An aura of danger surrounded this place, and her skin prickled.Her shadows writhed, warning her to be careful. She released a few of them, allowing them to wind protectively around her arms and legs.
Though they hadn’t spoken to anyone, others were here.
Someone was always watching in The Rosewood. The guards wouldn’t bat an eye or interfere with anything unless the right people called them at the right time.
The Rosewood valued secrets more than lives.
“Are you sure about this, Brynleigh?” Ryker’s voice was gruff as he broke his silence. “There might be another way.”
Of course, now his conscience decided to make an appearance.
Brynleigh should have known this would happen. The captain was too good for this kind of thing. There was a difference between killing in war and…this.
Still, his judgment rankled her.
Brynleigh’s hand rested on the knob. “This is the only way. It’s my life or his.” When Ryker didn’t reply, she added, “I have to do this. Remember the deal? It’s not my fault that you decided to come with me.”
Part of her was glad that he was here. He was about to see firsthand what he’d signed her up to do. If the killing bothered him, he could’ve stayed away and remained oblivious.
Without waiting for a response, Brynleigh opened the door and entered the dark corridor.
Violet Light Elf sconces on the walls gave off a faint lavender glow. Cold air prickled the skin on her arms. Inky carpet absorbed the sound of their footsteps.
Mentally preparing for the task ahead, Brynleigh ensured the wall around her heart was sturdy.
The long, winding hallway was home to several numbered doors. Each room housed different desires, kinks, and secrets. None of them bothered Brynleigh—as long as everyone was consenting.
Behind the first, moans and cries of pleasure could be heard. In the next room, a man was begging for someone to “give it to him,”reiterating that he’d been a bad boy. The third was silent, save for the rhythmic slapping of flesh against flesh.
With each door they passed, each step they took, Ryker inched closer to Brynleigh. She wasn’t sure he was aware he was doing it.
The fourth and fifth doors were ominously silent, and they stopped in front of the sixth. The cracking of a whip and the whimper that followed confirmed this was the right room.
Brynleigh exchanged a look with Ryker.
“Stand back and don’t interfere, no matter what happens,” she warned, taking in his tense form and clenched fists. “Jelisette doesn’t accept failure.”
Unease was carved into every part of Ryker’s being, and he was tense, like a storm cloud moments away from bursting.
Brynleigh shuddered, recalling how his magic had lashed out of him earlier.
“I understand,” Ryker said in his baritone voice.
She searched his gaze for a long moment before sighing. “You don’t, but you will.”
Despite Ryker’s presence here, Brynleigh didn’t think he was fine with any of this.
Ryker enjoyed rules and rarely broke them—except for covering up his sister’s involvement in the destruction of Chavin, apparently—and Brynleigh doubted he would be okay with what she was about to do.
If they were in a better place, Brynleigh would assure him that she would kill Tathdel quickly and cleanly. She would remind him that this was a place of secrets, and their presence wasn’t strange, even when they left a dead body in their wake.
She would remind him that she was strong and in control and that even with the presence of spilled blood, she wouldn’t fall into bloodlust.
That trap that some Fledglings fell into felt further away than ever. She thought it might be because of what she’d endured in The Pit. It wasn’t exactly a silver lining, but she’d take it.
Brynleigh didn’t say any of that, though.
That ocean still divided them, and those words seemed too far away. Instead, she placed her hand flat on the knob and called on her shadows. They wormed inside the mechanism, and within a few minutes, a telltaleclickcame from the lock.