The sun was yet to rise but the forest behind the walls of the Moonvale compound was already alive with the murmurs of birds and the rustle of leaves.
The air was sharp, the kind that cut clean through skin and memory. Inside the stone-walled servant quarters, Zoey pulled her woolen cloak tighter, her breath shallow, her hands trembling as she looped the silver chain around Ryan's wrist.
"Are you sure about this?" Ryan whispered, eyes too old for his age, filled with the kind of worry that belonged to a mother worrying for her babies.
She nodded. "We don't belong here. Not with people who would sell me like cattle to a vampire and turn a blind eye if they burned us alive."
He looked down, ashamed, then hugged her fiercely. She held onto him tightly, pressing a small cloth bag into his hand. "It's got some dried meat, a flask of water, and Freya's map. Remember where she marked the hollow tree near the west ridge? That's where we go. I'll meet you there."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
They slipped out into the biting dark, their feet silent on the frost-laced earth. The guards were mostly asleep, their shifts rotated after Adrien's departure. The perfect gap. Freya, loyal and quick-footed, had stolen keys and timed the gate swings.
They didn't speak again until they reached the northern fence.
Freya crouched low in the shadows. "You have maybe three minutes before someone notices the gate's off. Ryan goes first. Then you."
Zoey nodded. Her heart thundered. The iron gate creaked faintly as Freya pushed it open, her face pale in the moonlight.
"Go!"
Ryan slipped through like wind. Zoey followed, her legs aching with adrenaline. But just as she set foot outside the compound, a shadow tore across the clearing.
A heavy hand clamped her wrist.
"Did you really think you'd get away?" Eric snarled, dragging her back through the dirt. "You're not clever, girl. You're just lucky that I've been merciful."
"Let her go!" Ryan shouted, lunging forward.
Eric raised a warning hand. "Another step and you lose your tongue."
Freya immediately ran out to check on Zoey , buying Zoey two precious seconds to shout, "Ryan, run!"
From the forest, Ryan turned and hesitated. That was all it took.
A second guard emerged, seizing the boy roughly by his collar. Zoey screamed.
"No! He's just a child!"
Eric backhanded her, sending her crashing into the frozen ground. "Because of you, he gets to suffer again."
Eric's gaze narrowed. "Loyalty will be the death of you."
"Then let me die. But leave him alone."
Freya's eyes filled with tears. "Zoey..."
Eric gestured, and two guards hauled Freya away. Zoey didn't fight them when they grabbed her next. She didn't flinch when she was dragged through the frost and stone, back into the compound like a sack of refuse.
They tossed her at the base of the watchtower. Her legs folded beneath her, limp and half-numb.
But she wasn't broken. Not really. Pain clouded her mind, but beneath it, a fury pulsed.
Hours passed. She had been dumped into a cold cellar below the eastern wall, the air thick with mold and silence. Guards came only once to toss stale bread and a jug of water near the door, then locked it again.
After a while her younger brother was brought into the cell.
"Ohhh Ryan I'm so sorry." Zoey cried out.
"It's okay. We expected this. I'm sorry I know you're doing this for me." he replied.
Ryan slept fitfully, curled into her side. Zoey sobbed and never closed her eyes. She stared at the wooden beams overhead and planned.
A sound stirred at the door. Keys. A whisper. Then, just before dawn's light kissed the edges of the world, the door creaked open.
A figure slipped inside.
Not a guard. Not Eric.
It was the guard she had beaten after she got into a fight with.
She had some keys in her hand as she tried to unlock the cuffs on Zoey's hands, Zoey tensed. "Why are you helping me?"
" Don't ask me questions. I'm doing what I please,"she replied.
"Then can you undo my brother's cuffs and help him escape. I need to try one more time." She said as she turned to Ryan. " I'm betting on your life and mine again. Run to Lily and tell her I sent you. Move as fast as your feet can carry you. Tell her I need her help. She'll hide you for a while I'm sure of it." She said as she turned back to the warrior. "Do you really want to help me? Can you help me? Let my brother escape."
"Really?" The warrior asked. "Yes." She responded. The warrior still didn't like Zoey. She was paid by a certain tall, broad shouldered and handsome man. To free Zoey and her brother. And was asked not to spill no matter what.
The warrior helped Ryan get out as the evening was approaching. He did exactly as his sister told him and ran as fast as he could to Lily's.
Zoey covered up for him as much as she could when he left. But the 'thorn on her head' was able to figure i
t out again.
Calista noticed he was gone immediately as she walked into the cell.