Heidi started towards us, an arrow notched in her bow. For a moment, I thought she was going to kill him. Kill him or kill me, I wasn't sure. But then her arms were around my shoulders and she was hugging me so tightly it nearly knocked me down.

I let go of Kai's hand and hugged her back, smoothing my hand over her tightly braided hair as I said, "Are you okay? Have you been hurt?"

"We've been looking everywhere for you, you piece of shit," her voice was quiet, muffled by my hair. She pulled back to look at me. "Cohen is frantic. He was almost beside himself with worry when you didn't show—We split up to look for you. Cohen went west and Jaxon went north. We heard reports that Caine had a goddess-touched girl hostage and we...goddess, Monroe. I was so scared. I—I only just finished checking the south tower for you and then I came here to see if..." She swallowed and took a step back from me, her eyes finding Igell's body once more.

"I'm glad you were here," I said, drawing her eyes back to me.

She nodded and then looked to Kai. He didn't shrink back from the anger that flashed in her eyes. "And what the hell are you doing? Did you finally get tired of being useless?"

I stepped between the two of them and held up a hand towards my friend, "Heidi—"

Kai cut me off. "I'm sorry." I turned, but the words weren't directed at me. He looked only to Heidi, his expression open and honest as he said, "I'm sorry for lying and I'm sorry that you were hurt by me. And you have every right to kick my ass later. I deserve it. Truly. But..." He glanced to me and then back to my Heidi. "But right now, we need your help. Monroe, needs your help."

"I ought to kill you where you stand," Heidi said, her voice low.

"You'd have every right."

"Don't," I whispered. "Please, Heidi. Don't. If you're my friend, if you truly care about me at all, you won't take him." I reached out and braced a hand against the wall. My throat hurt from the force of Kai's grip and I was still struggling to breathe. Despite the fact that Heidi already knew all of my fears and weaknesses, I still wanted to appear brave in front of her. "Please. Please let it rest for now. Let's get through this. Let's...Let's kill Caine."

Her eyes never shifted from Kai as she said, "We don't know where he is."

"He's in the ballroom," I said. "And we can end him. You and me. We can do it together, I know we can."

Heidi still held Kai's gaze and I wondered what fears she saw when she looked at him. He nodded to her, as if in acknowledgement. As if he knew exactly what she saw and he wasn't ashamed.

Seeing her look at him like that, feeling the essence of her ability at play filled me with an odd, disconnected feeling. A chill ran through me and I fought the urge to lash out. My ability was poised—pressed to the walls of my skin as if in challenge. As if it sensed the presence of another volatile force.

As if it wanted to play.

To ruin and break and bend.

I wondered if she felt it too. Felt the way my ability strained towards her.

"Heidi," I said, careful to keep my voice calm. "Let's kill Caine."

She stepped back, finally breaking her gaze from Kai. She rolled her shoulders and adjusted the quiver of arrows strapped to her back. "He's in the ballroom?"

I nodded.

Kai spoke up. "And he has my brother with him."

My mouth opened at the memory of Igell's words. The Warwick boy and a goddess-touched girl. They'd thought that the girl was me. Cohen had gone in search of me, but I'd been with Kai. And Heidi was here. And Kinsley...she had to be dead. Jax would have made sure of it. Which meant there was only one other option.

"Nadia," I breathed, turning to look at Kai. His jaw was tight, his eyes shuttered with an emotion I couldn't quite pinpoint. Fear, worry, desperation, recognition. He must have guessed as much.

"What about her?" Heidi asked.

"The guard said that Caine had Cohen and Nadia in the ballroom with him. As hostages."

"It wasn't you," she breathed. "You weren't the girl he had then, it was...it was..." She rubbed absently at her goddess-given mark and whispered, "I haven't see her since we arrived. I thought...she was with Ruthie and few others. They were supposed to hang back and help the wounded. I didn't even consider..."

She started moving, grabbing me by the upper arm and dragging me along with her as she careened down the hall in the direction of the ballroom. Once she seemed certain that Kai and I were coming and could keep pace, she released me. "Just for the record:" She said, her voice coming in sharp pants as we ran. "I don't like you, Callahan. Or whatever the hell your real name is."

I heard the smile in his voice as he huffed out a quiet, "Duly noted."

We came to a stop at a fork in the hallway. Ahead of us, I could heard more fighting. A set of stairs branched off to our left and another hallway to our right. I was utterly lost now.

Thankfully, Heidi seemed to have her bearings. "Darragh's barricaded in the royal dining room, along with the Synod," Heidi said.

Kai's brow knit with confusion as we started to follow her down the hall to the right. "Why?"

"We're all fighting for our lives out here and I guess he's playing politician. Jax says he's trying to force them into declaring you illegitimate or something, I don't know ."

"Well, that's a waste of time. I'll abdicate and he—"

She held up a hand. "I don't know and I don't care. Let's just—Let's just get over to the ballroom, see what's happening with Caine and..."

And our friends.

"Let's put an end to the rat and then let's get the hell out of here." Heidi spoke to me over her shoulder, "Most of the fighting is outside. Dellacov was clearing the upper hallways earlier. They were rounding up any wounded and imprisoning any Erydian soldiers. We're winning, that much I'm sure of. We did a great job of drawing the majority of  Caine's forces into the city. We were able to evacuate a large number of civilians before dawn and get them out of the way, so as soon as they arrived. We took them out. But, as I'm sure you've seen, there are still plenty of them here." She paused long enough to lifted the hem of her shirt and pulled a small handgun from its holster. "Here. Take this."

"Oh, no I—" Before I could argue further, she pressed it into my hands. "I have another one," she said. "And my bow."

I turned to Kai. He hadn't wanted to be armed—it went against the deal he'd made with Darragh. But Kai still had Igell's gun in his grip and he showed no sign of giving it up. His hand pressed to the small of my back, guiding me forward. "It'll have to be okay," he muttered.

After we'd been walking for about a minute, Kai took hold of my hand and pulled me to a stop. Heidi turned back to us but he waved her on. "We'll catch up."

"What—?" He cut me off as he pulled me against his chest and held me there.

He spoke into my hair. "I'm sorry I choked you. I'm sorry I scared you. I shouldn't have. I just wanted him to put down the damn gun... I regretted it the moment I did it but I wasn't sure what else to do and...I knew you'd react genuinely. I knew you'd freeze and you'd be scared and he'd see that. I knew he'd hesitate and I needed time. I'm just really sorry. You looked...You looked terrified."

"It was mean," I whispered.

"It was more than mean."

I nodded and inhaled a deep, steadying breath. I automatically wrinkled my nose and turned my face up to him. "Goddess above, you smell."

He laughed. "Yeah, well, you don't smell so great yourself."

I pulled away from him and shoved sweat damp hair away from my face. I started to follow Heidi again and Kai kept pace. We were silent for a long moment, both of us lost in our own individual thoughts. There was a lot that needed to be said and not a lot of time to say it. We'd been having snippets of this conversation, moments of gnawing at what the issue was, but there wouldn't be time to really get to the marrow of it until all of this was over and Caine was dead.

And I'd lost so many people in the last few days and weeks that tomorrow no longer held the same weight that it once had. And it had never been a heavy presence in my life to begin with.

"For a second, I thought that maybe..." I trialed off, unwilling to talk about all that Kinsley had said to me about their relationship—at least not in this moment. I couldn't find the words. Couldn't make my mouth, my mind, ask him if he'd slept with her willingly. If he'd cared for her. If he'd decided on a future with her when he'd realized that he couldn't have me.

"That I was going to break your heart again?" Kai whispered.

"That...That fear is always there." I hated the truth of that. I hated the way his jaw tightened at my words.

"Monroe—"

"I thought maybe you really were using me. I thought maybe...for a second, when you had your hand around my neck... I worried that you'd changed your mind. I thought that somewhere along the way, or that maybe the whole time, you'd really wanted this. That you really did want the crown and...and Kinsley."

"The only thing I want right now is you. And to get out of this alive. I've wondered and worried about you for weeks."

I know the sort of man he is. And we're more alike than you will ever understand.

I closed my eyes against the memory of Kinsley's words. "Do you promise?"

"It's a vow."

"I don't know that I want one of those."

"Then a promise it is."

I nodded, then said, "I know what you were trying to do. I don't like it. It scared the shit out of me. But you stalled him for a few seconds, which helped. If you hadn't...Heidi may not have been able to get there in time to help us."

Kai opened his mouth to respond, but someone called my name from down the hall. Jaxon.

"Monroe!"

Heidi was already standing with with a group of soldiers as we approached.

Jax separated and met me halfway. I let go of Kai's hand as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me tightly. His voice was choked with emotion as he said, "Goddess, Monroe. I thought you were dead. Why didn't you go to the kitchens?"

Tavin was at his heels. "When you didn't show up in the kitchen's and then the explosives started going off." He shook his head. "We thought you were a goner."

"No," I pulled away from Jax and gestured to Kai. "I was a little preoccupied."

Jax's brows rose and his jaw tightened. "Yeah, I can see that. Your Majesty, is it?"

"Kai, actually," he said.

"Good luck convincing anyone else of that," Jax said. He gave my shoulder a tight squeeze. "I'm relieved to see you in one piece, Monroe."

Tavin's attention was back on the group gathered in front of the ballroom doors. After a second, he reached over and put a hand on Jax's shoulder, pulling his focus from me. "Hey, we ought to go see what's going on over there. Seems like things might have changed."

"Is Cohen...?"

Jax's face fell and his expression turned grim as he said to me. "We only just arrived, but if seems like it, yes. Caine's in there and he's got Cohen and we think Nadia too. Our people have been trying to make negotiations, but with Darragh focused on the Synod, we aren't getting very far. We're a bunch of soldiers, he doesn't really care what we have to say."

"Doesn't help that Caine's a bastard," Tavin muttered.

"That too," Jax conceded.

The group ahead of us was in a frenzy of conversation, people talking over one another in an effort to be heard. Kai and I trailed my friends towards the rest of the group.

We'd almost reached them when one of the soldiers yelled something and lifted his gun. Tavin flinched and knocked me sideways. I stumbled a few steps back and held up my hands up.

Jax moved before I even realized what was happening. He stepped between Kai and the gun. "Do not." The words were sharp, a command.

The soldier nodded to Kai. "That's the Erydian King. We have orders to—"

I moved, stepped into his line of fire. Kai and Jax both protested, but I ignored them. "Your Queen has ordered us to keep him unharmed until he can go to trial. Those were her orders and you will abide by them."

"He should me imprisoned," someone else said.

I took hold of Kai's hand and pulled him forward so he was standing next to me. "He's helping us."

"Lock him up!"

"Arrest him!"

"Kill him!"

"Traitor!"

"Bastard!"

People yelled over one another.

Tavin let out a shrill whistle, silencing everyone. "That's enough. We have bigger priorities than this."

The whole crowd seemed to flinch as one as Kai held out his gun to Jax. "I can step aside if that's what you want me to do. I'm only here because I wanted to help Monroe and...and try to fix things, but I don't have to. If I'm a distraction, I'll step aside. You can arrest me or do whatever you need to to do. Just say the word."

Jax glanced to me, his expression uncertain. He ran a hand over his dark row of braids. I knew he was thinking of Harper and my role in helping distribute her last paper. If we'd all stayed hidden in the basement like we should have, it would have never made it out into the open.

"You can remain here just as long as you are fighting on our side." He said loud enough for the crowd to hear. The crowd around us fell into a sea muttered discontent and uncertainty. Jax stepped forward, breaching the gap and lowering his voice as he added to Kai, "But the instant I suspect you aren't being honest, I will end you. Britta and Monroe be damned."

Kai inclined his head, the smallest of nods. "Understood."

I snapped my fingers, calling the smallest bit of fire to flesh. "Try it and I'll end you."

It was pitiful flame, truly, the barest ember of my true power, but it was all I could muster at the moment. Not that Jax knew that.

He pursed his lips and said, "Put that away, Monroe, before you catch something on fire."

Tavin shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded to the closed ballroom doors. "It's been quiet in there for the last five minutes or so. That can't be good."

"Has it not been up until this point?" I asked, the fire disappearing into my skin.

Jax shook his head. "Nadia has been screaming."

My stomach churned at that.

Heidi turned to me. "Nadia...She can fight back. Her ability has changed, right?"

"Yes," I said. "But I don't know if she will. Or even if she knows how to control it. And the fact that he's got Cohen there will keep her under control, same for him. He knows how to play people off of each other."

"It's his favorite game," Kai said.

"The bastard knows how to pick them, I'll him that," Heidi said.

"Only two people?" Someone said, their voice raising above the crowd. "That's a small price for his death. I say we plant the explosives we have left and blow this place up."

A few people I didn't know nodded in agreement.

Voices volleyed through the room. Rebels yelling over each other in an effort to be heard:

"Darragh will end up executing the goddess-touched girls anyway. She hardly even counts."

"Let him be a martyr!" Someone else cried.

"But the new queen will be furious if her brother dies."

"They both might already be dead," same another voice.

A voice carried above the group, "I say call them a loss. Two more deaths hardly matter, no matter who they are. A random girl and an exiled prince. Who gives a shit? If it were any of us in there, the queen wouldn't hesitate to give the order."

The crowd cheered as another bellowed. "Plenty of other people have died today. Let's kill the kingmaker and end this!"

Heidi was murderous, her green eyes nearly luminous as she whirled to face the last man to have spoken. "You can shut the hell up!" I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the stranger. She shrugged me off, jabbing a finger at him. "She isn't just some random girl. She's goddess-touched and she's...she's my friend. One of my only friends, you piece of shit!"

"It's going to be okay," I said to her, my voice low. "We'll get them out." I promised her, promised myself. "We'll get both of them out." I just hoped I was right.

🔥🔥🔥

Hello again.

If you enjoyed this chapter, leave this emoji 🏹 in the comments.

We are back to our regularly scheduled programing: Tuesday and Thursday uploads. I may at some point shift it to a M/W/F schedule, but I'm going to start with T/Th and see how that goes first. Upload time will likely be late afternoon or late evening EST. I'll post on my instagram story when I new chapter has posted, so make sure you are following me over there.

As always, thank you for your unending patience. It has been a rough few months and I finally feel like I can return to uploading consistently. I just didn't have the extra energy to give to it before.

If you haven't pre-ordered the first book in this series Of Cages and Crowns (The Culled Crown), please do! All pre-orders go to first week sales and that helps me. The book hits shelves on November 22, 2022. Follow me on Instagram (BriannaJoyC) for more information on the release!

See you on Thursday!