Page 158 of The Fallen Fae King

It will mean nothing to a Shadow Dragon.

To everyone from the Blood Kingdom, however, it means that the Sun Arena is eclipsed.

We are escaping now.

The Eternals straighten their shoulders.

I turn to Yara, as if I am adjusting her uniform, but in fact, I whisper, “The door.”

She doesn’t react.

I am impressed.

Instead, she marches up and down the line like she is carrying out my inspection.

I know that she is passing on the information to every vampire.

At my back, Ahm is vibrating with tension.

I clench my hands, trying to keep my pulse steady.

On the Void, give me patience.

The guards are growing bored and wandering to the far side of the arena.

Just one moment longer…

“Now!” I roar.

My claws and fangs descend.

I dive for the door.

The silver burns the palms of my hands, but I ignore the agony and smell of my burning flesh, as I shove it fully open. Behind me, I hear Yara and Ahm ripping out the throats of the guards, as we’d agreed, then the thunder of the Eternals following me.

I dive out of the arena into the shadowy corridor beyond.

My heart is hammering in my chest.

I sprint through the maze-like corridors, which are lined by stone.

Are we being pursued?

I glance over my shoulder. The corridor is crowded with vampires, but not the two who I swore to protect.

“Ahm,” I yell, as anxiety fills me. How can I face my twin here or in the afterlife, if I am responsible for the deaths of his nestmates? “Yara?”

I snarl, turning another corner that simply leads into another damp corridor. There must be stairs somewhere.

I talked this over with Yara. As long as we keep climbing upwards, then we will inevitably find the exit.

If it’s daytime, then we will need to find somewhere that is defensible.

But together, we can fight. The Guild members aren’t warriors. They may be assassins but they are still cowards who break us apart with cruel toys, when we are chained and held behind bars.

Aurelius can’t know what is happening in this place. He may believe that I deserve this punishment, but the other Bloods are prisoners of war or captured cadets and civilians.

I won’t allow them to continue to suffer. I won’t allow my twin’s nestmates to die.