Chapter 164

Lila

The first thing I felt was the heat. It pressed against my skin before I was fully awake, a slow, smothering weight that made it hard to breathe.

The air was thick, heavy in my lungs, and every inhale carried the sharp sting of smoke. I coughed, eyes watering, the sound swallowed by a low, distant roar.

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming again, caught in one of those fevered half-sleeps where shadows flicker and the walls lean in close. But then I heard shouting.

A heavy thud jolted me. Someone slammed against the door hard enough to rattle the latch. I staggered to my feet, my bare toes curling against the rug. Another slam, then the latch gave way with a splintering crack.

Ronan filled the doorway, backlit by firelight and shadow, his hair damp with sweat, eyes hard and focused. “Up,” he ordered, crossing the room in three long strides.

His voice was steady, but there was a tension in it I’d never heard before. “We’re out of time.”

Ronan’s arm was already around my waist, lifting me off balance until my feet moved because they had no choice. The moment the door opened wider, heat slammed into me full-force.

The corridor beyond was a blur of smoke and light. The flames hadn’t reached this hall yet, but the air shimmered with heat, and the far-off crack of collapsing timber sent a tremor through the floor.

“What’s happening?” I coughed out, clinging to his arm.

“Fire,” he said simply, guiding me toward the far end of the hall.

We passed an intersecting corridor where chaos surged. Servants ran in opposite directions, carrying bundles of valuables, jars of water, anything they could grab. Guards shouted at each other, their voices nearly drowned out by the muffled roar growing closer.

The tapestry-lined walls blurred past, their embroidered threads catching stray embers that floated through the haze. The acrid scent of burning wool hit me hard, making me gag.

“Stay with me,” Ronan said low, his grip on me tightening. His voice was the only steady thing in a world gone up in flames.

We avoided the main stairwell, where a group of nobles crowded in confusion. Their silks and jewels gleamed even in the dim light, absurd in the face of the chaos swallowing the palace.

One guard shouted at them to move, his voice cracking with urgency.

Above, the chandelier swayed in the smoky air. I saw the moment the chain snapped. It crashed down in a glittering rain of glass and gold, shattering. The nobles shrieked, scattering like startled birds.

Ronan pulled me tighter to his side and kept moving, guiding me down a side passage where the noise dulled to a muffled hum.

My lungs burned. Every inhale felt thinner, more desperate. The heat pressed down from all sides, and the stone floor under my bare feet had gone warm.

A section of the wall was blackened, smoke curling from behind the doors. Somewhere above us, a beam groaned, the sound like an animal in pain, before crashing down somewhere. The floor trembled under the impact.

“Almost there,” Ronan murmured, though I had no idea where there was. His voice was steady, but his pace had picked up, his arm tightening around my waist.

I wanted to ask where he was taking me but my throat was too raw, my mind too fogged.

We passed another guard with his helmet crooked, one cheek streaked with soot, who didn’t even look twice at us.

Ronan’s hand cupped the back of my neck, steadying me as I stumbled. “Just a little farther,” he said again, though his jaw was tight.

Smoke blurred the hall ahead, turning the world into shades of orange and black. I let him pull me forward because there was nothing else to do.

My body was failing, my chest ached with every breath, and the palace around us was burning down. Whatever waited ahead had to be better than standing still and letting the fire take us.

Ronan moved with purpose, guiding me toward a section of wall that looked no different from the others. It had the same texture, same faded runner along the floor. But when we reached it, he crouched quickly, bracing his shoulder against a section near the floor.

I didn’t understand what he was doing until the a section shifted with a low groan, revealing darkness beyond.

The opening was barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through. The air that drifted from it was cool, damp… and smelled faintly of earth instead of smoke.

“Go,” Ronan urged, his voice low but sharp.

“What is this?” My voice came out hoarse, rasping from the smoke.

“An old passage,” he said, eyes flicking over his shoulder toward the direction we’d come. “It’ll take you beyond the outer wall.”

To freedom.

But my feet wouldn’t move. My hands shook so badly I had to grip the frame of the opening to steady them.

Ronan’s gaze caught mine. In the dim light, soot streaked his cheek, his hair damp with sweat. “You have to go now, Lila. The guards will regroup. Once they do, this hall won’t be empty anymore.”

I swallowed hard. “What about you?”

“I’ll circle back,” he said quickly, “I need to be seen.”

There was a tightness in his voice that made me wonder if he already knew he wouldn’t be following me.

Still, I nodded. My legs were weak, unsteady, but I slipped into the opening. The walls scraped my shoulder, my breath loud in the narrow space.

“Keep going straight until you reach the ladder. Climb down, then follow the tunnel to the end. It’ll bring you out past the watchpoint near the river.”

I hesitated again, my hand against the cold wall of the passage. “Why are you doing this for me?”

His expression softened for just a moment. “Because you deserve to be free. And if I have to burn every bridge I’ve ever had to make it happen… then so be it.”

I didn’t trust my voice, so I just nodded.

His hand closed briefly around mine, comforting despite everything. “The smoke will cover your scent. Go, now.”

I turned away, forcing my legs to move. Behind me, I heard the opening shift, sealing the passage.

I kept moving. My fingers brushed the rough wall for balance, the cold stone grounding me even as my head swam from exhaustion. Somewhere far behind, the fire still roared, muffled but relentless.

When I reached the ladder, I stopped long enough to glance back. The darkness stretched behind me, empty.

Ronan was gone.

I climbed slowly, my arms trembling with the effort. At the bottom, another low tunnel waited just as he said. I forced myself forward until a sliver of moonlight appeared ahead.

The tunnel ended in a narrow grate. I pressed my shoulder against it, and it gave way silently, like it had recently been greased, swinging outward just enough for me to slip through.

Cold night air hit me full in the face. I sucked in a shaky breath, the scent of damp earth and river water a sharp contrast to the acrid smoke still clinging to my clothes.

I stepped out onto the grassy slope beyond the wall, bag in hand. The palace loomed in the distance, its high windows flickering with firelight. Smoke curled into the night sky, blotting out the stars.

Somewhere inside, Damon still had no idea I was gone.

I wrapped my arms around myself, the night air biting through my thin shift. My knees wanted to give out, but I keep moving, heading toward the dark line of trees beyond the slope.

The ground was cold under my bare feet. And the further I got from the palace, the quieter it became, until the roar of the fire was just a distant growl.

By dawn the story would spread: The King’s caged mate is dead.