Ve'Rah Daa (The Ephemeral: Book 3)

Chapter 27

I moved quickly beneath the valley, gripping my lantern like it was the last thing grounding me to this world—and preventing me from becoming the crazed, hysterical teenager they'd painted me as.

I hadn't used the tunnel since the day Button-Up escorted me to the wall and forced me to heed the Command's genocidal action plan. Back then, the hidden passageway had lain empty with disuse, and we'd heard the muffled sounds of an army wobbling on its last leg. Now, it was dead quiet under the surface, and the bodies of obedient sentinels littered the ground.

Likely killed in the first wave of riots, I thought as I stepped around their bleeding corpses. The citizens must have stormed the tunnels to see if their loved ones had fallen victim to the Court's insidious culling. And they'd mauled anyone who'd stood in their way.

A few minutes in, I reached a metal doorway that marked the secret entrance to the Ground. And there, standing in the open archway, was an unamused Grismond.

The Bear reeked of human blood, and his leathery skin glistened with sweat, grime, and oil. Who his opponents had been, I couldn't be sure, but I pitied each and every one of them.

"Kingsley," he grunted, straightening his spine. "What are you doing here?"

"You first."

He crossed his massive arms, and after today, I wondered how many additions he'd make to the names tattooed on his body. "I'm making sure no one else enters the Ground. No citizens, soldiers, or snobby politicians. Those Pans are staying put 'til I hear otherwise."

I lifted my lantern to observe the exhaustion on his face. "I need to get through."

"You need to report to the Captain."

"After."

He scoffed, but wary inquisitiveness swam in his eyes as he inspected the rage in my posture. "...You going to kill them?"

"If I said yes, what would you do?" My voice was calm, betraying no hesitancy or emotional investment. Whatever he thought I planned to do, it was clear I'd set my moral reservations aside.

He stared at me for a beat, as if he were comparing me to the naïve schoolgirl he'd met six months ago in Jaden's pub. The "skirt" who'd insulted him her first night at camp and challenged the status quo, despite having no real-life military experience. And here she was confronting him again, only this time, boasting unquestionable potency and merit.

Deciding he'd rather not engage in a physical altercation, Gris poked his tongue into his cheek and stepped aside, silently granting me access to the prison, and beyond that, the courthouse.

I threw him a grateful head-nod as I entered the building, sensing the tension in his bones as soon as he realized he'd just unleashed a god of nightmares upon the elite.

Human and demon prisoners watched me as I moved through the hallways, awed by my arrival and terrified of the power I wielded. Passing under orange, flickering lights, I received double takes from the federates on guard, and not a single man so much as exhaled in my presence. They saw a savior in their midst, but also someone capable of annihilating everyone in Havenbrooke with one clumsy tumble to all fours. And while several of them likely suspected my destination, not one of them attempted to intercept me. Not with their memories at stake.

"Alex, slow down!" Mason shouted from somewhere behind me. He'd followed me down here, not to assist me, but in hopes of keeping me in check, and I couldn't afford to have him slow me down.

I climbed the stairs to the next level, picking up the pace.

"Alex!" he hissed.

Mason, like the others, assumed I was here for the High Court. But before I plucked them from their greasy thrones of injustice, I had to prove them wrong. Not just for myself, but for the citizens I hoped to marshal.