“I have a plan.”
“What plan?”I keep my tone as even as possible, even as my hands grip the cell bars, squeezing to the point of pain.
“A plan that keeps you and the others safe and freed. I made a bargain with Niethal.”
My blood runs cold.“No, please tell me you didn’t do that. What was the deal?”
She hesitates.
“Grace!”
“I told him I would cooperate in exchange for yours and everyone’s freedom. No more harm will come to you so long as I keep the bargain.”
I shut my eyes.“You mean complete the ritual—what if it kills you?”
“Then at least I know you will live. That’s enough for me.”
“What good is it if I live and you do not?”
An edge of frustration enters her voice.“What choice did I have? Fight Niethal and watch you all die?I made the best choice I could with the options I had.”
“I know you did. I would have made the same deal if roles were reversed, and it was you trapped in here.”
“There is something else. Something Niethal told me about his bargain with Gabriel and Alessandra.”Her voice is strained, and I wait for her to continue, but she doesn’t.
“Grace?”
She’s still there, but her attention is elsewhere.
“I will come to you as soon as I can. Someone is here, I have to go.”She pulls out of my mind and takes the warmth with her, leaving me cold.
“You still there, Isiah?” Mikal asks from down the row of cells.
Right. Back in the now.
I bang my head on the bars, and the sound echoes off the corridor walls. “Grace is here, in the castle.”
A long moment passes before Mikal responds, “So they found her?”
I laugh, and it sounds as hollow as I feel inside. “No. She returned on her own, trying to save us. She made a bargain with Niethal to work with him.”
“Well,shit. So it was all for nothing—running from Selen and what happened here…”
I turn and slide down the bars, leaning against them. “It would seem so. I never considered Niethal would beat us here. We should have had time to gather the legion. My father would have…”
Would have what? Helped me keep Grace from Niethal? I’d like to believe he would, but now I’ll never know.
I brought Niethal’s wrath on Daminae.
This is all my fault.
Mikal’s next words are soft, nearly absorbed in the void of the dungeon, but still reach my ears. “He should not have been able to reach Daminae before us. Not with that many soldiers. Plus, he risked open war by crossing without prior consent. The other kings will see that and be on our side.”
“The other kings see nothing but their own ambition. Having their relics restored will allow them to turn a blind eye.” I sigh. “The only thing I’m worried about is the bargain between Niethal and Grace. She can’t break itexcept in completion or death, either hers or Niethal’s. We need to escape before she kills herself performing the ritual. We have to stop it somehow.” A heavy silence hangs between us. The inability to help, to do anything useful, is killing me. “Are any of the others in our cell block?”
“If they are, I haven’t heard from them.”
I head back to my cot and lie down.