard. It pulled up with ease. Sure enough, there was enough room in the sub floors for Jicho and I to hide, so long as we laid silently on our backs. Dust and old moldy oats lined the space. Someone had definitely used this for storage.

The footsteps in the tower staircase grew louder. The palace mages would be here any second. There wasn’t time.

“We need to pull up the floorboards and hide underneath,” I whispered to Jicho.

“Won’t they know we’re hiding?”

“Everyone thinks I can still cast magick. They’ll assume I transported away.”

“But what if they cast a tracking spell to find out where you went?” asked Jicho. “They’ll know you’re here.”

“I don’t think they will.”

In truth, I figured that there was a good chance they would try to cast a tracker spell, but this was the best plan I could conjure with in all of three seconds. It wasn’t the best plan in the universe, but it was better than standing around. And palace mages were often raised in comfort and luxury. They wouldn’t know about storage spaces in towers.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Eh, this was insane.

Jicho slid out the floorboards and began to scoot under the subfloor. “Well, I won’t hide and wait while they take you away.”

“Agreed.” I did the same as Jicho, pulling up enough boards so I could shimmy into the subfloor. Lying on my back, I maneuvered the wood slats back where they’d been before. The moment the last board snicked into place, the door to the tower room slammed open.

A long pause followed. My heart thumped so hard in my chest, I thought it would be audible to the mages.

“She’s not here,” said an elder woman’s voice. “Thank the Lady.”

“We should cast a tracking spell.” This time, it was a young man who spoke. I’d seen a pair of mages heading across the grounds. These must be the same two.

“No, we should not.” The elder woman’s voice deepened with conviction. I made a silent vow that if I got through this alive and retook my role in the palace, I was definitely awarding her property. By the Sire, she could have her own temple named in her honor.

“No, you heard Prince Kade’s orders.”

My teeth locked with frustration. The younger mage was most definitely not getting a temple.

“Yes, and I recall Genesis Rex saying that if we harm her, he’d want a full accounting.”

My heart soared. I had heard Rowan’s “I want a full accounting” speech many times. That was his way of telling the mages that he didn’t want me harmed unnecessarily. Perhaps he was remembering more at last.

“That warning meant nothing,” said the young mage.

The elder mage sniffed. “You ever seen a man defend his mate?”

“You can’t believe that witch is truly the mate of our Genesis Rex.”

“That witch told the king she was his mate. And she’s a follower of Viktor, who is a master of enchantments. Who knows what kind of spells she’s cast on our king? And if she can trick our Genesis Rex? She’s a mage unlike anything we could fight. Rex would want us to go back. He’s far better prepared to track and fight her than we are. If we go off and get ourselves killed, we’re of no use to our king.”

It was official. This woman would get two temples.

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” The younger mage paced the floor. The movement of the boards sent bits of dust cascading into my mouth and nose. I stifled the urge to sneeze. Jicho didn’t do as well. He let out a sound that sounded like a high-pitched squeak. My heart sank.

We’ll be caught for sure.

“Did you hear something?” asked the young mage.

“It’s an old room; it makes noises.” The older woman’s voice dripped with frustration. “Are we returning to the palace or not?”