The Blood of Darkness

Chapter 65

Val

Trivette is under siege.

Which means that Trivette will fall.

For a moment, despite all the chaos around me, all the arrows and the running people, my world seems to go very, very still; very, very silent.

Then I'm jerked back into reality as a fleeing guest slams into my back, and I go crashing to the ground. But deft hands quickly find my elbows, pulling me back up before I can be trampled. Kye. Arrows whiz over my head, and I hear people begin to cry out in pain. Kye pushes me against the wall just before I can be hit head-on in the chest.

"Hurry," he says. "We need to get out of here."

"Neve?" All I can see is the arrow in her chest, the blood seeping, the shocked look on her face. Just like how Zeke died.

I'm close enough to Kye to see his throat bob as he swallows. "Quinn and Lucine got her into the war room hoping to heal her. But it's—it's bad."

Neve must have been purposely aimed at, hit first because otherwise she would have been able to use her magic to make a shield of wind and deflect all of the arrows. So now, everyone in this throne room is basically defenseless. The soldiers have the high ground and the weapons to make up for the distance between us.

How did they even get in?

Because there was a route into the castle left open, just for the spies. Everything was set up to allow the enemy inside, and the guards were already taken care of.

Shit, shit, shit.

Kye and I move, achingly slow, our backs pressed to the wall, towards the thrones and the door to the war room which lies behind them. I keep my hand flung across his chest, my palm resting over his rapidly-beating heart, terrified that an arrow will find him. Kye's arm is tight similarly around me. He's trying to get me behind him so he can shield me with his body, but I'm not letting him.

"This is bad," I whisper to him. "Really bad." I'm trying to make myself understand it, trying to come to terms with the fact that all our cards have been swept off the table, leaving us scrambling through the panicky chaos, trying to find a way out.

Kye says nothing. His face is so pale; he looks like he's seen a ghost. Neve's blood is all over his hands. Then, suddenly, he pulls me down to the ground right before a volley of arrows coming from his line of vision can strike us.

My breath is caught in my throat because this is truly a massacre. Dead bodies surround us, and the floor is slick with blood. My fingers curl around a serving tray, and I lift it, trying to hold it up as a sort of shield since I can't concentrate my darkness on dozens of arrows at the same time to strike down. After an indiscernible yet torturous amount of time, both of us manage to crawl behind the thrones to relative safety. Then we jump to our feet and rush to the door to the war room, which is painted the same color as the walls for secrecy. Kye twists the knob, pushing it open, and we both tumble inside, slamming it shut behind us. I realize that we're probably leaving desperate, defenseless guests out there to die, but I can't really bring myself to care.

The room, surprisingly, is empty, though it's obvious that our friends were here. Blood stains the floor, and half of the broken arrow that struck Neve is discarded on the table. But if nobody is here, that means that Neve must have been able to move, so at least she should be all right. Kye and I both seem to let out twin breaths of relief.

"They must have went on ahead," I voice aloud, even though it's obvious. "Maybe to find Zyair. Though he's smart; he already probably ad the good sense to run."