Chapter 72: Cold Air and Clean Breaks

Chapter 72: Cold Air and Clean Breaks
Chapter 72: Cold Air and Clean Breaks
\- SELENE
"Selene?" Kaelen barked, his eyes scanning the darkness. He saw me standing at the base of the stairs, my hair wild and my neck bare. "Where is the necklace? Why are you out of your room?"
I looked up at him, a cold, slow smile touching my lips. Step aside, I thought. Let him dig the hole.
Behind him, in the shadows of the library doors, I finally saw Rowan. He held up a hand—a silent signal. Five minutes.
"I couldn't sleep, Kaelen," I said, my voice carrying through the empty foyer. "The house felt so... quiet. Like someone had cut its heart out."
He started down the stairs with suspicion. "You know something. You were part of this."
"Part of what, Alpha?" I asked, putting a dangerous edge on his title.
"Sabotage," he snarled. "Who did you let into the walls?"
"Who would I trust to break through your defenses?"
"Don't play games with me, Selene," he snapped. "Not when I hold all the cards. Varick!"
His voice rang through the darkness. The air was still and hot. It smelled of ash and fear.
"Varick," Kaelen repeated, his tone growing dark and deadly. "You were supposed to be guarding her."
"She was asleep," a deep voice replied. The shadow of Varick materialized on the landing. He looked at me, his face unreadable.
"Then why is she down here, instead of upstairs where she belongs?" Kaelen demanded.
"Because the power is out, and she got spooked," Varick lied, his voice calm and even. "You shouldn't have left her alone. You knew she was a flight risk."
"And yet, you still failed to secure her." Kaelen turned his head, looking back up the staircase. "Where the fuck are the lights? We have a traitor in the house, and the entire perimeter is blind."
"You don't need to worry about the perimeter," I said.
Kaelen froze. Slowly, he turned back to me. His eyes were dark and full of rage. He raised the knife, his knuckles white against the hilt.
"What did you just say?"
"You don't need to worry about the perimeter," I said softly, meeting his eyes. "Because you already have the traitor in the house."
Kaelen stopped on the middle step. Varick moved beside him. The two of them stared at me, their faces painted red in the darkness.
"What are you saying, Selene?" Kaelen growled.
"I'm saying you need to open your eyes. Look around. All of your plans are unraveling. The house is crumbling, and your guard is falling with it. The perimeter is weak, the border is failing. I'm just the last thread to snap."
Kaelen stared at me, his gaze unwavering.
"No," he finally whispered, his voice soft and lethal. "I don't think you are."
He spun around, raising the blade. "Varick, take her."
"You first," the other wolf replied.
Varick grabbed the blade, jerking it out of Kaelen's hands. The metal skittered down the marble steps and landed at my feet.
He raised the blade, the silver point touching the hollow of my throat. "I’ll kill you first."
"Then you’ll die alone," I whispered. "Because the only person who actually knows where the silver ore is hidden... is the Luna you just threatened to murder."
He froze. The greed in his eyes fought with the rage, and for a second, I saw it—the trace of actual indecision on his face. He wavered, his expression shifting like sand.
In that second of hesitation, the library exploded in a shower of sparks. The secondary generators blew, and the manor was plunged back into total, screaming darkness.
"Now!" I screamed into the void.
I didn't wait for him to recover. I drove my knee into his gut and shoved him back against the banister. I turned and ran—not toward the library, but toward the service corridor.
I could hear his roar of fury behind me, but it was drowned out by the sound of boots on marble and the distant, rhythmic ticking of the manual gate override in my pocket.
Two minutes.
I hit the service door at a sprint, the cold night air hitting me. I could see the laundry cart at the edge of the perimeter, Liora’s shadow hunched over the handle.
I didn't look back. I didn't check to see if Rowan was behind me.
We reached the gate. I pulled out the iron key and the manual bypass, then jammed them into the slot. The iron groaned, a slow, agonizing protest against the quiet of the ridge.
"Push!" I hissed to Liora.
The cart rolled through the gap just as the first searchlight flickered back to life on the North tower.
We were out.
We were in the dark, in the trees, in the cold. But as I looked back at the manor, a silhouette standing on the balcony like a gargoyle, I knew the hunt wasn't over.
It was only just beginning.
The air inside the tunnel had been recycled through a hundred pairs of lungs and damp limestone for too long. By the time I saw a flicker of gray light up ahead, my chest felt like it was being squeezed by a vice. My feet were numb, my silk skirts were shredded to my knees, and I smelled like a sewer.
"Almost there," Rowan muttered. He didn't turn around, but I felt his hand tighten on mine, pulling me over a jagged shelf of rock.
I heard Vireya stumble again. She let out a sharp, pathetic whimper that echoed off the wet walls.
"Keep her moving, Liora," I snapped. My voice sounded like gravel. "If she falls, leave her. I'm not joking."
"I’m trying," Liora panted. "She’s dead weight."
"I can't... my feet," Vireya croaked.
"Cry me a river later," I said, finally reaching the mouth of the cave. "Right now, move."
We burst through a wall of frozen ivy and dead ferns, and the transition was like a slap to the face. The wind coming off the valley was brutal, sharp enough to peel the skin back, but it was fresh.
I stood there for a second, my head tilted back, gulping down the freezing air until my throat ached.
"Rowan?" A voice called out from the tree line.
Galen stepped out from behind a massive pine, leading four horses. He looked like shit—soaked to the bone, mud caked up to his thighs, and a massive bruise darkening the side of his jaw. But when he saw us, he let out a breath that turned into a cloud in the cold air.
"About damn time," Galen said, his eyes scanning us. "I was starting to think I’d have to come in there and drag your asses out."
"The gate took longer than planned," Rowan said, letting go of my hand to check the perimeter. "Any sign of the scouts?"
"Not on this side of the ridge. Kaelen’s got them all bottlenecked at the Southern Pass. He thinks you're trying to break for the border." Galen looked past Rowan, his gaze landing on me, then sliding to the shivering wreck that was Vireya. His eyebrows shot up. "What the hell is she doing here?"
"She's baggage," I said, walking toward him. I felt shaky, my adrenaline finally bottoming out. "The expensive kind."
"I told her it was a bad idea," Liora muttered.
"It's a great idea," I countered, looking at Galen. "You got the supplies?"
"Everything you asked for. Water, dry clothes, and enough jerky to break a tooth." He handed me a heavy wool cloak. It smelled like wet horse and woodsmoke, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I wrapped it around my shoulders, finally stopping the tremors in my limbs.
"Who is he?" Vireya asked, her voice trembling as she looked at Galen. "Is he a rogue? Selene, you can't just hand me over to—"
"Shut the fuck up," I said, not even looking at her. "Seriously. One more word about your status or your safety and I will personally gag you with a piece of that ruined dress."
She flinched, her mouth snapping shut. Galen let out a short, dry laugh.
"I like the new attitude, Luna," Galen said, tossing a set of reins to Rowan. "Suits you better than the tiara."
"The tiara was heavy," I muttered. "And it didn't do shit for my tan."
Rowan walked back to me, his face grim. He reached out, his thumb brushing a smear of cave mud off my cheek. "We need to move. The horses can take us as far as the Black Creek, but we have to be across the water before the sun is fully up. Once Kaelen realizes the library was a diversion, he’s going to lose his mind."
"He already has," I said. "You should have seen him in the hall. He looked like he wanted to burn the world down just to stay warm."
"He’ll try," Rowan said. He turned to Galen. "You take the lead with Liora and the girl. I’ll tail with Selene. If you see a flare, don't wait. Just ride."
"Got it," Galen said. He walked over to Vireya, who was staring at the horse like it was a monster from a nightmare. "Come on, Princess. Up you go."
"I don't... I’ve never ridden without a saddle like this," she stammered.
Galen didn't even argue. He just grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up behind Liora on the sturdiest mare. "Then hold on tight. If you fall off, we aren't stopping."
I watched them for a second, the reality of it finally sinking in. We were out. The manor was behind us. The "peace" was a lie that was about to blow up in Kaelen's face, and for the first time in years, I didn't have a schedule or a script.