Chapter 37

37

The wind roared around Arya as she tumbled through nothing. She curled herself into a ball and waited for the landing that would end her life. She had taken a chance, the only one she had. Perhaps there had been something she should’ve or could’ve said differently. It was pointless to go back over any of it now. She hadn’t swayed the disembodied voice. Maybe nothing could’ve changed the outcome.

Would anyone find her body? She wished she could get a message to her friends and tell them to get out as fast as they could before they ended up like her. But there was no way she could warn them. Unless the stones told Yasmin . That would most likely be the outcome, and that gave her a glimmer of hope. None of them should’ve entered the fort without more assistance.

They had walked into a death trap. Jai had tried to warn them, but she had been too intent on freeing those who had been taken. Now , she was falling to her death. It would come unexpectedly, too, since she couldn’t see. She had stopped trying to glimpse anything in the obscurity.

Arya closed her eyes. At least the pain had diminished. The impact, when it happened, should be quick. The sheer rate at which she fell meant she wouldn’t feel anything. Unless …this was her death. Falling forever. She wasn’t sure what was worse. Waiting for the inevitable that might happen or knowing what was coming.

She had become so used to the howl of the wind that it took her a second to realize it had gone silent. She opened her eyes to find herself standing in a room with another damned spotlight trained on her. She was held again but by two Dark guards this time instead of the barbed-rope thing.

How had she gotten here? When had she gotten here? Had it all been some kind of illusion? The fact that she didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t made her gut twist painfully. Panic threatened, and for just a second, she nearly gave in. It would be so easy. It was much harder to hold it back and remain—at least in appearance—unfazed.

The success she and the others had found at Shaldorn had led them to believe they could do the same at the fort. It would take an army to unravel the tangle of individuals: those in charge, those forced to work, those wanting to be there, and the enslaved. And even then, Arya would bet her life’s blood there were even more involved, hiding in plain sight.

Arya felt eyes on her again. The guards holding her arms didn’t seem to pay her much mind. She was careful not to move and cause herself more pain. They hadn’t killed her. Whether that meant there was more torture to come or she might have actually prevailed in her bid to save herself was yet to be seen.

“ Kneel .”

She turned her head to the right to look at the guard who had spoken. His command had barely penetrated her mind before both males turned toward her. She wasn’t prepared when the one on her right kept a hand on her arm and put the other on her back before popping her shoulder back into place.

The pain made her knees buckle. She tried not to cry out, but the sound passed her lips despite her efforts. On the heels of that came her left arm being shoved back into its socket. The guards didn’t try to hold her afterward. She brought her arms against her and fell forward. Pain radiated from her shoulders outward, throbbing in time with her heartbeat.

They could’ve brought in healers. Arya supposed she should be happy they’d bothered to put her shoulders back into place, but the agony was too severe at the moment to think of anything else.

“ Where is Jai ?”

The same disembodied voice from before echoed around her loudly. The order was clear. Arya sat up slowly but remained on her knees. She gazed around her, searching for the voice’s owner or any face. The guards were gone, but she suspected they were near enough to stop her if she tried anything. She didn’t feel a necklace on her. Could she call the shadows and get away in time? Maybe .

They wanted to know about Jai , which meant she had gotten their attention. But why him? What was so important about Jai ? Arya slowly lowered her hands to her lap. “ Priya put him in a cage and moved him out into the middle of a waterfall after sentencing him to death.”

“ She doesn’t have that authority.”

A response wasn’t needed, so Arya remained silent—even though she wanted to tell them that perhaps they needed to update Priya on what she could and couldn’t do.

“ And you want us to believe it’s because he wouldn’t become her lover?” the voice asked sarcastically.

The darkness wasn’t as thick now. She could see past the spotlight. It looked like a raised wall in a semi-circle before her. Unfortunately , she couldn’t see much past that. A considerable amount of magic was being used, and that usually meant several elves working together. “ It’s the truth. An entire shipment of captured elves is gone, as is the captain and the rest of the crew.”

“ You’re here.”

There had been plenty of truth. Now , it was time for some lies. “ I was with Priya . Then I wasn’t. I don’t know what happened.”

“ We do,” the voice stated. “ Someone delivered you to us.”

And that someone was likely Priya . But how? When ? Could it have been when she and Jai were traveling by shadows? Priya had intercepted her in the shadows before, which she shouldn’t have been capable of. “ It seems she betrayed me. Surely , she has to know I would tell you all of this.”

“ You knew we were hunting you.”

“ About Shaldorn . Aye .” Arya nodded, her mind working quickly to find a lie to add to the truth. “ I went in undercover for the CCD , but I volunteered because I wanted to see the inner workings of the stronghold for myself.”

The resulting laugh sent a chill down her spine. “ You seem to have an answer for everything, don’t you?”

“ I told you, I’ve wanted to join the organization for a long time. I heard the rumors years ago and began looking into it. When I couldn’t find out more, I joined the CCD , hoping to uncover a name or two.”

“ And did you?”

Arya forced a laugh. “ The CCD’s files are sadly lacking. However , being an agent allowed me to reach a certain part of the Below I hadn’t been in before. That’s how I found Priya .”

“ Why not approach Jai ?”

“ We both know he didn’t have a clue about Priya selling him to you. She was the brains behind bringing Jai on board.” The words were bitter on Arya’s tongue.

There was a considerable pause before the voice said, “ We’re unable to locate Priya to confirm or deny your story. We have established that The Viper reached port, but there is no sign of the slaves or Jai . The crew members are dead.”

“ I will take the blame for the crew. I had to make my associates believe I was with them.”

“ Which brings us to the next point. If you want to join us, then you need to prove it. We’re going to release you, but only to find and terminate your friends. None will be able to leave the fort until they’re dead. Do you understand?”

Arya had known her venture might bring her to this exact end, but at least she could warn everyone now. They would likely die, but it would give them all a fighting chance. Something she hadn’t had before.

She climbed to her feet and nodded. “ Understood .”

The groan of a door opening sounded behind her. Arya scanned the room as she turned but didn’t see anything that would tell her how many were with her. She walked out, fully expecting the guards to follow, but no one did.

Arya couldn’t go to the room she and the others had first arrived in. Not for her first stop. She called the shadows and began randomly moving about the fort, stopping at different locations. She popped by the kitchen to see that it was still in chaos as everyone scrambled about to resolve an issue that was unfixable until the next shipment.

Each time she halted, she checked to see if anyone was following her. She even walked around a bit to see if any shadows moved. So far, it appeared as if she was on her own. Her next stop was the room she and Jai had been headed to when everything went haywire.

The shadows parted. Arya waited to hear her friends say her name, but the room was empty. No one was there. Not even Yasmin . They hadn’t been caught. The voice would’ve told her that. They must be on the move, but to where? The voice seemed to believe they were in the fort. Arya had no idea where to find her friends.

She was tired and hurting. She walked to the door and opened it before looking left and then right. Dain wouldn’t be able to take all three of them by shadows. He would either move them individually, or they would leave on foot. Yasmin could get them anywhere with the stones’ help. But none of that helped Arya .

“ Where are you, Jai ?” she whispered and turned left before ascending the stairs.