Within the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 37

An unsettling feeling sinks into my gut. I try to shake the image of the men from my mind as Aston swoops up to us. But those knots are bound tight.

"May I take the lady for a dance?" he says, glancing between me and Ruben. A soft look etched into his face.

The musicians change to a string-led number, the lead man plucking his cello as if his life depends on it.

"I could not say no to my friend, could I?" I kiss Ruben again and take Aston's hand.

His hand is clammy in mine as we spin around. "I am surprised you are here."

"And same to you. Where... have you been?" I dare ask, feeling my heart slow at the presence of my oldest friend.

"Preparing," he says, his voice resolute. But he studies my face, glancing at my arms, brows pinching. "How are you only covered in bruises? I thought you'd be bedridden."

"I am wondering the same. Someone... or something came into the dungeon last night –"

That's when a scream rips through the ballroom. I snap out of Aston's arms and watch as everyone backs towards the walls, a frantic energy ripping through the air like the violet gust of a storm. More screams and terror crackle into the air. A blade slices through the air, spinning before thudding into the herald's neck, sticking out the other side. Silence swathes the room for a beat as the herald gurgles and blubbers, eyes bulging as a single line of blood trails from the corner of his lips. His knees buckle. The king jumps to his feet and pulls out his sword.

"Who was that?" he bellows, voice shaking the room.

His glare slices through the trembling, paling Concaves.

"It was me," I say, lying through my teeth. Then I pull the knife from beneath my skirt and hurl it. More screams stab the air as the blade sings past the king, catching his ear. "This is our world now, your grace." As I speak, the ground tremors, and my heart thumps, adrenaline scorching through my veins. A sneer carved from the very shadows forms on my face and I withdraw another blade. My father's blade. I hold his memory close. "And you will die in it."

On cue, a roar explodes from the hallways. It billows and envelopes my senses like a raging storm of the Gods. I feel it in my chest and my gut. My pulse thrums instinctively. A battle cry. Then a chant that chills the marrow of my bones. "Kill the king! Kill the king!"

The thunder barrels into the ballroom, throwing the roof into the cosmos. The prisoners, the Convex, and the Tranqs charge into the crowd, knives and swords rattling before they swing, slicing through the Tranqs still loyal to the king, and through the Concaves. Metal clashes against metal and bone and flesh as the chaos rips into the king's precious reign of control, prying his grip open inch by inch. For a moment, all I can do is stand there. The death and screams and darkness swarm and surge around me. I spot Aston, parrying his sword with the king's Tranq. Ice tears into my chest as the Tranq knocks the blade from Aston's grip, and him to his back. I scream his name, launching into the flurry to find him.

"Elle!"

Ruben shouts, grabbing my arm. "We need to move!"

But I cannot. Some of the Concaves are still fighting for the king. Tranqs battle with one another, spears and swords and blood flying and colliding. The clang of blades crashing against one another builds and thrashes around me. Someone slams into me, knocking me to the floor and pain bursts across my skull when it hits the marble. I cry out, reaching for my other knife. But a boot slams onto my wrist, pinning the limb to the floor. Whimpers and curses fly from my mouth.

Auburn hair sways across my teary vision and my heart jumps into my throat. "Killian?" I hardly get the name out before his hand clamps around my throat and his other brings a knife to my jugular vein.