I knew when I walked into Camelot, there was no leaving, but I attempted to hatch a plan anyway. Elijah might not get his cure, but we could escape this place with both our lives intact. The world awaited us, just like he’d said. We could still go.
“Promise me you’ll help him,” I said to Ramona.
She stood beside us. “You know I can’t. If the Regula judge him to be an innocent, then I will do whatever I can to help him. Until then, I can only see to his wounds.”
The Regula wouldn’t do shite for Elijah if my experience was anything to go by. They’d look at him and see Darkness, disregarding what he was before. I saved his life, only to condemn him to his worst fears.
Ramona stirred behind me. “You love him, don’t you?”
I sniffed, holding back a flood of tears. “I don’t know what love is,” I whispered. How could I when I didn’t know who I was?
Who am I?
I was the Light in the dark and the Dark in the light. The Codex—the book that decreed all Natural law—didn’t allow for shades of grey. That’s what I was now…a shadow.
“And so, the battle lines are drawn,” I whispered.
Stomping boots thundered into the infirmary behind me and I tightened my grip on Elijah’s hand.
“I’ll come back for you,” I whispered, my Light brushing against him. “I promise. Then we’ll be free, just like you said we would. I understand now.”
“Madeleine Greenbriar,” Caleb Thompson bellowed, “you’re under arrest.”
15
They found a more secure place to lock me up this time around.
A windowless stone room somewhere within the boundary of Camelot was my prison—cold, damp, and cut off from the outside world. I lost all sense of time. Day, night, who knew how long I’d been here. It could have been few hours or a few days for all I knew.
I sat in the far corner, my head resting against freezing stone. My fingers stroked a clump of moss beside my boot, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the voices in my head.
Darkness was in my soul.
It taunted me, calling out to my despair. Playing on my guilt. Tempting me to fall into its all-consuming blackness.
I wouldn’t give it the satisfaction.
My hand found the hilt of my arondight blade, surprised they hadn’t taken it away. It could only mean Ramona hadn’t told them about me yet, and I was thankful for the small kindness. I’d tell Aiden and Thompson the truth on my own terms.
A drop of water slapped on my head and I swiped my hand through my hair. Another cage. At least this one didn’t come with a meat closet.
I slid to the side, manoeuvring out of the drip-zone.
Ramona’s diagnosis was a shock, but it explained why I could get through the camp unseen, but not how Trent had spotted me in the village. Maybe he could pierce my cloak because deep down, I wanted him to see me. He’d fought for me after all . . . and I’d repaid him with a fist to the temple.
Elijah…
I didn’t know if he lived, if he was free, if he’d been granted asylum, or if he’d escaped. He hadn’t tried to contact me via our bond at all.
I’m sorry. I tried to do the right thing. I didn’t want you to die. I wanted to give you a future.
I pressed my forehead against my knees and swallowed my tears.
Stone scraped against stone, rousing me from my shame spiral and I rose to my feet, searching for the source of the sound. My limbs were stiff and my body felt chilled all the way through. Hunger tugged at my stomach, but I wouldn’t allow physical discomfort to become a weakness.
Light shone through a gap in the wall, and another scrape opened the crack farther. Then a familiar face peered into my prison.
Aiden.
He looked at me as if he’d just arrived at my funeral. Saying nothing, he gestured for me to come, stepping back as I approached. So this was how it was going to be now. I’d lost everyone who’d ever fought for me. I looked within and there was nothing inside me.
I emerged into the day, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight, ready to face whatever awaited me with my head held high.
I felt his presence before I saw him.
Wilder stood in the centre of the square, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black overcoat. The Inquisitor was the picture of bureaucratic power in his fancy clothes, but the collar was flipped up as a nod to his former self—the rebellious Natural who’d fought against authority. Now, he was every part a Pendragon. All that was missing was a crown to call him King.
A dozen Naturals had lined up behind him, their arondight blades in their hands. I stared at them, shock sending a coldness through my veins. What in the Light did they think I was going to do?
Wilder’s presence was overwhelming, and I almost lowered my gaze under the pressure of his. The Inquisitor’s silver eyes weren’t the same as Elijah’s. I was looking at the Argent Flame, Excalibur, and right now, he was barely holding onto his rage.
What a disappointment I must be to him.
Aiden stepped forwards. “Wilder, I—”
The Inquisitor held up his hand, silencing his protests. “Leave us.”
I caught Aiden’s eye and nodded. I’d sacrificed myself to save Elijah and this was my moment of reckoning. I had to face it alone.
The Naturals retreated, leaving the square. Wilder stepped towards me, the air shimmering in his wake. As he loomed over me, silver Light fell around us in a curtain.
I breathed deeply, crippled by an influx of emotions—guilt, temptation, shame, desperation.
“Madeleine,” Wilder said, the sound of his voice reverberated against the sparkling dome around us.
My bottom lip trembled as I tried to contain my shadow.
“You’ve broken almost all the covenants in the Codex,” he seethed. “Even Scarlett wasn’t this reckless.”
“Maybe
