My muscles groaned as I slid down from my horse and landed on the dry grass. Almost two days in the saddle was nothing compared to what we had endured while traveling from the dark mage mountain in Castlebourne and all the way to Malgrave, but my body was somehow still sore after this short trip. While rolling my shoulders back and stretching out my arms, I glanced back at my borrowed mount. I had probably spent more time on horseback these past few months than the entire rest of my life combined.
Loud pounding echoed through the night.
I slid my gaze back to the area ahead. Callan was standing in front of a door to a wide one-story building that looked to have seen better days. Even with only the moonlight providing illumination, I could make out the shifting hues on the roof where moss speckled the tiles. Henry was holding the reins of Callan’s horse where he stood a couple of steps behind with Paige. Next to me, Levi Arden was watching the rundown stable with suspicious eyes.
“The entrance is in here?” he said.
“Yeah,” Callan answered without turning around.
Candlelight flickered in the windows of the building. He pounded his fist against the door again in a demand for the person inside to hurry up. Locks clicked on the other side. Then the door was opened and a muscular man in his forties became visible.
“Take it easy with the door, you…” He trailed off and his eyes went wide as he took us all in.
Both Callan and I flashed him a wicked grin.
Dread washed over his face, and he stumbled a step back. “Oh no, not again.”
“Hello, John.” Pushing the door all the way open, Callan strode across the threshold while John backed away. “You know the drill by now, right?”
His gaze flicked over the rest of us again. “Y-yeah.”
“Five horses. Make sure they’re still here when we return. We’ll help ourselves to the trapdoor. Any objections?”
“No.”
“Smart man.”
“So…” Paige began, drawing out the word, as she handed the reins to John and followed Callan through the door. “You know each other then?”
Callan and I chuckled.
Handing my own reins to John, I gave him another villainous smile. “Yeah, you could say that.”
John just cleared his throat and hurriedly began leading our horses into his stable.
The smell of hay enveloped us as we all filed in through the door and started down the narrow path towards the other end of the building. A few horses lifted their heads and snorted when we disturbed their peace by bustling past. Candles burned on a wooden table up ahead.
“You said trapdoor,” Levi said as we closed the final distance to said building feature. There was an edge to his voice when he spoke. “Exactly what kind of entrance is this?”
“It’s used by smugglers,” Callan replied vaguely.
“That’s not what I asked.”
Confusion flitted through me. It deepened even more when Callan didn’t respond. Instead, he just crouched down and shoved aside the bale of hay that covered the trapdoor. I glanced between him and Levi while he slid the metal bar aside and then grabbed the handle.
The trapdoor groaned faintly as Callan lifted it to reveal the hole and the narrow ladder that led into the cramped space below.
Panic flashed across Levi’s face.
It was there and then disappeared so quickly that I wasn’t even sure that I had actually seen it. Frowning, I studied the King of Metal as he stared down into the hole. He slowly dragged his gaze back up to Callan.
“No,” he simply said.
Callan spread his hands. “It’s the only way into the city.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Look, it’s just a short tunnel under the wall. It’s not that—”
One second, Levi was standing in front of Callan. The next, he had lunged straight for him. I slapped my palms together and called up my magic, but Levi already had his fist buried in Callan’s collar and a vicious-looking knife pressed to his throat. Beside me, Henry and Paige had summoned wind and water magic too. However, with the blade to Callan’s throat, none of us dared to move farther.
“You.” Power and incredible danger pulsed from Levi’s whole being as he yanked Callan closer to growl the words in his face. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You fucking traitor. Payback for the beating, huh?”
Callan just looked back at him unflinchingly. “Which one? You do love to go overboard, so I’ve lost count at this point.”
“So this is payback?”
“No.”
Levi’s fingers tightened around the knife. It sent a flare of alarm down my spine, and I took a step forward while my poison cloud expanded.
Callan met my gaze over Levi’s shoulder. “Don’t.” His eyes slid to Henry. “That goes for you too.”
I frowned at him in confusion, but let my magic fade out again. Henry and Paige did the same.
“Look…” Callan began, and heaved a deep sigh while shifting his attention back to Levi. “As much as I’d love to beat your arrogant ass into the ground…”
Levi snorted, as if the mere thought of Callan beating him was absolutely ridiculous.
“The truth is that we need you,” Callan finished. “Alright? We need you to destroy the Blade of Equilibrium, so me doing something just to piss you off would be the height of stupidity.”
“You’ve done stupid shit before.”
Holding his gaze, Callan said nothing. Only kept looking back at him.
After another few seconds, Levi let out something between a snarl and a sigh. While still keeping the knife to Callan’s throat, he glanced down at the hole again. “How long?”
“It’s just under the wall. It connects to a building right on the other side.”
Silence descended on the stable. Back by the front door, John was still moving our horses inside and unsaddling them. The faint clopping of hooves against the ground was the only sound to break the stillness while Levi and Callan stared each other down.
At last, Levi took the blade from Callan’s throat and gave him a shove backwards while releasing his collar. Threats pulsed in his eyes as he used the knife to point towards Callan. “If I find out that you lied about this being the only way in, I’ll fucking skin you alive.”
“I know.”
Spinning around, he rammed the knife back into its sheath and stalked over to the trapdoor. I watched him with furrowed brows. Was crawling through a dusty tunnel beneath the high and mighty King of Metal, or what?
I opened my mouth to say as much, but before I could, Callan’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and gave it a small squeeze. Glancing up, I found him shaking his head discreetly. And no matter how much I wished it were otherwise, Callan was right that we did need Levi, so I swallowed my snide remark and instead just shifted my attention back to the object of my confusion.
Without so much as a glance at the rest of us, Levi climbed down the ladder and jumped into the hole.
Callan released me and motioned towards the trapdoor. “Well then, after you.”
A sly smile blew across my lips as I arched an eyebrow at him. “So that you can stare at my ass again?”
Smirking, he drew his hand along my jaw and stole a kiss from my mouth. “You bet.”
I huffed out a laugh and slapped his chest with the back of my hand. Then I turned towards Paige. “Ready?”
“Yep.” She grinned and adjusted the straps on her pack. “But I’ll go after Callan.”
My brows furrowed. “Why?”
With that mischievous smile still on her lips, she hiked a thumb in Henry’s direction. “So that he can stare at my ass.”
Red flashed into Henry’s cheeks, and he jerked back slightly, which brought on a sudden coughing fit. Paige just wiggled her eyebrows and let out a cackle. Chuckling, I shook my head at the two of them and then swung myself down onto the ladder.
I had never seen Henry this flustered before. Usually, he was just standing behind Callan’s shoulder with that annoying scowl on his face. But ever since Paige joined our group, he seemed to be experiencing all sorts of emotions. Or rather, she seemed to be forcefully dragging those emotions out of him whether he wanted to or not.
Dust rose up in a small cloud as I jumped the final distance and landed on the ground before the tunnel. Immediately dropping to my knees, I started forward.
Leather creaked behind me, informing me that Callan was making his way down the ladder too.
His dark laugh echoed between the stone walls behind me. “I still love watching you crawl.”
“Shut up,” I muttered while hiding a satisfied smirk.
Those white gems that were set into the walls illuminated my path as I made my way towards the other side of the tunnel. And I may or may not have swayed my ass more than strictly necessary while I moved.
When I at last reached the other side and climbed up the waiting ladder, I found the King of Metal leaning against the outer wall with his arms crossed. Moonlight streamed in through the grimy windows and fell across half of his face. No trace of the rage or that brief hint of panic remained on his handsome features. Now, he just looked bored.
“Took you long enough,” he remarked.
Dusting off my black riding clothes, I shot him a smile dripping with sweet poison. “I wasn’t the one holding up the descent by throwing a temper tantrum.”
His gray eyes flashed. Pushing off from the wall, he took a threatening step towards me. “Careful.”
“You be careful. This is my city. And if you ever put a knife to Callan’s throat again, I’ll lead you down a dark alley that you won’t return from.”
“Was that a threat?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what happens to people who threaten me?”
“The same thing that happens to those who threaten me or the people I love, I’d imagine. So I’d suggest you keep your pointy sticks clear of our throats in the future.”
A wolfish smile spread across his lips. It was tinged with a hint of insanity that sent an involuntary chill down my spine. But I refused to let him see that, so I just kept glaring at him with hard eyes.
“What’s going on?” Callan’s voice drifted through the gloomy room.
Levi and I only kept staring each other down while Callan climbed out of the hole and straightened on the floor.
At last breaking eye contact, I let out a light chuckle and turned to Callan. “Just a friendly chat.”
He didn’t look convinced. But when Levi only shrugged his agreement that it was nothing, he gave us a slow nod and then moved over to the door. We checked that the street was clear while Paige and Henry emerged from the smugglers tunnel as well.
“We need a place to stay,” Henry said once we were all gathered. “A safe house to use as our base.”
“I’d offer my house, but the constables seized it when they arrested me,” Paige replied with a shrug.
“That’s alright,” I said.
Callan and I exchanged a knowing look.
“We’ve already taken care of that.”
