The next hour passed by slowly. Without a watch or clock to keep time, it was spent counting the seconds and minutes that passed as the chill in the air nipped at my face that remained pointed in the direction of Rowan's balcony. I didn't take my eyes off the glass double doors that he had retreated inside unless it was to make sure I was still alone. The noises coming from the stables had frightened me into thinking I had company more than once.
As I finished counting the seconds for the sixtieth minute, I clutched at the tree I was hiding behind as I rose from the ground. My legs had grown numb from sitting on the damp grass at its base. Shaking them out as prickles of sensation returned to them, I turned my head up to glance at Artemis who has been silently keeping me company.
My brows furrowed when they landed on the empty branch she had been occupying. She had been there every other time I had looked. Searching the twisting branches above, I couldn't find a glimpse of her anywhere among the leaves and darkness. My lips pressed together, hoping she was hiding in the dark rather than the first thought that jumped to my mind and had my heart racing.
Moving away from the tree, I looked around to make sure the coast was clear before darted towards the drain pipe on light feet. I couldn't waste any more time waiting if my creeping suspicions were right and Artemis had decided to go back to Silas. Who knew how long she had been gone or how far they were if my fears were true.
Reaching the pipe, I gave one last scan around me despite nothing catching my eye on the way there. Just to be safe. Most of my paranoid glances were. I hadn't spotted anyone while waiting under the tree aside from Rowan, but, with my luck, now would be the time for someone to arrive if any. Or when I was stuck halfway up a pipe with nowhere to hide.
Swallowed, I pushed the thought aside as I pulled my gloves off and slipped them into my pocket beside Silas's coin bag. Guilt rose as my fingers brushed the material I had to secure tightly to keep the coins from making noise with my movements. It was going to add to the anger of my absence when he realized I stole- no, borrowed it. I was going to give it back when I returned with the key. If-
My jaw clenched.
No. No ifs. I'm going to get the key, give Silas his money back, let him know I'm leaving, find a lake, and then go break out Ash, I told myself with conviction. Even if I have to sacrifice my life to do so. Pain or the wave of a loaded gun wouldn't stop me this time. Not until Ash was free.
Everyone would still get what they wanted. Ash would be free, something we both want; Hilda, she would succeed in hiding the Blood Stone in the earth realm, even if it wasn't warming my still chest; and Silas... he would be free too. From me and the burden hated me for being.
The confidence the mental pep talk held was contradicted by the slight tremor in my hand as I reached up. My fingers curled over the curved metal plate bolting the pipe to the wall where there was space. Lifting my foot, I placed it on the one closest to the ground and took a deep breath before pushing off the ground to reach for the next rung and began my climb to the third floor. The cold metal had my warm fingers stinging. It wouldn't be long before the contact had them growing stiff and numb.
The thought of losing feeling in my fingers had me terrified as I climbed up to the second floor which was lined with dark windows. Falling would not only make noise that would wake someone up, but it would also hurt. A lot.
Don't look down.
The closer I got to the third floor, the more my worries shifted from heights to the uncertainty that breaking and entering came with. I was taking a gamble regarding Rowan's state of consciousness despite giving him plenty of time to drift off to sleep. If on the off chance he was awake, then nothing but the indifference he had shown me when we met earlier would save me. But I knew that the circumstances that would surround our second meeting wouldn't illicit the same reaction. I doubted he would turn a blind eye to a human that was attempting to steal from him like he had when he saved me. However, it could be easier to try and lie my way out of trouble and explain why I was climbing a three-story building to see him if he didn't catch me in the act of stealing. Which was my next greatest worry.
How was I going to remove the key from around Rowan's neck without waking him up?
I had years of practice sneaking around unheard and unnoticed, practice that seemed to hold up against Fae. Well, at least it did with Hilda and Silas. Despite their long ears, they didn't show any signs of enhanced hearing given how often I found myself self sneaking up to their hushed conversation and eavesdropping. That gave me hope that I would be able to sneak in and out unnoticed as long as the doors leading inside didn't creak as I entered and he didn't wake as I unclasped his necklace. If it even had a clasp.
When I climbed high enough to stretch my arm out and reach for the first balcony on the third floor, I made the mistake of glancing down. My numb fingers stiffened as my stomach rolled. Dragging my eyes away from the distant ground that I couldn't help but imagine falling to, I focused my gaze on the dark double doors that were shut. Though they were glass, curtains hid the room from view.
Stretching to grab hold of the metal railing, I made sure to keep three points of contact at all times as I moved from the pipe to the balcony. First I moved my hand, then a foot to the edge of the landing. When I had the railing gripped in both hands, I pulled my remaining foot to join the other as I shifted to press myself up against it.
Keeping my eyes on the door and my ears open, I climbed over the railing and moved silently as I darted across the landing, only needing to worry about being heard and not seen since the curtains hid me from view just as much as they did the room. Scrambling over the railing again, I focused on the balcony I was aiming for with the door that was ajar. My mouth grew dry when I found a greater distance separating the two.
Just don't look down, I repeated to myself as I took a deep breath.
This time I moved a foot across the distance first, not liking how far I had to spread my legs to reach it or how unsteady it left me feeling. When I went to move a hand, I realized I wasn't going to be able to reach it unless I let go of the railing I clinging to with a white-knuckled grip. The thought had me paling.
But nowhere near as pale as Ash was from being locked away for years. The only sunlight he had gotten was the rays that followed me in when I went to see him.
Holding my breath, I pulled away one hand while preparing to push off the landing with my foot and the other. I wasn't going to make it to the next balcony otherwise. My eyes locked onto the railing, knowing what would happen if I missed while grabbing for it.
I wasn't going to.
Before I could overthink myself into a trembling state of fear, I lunged towards Rowan's balcony. My lips flattened to keep any noises from escaping as my hands desperately reached for the railing while refusing to let gravity pull me down. My foot kicked rubble across the landing when it made contact and the air rushed from my lungs at the cold press of the metal that bit into my palms and dug into my stomach. Though the impact had knocked my breath out, it became easier to draw in another now that I had successfully made it across the intimidating space. I was finally able to breathe again, even if it sawed in and out of my chest raggedly.
Returning my attention to the door that was cracked open, I carefully climbed over the railing to stand where Rowan had been smoking and stargazing roughly an hour ago. I spotted the discarded butt of his cigarette in an ashtray on the small bistro table off to the side as I moved to press up against the wall beside the door. Splitting my focus between it and the street below, I watched and listened for any signs of movement. Finding nothing that caused alarm, I began to inch forward. Peering through the curtains that didn't hide the room as well as the previous ones did, I caught a glimpse of three doors. Two against the wall to the side and one on the wall opposite me where I could make out the corner of a bed.
Please don't make any noise, I mentally begged the door as I reached for the handle. The creak that had sounded when Rowan opened it was what had drawn my eyes to him earlier. I was careful not to make the same mistake. Moving at the pace of a sloth, I slowly pulled the door open, stopping and moving even slower when a noise began to sound. It was a tedious pace, but one that kept the sounds of the night undisturbed. When there was enough room for me to slip through, I let go of the handle and peered inside.
Moonlight made its way through the crack in the door to reveal a decent-sized room. There was a table with a plate of half-eaten dinner just off to the side and a coat I recognized draped over the chair. My eyes continued over the rug that had a discarded shirt dropped onto it to find the bed that stood on the opposite wall. The stream of light that the door let in fell across Rowan's sleeping body. He lay on his back, his head turned to the side and a hand resting on his bare stomach that rose and fell with even breaths. The key moved with each one he took.
The trepidation thrumming in my chest eased a fraction at the sight of him asleep. Shifting my weight to the balls of my feet, I silently slipped inside. Avoiding his boots that lay haphazardly on the floor by the foot of the bed, I made my way to his side, my eyes trained on his face for any signs that he was waking. When my feet came to a stop within reaching distance of him, my eyes clung to every detail of the key and the chain it hung from while trying to ignore the display of flesh. My eyes scanned over the silver in search of its clasp, hoping to find one so I wouldn't need to pull it over his head which was likely to cause him to stir.
Luckily, I wouldn't need to take the risk. Lying on his skin near the pulse point in his neck was the clasp I was looking for.
My eyes flicked between his face and the small hook that held the delicate chain together, I wiped my hands on my trousers, before taking another step closer and reaching for him. I didn't dare breathe, afraid the soft sounds that sounded loud to my own ears would reach his.
Careful to keep my fingers from touching his skin, I pinched the metal between my fingertips and pulled it away from his skin. Reaching for the small latch to open the hook, the tip of my thumbnail only managed to touch it before I noticed how still everything had become. How still he had become.
Like me, Rowan was no longer breathing.
My eyes snapped back up to his face just as his snapped open. Our gaze barely met before my body was flying back through the air.
A cry escaped my lips at the impact my back made with the wall. It didn't last long. It was cut short as my head cracked into the wall after it. Pain and darkness burst behind my eyes as I crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.
Taken is complete and available on Patreon.
Captive, book 2 of The Blood Stone Series, is currently being updated. Read more at:
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