Heart of the Wolf Prince

Chapter 34(a)

I wake to the sweet smell of mould and damp earth.

I try to move my body, but it doesn't respond. I feel thirsty, so damn thirsty and yet I don't think I could crawl to find water if I tried. A dull ache throbs in my forehead, contributing to the agonising headache that encases my entire skull. I feel too hot, almost feverish. I crack open an eye, because that seems to be the only thing I can do.

I'm on the ground. That much is obvious. I lie by a set of iron bars, the scent of rust and decay virtually oozing off them. Around me, I am surrounded by walls of cobblestone, all clad with moss and lichen.

"Naomi?" a distant voice rings in my ears. Something digs into my shoulder, and I look down to find a hand there. My eyes trail up the owner's arm, their body, all the way to their face. My eyes take a moment to recognise the sea-blue eyes, the wavy hair that looks hazel in this dank space.

"Kairi?" I croak.

Her face moves. A smile. A relieved smile. "Yes, it's me. I'm here to break you out."

I still, and it all comes rushing back to me. I'd last been standing with Alex, discussing what I'd overheard when he'd struck me. Betrayed me, I remember with a sickening clarity. And if Alex betrayed me, then...

"Get off me," I hiss. The adrenalin that rushes through me breathes some life back into my limbs, and I use it to scramble away from the bars. "You betrayed me. You're with Alex."

Kairi looks sad as she shakes her head. "No, Naomi, I'm not with Alex. He never even came back to me. I had to go out of my way to ask him what happened, and where you were, to which he replied that you'd gained nothing on importance and went to bed on a bad migraine. I knew that wasn't right, but I pretended to believe him. I went to your room and, as I suspected, you weren't there. I suspected foul play, so I started searching."

I blink. "Then how did you know where I—?

"I didn't. I've spent the past twelve hours combing the castle. When the guards were doing a rotation, I thought that was the best time to come check in the dungeons. I didn't want to think you were down here, but..."

She trails off, looking guilty. "Anyway. I've come to break you out." She pulls out a gleaming, golden key and stands, staring at the lock. "I stole this from one of the guards. There were a few on duty, so I had to knock them out."

I gawk at her. "You knocked them out?"

Kairi nods gravely. "I don't have your stealth. It wasn't ideal, but it had to be done. I filled their mouths with water until they passed out. We don't have long."

"Were you seen?" I ask, horrified. If someone saw Kairi with her powers, then she was in as much danger as I.

Kairi's hand stills as she is about to put the key in the lock. "Yes, by one."

"And what did you do about it?"

"I drowned him."

Silence. She looks down towards the dirt, her eyes haunted. "I filled his lungs with so much water there was no way he'd draw breath again. I didn't want to, but..."

"But you had to," I finish for her. Her hand starts to shake.

"Y-yeah, something like that," she murmurs, and my stomach twists at the anguish in her voice. She thrusts the key into a lock, obviously as a means to drop this subject, but before we can descend into a heavy silence, her eyes widen in shock and she withdraws the key. "This door... it's already unlocked."

She pushes on the bars and, sure enough, the door swings wide open. I climb to my feet and stare at it, perplexed. Surely, Alex wouldn't have been so careless as to leave it unlocked, would he?