Page 129 of Demon’s Snack

“I was going to say that.”

“You were going to hover.”

“I can multitask.”

“You cannot hover and flee simultaneously.”

“Watch me.”

Despite everything, a strained laugh escapes her.

The bond steadies around the sound.

We reach the lower bend where the tunnel splits into drainage routes and a service stair hidden behind a warped iron grate.

“Down,” Isolde says immediately.

“You know this route too?”

“I know many routes.”

“One day we are discussing exactly how long you’ve been planning to escape this place.”

“One day,” she replies quietly while ducking beneath the low archway, “you’re going to understand planning is what I did instead of screaming.”

The words hit harder than any spell tonight.

I tear the grate free and lower her through first. She lands lightly on the stair below and looks back up at me through the dimness.

“Come on,” she says.

The bond pulls me after her.

I drop down just as another spell detonates above us, too late and too far away to matter.

The estate’s grip loosens. The air below tastes of moss, wet stone, and freedom distant enough to make a man dangerous.

Vaerith is behind us with a broken containment corridor and no public blood.

He cannot spin this the way he wanted.

He will try.

But tonight the lie has fractures in it.

I catch Isolde’s hand as we descend deeper into the dark.

She doesn’t pull away.

“Still not asking for rescue?” I ask, glancing sideways at her.

Her fingers tighten around mine. “I am using available resources,” she replies in that maddeningly composed tone.

A rough laugh escapes me.

“Sure,” I say. “Call me a resource again and I’ll start billing.”

“Your rates are probably unreasonable.”