“Return Greenbriar to her cell,” the Inquisitor ordered.
I didn’t fight. They dragged me back to the stone room to await sentencing. Who knew what I’d face when they decided. Life imprisonment in the Glastonbury catacombs and stripped of my Light was the best I could hope for. Knowing what I’d become, I wasn’t even sure they could take my power away.
I caught Trent’s gaze, but there was nothing there. Empty words wouldn’t fix my betrayal of our friendship. He was lost to me, as were my people, my home, and my family.
There was nothing else to say as they slid the stone over the opening, closing me inside my prison.
Darkness of another kind took me, obliterating all hope from my heart.
16
I was alone.
My Light staved off the chill of my dark prison, but it didn’t warm my heart.
If they ruled me to be a threat to the balance, I’d be executed. I couldn’t see any other outcome. Imprisonment would be a kindness. In the current climate of increased demonic activity around Camelot, the Regula would want to take a tough stance against insurrection.
Stone scraped against stone and light flooded my cage.
Maisy stepped through the gap, a tray in her hands. The smell of hot food wafted in with the breeze, filling the small space to the brim.
“Maisy,” I murmured.
She looked down at me and set the tray onto a stone block. “I brought you something to eat.”
“Is Elijah…” I wasn’t sure if I should ask, but I was desperate to know if he lived.
Her eyebrows rose. “You want to know about your demon?”
“Yes.”
“He lives,” she said with a sigh. “Ramona healed his wounds and they have restrained him until the Regula can rule on his fate.”
“He’s alive?” I let my head fall into my hands and swallowed a sob. There was hope after all.
“What is it about him?” Maisy asked, distaste clear in her voice. “I was in the infirmary for two seconds and his Darkness made me sick to the stomach.”
I fisted my hands in my hair. How was I ever going to find a place amongst the Naturals if that’s how they looked at Elijah? He was a victim, but the way Maisy spoke about him made it sound as if he’d chosen to become Dark.
“If Elijah hadn’t rescued me from that Balan demon, I would’ve been forced to the Dark by now,” I snapped. “He saved me from a fate worse than death. How could I not repay that debt?” I looked up at her, disappointed that some of her old tendencies were showing.
“Why him?” she asked. “Why a demon?”
“Because I saw myself in him,” I replied. “They altered him against his will, just like me. He didn’t choose to be what he is. He just wanted to find a cure.”
“People are saying you’re a demon again. That it’s why the Inquisitor is here.”
I had nothing to hide anymore. Despite our rocky past and my betrayal, Maisy was my friend. I owed her the truth, even if it meant she’d walk out of this prison hating me.
“I can’t be saved, Maisy.” I shook my head as a tear rolled down my cheek. “My mutation never went away. A small piece of it latched onto my soul and… The Dark activated it when they captured me.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “What are you saying?”
“I’m not a demon or a Natural. I’m… Well, I don’t know what I am exactly. I’m half and half. A hybrid.”
“That’s how you escaped?”
I nodded. “I walked through Thompson’s barrier like it wasn’t even there.”
“That means…” she trailed off, but she didn’t have to finish her thought. She understood that I could get up and walk out of Camelot any time I chose. “Then why are you still here? After the way we’ve treated you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you left.”
“The Naturals are my people,” I replied. “Well, you were. This was my whole life. Everything I was, everything I dedicated myself to, was to the Light. I tried to get past what happened at the Academy, but I think a part of me always knew there was no going back. The bullying, the taunts, the loneliness, the struggle… Everything they said about me was true, but I never worked for the Dark. How could I?”
Maisy sighed and looked through the opening of my prison to where Camelot stood silent vigil.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you, Madeleine,” she murmured. “I really am. I know it wasn’t your fault.”
“What’s going to happen to me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. After Wilder spoke to you, he went to the castle and hasn’t returned.”
That didn’t bode well.
“Tell Trent I’m sorry for hitting him,” I murmured. “And tell Aiden I’m sorry for… Well, tell him that I’m just sorry for everything.”
“Me too,” Maisy said, turning away. “And Madeleine?”
I looked up to find her lingering at the door, silhouetted by the sun.
“Are you still in there?” she whispered.
“Yes,” I told her, “I am.”
She smiled. “Then never forget it.”
* * *
Chicken drumsticks, string beans, and boiled potatoes. Maisy had brought me decent food considering my predicament, but no knife and fork. I snorted at the irony.
My eyes were adjusting to the dark like they never had before. It was unnatural and slightly worrying, but handy considering I was locked in a lightless stone room. I wondered what else I could do if I put my back into it. Elijah kept hinting at evolution, but I wasn’t sure this was what he had in mind.
I picked up a potato and threw it across the room with a frustrated cry. The old Madeleine Greenbriar would never sit here marinating in her melancholy. She’d get up off her sorry arse and flip the bird at the nearest authority figure, then do whatever it took to get the job done.
I was as good as dead, so what did it matter? Nothing was stopping me from walking out of
