Page 122 of The Awakening of Essensia

They stopped at the base of a crumbling spiral staircase. Axel stepped to the side and vanished into the wall. Vaelira blinked and a hand appeared, yanking her through a narrow gap in the stone. Jurah grunted, barely squeezing his broad frame through after them.

“These were the old dungeons,” Axel said, crossing the space in two strides.

“I’ve traded one dungeon for another?” she said, trying for sarcasm. Anything to hold off the rising panic.

“Not for long.” He crouched low.

Her eyes adjusted in time to catch the faint shimmer of moonlight before his form blocked it out. He crawled through a low gap in the wall and Vaelira followed, struggling with her shackled hands outstretched. Frigid air touched her face, and Axel pulled her the rest of the way, helping her to her feet. Jurah followed and then turned, his head disappearing back through the gap. She heard the scrape of metal on stone.

“A grate?” she asked. Axel nodded.

They stood in a walled courtyard, just a patch of grass and weeds cloaked in moonlight. Axel took a running leap at the outer wall. He landed a few feet up, dug his fingers into the stone, and hauled himself to the top, vanishing over the edge.

Vaelira's chest sank. Even if her hands weren’t bound, she’d never make it. She was too short, and too exhausted.

An owl hooted somewhere in the dark.

“Just wait,” Jurah murmured.

A bell tolled.

Again.

Again.

Vaelira’s breath caught.

“Come on,” Jurah hissed, eyes locked on the wall.

A rope sailed over and a large loop smacked the stone like a noose. Jurah shoved her forward, slipped the rope around her waist, and gave it a strong tug. The line went taut and she rose from the ground, body scraping the rock. She twisted, trying to brace herself, limbs flailing for grip.

The bells kept tolling, each note striking her chest like a blow. Jurah stood below, growing smaller by the second. She was about to shout for him to run, but he was already moving, pulling himself up the wall beside her.

Axel waited on the other side, arms outstretched like he might catch her. Shouts echoed behind them.

“Vaelira!” Jurah barked.

She jumped, landed hard, rolled, and scrambled to her feet, gasping for air. Her wrists throbbed from the impact. Jurah was already beside her, pulling her into a shadowed alley. They crouched, breathing hard.

“Any minute now,” Axel muttered.

Fast hooves clattered on cobblestones, and they sprinted into the street. A carriage hurtled towards them and the door opened as it passed. Axel shoved her forward and arms reached out and yanked her inside. She hit the floor and scrambled upright as Axel and Jurah leapt in after her. The carriage didn’t slow.

Vaelira bent over her knees, gulping down lungsful of air. Her heart pounded, but her face split into a wild, stunned smile. She was out. They had come.

She looked up.

Willem beamed down at her. “Hey, sweetheart.”

Vaelira burst into uncontrollable laughter.

33

Cuts The Same

Vaelira stood in the stillness of a stone courtyard, the pale-pink sky unreal after the choking black of the dungeons.

The others climbed down from the carriage. Willem reached her first, crushing her into an embrace before holding her at arm’s length. The gesture was so achingly familiar, so much like how Jon had once searched her for new scrapes, that she couldn’t help but smile. A quiet laugh escaped him, and he shook his head, disbelief lining his features.