Chapter 20

"I wouldn't call being attacked by a vampire my fault." I said and regretted it instantly, my sharp mouth is one thing that was going to get me killed if my actions didn’t .

"I didn't say it was." She lowered her voice. "But the prince won't always be there to stop someone from hurting you."

I looked away before she could see my reaction.

That was the closest thing to a warning she had given me, and I wasn't foolish enough to ignore it. Still, she had confirmed what I needed to know. The prisoner was being held somewhere deeper in the dungeons, away from the human servants.

I only had to find the right corridor.

She gave me a suspicious look, and I immediately busied myself with the cloths.

For the rest of the shift, I worked faster than usual. I cleaned the rooms assigned to me, carried supplies where they were needed, and finished each task without waiting to be told twice. Whenever someone asked me to do something else, I did it without arguing.

I wasn't trying to impress anyone. I simply wanted my work finished before the servants found another reason to keep me busy.

By the time I was sent to collect the food trays, my feet hurt, but I had managed to finish almost everything on my list.

A maid handed me a covered basket."Take this downstairs."

I glanced at her. "To the kitchens?"

"To the prisoners. They've been waiting long enough."

My heart gave a sudden, hard beat.

I kept my face still as I took the basket from her.

"Which cells?"

"The lower prison. Ask the guards when you get there."

That was all the information she gave me before turning away.

I wanted to laugh at the timing, but I held it in. For once, the castle had given me a reason to go somewhere I wasn't supposed to be without having to invent an excuse.

I carried the basket down the servants' stairs and followed the corridor toward the lower levels. The air grew colder as I descended, and the smell changed from dust and damp stone to something far worse.

I passed two guards standing beside a heavy wooden door. They barely glanced at me when I explained that I had been sent with food.

"Keep moving," one ordered, pointing toward the passage on the left. "The cells are at the end. Leave the basket with the guard there and come straight back."

I nodded and continued down the corridor.

The deeper I went, the quieter it became. The sounds of the castle faded until all I could hear were my footsteps and the occasional scrape of something behind the stone walls.

I had never been this far into the dungeons before.

Iron doors lined both sides of the passage, each with a small opening near the top. I kept my eyes forward, although I couldn't help noticing the shapes moving inside some of the cells. I had no idea whether they were human or vampire, and I had no intention of finding out by stopping to stare.

At the end of the passage, another corridor branched off to the right. I remembered Arissa saying that the prisoners were kept separately, and I guessed that was where I needed to go.

I turned down it.

A guard stood near the far end, talking to someone I couldn't see. I slowed my steps, pretending to check the basket as I listened.

"His injuries are already healing," the guard said. "I've never seen anyone recover that quickly after what the prince did to him."

"Then make sure he can't escape again."

"And if the prince wants to question him?"

"He'll get his chance. Until then, nobody goes near that cell without permission."

My fingers tightened around the basket.

That was him. It had to be.

I couldn't approach the guard without being noticed, so I waited until he turned away. Then I slipped into a narrow alcove beside a stack of old crates and listened as his footsteps moved farther down the passage.

I had almost convinced myself that the coast was clear when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me sharply into the shadows.

I nearly dropped the basket.

My free hand went straight to the small knife hidden beneath my dress, but before I could draw it, a soft hand clamped over my mouth.

Whoever had grabbed me was smaller than the guards. Their grip was firm, but the fingers covering my mouth were smooth and delicate.

A girl.

I twisted around, ready to fight if I had to.

Then I saw her face.

My heart stopped.Ginger hair. Freckles. Eyes I had spent days wondering whether I would ever see again.For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

"Debby!"

She immediately pressed a finger to her lips, her eyes darting toward the corridor.

"Keep your voice down," she whispered.

I stared at her, unable to understand what I was seeing. I had watched her run into the forest, and I had waited for her to return to the arena. When she never appeared, I had convinced myself that Vladimir's hunter had killed her.

But she was standing right in front of me.

Alive.

"How?" I mouthed, my voice barely escaping me.

Debby shook her head and glanced toward the approaching footsteps. She looked different somehow. Her clothes were dirty, her hair was tangled, and there was a small cut near her eyebrow. But she was alive, and that was all I could focus on.

I reached for her hand, needing to make sure she was real.

She squeezed my fingers before pulling me farther into the shadows.

"Not here," she whispered. "If they catch us together, we're both finished."

I wanted to ask a hundred questions. Where had she been? How had she escaped? And what was she doing inside the castle?

Most importantly, how had she managed to get past the guards without being caught?

But before I could ask any of them, the footsteps grew louder.

Debby grabbed my wrist and held my gaze.

"Veronica, listen to me. You have no idea what's happening in this castle."

Then someone called from the corridor."Who's there?"

Debby's eyes widened.And mine did too.