Page 128 of Of Iron and Moonlight

“I can,” Elara shot back. “Kalaetzu’s draught worked perfectly today.”

Despite himself, Njall felt a reluctant curve touch his mouth. Weeks in Kalaetzu’s laboratory, among plants and potions, had sharpened her already dangerous mix of curiosity and cunning into something formidable. She moved through shadow now as though born to it.

“You’ve grown confident with that draught,” he admitted. “You likely know every corridor in Selenar better than I do. But the Niverna prison? Today was luck, nothing more.” He shook his head and continued, thoughts unfolding as he spoke. “And even if you dragged him free, what then? We cannot simply walk into Selenar Castle with a half-dead human. Getting you in the first time was an ordeal. Getting you out for this little venture was a gamble. And I am already sweating at the thought of returning with you tomorrow.”

“The prison wards are to our advantage,” Elara countered. “Guards rely on them to keep fae out. They don’t expect humans. That makes them careless. There are few patrols inside.” The thought lost steam, and her shoulders slumped. “I’ll think of something.”

Her eyes drifted to the fire, sorrow in them. Frost still clung to her hair. Njall brushed it away and studied her. That stubborn courage made him ache with equal parts admiration and dread. “You’ll think of something,” he murmured. “That is what troubles me.”

Her fingers twisted together in her lap. “We cannot leave him there to die, Njall.”

Njall looked away again. His thoughts moved in heavy circles. Pietre. No—Gavriel. Part of him still bristled at the deception. He could not simply forget it.

Yet when he set that beside the ordinary proofs of character, the things that make a man himself, the lie did not erase Gavriel’s loyalty or the dependability that had earned his respect. And he also could not stomach the thought of Damlor’s handiwork on him. The cuts. The magic. The slow, methodical cruelty. No one deserved that.

“You’re right.” Njall pulled Elara closer again, only then realizing his hand had gone still on her arm. “You may well be the death of both of us, but you’re right.”

Elara twisted to look up at him, color returning to her cheeks. He smiled again at how absurd she looked, swallowed by his cloak, its hem pooling around her small boots.

“We cannot leave him there,” Njall added quietly.

A sound halfway between a gasp and a delighted laugh escaped her, and she flung her arms around his neck, catching him unawares. He went rigid, then slowly let his arms fold around her. The embrace settled over him like something he had not known he needed until it arrived.

She leaned back to search his face, her arms still looped behind his neck. “You’ll help? Truly?”

He nodded once, firm. Was he going mad?

She slipped from his grasp and all but bounded into the open space before him. Sitting cross-legged, back straight, she seemed to spark with energy. “I’ve been thinking. First, we free Kalaetzu. Then the three of us go for Gavriel. After that, we head to Celestine Isle and rescue Lorrain.”

Njall let out a low huff. “You make it sound simple.”

“It won’t be,” Elara said plainly. “But we take it one piece at a time. Kalaetzu.”

“And how exactly do we free him? He is chained to that laboratory.”

“With the key,” she replied, shooting him a look that mixed exasperation and amusement.

Njall lifted a brow.

“I happen to know where it is,” she said, nose scrunching with mischief.

Njall stared. “You do?”

“I was snooping,” she said, chin lifting in quiet triumph.

He laughed despite himself. “Of course you were.”

“Unfortunately,” she went on, sobering, “it’s in a safe in Oorlon’s chambers. And his wolves caught my scent last time I was there. I barely escaped before they nipped me.”

Humor drained from him at once. The image alone turned his stomach, and he made a rough sound in his throat but found no words.

“Maybe we could bribe someone?” she offered, though without much conviction.

He gave her a flat look.

“I could try again,” she said, one shoulder lifting.

“No,” he said instantly. “You will not go near those wolves again. If they catch your scent twice, Oorlon will be able to track you anywhere in Norrelia.”