Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

DACRE

Igritted my teeth as I listened to my father berate me.

As if it was my fault that my sister had been captured.

As if I wasn’t already dying inside trying to figure out exactly how we were going to get her out.

This was nothing new.

Members of the rebellion were caught almost daily by the palace guards.

Some rebels, they killed on the spot for their treachery while others were forced to pray to the god of fortune for death to claim them. A prisoner of the king was a prisoner of torture, and the rebellion had many secrets worth spilling.

And my sister was far too young and far too pretty for them to kill off so quickly.

Those guards would have far worse plans for her than discovering her secrets.

But I would bleed and fight until my last breath to get her out.

We were squatting near the edge of the woods, waiting for the last touch of the sun to fall behind the coast.

The tithe was just two days away, and I had to free her before then.

I let my gaze roam through the tree line, searching our surroundings, as my father driveled on.

I didn’t have the energy to expend on him.

He may have been the leader of the rebellion, but he was also responsible for getting my mother killed.

He was responsible for getting a vast number of the rebellion killed when he planned a raid that we weren’t prepared for.

A raid that changed our lives.

A raid that caused me to lose the respect I had for him.

“Did you hear what I said?” His deep voice grumbled, and I finally met his gaze.

“What?”

“You’re not even fucking listening to me, Dacre.” The skin on his forehead creased, forming two deep lines as his brows furrowed in frustration. His green eyes narrowed and flickered with a flash of annoyance.

His hair was a deep, dark black, like the endless expanse of a night sky. It fell in soft waves that framed his face and contrasted with his sharp, angular jaw that still carried a scar from the raid.

If it weren’t for my mother’s dark eyes, I would have been a spitting image of him.

“We know where they keep the prisoners.” I ran my hand through my hair as I stared up at the palace and the market bridge we tried to avoid at all costs. “Kai and I are going in alone. If we’re unable to find her within a half hour, we retreat.”

Over my dead fucking body.

“Half an hour,” he reiterated the time frame. “If you can’t find her before then you get out. You’re too important.”

I scoffed at my father’s words, but he wasn’t paying me any attention.

“We should be sending Mal in with Kai.”

“I’m going in, with or without your approval,” I stated firmly, meeting my father’s gaze with determination. “She’s my sister, and I won’t leave her at their mercy.”

He relaxed his jaw, his head tilting a fraction as he regarded me. He should have been demanding that it was him that went in after his daughter. “You have thirty minutes.”

It didn’t matter what he said. My mind was already made up. I had no intention of retreating if I couldn’t find her within half an hour. No matter the consequences.

Without waiting for further orders from my father, I turned to face the darkening shadows of the capital city.

Kai and I had studied every inch of the palace, every guard’s routine, and every possible entry point. We had been studying them for years. But now, as we prepared to enter the palace grounds again for the first time since the raid, the veins in my neck hammered as my chest heaved with each beat of my racing heart.

“Are you ready?” Kai asked, his voice barely audible in the silence.

“As I’ll ever be.” My palms were slick with sweat and my voice wavered as I forced out a response.

We moved through the shadows, our footsteps barely making a sound against the moss-covered ground as we left my father and the others behind. We didn’t head straight for the bridge. Instead, we moved to the right, toward the sound of the few street merchants that still milled about the streets.

“This is where the fun begins,” Kai whispered, his voice tinged with dread.

I nodded, the same trepidation filling me as I looked around. We moved in sync, like two coils of the same snake, one step at a time, navigating through the maze of people and goods.

The market was still alive with the sounds of bargaining and laughter. Ahead of us, the palace towered above the city, its grandeur and power a stark contrast to the plight of the king’s subjects.

Kai nodded to the right, and I followed him down a narrow alleyway that led between two tall buildings. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the familiar house that was so covered with ivy it was almost unrecognizable, before looking back ahead.

I couldn’t think about that house. Not right now.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I clenched my fists, trying to squelch my nerves.

Kai led us through another alleyway, deeper into the city’s houses and farther away from the crowds. The smell of the ocean was unmistakable here, and I could almost taste the salt on my tongue.

The sound of waves crashing against the rocks echoed in the distance, and I allowed myself to take a moment to catch my breath.

We emerged from the alleyway, and the bustling crowds gave way to the quieter streets of the old city. The palace was still a ways away, its shadowed form a beacon in the gathering dusk.

“This way.” Kai motioned forward, and I followed behind him.

We moved swiftly, our footsteps echoing against the damp cobblestones. We crossed the empty streets, avoiding the rare pedestrian or stray cat that roamed looking for food. The palace loomed closer, its dark silhouette standing like a fortress against the backdrop of the stars that were starting to twinkle to life.

As we approached the palace walls, two guards were pacing back and forth before the front gates, their eyes constantly scanning the area. Kai and I exchanged a silent look, then we split up, each of us taking a different route to get past the wall undetected.

I crept along the wall, farther away from the gates, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I hesitated for a moment, looking around warily.

But there was nothing there.

I moved farther down the wall until I reached the spot that Kai and I had discussed, and I began to climb, using my fighting leathers to grip the uneven stones when I couldn’t find footing. As I silently dropped down to the other side, onto the palace grounds, I heard a rustling coming from my left.

I froze, trying not to make a sound, my heart pounding in my chest as unease washed over me.

There was a sudden movement, and I pulled my dagger from its sheath along my chest. I was just about to launch it when I finally spotted Kai, his face a mask of worry. “We have a problem.”

I looked back over my shoulder, at the direction of the gates, and I could hear it then, the quiet chaos of the guards knowing something was wrong.

We used to believe that the palace was impenetrable but getting in had never been the issue. It was getting back out.

But there was no turning back.

There was no threat in this world that would make me leave my sister behind.

“Rebels!” one of the guards shouted, and mine and Kai’s gazes slammed into one another.

“We need to find her.” My voice was barely above a whisper. “Quickly.”

Kai narrowed his eyes as he searched the gates. “My magic?”

“Use it.” I nodded toward the guards. “They already know we’re here.”

Kai’s eyes flickered to the palace then back to me. “We need to be quick,” he said as he closed his eyes, and I felt a tremor in the air.

He dug his fingers into the loose soil beneath him, his grip tightening for a moment before loosening again. As he slackened his fingers, tendrils of thick black smoke seeped out of his fingertips and slithered along the dirt before vanishing into the ground.

The earth quivered, and the sound of the guards’ panicked voices grew louder.

“We need to move.” My heart pounded as Kai’s eyes shot open. They were almost solid black, somehow even darker than they were normally.

“Around the back of the palace. The dungeon.”

We both stood, moving as swiftly as we could as we tried to remain in the shadows. When we reached the back of the palace, there were two guards standing watch, both of them with their swords drawn and their gazes vigilantly darting around looking for danger.

Smoke shot from Kai’s fingers, slamming into one of their chests, while my dagger lodged into the other.

Sweat dripped down my temples, and I quickly wiped it away as a heaviness pressed down on my chest. The weight of taking a life was not lost on me; yet, I couldn’t dwell on it now.

I would kill every one of them for her.

Guilt and remorse could gnaw away at me later.

Kai and I moved over their bodies, one of them still shaking as the last bit of life drained from his body with the blood that now seeped into the pristine palace grounds.

My hand gripped the handle of the door they laid before, and the loud chime of the clock tower rang overhead. I didn’t dare look behind me, but I heard Kai grumble under his breath.

“Looks like we missed your father’s deadline.”

I scoffed and would’ve smiled if my sister wasn’t waiting for us inside the palace. Kai respected my father’s orders almost less than I did.

“In and out,” I reminded us both of what we already knew. “We get Wren, and we leave.”

There were horrors in the palace. Marmoris Kingdom was vast, and it was soiled by a king who had more bloodlust than care for the people he was meant to serve.

But we were only here to save my sister.

Kai signaled for me to take the lead, and I pulled another dagger from my vest before we stepped inside.

The temperature seemed to drop as the door closed behind us, and the only light through the narrow corridors came from the sparse lanterns that hung from the wall.

The palace was designed like a labyrinth, with twists and turns leading to dead ends and secret chambers. It had been a complete mystery to us until the raid happened, and even then, we had no real idea what we were doing.

Kai and I had studied what we did know, but even with that knowledge, we knew we had to be careful.

We made our way deeper into the palace, the air growing colder with each step. The sound of our footsteps echoed through the silent halls, the only sound breaking the eerie silence.

Then, just ahead, we heard faint whispers, and it took everything inside me not to run toward the sound.

With each cautious step, we could hear the soft echoes of footsteps and hushed murmurs. As we edged closer, I caught a glimpse of several guards huddled together, each of them looking more on edge than the next.

They were standing before a cluster of cells, and the stench of rotting flesh that came from behind the steel bars made my stomach churn.

My gaze darted from one cell to another, searching for any sign of my sister through the people who were kept there.

I looked back at Kai, but he shook his head, his face grim as he looked back at the guards.

There was no way I was leaving her here in this hell.

I stepped forward, my dagger hanging loosely in my hand, and each of the guards whipped their heads around in my direction.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” I held my hands out as I smiled at them in a way that I was sure made me look as insane as I felt at that moment. “I believe you all have something that doesn’t belong to you.”

“Dacre.” I heard my name whispered on a gasp, and I allowed myself a glance past the guards until I finally saw her.

My dark gaze met her bright-green eyes that were so much like my father’s, and even though she was kneeling, her hands clinging to the bars of the cage they had her trapped inside, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“That one yours?” the tall, lanky guard asked with a fucking sneer on his face as he glanced from me and back down to my sister. “What a lucky bastard you are. She and her friend have been a nice change of scenery from the usual shit we normally drag in here.”

I bared my teeth as my hand clenched around my blade, but the fool wasn’t finished.

“Who knew a filthy rebel could be so pleasing?” He squatted down so he was closer to her, his face far too near to hers, and I had enough.

So had Kai.

I threw my dagger, the tip lodging into the man’s neck, and chaos erupted around us.

Kai’s black smoke poured from him and clouded the room in a mist so dark that I knew it would make it hard for them to see us. I reached inside myself, embracing my own powers, and I coaxed them forward.

I felt for the elements around me, tasting the ash on my tongue from the lanterns burning near the guards, and drew it in.

My lungs filled with their smoke, and I let it consume me until I could hardly breathe.

Only then did I draw back my arm, and the air around me hummed with energy.

One of the guard’s swords whirred past my ear as he lunged at me, but I didn’t falter. The air around me crackled, and I grabbed his blade in my hand, the metal beginning to turn to liquid in my hold before I jerked it from his grasp and slammed the hilt into his stomach.

The guard fell to the ground, his dazed eyes looking up at me, but I was already moving on to the next.

Kai’s magic seemed to hum against my own, the darkness in both of us easily recognizing the other, and I didn’t have to look at him to taste the death he was leaving behind as he moved through the guards.

Another guard, dressed immaculately in the king’s royal colors, charged toward me with his hands raised. Bright blue sparks danced between his fingers, crackling with electricity that coiled around his blade.

I caught him by the throat as he slammed his dagger into my thigh. I didn’t let myself think of the pain, about the shock magic his skin delivered against mine; instead, I focused on my hold and the way my skin was burning his as easily as if I had pressed the flames that were lighting up the room against him.

His gargled screams echoed throughout the room before they finally cut off, as did his magic. I dropped him to the ground before pulling his blade from my thigh, my blood pouring from the wound, and using it to slice into another guard who was attempting to run.

I pressed my burning hand against the wound, searing my skin until the bleeding stopped.

These men were responsible for keeping my sister in that cage, and there would not be a single one of them that would survive.

The fire inside me was clouding my thoughts and screamed for me to burn them all. My own anger fed it, making the flames stretch and lick to every part of me.

I reached for the guard who dared to speak about my sister, my dagger still buried in the side of his neck, and his eyes were wide with panic as I gripped the collar of his uniform and lifted him until the tip of his nose touched mine.

“What was it you were saying to me?” I spat the words through my teeth, but he couldn’t answer me. Blood was dripping from his mouth, but it wasn’t enough.

His gaze rapidly searched around us, but when he looked in Wren’s direction, I jerked him back to look at me.

“Don’t you dare look at her.” My grip on his uniform was so tight that my knuckles were turning white. “You are not worthy to look upon her. It will be me you watch until the last spark of life leaves your eyes.”

Kai, sensing my loss of control, moved through the chaos, his smoke wrapping around the remaining guards, blinding them. He sent out tendrils of darkness, wrapping around their necks, and he squeezed until I heard the soft pop of their broken bones.

Even with their own magic, they weren’t enough to fight against him.

With every thud and crack, I breathed and tried to release the flames that had become alive inside me.

The uniform in my hand was turning to ash under my touch.

“Dacre, we have to move.”

I knew he was right, but I felt desperate to watch his bones char under the fire in my hands. I reached for my dagger, quickly pulling it from his neck, and blood flooded from the wound as he attempted to fight against me.

The fight only lasted for a few seconds before there was nothing left of the man as I dropped him back to the ground.

“Keys.” Kai pointed to the guard that was slumped at my feet, and I reached down, my hands singeing his clothing as I dug for the keys.

“Fuck.” I tried to release more of the power that was now devouring me.

Power was meant to be controlled, but far too often it became blinding and instead became the master.

I had seen it happen far too many times before. Our kingdom was built on men who were slaves to power.

But as my grip on reality seemed to slip away, I felt Kai’s hand on my arm, grounding me, snapping me back to why we were here. I gulped down the air around me and forced my power to bend to my will. Heat dissipated from my fingers and crept through my veins until it snaked back into my gut where I could control it.

My hands shook as I finally found the keys and pried them off the belt of the lifeless guard.

I passed them to Kai, and he quickly unlocked the cell that held my sister. I pushed inside, lifting her from the floor, and cradled her in my arms.

“Are you okay?” I asked, the smoke and fire still etching my voice. Relief flooded me now that I was touching her, now that I knew she was still alive.

“We have to go.” Kai spoke, but his worried gaze never left Wren.

He was right. There would only be more guards heading our way. I pulled my sister behind me, but she pulled back.

“Wait.”

She looked behind her, but I tugged harder against her.

“We have to leave, Wren.”

“I know, but I’m not leaving without her.” She nodded to a girl who sat on the ground with her knees tucked against her chest.

“We’re not taking anyone else.” I wrapped my hand around Wren’s arm gently as I held her close to me.

“She has the rebellion mark, Dacre.” Wren’s voice was scratchy as if she hadn’t had water since they captured her.

“I don’t give a fuck what she has.” My eyes landed on the girl, but her face was hidden by the hood of her cloak. Dirt and grime caked her tattered clothes, and her hands were encrusted in dirt and dried blood. She must have struggled fiercely before they finally managed to shove her into this cage.

“I’m not leaving her.” Wren jerked her arm out of my hold and took a small step back toward the girl. “You should have heard what those guards were saying.”

I turned my head away from her, trying to block out her words, trying to block out what I could only imagine those guards were spewing before I stormed back out there and became the kind of monster that our entire rebellion stood against.

“Fine.” I glanced at Kai. “You take Wren.”

He nodded once, but I didn’t need his reassurance. I knew Kai would protect her with his life.

I stepped past my sister, toward the girl, and I reached down for her thin arm and hauled her up until she was on her feet.

“Let go of me!” she hissed as she tried to pull out of my hold, but she felt so fragile in my clutch.

“I don’t have time for this.” I pulled her to my side, causing her hood to fall back, and when my gaze met hers, it was like looking into the depths of the ocean. The same color as the sky when the sun disappeared behind the clouds and a storm brewed on the horizon.

A gorgeous storm that I could see staring back at me now.

I could feel her rapid heartbeat beneath my fingers as her frantic eyes darted around the dimly lit cell. Her dark brown hair fell into her face, but she didn’t bother to push it back.

“I know you,” I spoke, even though I couldn’t figure out from where.

“No. You don’t.” As she spoke, her teeth clenched together with a sharp click, and a glint of defiance flashed in her bright blue eyes. She shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other, tugging at her sleeves. Every muscle in her body was tense as if she didn’t want me to know who she was.

“I remember you from somewhere.”

There was a bang from a door in the distance, and I tore my gaze away from hers and tugged her toward me as I looked back at my sister. I was just about to open my mouth to tell them to go when her small fist connected with my jaw.

I stumbled back, the force of the blow catching me off guard, but I quickly regained my footing. My hand moved to my sore jaw, and I glared at her, my eyes burning with the same fire that had been consuming me only moments before.

“I told you to let me go,” she spat, just as the rush of footsteps echoed off the walls from one of the corridors.

“Let’s go,” Kai growled as he pulled Wren behind him, but I was still staring down at the damned girl before me.

“You can rot in here, for all I care.” I ran my hand over my jaw as I took a step back from her, but there was something. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Something that demanded I not leave her behind.

I remembered her.

“Fuck.” I felt Kai’s power without even looking behind me, and I knew that we were out of time.

“Let me see your mark,” I demanded. If she was one of us, I could justify it to myself why I wasn’t willing to leave her behind.

“Fuck off.” She clutched her sleeves against her palms so I couldn’t see her wrists. Her eyes darted around the room, never settling on one spot for too long. “I’ll rot just the same whether I have a mark or not.”

She was right, of course, but I couldn’t force myself to care about that fact.

I leaned down, pressing my shoulder into her stomach, and I lifted her far too easily. I could feel her sharp hip bones digging into my shoulder, and I silently wondered when the last time was she had eaten.

She cursed, but I looked to Kai and followed him out of the cell without paying her any mind.

Kai’s black smoke crept before us as we pushed back down the same corridors we had entered through. My grip anchored down around her thighs.

She struggled against me, and if she weren’t so light, I probably would have dropped her. “You’re going to regret this,” she promised, even though her voice barely carried over the sound of her ragged breaths.

Even if she was right, I didn’t leave her behind.