The True-Sworn crept closer to the gate set in the wall. They slipped through to the walled city, their weapons covered with their cloaks and their heads bent. There weren’t any guards on it, proving to Edward that The Forsaken were overly confident. He and the other True-Sworn needed to blend in, but as Edward looked around, he realized why that would be impossible. The citizens of Blackthorn wore filthy, torn clothing, and they were rail-thin. The warriors of Stormcoast would stick out like a sore thumb. At least they’d left the wolves in the forest, knowing they would have been too obvious.
They kept to the wall and the back side of the buildings in their search for which one might hold the dungeon. When Emmett pointed to a high window covered with bars, the others nodded and moved in that direction. There wasn’t a guard posted at the door, so it was all too easy to sneak in. The floor sloped downward, the air became colder, and the stench of mold grew stronger.
Katrina whistled and waited for a response. Seconds later, they heard the same tune repeated. They hurried in that direction, finding a locked cell door with a miniscule window.
“It’s Didyme,” a voice called quietly from within.
“It’s Venom-Tongue and other warriors,” Tanja replied.
“The door is locked, but there are no guards in this building. I’m the only one here.”
Jasper worked on picking the lock while Didyme continued to talk.
“They have us each in different places. The man in charge, goes by The Behemoth, he told us we were going to be sex slaves for his men.”
Rosalie snorted. “Don't they realize how stupid that is?”
Didyme replied, “They have completely underestimated our strength.”
“I’ll say,” Rosalie murmured.
Jasper had the lock broken and the door open in the next few seconds, and Didyme stepped out of the cell with chains wrapped around her hands. Her hair was tangled around her face and her clothes were smudged with dirt.
“I brought my hands to the front, but the chain is too constricting for me to remove.”
“We’ll look for a loose link while we move,” Emmett assured her.
“I believe the remaining warriors are most likely in the three buildings on the other corners of the square. Have you seen the layout; do you know what I mean?”
Edward shook his head. “Nay, but you’ll show us.”
Didyme nodded and led the way out of the dungeon. They stopped at the outer door and looked around. The sun was setting, leaving the city blanketed in deepening purple shadows.
“The gathering room is in the castle there.” She lifted her chained hands and pointed. “The master’s house is there.” She pointed to a manor.
“The other warriors?” Edward prompted.
“I’m not sure, but we’ll try the dungeons. I haven't been out since The Behemoth tried to convince us to tell him which of us were blessed with magic. We assumed he was either bluffing or misinformed.”
“We’ll sack every building if we have to,” Aro said firmly. “We need to find Sulpicia.”
“Not just her,” Jasper reminded him.
Aro dropped his gaze. “Of course not.”
Edward nearly snorted. One thing he’d learned was how selfish Aro could be.
“Here.” Didyme stopped in front of another dungeon.
In the interest of not being spotted wandering around, they went in together. Katrina whistled again, but no answer came in return. They searched everywhere, but the doors stood open and the cells empty.
“Next,” Jasper said.
They moved on, keeping to the wall surrounding the broken city. The next dungeon was farther away, on one of the corners of the square made up by the ramparts. There weren't many people outside any longer, and Edward realized it was most likely time for the last meal of the day.
They searched the third dungeon, that time receiving a response to their bird call. Aro was immensely relieved to discover his wife in the only occupied cell. Her hands were bound similarly to Didyme’s, and no one was able to remove the chains.
“This must mean one of the sisters isn’t in her cell,” Sulpicia pointed out when they told her they’d found an empty dungeon. “As far as I’m aware, they’ve not put any of us together.”
Edward ran his hand through his hair, gripping the length of it in frustration. “Where would they hold Alise and Isabella?”
Jasper looked out the nearest barred window. “What if they've discovered my wife’s talents?”
“Talents?” Didyme asked. “What talents?”
Jasper shook his head. “ʼTis supposed to be a secret, but what the fuck is the point in keeping it now? Alise has magic abilities.”
“As do I,” Rosalie whispered. “If they know this, I’m the one they truly want.”
Emmett angled himself closer to his mate. “What would they want with her magic?”
“They have some magic of their own; we saw it with the shadow beings.”
Carmen nodded at Eleazar. “Yes, but it was haphazard. The beings weren't in sync with their efforts.”
“This is true,” Irina said. “They were erratic.”
“So they have weak magic,” Eleazar clarified.
“This discussion can wait. Let’s check the last dungeon before we make a decision about what other buildings to raid. Our plan is still in place, but we must find the remaining women.”
Everyone agreed with Jasper and they set off to the last dungeon. It was nearly nightfall by that point and they had little trouble concealing themselves. Few buildings had lights shining in their windows, and the moon was half full. Soon, they would have trouble making their way around without being blind.
They reached the last dungeon and ducked inside. Disappointment filled Edward as he realized it, too, was empty. “Where do we go from here?”
Jasper sighed. “I wish I knew. Do you think if we implemented our plan, they’d bring the women with them?”
“It’s too risky,” Edward replied.
“Wait, what’s the plan?” Sulpicia asked.
“To set fire to the buildings. Whichever men make it out alive, we kill.”
Her brows rose at Jasper’s response, but she remained silent.
Sulpicia asked, “Did you see the biggest house, the one The Behemoth uses for himself?”
“Yes,” Emmett said. “Should we check there?”
“He has a wife, and he made no mention of wanting any of us for himself,” Didyme pointed out. “He only wanted Alise for her magic, which until now I thought wasn’t real.”
Sulpicia frowned. “The Butcher has a wife, but he still wanted Isabella.”
Edward spun on her. “What?”
Sulpicia shrank back at the wild expression on his face. “It may be a rumor, but he wanted her for himself. There was either a tournament or a fight for her.”
“Which one is his dwelling?” Edward demanded.
“I’ll show you.”
The entire party of warriors marched out of the dungeon and into the darkness. Sulpicia led them to a home on the outskirts of the village, close to the outer wall. It was large, but not as large as the one the leader lived in. Edward looked at the windows along the back of the house, searching for any which were lit from within.
From behind them came a bird call, and Edward whipped around. It was hard to see through the darkness, but he knew that tune. He returned the sound, his heart beating quickly as he prayed it was his wife. A form moved in their direction, and those in the rescue party put their hands on their weapons just in case.
When the warrior woman was revealed from the shadows, Edward didn't even take a second to breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, he closed the distance between them and crushed her body to his.
“Oh, gods, Isabella.”
“I’m well, Edward, I swear it.”
Isabella looped her bound hands behind his head, holding on tightly, both of them lost to the world around them. The entire clan of The Forsaken could have ambushed them and neither would have noticed. Her breath puffed out over his throat as she buried her face in his skin, inhaling his unique scent. He kissed her head over and over, nudging her back to kiss her lips. It would never be enough to assure him she was unharmed, but it was all he had for the time being.
When they finally broke apart, Isabella noted the two women they’d freed. “Damn. I was hoping you’d found Alise.”
“Do you know where they took her?” Jasper asked while Rosalie and Isabella hugged.
Isabella shook her head. “I wish I did. I’ve been looking for her myself. I know what they want from her, but not where she is.”
A furious roar sounded from behind them, and they all turned to the house they’d been about to investigate.
“That would be Jakob realizing I’m not there.”
“Who?”
“The Butcher,” she told Edward.
“Great,” he muttered.
“We need to move,” Jasper said in a low voice.
They crouched low and kept to the wall, moving to the gate in a silent agreement. Once they were outside the city of Blackthorn, they moved deep into the forest before breaking to regroup in the place where they’d left the wolves.
“What the fuck are we going to do now?” Jasper growled.
“Listen, they have a sorcerer, Khor, and he thinks he only needs Alise’s magic to restore his health. Mikael is the traitor—”
“I fucking knew it.” Tanja punched her fist into her other hand.
“—and he told them of Rosalie’s gifts; what he knows of them.”
“Fuck,” Rosalie moaned.
“They’re planning to go to Stormcoast to steal the sword and kidnap Rosalie, and some of them may already be there.”
“So, Alise is with the sorcerer?” Jasper asked.
“Yes, the last time I saw her. We agreed, albeit silently and from a distance, that it would be every woman for herself. I would escape and try to find her, and she would try to escape and look for me, then we’d look for Didyme and Sulpicia, who were hopefully trying to free themselves.”
“Plan B,” Rosalie said.
“Aye,” Isabella agreed. “But I don’t know where Khor sleeps.”
“We have to decide what to do next and then just fucking do it. I’m not waiting around for her to rescue herself,” Jasper snapped.
“She can, you know,” Isabella pointed out in a soothing tone. “She told them she’d help them if they let me go, and we all know we never make deals.”
“She was telling you she was okay and she’d get away.”
“Aye, Jasper. She remembers our training.”
He hung his head, taking in deep breaths and letting them out slowly.
“We have to go back, regardless,” Edward said. “Once we find her, I’m setting every last one of them on fire.”
“If The Butcher is looking for Isabella, they’ll know by now we all escaped,” Sulpicia said. “We need to move fast.”
“Aye.” Emmett stood in front of Didyme, tugging on her chains. “But I can’t find a weak link.”
“We can fight with our hands bound, but it’ll be a bitch.”
Emmett smiled at her. “I’m still working on it, woman.”
“Use your hammer to break the lock,” Eleazar said to Carmen.
“What if I miss and break her hand? It’s so dark.”
“You won’t.” Eleazar and Aro worked to light a branch with flint.
Carmen removed her war hammer from its place on her belt and steadied herself. Didyme rested her hands on a nearby tree stump, and Carmen took a practice swing.
“You can do it,” Didyme assured her.
Carmen made the hit, bending the lock. She tried again, and the lock fell away. Emmett helped Didyme remove the chains from around her wrists, and she shook out her hands.
“Next.”
Carmen freed Sulpicia and then Isabella. Edward handed his wife the sword he’d brought. “I’m sorry it's not yours, but it’ll do in a pinch.”
She swung it in an arc, nodding in satisfaction at the sound it made as it cut through the air. “It’s perfect.”
Edward stared at her for a minute. “You have an injury.”
“How do you know?”
“The shape of your cheek.” He brushed tenderly under her eye. “It’s swollen.”
She sighed, resting her head on his chest and letting him hold her. “Is it wrong to admit I’m so fucking tired and just want to go home?”
“It’s not wrong to admit it. I’m so relieved to have you in my arms, and the last thing I want is to go back there and fight. I want to run away with you and kiss you all over. But I know we have to find Alise, and we have to finish off The Forsaken, or they’ll hunt us for eternity.”
She groaned in frustration, wanting what he described. “I know.”
“Are we ready to move out?” Jasper asked everybody.
“Aye,” Isabella answered.
“Aye,” the others responded. The wolves were untethered and readied to bring along. Cloaks were thrown off and weapons unsheathed.
“Then let’s go get the princess back and burn those fuckers to the ground.”
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