Page 10 of Of Masks and Fury

Stirring, the figure rolled over. She lifted her head, her face turning toward the light.

The bottom dropped out of my world. Everything I’d risked and everything I’d believed crumbled to dust between my fingers.

Not my sister.

The eyes were wrong. The face, gaunt and bruised, was that of a stranger.

The old woman stared at me with hollow despair before coughing again and turning back to the wall.

She wasn’t here. Addie wasn’t here.

Confusion and terror washed over me. Had my father moved her or was the letter a trap to lure me back, to get me to expose myself?

Footsteps rang out from further down the corridor.

I froze, every muscle tensing. This wasn’t the slow, plodding tread of a single guard on patrol but the heavy, rhythmic tramp of booted feet coming down the stairs. Heading this way. The damp stone walls trapped the sound, magnifying it, until every footfall hammered against my skull.

My mouth dried to dust. Discovery meant more than just imprisonment. It would mean torture until I revealed Syllavar’s secrets, until I betrayed Trew. Father would hurt me until I couldn’t stop myself from revealing all I loved. Then he’d blast his way through it all to hurt me again.

Torchlight flooded the corridor, swallowing the shadows I needed to escape into. The light moved like spilled blood, creeping down the walls in my direction. Each footstep rang out like a death knell, counting down the seconds until I was discovered.

The corridor had turned into a trap with no exit.

CHAPTER FOUR

ISI

Go,I told Pherin.See how many are coming, but don’t let them see you!

She launched from my shoulder in a blur of motion. I closed my eyes, focusing on our bond until the world shifted and I saw through her vision.

Guards descended the stairs, their armor clanking with each step. The lead one carried a torch, drowning the stairwell with light that would expose me if they came in this direction.

I had seconds. Maybe less.

I pressed myself against the stone wall and reached for the shadows. Magic pooled in my chest, and I pulled it forward, imagining myself melting into the darkness, becoming one with the stone.

The magic flickered. Sputtered. And I remained where I was, clinging to the wall.

My heart slammed up into my throat.

“Please,” I whispered, trying to calm my racing pulse. “Please work.”

The guards’ footsteps grew louder, their voices carrying down the corridor.

“—waste of time patrolling. Nothing but rats and sleeping people down here.”

I was going to be caught. Dragged to my father. He’d know I’d been searching for Addie, and whatever bit of freedom I still possessed would be taken away.

My magic guttered out completely. The shadows slipped away from me, dancing beyond my reach. Every beat of my heart thundered in my ears, each one counting down the seconds until discovery. The consequences of capture swirled through my mind. My own imprisonment. Addie left to whatever fate my father planned. Trew waiting for a return that would never come.

Pherin flew back, landing on my shoulder.

A raspy sound came from the cell. The woman had rolled over and was staring at me through the bars, her hollow eyes suddenly sharp.

“The grate,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Closet at the end of the hall. Narrow tunnel in the ceiling. Goes up. Keep to the left at all times. You won’t like where the right one takes you.”

I stared at her, shocked. Why would she help me?