The stone corridors grew colder and darker as we descended, the flickering torchlight casting long shadows against the damp walls. My heart pounded in my chest as we neared the bottom of the spiral staircase. Luke's presence behind me was comforting, but it wasn't enough to ease the tight knot of fear in my gut. My friends were here. Locked away. And I didn't even know if they were okay.
When we finally reached the bottom, we came to a thick iron door with bars. Luke produced a key from his belt and slid it into the lock with a low creak. The door groaned as it swung open, revealing a dimly lit hallway lined with cells.
"They're in the last cell," Luke said in a firm voice, stepping aside to let me through first.
My stomach twisted as I rushed down the hall, my boots slapping against the stone floor. And then, I saw them. Huddled at the far end of the cell, Dominic was sitting up, his face pale but alert. Luis stood beside him, arms crossed, and Adrian lay unconscious on a cot, his chest rising and falling slowly.
"Dominic! Luis!" I cried, reaching the bars as I lifted the stupid veil from my face. "Are you okay?"
Dominic looked up at me, relief flooding his face, but then confusion crossed his features as he took me inâreally took me in.
"Matt?" he asked, his voice thick with disbelief. "Is that really you?"
Luis stepped forward, his eyes flicking between me and Dominic, but unlike Dominic, there was no shock on his face. Just a long, heavy stare.
"It's me," I said, my throat tight. "But there's... a lot I need to explain."
Luke stepped forward, unlocking the cell door. "I'll allow you in, My Lady. But only for a short time."
I glanced at him, surprised, and angry. He'd put them in a cell!
As the door swung open, I stepped inside and rushed to Adrian's side, gently touching his forehead. His skin was warm, and he was breathing steadily, but he hadn't woken up yet. My heart squeezed in worry.
I squared off against Luke, all of my budding goodwill evaporating. "How could you leave Adrian in a cell overnight when he's so hurt? What kind of monster are you?"
Luke leaned closer. "Monster enough that I will not risk the safety of my charges within my home, My Lady. I do not know your friends, and you came here under duress. We have healed Adrian in his body, but such a grave injury causes mental trauma. If you bother to notice, the cots in the room are hardly dungeon issues, and there is a cold pitcher of water on a table between the beds. In fact, we recently fed your friends."
I spun towards my friends to verify this, and Dominic nodded. "It was delicious."
Some of the anger fled, but I carried on. "Despite all your attempts to be 'hospitable,' the fact remains that you put my friends in a dungeon! If you don't let them out right now, it's no deal."
Luke loomed over me, but I sidestepped being trapped against the bars and faced him with my hands ready to box. He looked down at my hands and gave me a beleaguered expression. "As much as you want to paint me into a villain, My Lady, I am the only protection you have against the Consul and your grandfather."
My hands balled into tighter fists as I struggled with my temper. Luke was right, and I knew nothing. "Let my friends go, and we'll talk about trust." I tried to sound as polite as possible between my gritted teeth.
He straightened his shoulders, then looked down his straight nose at me. "I shall let them go if you give me your word to accept me in your court fully."
A bargain. Luke was making bargains to get me to move in his favor. Not allowing it might have kept my friends down there indefinitely. It was a dirty move, but I would probably do the same in his position.
He was trying to save his world. The world my mother came from.
"Fiiiine..." I grumbled.
The bargain shivered against my skin.
He bowed with his hand against his heart, looking pleased, then jingled his keys and opened the door to the cell. But before I could rush in, he held me back, and I saw that he'd pulled out three items.
"Hold out your wrists, gentlemen." Dominic and Luis held out their hands, and Luke slapped a bracelet on their left wrists and then did the same with Adrian. The bracelets glowed a bright orange for a moment before the glow faded away.
"The bars in the cells hamper magic, but since they'll be roaming free, I have to be assured. These bracelets will hamper all but holy magic and will activate a paralysis spell if your friends get the idea that they can escape."
I looked at him as if he was nuts. "But Dom and Adrian are humans."
He shrugged. "I take no chances."
While I fumed, Klick and Klack, who I hadn't seen since my meltdown yesterday, flew in past Luke and landed on my shoulder with a heavy clink. I peered past them to see if anyone heard it. But Luke had left, and the dungeon hallway was empty. When I touched the bird's bodies, they felt lumpy and hard. Then I smirked because I realized they had brought me goodies. Hopefully, they were valuable goodies. "Go to my room," I told them, and they took off again.
Dominic came closer, his eyes still wide with confusion. "What... what happened to you? Why do you lookâ?"
"Like a girl?" I finished for him. I let out a shaky breath, kneeling beside Adrian and brushing some soot from his face. "I was never really a boy, Dominic. My mom... she used magic to hide me. To protect me. I've been disguised as a boy for years, but this is who I really am. My real name is Madeline."
Dominic blinked, his brow furrowing as he tried to process what I was saying. "Wait... what?"
Luis let out a long, slow breath. "I knew."
Dominic and I both turned to stare at him. "What?" I asked, my voice catching in my throat. "You... knew?"
Luis nodded, his expression serious but calm. "Yeah. I've known for a long time."
Dominic's eyes widened in shock. "You knew?! Why didn't you say anything?"
Luis shrugged, his arms still crossed over his chest. "It wasn't my place. MattâMadelineâwas going through enough. I figured if she didn't want to tell me, she had a good reason. So I kept my mouth shut."
Dominic pulled me into a hug. "I can't believe she'd do that. I wish you'd trusted me to tell me sooner. I would have tried to do more for you..."
I cringed. "I know. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I wasn't sure how I could. No one would have believed me."
"I get why you were afraid. If all these supernatural things hadn't happened today, I might not have believe you.  If I weren't terrified, I would be so freaking hyped! Magic is real! But uh... what are they going to do with us?"
Poor Dominic. He was always trying to be positive, but I could tell that he was far from 'hyped.' "Um... I wanted to apologize for you getting involved, Dom. I had no idea that they'd kidnap you."
"He was with me at the diner." Luis was still glaring at us both.
Dominic released me from his hug, but he kept caressing my face despite Luis's muttered death threats. "Why are you apologizing? I just... can't believe that all these years I've known you..." He touched my hair again and the tip of my pointed ear. "You're a girl... and... what? Like a Faerie or something? Can I get a selfie with you?"
I heard the smile in his voice, and my lips quirked. I couldn't believe he was taking this so well. He was being brave, but I felt his fingers trembling when he touched me.
"Sure, plenty of selfies, Dom. Let me get this explanation I owe all of you over with."
"God, yes!" Dominic exclaimed.
I told Dom the whole long tale - my life story so far, right up to my first memory.
"Oh my God, Matt!" Dom said as he continued to cuddle me.
"These bracelets..." I reached out and pulled on Luis's arm so I could look at them. Maybe there was some trick to get them off because it would be nice if Luis could use his magic.
Luis went to pull my hand away from his arm, "Be careful; they really do dampen my magic."
Dominic tried to tug me away since we were still hugging. "Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea to â"
His tug caused us to stumble backward, and I wound up sitting on Adrian's stomach. My hand touched the bare skin on Adrian's arm.
Just as that happened, I felt a freezing pressure within me that felt like I'd swallowed a gallon of snow. My fingertips grew cold and aching, and I wasn't able to pull away from the guys. The room became bitter with cold, and ice formed on the dungeon walls and creeped out into the hall.
Luis stuttered out, "I-ice nagâ"
Before he could finish the sentence, Luis and Dominic shuddered, making their grips convulse on my arm. Ice formed around our bodies. I felt my heart slow, then stop, and I closed my eyes. Someone was killing me. I was dying.
A sharp, cracking sound echoed through the stone walls, and the ground beneath us began to frost over. I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat as I saw itâa massive figure emerging from the shadows. A creature with scales of ice, glistening in the dim torchlight, its eyes glowing with a cold, unnatural light.
An Ice Naga.
"Get back!" Luke shouted, drawing his sword. "Stay behind me!"
The Naga slithered forward, its enormous body coiling through the dungeon, and I felt a wave of pure terror sweep over me. Its freezing breath turned the air around us to frost, and the temperature plummeted further with each second.
I instinctively grabbed Luis's and Dominic's hands, pulling them closer. The cold was unbearable, seeping into my skin like needles of ice. My breath hitched, and I felt something stir deep inside meâsomething ancient and powerful.
A flash of light burst from my chest, so bright it blinded me. Roots of energy shot out from my body, glowing white-hot as they wrapped around Dominic, Luis,  and even Adrian. The roots pulsed, connecting us, and the cold that had been suffocating me vanished. The Naga recoiled, hissing in frustration as the roots formed a barrier between us and its icy wrath.
"What the hell is happening?" Luis shouted, his voice filled with panic as the roots tightened around him.
"I don't know!" I cried, struggling to understand what was happening. The power was out of control, surging through me, through them. I couldn't stop it.
Luke's life force pulled into the vortex along with the rest of us. I felt each of their souls and a rush of emotions that I couldn't separate. The roots pushed farther, seeking more life. Finally, they touched three more souls, pulling them in.
The Naga screeched, its body thrashing against the roots that now held it at bay. For a moment, the entire dungeon seemed to shake, the icy chill retreating as the roots of light grew stronger. And then, as suddenly as it had started, the Naga let out a final, frustrated hiss and vanished into the shadows.
My eyes were open, so I could see the effects of the roots. Luis was stiff, with his back arched, his mouth in the shape of a howl. Dominic was clinging to my waist hard enough to make my bones creak. Adrian had awakened and stared straight at me with galaxies shimmering in his hazel eyes. Just when I thought I would end all of our lives, a sudden hum filled my body, and I felt something like a click within me. The roots held and sought no other, and the beginnings of peace and completeness filled me.
A sudden flash of heat broke my concentration, and the ice surrounding my friends and me fled. But the feeling of seven presences entwined within me remained, and I could see ghostly roots still clinging between my friends and me.
Luke rushed forward, his face pale. "My Lady, are you alright?"
Nausea clenched at my stomach, and I felt weak, as though I'd been sick with the flu for a week. Luke appeared in the cell's doorway, panting, and he was staring at me with shock and a hint of fear.
"What was that?" I whispered, trying not to vomit.
"You've done that before." Adrian and Luis spoke together; then they stared at each other.
"Done what before?" I asked, giving them a wild look.
"Attached yourself with roots to someone..." Luis said.
"What do you â"
"When did it happen to you, Luis?" Adrian cut in.
"Some time ago. The roots hadn't stayed then, but it felt like Matt took part of my soul when it happened."
Adrian was nodding as he sat up from the bed. "That dude attacked Matt, and nearly gutted her when a bunch of crazy roots pulled from her. She changed from a boy into a girl and glowed white hot, just like now. Then she just went dark and still. I knew she was about to die, and I didn't know what to do. I grabbed her hand, and suddenly it was like nothing I had ever felt in my life. When that root found me, I felt like I had found the answers. Maybe she took some of my soul too? Then you were a boy again in the morning, and I thought I dreamed it all.  Matt, I spent three years in a foster home going nuts because of that, and I had to find you again." Adrian gave me a miserable look.
"I'm, I'm sorry, Adrian..." Why couldn't I remember doing that to Luis or Adrian? I glanced at Luis, hoping he had answers, but he avoided my eyes.
Luke tilted my head up and studied me. "I need to find out who else is affected and get you to the healer. You don't look well."
"Me. It affected me."
It was Erick.