Chapter Thirty-two

Ravi slowed when he heard voices. He kept out of the light as he crept forward. He was gathering what little magic he had to use against the elves when the powder enveloped Yaz. He lurched forward to grab her as shadows abruptly shrouded him. His arms stretched outward as he saw her crumple to the ground. Then the corridor—and Yaz—faded from sight.

In a blink, the shadows receded. Ravi found himself in a room. He staggered from the shadows and spun to find a female. The Dark was clothed in a black and silver ~lehenga~. Her long, white hair was gathered in a loose braid, while a silver band rested along the part of her white hair, a large oval onyx resting against her forehead. She took her time looking him over with her gray eyes.

He narrowed his. Was she Dain’s informant? Or was the Dark working with Shaldorn? Ravi noted the door behind him and the clear passage to it. “Who are you?”

“Calm yourself, Ravi. I’m Arya. I’m here to help.”

Dain had never given Ravi his agent’s name. He hadn’t even said whether the undercover operative was male or female. Ravi wouldn’t assume anything. “You still haven’t told me who you are.”

“You know who I am. I’ve been watching you and your companion since you arrived.”

“If I knew who you were, I wouldn’t be asking.”

Arya released a loud sigh of frustration. “Did that arsehole tell you nothing?”

“By arsehole, you mean…?”

“Dain, of course.” Arya dropped her arms and rolled her eyes. “Life would be a lot less complicated if he would learn to use his words.”

Ravi might have confirmation about who she was, but that didn’t calm him. “Why did you keep me from Yaz? She was in trouble. We could’ve helped.”

“Gita and the Trinity hadn’t seen you. If you had made yourself known, you’d be going to the same place Yasmin is.”

“You mean they would kill me.”

The Dark shook her head and looked away. “Gita won’t kill her. At least, not at first. She’ll make Yasmin suffer. The human was a fool to return.”

“They shouldn’t have recognized her.”

The Dark crossed her arms over her chest. “You thought some serum that altered her appearance would keep her from being noticed?”

Ravi turned his back to Arya and closed his eyes. After a moment, he ran a hand down his face as he tried to think of what to do next. He didn’t have the device. Or Yaz. He opened his eyes and looked around the sparse room. “Where are we?”

“In a room on the staff level.”

He faced her. “Get to Dain. He needs to tell Durga that we need more agents immediately.”

“That isn’t going to happen, Sunny. Shaldorn is on lockdown. No one can leave. Not even me.”

“Yaz had a way out for us.”

Arya quirked a brow. “Did she share it with you?”

“Nay.”

“Then we’re stuck.”

“I can’t be stuck.” He fought rising helplessness and fury. “I have to get out there.”

Arya tilted her head to the side, causing the thick braid to dangle over her shoulder. “To do what, exactly? Will you go after the device or Yasmin?”

“I…” He knew what he was supposed to do, what he ~should~ do. What his training told him to do.

Arya walked to a corner where a large bag hid in some shadows. “There are eyes everywhere at Shaldorn. Gita will know what you were wearing. We need to change.”

“My clothes are… Shite. I don’t know where they are.” Yaz had warned him it was all a maze.

“Good thing I came prepared. Let’s hope these fit,” she said before tossing him some clothes.

Ravi caught them as they hit his chest. He glanced up to see her back to him as she removed her jewelry. He looked at the door, worry for Yaz clouding his mind. She had inhaled lake root. He’d heard her choking and gasping for air. He wanted to believe Arya that Yaz was alive, but he couldn’t until he saw her for himself.

He never should’ve brought Yaz within the walls. She had warned him about the many dangers, but he’d had a mission. And he’d believed he could keep her safe. He’d promised her that he would. Now, she was once more held in Shaldorn. If she was alive, he couldn’t imagine what they would do to her. He had vowed to free her if anything happened.~

~Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.~

Ravi heard her words in his mind and wanted to hit something. He could tell himself she had known the dangers, but it didn’t absolve him of his sins. He had to find Yaz. He couldn’t leave her. Not after all she had done for him.

He dropped the clothes onto the floor and changed quickly. When he straightened after tossing his sodden garments aside, Arya was watching him. “Where will they take Yaz?”

“There are a couple of places we can look. The storm was a nice touch, by the way.”

“It was a last-minute decision.” Ravi shoved his wet hair away from his face. “I need to get to Yaz.”

“No one has ever escaped Shaldorn before. No one.”

“Meaning they’ll make an example of her?”

The Dark unbraided her hair before gathering it behind her head and securing it. “I don’t believe Gita will bring her in front of the guests or even the staff—not after everything that’s happened tonight. The Moon Elf will take her revenge in private. She doesn’t want to remind anyone that someone got out of her clutches. The guests let down their guards because nothing will ever get out.”

“Who is Gita?”

“She is the mastermind behind Shaldorn. The elves behind her were the Trinity: One, Two, and Three. They answer solely to her and run Shaldorn with an iron fist.”

Yaz had said a Moon Elf had brought her to the fortress. Had that elf been Gita? “I should’ve run faster. Had I gotten to our meeting point sooner, Yaz and I could’ve gotten away before Gita arrived.”

“Then you would be in Gita’s clutches along with Yasmin.”

Ravi nodded and turned his mind back to his mission. “If this place is on lockdown, then that means the device is still here. I need to find it.”

“There are four levels to comb through. Even with a hundred agents, we couldn’t do it in time to find either Yasmin or the device.”

Ravi squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I can’t stand around. I have to be out there searching.”

“For one, you don’t know what the device looks like. Two, the storm ripped through everything upstairs. It was a monsoon. Indoors. It could still be raging for all I know.”

“It would give us cover.”

“I repeat. A ~monsoon~,” she said slowly as if he were addled.

And Ravi supposed he was. Everything was unraveling around him. All he wanted was to find Yaz and get her out of Shaldorn.

“My advice is to remain here for a bit. But by that stubborn look on your face, you’re going to ignore it.”

He turned his head to her. “I’m not good with being idle. Especially with my partner in trouble.”

Partner. Yaz was that and more. But he couldn’t say what he really wanted. He could only think it, ~feel~ it.

Arya eyed him. “You’re one of the best in the DIA. You didn’t get that way by being reckless or idiotic. Leave that to Dain.”

“I need to know what’s going on upstairs. Please,” he added.

“Will you be here when I get back?”

“I give you my word.”

She flashed him a flat stare. “You’re on your own if you leave.”

“Understood.”

The shadows gathered around Arya within seconds. Then, she was gone. Ravi walked to a wall and put his back against it. He slid down it until he rested on his haunches. Then he dropped his head into his hands. “Hold on, Yaz. I’m coming.”

~ ~ ~

Yasmin floated in the place between waking and sleep. Sometimes, sleep would tug her down, clutching her so tightly she was incapable of escape. Other times, she heard snatches of the world around her, teasing her to push through the veil and be a part of the living once more.

But sleep felt so good. She was comforted there.

Safe.

She didn’t know what she should want to be sheltered from. Each time she attempted to figure out what it could be, it flitted from her mind like a shooting star across the night sky.

Yasmin drifted. She became cognizant of a little more each time she surfaced from sleep. Until she finally became aware of sunlight on her face. The warmth of it was heavenly. And the glow reminded her of something. Nay. Some~one~. If only she could recall who it was.

Her eyes were so heavy it took great effort to pry them open. They fell shut again almost immediately. She partially rolled onto her back and stretched, but sleep beckoned her again. She began to follow it when she recalled that she had something important to do. She couldn’t remember exactly what it was but knew she had to get moving.

This time, when Yasmin opened her eyes, it was easier. She found herself staring at a familiar stone ceiling. Her lids grew heavy, but she kept her eyes open. She yawned and stretched again. Her body was so lethargic that she had to roll onto her side and use her arm to push up into a sitting position. Her brain was fuzzy, making thoughts difficult.

She tugged her feet from the covers, only to have one get caught. It felt like an eternity before she freed it. Her bare feet met a small rug. She squished her toes into the fibers before standing on wobbly legs. She saw the washstand and headed for it. It was only a few steps away but seemed more like a hundred.

Yasmin gritted her teeth when her feet met the bare floor. She heard a song in the distance she recognized but couldn’t quite place it. She hummed along with it as she grasped the basin and turned on the spigot. The water was freezing as she cupped it in her hands before splashing her face.

She gasped as the chilly liquid met her skin, but it helped to shake off the last vestiges of sleep. She blinked the water from her eyes as she turned off the spout. Yasmin focused on her reflection in the mirror. She’d had the strangest dream. One where she had escaped Shaldorn only to return with a handsome Sun Elf on a mission for…she couldn’t remember.

It had been so vivid that thinking of the elf brought a smile to her face. She rarely dreamed and almost never remembered more than bits and pieces. But this one had details. So many particulars she could still recall. She closed her eyes and immediately pictured the tent and the Sun Elf. His hard, naked body alongside hers.

His arms as they held her.

His beautiful, copper eyes.

The squeak of a door opening yanked Yasmin from her thoughts. She dried her face and turned to the Moon Elf who had brought her to Shaldorn. Yasmin faced her as the elf came into the room. The strands of her blue hair were parted down the middle and gathered in multiple braids. She wore a navy ~lehenga~ with white embroidery. She looked more composed than last time.

The thought had come unbidden, but with it came the truth. Blood roared in Yasmin’s ears as she realized she hadn’t been dreaming. She had lived that life. She had been free to choose who touched her and when.

The room spun, making her grab the sink behind her to stay on her feet. She remembered the lake root Gita had thrown at her and the comprehension that she would die. For some reason, Gita had healed her. She was woozy because of elven magic.

Yasmin reached down for her pocket and the device, but she no longer wore the purple ~lehenga~. She didn’t need to ask to know that Gita had the device. But did they have Ravi?

“I see it’s all coming back to you,” Gita stated as she gathered her hands before her and grinned triumphantly.

Tears burned Yasmin’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She wouldn’t show weakness.

She couldn’t.

~ ~ ~

Ravi’s head jerked up when Arya returned. He stood and met her gaze. “Well?”

“They have the storm contained,” she stated.

He waited for more. When it didn’t come, he gave her a pointed look. “And?”

“And what? The elves have done their part, and the staff is already cleaning up. Guests are restricted to certain areas and are being questioned. The guards are also searching for you.”

“Then we shouldn’t tarry.”

“Walking those halls right now is tantamount to suicide. You certainly won’t get the device or locate Yasmin if that happens,” she retorted.

Ravi raked his hand through his hair again. “I can’t sit and do nothing!”

“Here.” Arya held out a hand with a strip of leather in it. “Get your hair out of your face. Then we’ll come up with a plan. I think I know where we can look for Yasmin.”

“What about the device?”

“There won’t be time for both. You have to choose. The device or your woman.”

“She’s not mine.”

Arya shot him a skeptical look. “Whatever. We won’t have long, whichever you decide.”