20. Alana

TWENTY

Alana

" A lana! Are you in there?" Fists are pounding on Eldrion's door. He rushes to open it, and I follow behind.

"You have to come. Now." Briony stands in the doorway panting, her hair coming free from its ties. "Both of you. The elves are here."

"Garratt..." Eldrion practically spits his name and draws himself up to his full height.

"Not just Garratt." Briony bites her lower lip. "He has others with him. Looks like every elf in Luminael."

"This is good." I stride forward and I'm about to take Eldrion's arm when I stop myself. We are not that to each other. I don't know what we are, but we are not in a place where we should be touching each other in front of other people. Even if the person is Briony.

"How is this good?" he growls, striding towards the door.

"We need larger numbers. The elves could?—"

"We do not need elves on our side."

"You are being stubborn. Because Garratt double-crossed you, you're going to let them walk away without trying to make them join the fight."

"We do not need elves to fight with us. Have you ever met an elf?" Eldrion snaps, striding through the castle as though there is a fire at his heels.

Ignoring him, I turn to Briony. "What do they want? Why are they here?"

"Garratt seems to be leading them," Briony says. "But he won't speak to anyone except Lord Eldrion."

We emerge in the courtyard. It is sunny beyond the castle, but those same ominous clouds still haunt us overhead.

"What is this?" Eldrion splays out his wings, fluttering them so that their faded colour is not noticeable.

Gathered around the outskirts of the courtyard, the Shadowkind guards have hemmed in the elves.

They stand in a close-knit group. Maybe fifty of them of varying ages, all with the same slightly pointed ears and short stature.

"You dare to show your face here?" Eldrion marches towards Garratt. He is holding what looks like a staff. It glows blue in the soft morning light.

Garratt draws in a shaky breath. His hair is sticking up in tufts and he looks older than when I last saw him. Beside him, taller than the rest, a Shadowkind I recognise.

"Pria? You stand with them now?" Eldrion glares at the Shadowkind, and as she moves forward, I catch sight of her guard's armour.

"I stand with whoever offers me the greatest chance of survival," she says matter-of-factly.

Beside her, Garratt rolls his eyes and a dark-haired elf standing to the other side of him tuts loudly.

"I should end you right here, right now," Eldrion says, moving closer to Garratt as the other elves stand back out of his way.

"Perhaps," Garratt says, holding up his palms. "But first, there is something you should know."

"I have heard that before, and look where it got us," Eldrion barks.

Before he can say anything else, I step in. "What is it you need to tell us?"

Eldrion glances at me, his eyes simmering with displeasure, but he folds his wings back and nods at Garratt to speak.

"We know where he is and what he is doing. We saw him." Garratt looks over his shoulder and the others nod and mmm in unison.

"Finn?" My heart starts to hammer hard in my chest. "You know where he is?"

Garratt turns his attention to me, sensing that I'm the more receptive out of the pair of us. "We were trying to get somewhere safe. We went to the library." His eyes dart to Eldrion, who growls deep in his throat. "Finn was there. But he wasn't him."

"We know what he is," I snap. "Tell us what he was doing."

"I don't know how to describe it." Garratt shakes his head. His complexion has paled. He swallows hard and tugs at his collar. He looks at Pria, and she rolls her eyes slightly.

"He has turned the other Shadowkind," she says. "They came tumbling out of the cave looking just like him. Bigger, badder, huge black wings. Shadows swarming around them."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" I ask.

But then, at my side, I hear Kayan's voice. " I saw it too, Alana ."

I cannot see him, but I can hear him.

" I did as you asked. I tracked Finn, and I saw it too. I felt the darkness in the cave and I waited. I saw what the elves saw, and I saw them running. They are telling the truth ."

"We ran," the dark-haired elf says, echoing Kayan's words. She has tucked her arm through Garratt's. He squeezes her hand. "We ran as fast as we could, and we came here because we wanted to warn you."

"That is not why you came here," Eldrion speaks slowly.

"Elodie, be quiet," Garratt hisses at his female companion.

"It is, of course it is. I mean, yes, we hoped you'd help us. But mainly we wanted you to know what was happening. So you can stop it."

Eldrion narrows his eyes at her. Garratt looks like he wishes he was anywhere but here. Some leader he turned out to be.

"You have passed on your news. Now you may leave." Eldrion turns and moves back towards the large oak doors at the front of the castle.

"Leave?" I look from Garratt to Eldrion. "They can't leave." I turn back to Garratt. "You can't leave. We need all the help we can get to fight Finn." I cast my gaze over the huddle of elves. "Will you fight with us? Help us protect the city from him?"

A hushed murmur spreads through them. No one speaks loud enough to be heard, but it is clear what their answer is.

"Actually, I think Lord Eldrion is right." Garratt nods and starts to back away. "We should leave. We are no use to you."

"All right, then if you're going to leave, you could be our messengers." I walk to the front of the crowd. "You don't have to stay in the city. This is a fae matter, not an elvish one. But if you could reach the outer settlements. The Mountainside fae and the Waterweavers, and tell them what is happening, ask them to come to our aid..."

Garratt is shaking his head still. He holds up his hands again. "I'm sorry, no," he says. "Lord Eldrion got it right. We are no use to you."

As the elves begin to retreat, Pria steps away from them, lingering in the middle of the courtyard as if she doesn't know which path to choose. Does she stay and hope it is safer behind Eldrion's walls? Or leave with the cowardly elves?

They are at the archway when an uncontrollable burst of anger flares in my gut. It rages like an inferno beneath my skin. Unexpected but not unwelcome, because it seems I am the only one who is actually trying to prevent this kingdom from falling to the ash and ruin I have seen in my visions.

"You may not leave!" I shout. My voice echoes off the courtyard walls. Everyone is staring at me. "You may not leave unless you agree to help us."

There is a quivering pause. But I do not have the gravitas that Eldrion possesses. Someone sniggers at the back of the group.

I bite my lower lip, anger turning to rage in the pit of my stomach.

" Alana, calm down ."

Kayan's voice, usually calming, feels nothing but patronising. And instead of settling me, it simply enrages me even more.

Why will no one listen to me?

"And you're going to stop us how?" the dark-haired elf, Elodie, snipes, folding her arms and tapping her foot. She reminds me of the girls who taunted me when I was growing up. The disrespect in her tone jogs a memory. More than one memory. A hoard of them, barrelling into the back of my skull.

I see Maura's face, and the faces of all those who have ever betrayed me.

I spin around, stride towards Eldrion, and grab the dagger from his waist. My heart is racing, beating a savage rhythm I cannot ignore.

I curl my fingers around the hilt of his blade. The one I know he keeps there because I feel it every time we embrace.

Eldrion does not stop me as I stride forward and grab the dark-haired elf by the shoulders, yanking her towards me. He tilts his head in curiosity.

And with him watching me, I feel stronger.

Elodie shrieks, and tries to fight me, but my magic is already binding her to me. Her back is pressed to my chest. My smoke creeps up her legs and around her waist.

I tighten my fingers around her neck.

"Alana, what are you doing?" Briony has rushed to my side. "Stop."

But I will not stop; Eldrion taught me this trick. He taught me that sometimes a show of power is necessary.

And if he will not do it, then I will.

I raise the blade to her throat.

"All right, we'll help you." Garratt rushes forward. Others agree, begging me to leave her alone.

But Garratt is too late. My blade has sliced open his girlfriend's throat.

I meet his gaze and tower above him, still holding her against me as her blood drips down the front of her clothes and her body goes limp in my grasp. "You're right," I tell him. "You will help us."