Page 178 of Death of a Mortal

“He’s fine, but he spent too much raw magic, so he stayed on the ship with the crew.”

Notably, Brennor was also missing. I couldn’t say that I cared much.

Once Aerie brought me to the ground in her avian claws, she took off once more, Noxie just behind her, to keep an eye out from above. The rest of the group silently huddled around a makeshift base of two side-by-side trees. Drayce settled next to me, the warmth coming off him relaxing me enough to close my eyes and drift off into a light sleep.

It seemed only minutes later that he was shaking me awake.

“We move now, before it’s too light and we risk exposure. Did Noxie tell you the plan?” he whispered.

I nodded, feeling immediately alert and awake. This was it, go-time.

One of Kellan’s soldiers would stay here at the rendezvous point and protect any mortals we were fortunate enough to direct out of the castle. His other two would be stationed spaced out in the servants’ corridor to serve as guides and point them this way. Toward their exit, their freedom. I prayed Halden would be among them.

The rest of our team packed up and headed toward the edge of the woods, the sky above just a shade lighter than the darkness of night. It would soon lighten quickly.

“We move as a group. Stay behind me,” Drayce whispered before darting out into the open, followed by the rest of us.

From next to him, I pointed to where the waterway was, confirming that I could still see no ward over it.

We veered slightly left and made it to the waterway at the bottom of the stone wall within a few minutes, the sky already lighter by a shade or two.

Bramick pushed to the front, panting slightly, and placed his hands on the metal bars and pulled. It looked like it took some effort, but the bars slowly separated more, and I thought vaguely to myselfthat he should have maybe tried this in my dungeon cell when he was “Ponytail.”

I’d ask him about that later.

“In,” Drayce said as he held out a hand, and the murky water split in the middle of the stream.

I’d hoped, this early in the morning, the flowing water wasn’t yet flooded with excrement from chamber pots.

Once we were all safely in the tunnel, Noxie on my shoulder, we walked slowly in a single line behind Drayce as the water flowed around us, keeping dry. I held a fistful of fire for light as we walked on and on, looking for any way up into the castle. I worried that this was just a tunnel with no exit other than the one we came through, until small, dim shards of light shone ahead of us through a grate in the ceiling.

We all stopped at the same time when we heard voices. Not a beat later we saw, what was unmistakably, the contents of chamber pots being dumped through the grate above.

What perfect timing…

I held my breath as long as I could and prayed Drayce would keepthataway from us. When I finally had to breathe, I gagged—the smell was truly awful, not unlike the smell in the dungeon I’d occupied for months, where myself and other prisoners had nowhere to relieve ourselves but within the confines of our cells.

For a moment, I was back there, living in the stench. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming aloud at the visceral memory. But after a few moments to compose myself and remind myself where I was, what I was doing, I shook off the memory before my mind could spiral further.

We stood there, not daring to move, as at least twenty chamber pots were emptied, one after another. I realized this meant we were underneath the cleaners’ room—this grate would be in a closet next to the cleaners’ supply storage room. The one Drayce burst through so many months ago with me flung over his shoulder to get us to the servants’ corridors.

It looked like we’d be following the same path this time. We’d just have to wait until the mortals above finished their morning emptying.

After way too long standing just feet away from the plopping and splashing, the chatting voices above faded, and minutes of silence went by.

“Aerie, air-lift Bramick to the grate, and Bram, see if you can lift it or break it,” Drayce finally whispered, as quietly as possible. He was so quiet I assumed only fae hearing could pick up the sound.

Air whooshed past my legs as Bramick’s enormous form rose.

After a few moments of analysis, he indicated that he was ready to be lowered. “It’s bolted down from above, but the bolts are iron. I should be able to loosen them and lift the grate off. Though a little rinse off would be nice…”

Drayce smirked and sent a jet of water up to rinse the unpleasantness from the grate. Then Aerie lifted Bramick back up and the scrape of metal soon followed. Once it was loose, Bramick lifted the grate carefully and shifted it to the side. Aerie lifted him slightly higher, just enough to poke his head out and look around.

He gave a thumbs-up, and she lifted him all the way out. Bramick lowered to his knees at the edge of the opening above and said, “All clear. Send everyone up.”

Drayce looked at me first and nodded. The air seemed to almost solidify under my feet as my body rose up and through the opening, making my stomach swoop. It was an odd feeling, being supported by only air.

As soon as my feet hit the ground in the small closet, I moved out of the way for the rest of the group to join. Once we were all up, Bramick replaced the grate and the large nails, leaving it good as new.