I should be exhausted. The last sleep I had was not restful, nor was it very long. And because of how deep underground we are, I can only use mealtimes as a queue for what time it is.

After dinner, Casimir took me back to the room in the east wing, pestering me about what Trina had talked to me about. I told him she was asking me about Samu and what he was like as a child, which he believed. He left soon after, promising to talk to his mother again about getting me out of the mission.

He'll be so angry if he finds out that I lied, but he's lied our entire friendship. As I lie atop the bed, staring at the cracked ceiling, I shove away the tiny seed of regret festering inside me. I had no choice. Trina won't let me in on the deserters if I don't do this, if I don't prove myself, whatever that means. If blackmail is what she needs to trust me, it's my only option.

The deserters are my only chance into the Palace. And I'm theirs.

Trina said they would come for me, but so far, it's been dead silent. The only thing cutting me off from the dark, narrow passageway is a tatty white sheet. I keep my eyes trained on it as I change into the clothes in the top drawer as Trina instructed. They're much more fitted than the ones Casimir had given me, and I feel slightly uncomfortable as I fasten the trousers. They hug my hips and cinch in at the waist. I'm grateful to find a black cape, similar to the one I used to go into the forge, and throw it over my shoulders, shielding my body.

I settle back onto the lumpy bed, picking up the weapon I chose. I turn the dagger over in my hands, running my finger along its length. A year ago, I would have had no idea what to do with this. Now, thanks to Casimir, feeling the rough leather hilt against my palm provides me with comfort.

"You're going to use that?"

I jolt, spinning to the entrance to see Jax. He's dressed similarly to me, all in black with a long cape.

"Yeah."

"There are bigger weapons, you know."

"I know."

There was a cross bow, an axe, and a couple of other weapons with large blades that I'd never even seen before. And judging from the expression on Jax's face as he stares at the small dagger, he thinks I should've taken one. But I was never taught how to use those.

"Whatever," he says, turning his body slightly. "Come on."

"You're coming?"

"You didn't think we'd let you go off on your own, did you?"

I swallow, averting my gaze to the ground as I push off the bed. Sliding the dagger into the sheath at my thigh, I wipe my hands on the cape and follow Jax thought the passage. His hair is shaved to his scalp, revealing a pinched scar running from beneath his cloak, up his neck, right into his hairline.

I don't know what I'd expected when Trina mentioned this mission, but I'm less than pleased that Jax is accompanying me. It isn't hard to tell from the way he looks at me that he doesn't trust me. And I don't count on him to have my back.

We don't pass anyone as we wind through the maze-like halls, taking various routes and turns. I try to memorise the way we've come, just in case, but I can't keep track after the fourth corner we round. It's dark, damp, and the ceilings are so low Jax has to walk hunched over. But every passage we enter looks the same. Eventually, the ground transitions from stone to gravel, and the area widens, our footsteps echoing. We've entered the tunnel, and at the end, the ladder I must've come down on the way. I peer up—it stretches further than I can see in the dark. And even though I've already gone down it, my stomach clenches at the fatal height.

"Put this on," Jax says, handing me a thin, black piece of fabric.

I step back, glaring at the blindfold. "No way."

"It wasn't a request." He waves it in front of my face. "The whole point of this is so you don't go home and tell everyone exactly where we're located."

"I would never do that."

"And I'm supposed to just believe you? Put this on or stay down here, I don't care, but I have a mission to complete and you're wasting time."

I grit my teeth, letting him slip it over my eyes. The loss of my vision is briefly disorientating as my other senses take over—Jax's cold hands as he guides mine to the rungs of the ladder, the distant methodical drip of water somewhere in the tunnel, the smell of iron. I take a shaky breath, almost wishing I hadn't seen how high the ladders stretched and start climbing. I can hear Jax clambering up behind me.

At least if I fell, I'd take us both down.

I finally reach the top, my hand burying in a mound of dirt as I reach for the next rung. I haul myself over, landing on my hands and knees, and push to my feet, reaching back for the blindfold.

"Not yet," Jax scolds, swatting my hands away. He grabs my arms, and we move forward.

Even with the blindfold, the forest settles the anxiety brewing in my stomach. The wind rustles across my skin, azu call to one another from the trees, nestling into their hiding spots for the night. As Jax guides me over a fallen trunk, I think of Samu—the games we used to play amongst the trees as the sun started to set before it got dark.

After a couple more minutes, low voices waft toward us. I tense, but Jax continues forward without a word. We come to a stop a few minutes later, the voices closer this time, muffled slightly by the wind. They quieten as we stop walking.

"Really, Jax? A blindfold?"

Killian.

"Trina insisted."

"Of course she did." I can hear the rolling of eyes in his voice.

Before I can say anything, his fingers brush against the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine. I still as he loosens the knot, slipping it away from my eyes. It's pitched black in the clearing we've stopped in, but it's not just me and Jax.

A woman stands leaning against one of the trunks, her dark features concealed mostly by her hood as she fiddles with a metal contraption. My chest tightens—a gun, just like the one Casimir had. I recognise the clearing from the way the trees are tilted—it's the section just before the forge. It was flattened by a storm a couple of years ago, so all the trees slant slightly towards the mountains.

I turn my head slightly, meeting Killian's gaze. "You're coming with us?"

"Somebody has to make sure you stay alive," he murmurs, the ghost of a smile crossing his face.

I can't lie that his presence doesn't somewhat ease the budding nerves in my chest. I don't know if it's because I've known him longer, or because of the fluttering in my stomach at his gaze, but there's something about him that provides me with a sense of security amongst the rest of the deserters.

"This is Jessenia," Jax says, gesturing to the girl. She barely acknowledges me, looking bored as she taps the gun. Jax leans over and swipes up a black sack from the ground, swinging it over his shoulder. "Let's get going. We have to be back before dawn."

I take a shaky breath, falling into step behind Jessenia. Killian walks behind me so silently I almost forget he's there entirely. Despite all my sneaking around this past year, I have nothing on the three of them. They move as if they can predict the crunch of each leaf.

"Are we going to the forge?" I ask.

"Your favourite night-time attraction," Killian says from behind me.

I glance at him over my shoulder. "So that's how the deserters found out about me. When they saw me in the forge."

"Deserters haven't been to the forge in months," Jax interrupts. "We don't go there unless there's a mission."

"But I ran into them—"

"Whoever you ran into, they weren't deserters," Jax says. "We only knew about you when Killian told us."

I glance at him.

He shrugs. "People in Veymaw talk, especially so close to the Red Moon." I remember that first day in class, when he hadn't looked twice at me. The next day, I attracted his gaze like a magnet. "Which is why, as you know, Casimir wasn't too happy about my appointment as an informant."

"Because he knew you'd find out about me?"

"And his lie would be exposed," Jessenia chimes in. All three of them halt, so I follow suit. The trees rustle to our left.

"I'll check it out," Killian says, nodding at Jessenia. He seeps into the darkness, the shadows engulfing him until we can no longer see him.

Jessenia moves forward again.

"What about Killian?" I ask. "Should we wait for him?"

Jax doesn't turn around when he answers. "He'll find his way back to us."

I don't say anything as we move through the under bush. The moon grins down at us, silvery light cascading through the trees. Ahead of me Jessenia and Jax are barely visible, their black clothing blending in with the dark night. My heart thumps with each step. We're so close to the forge the perpetual fog has rolled in, hanging so low the tops of the trees aren't visible. In the distance, I can hear shouting—a brawl, no doubt.

I've walked this path hundreds of times. I've visited the forge religiously. But still, my stomach coils in anticipation, fear drawing it's cool, sharp nail down the centre of my spine. I have no idea what I'm walking into.

Ahead of us, the thick fog glows a warm yellow, the dirt transitioning to uneven cobblestones. The shouts a closer now. We linger on the edge, tucked in the treeline before the clearing that widens to a narrow alleyway. Jessenia and Jax kneel, concealing themselves behind one of the trunks. I follow their lead, settling in a crouched position. Killian lowers to the ground beside me, eyes narrowed as they cut through the thick fog.

"Don't move," she murmurs to me. She turns on her heel, disappearing amongst the trees ahead. Jax races after her, and for a moment, I'm alone.

My heart skips a beat.

I could run. I'm fast, maybe not faster than the two of them, but I'd have a head start. Maybe I'd be able to make it back to Veymaw. There'd be no way they'd chase me there, right? I turn around, taking a small step on the path we came along, my head and my heart warring against one another. But I don't get far.

"Going somewhere?"

I jump, spinning around. Killian's leaning against a tree, his arms folded across his chest and eyes on me. I hadn't heard him get back, I hadn't seen him, even though he had to have come from the same direction we did.

I lift my chin. "And if I was? Would you stop me?"

He strolls towards me, stopping only when he's a few feet away. I have to crane my neck to look up at him as he ducks his head. My entire body freezes as his face gets closer, tilting slightly so his mouth is by my ear. His breath brushes my skin so gently that if it weren't for the goosebumps rising on my neck, I wouldn't notice. "Why don't you run and find out?" he whispers.

I grip the hilt of my dagger, unsheathing it and twisting my body so that he's against the tree, my knife is at this throat, my forearm holding him against the trunk of the tree.

"Don't threaten me."

He looks down at me through long lashes, and despite the blade pressed to his skin, that dimple dents his left cheek. Before I can blink, he knocks my arm down and twists it behind my back, wrapping his other arm around my chest and pulling me backwards until my back is pressed to his chest.

My dagger is now in Killian's hand, the blade only just pressed against my throat.

"Oh, Freya," he murmurs, lips brushing the shell of my ear. "If you want to prove yourself to Trina, you're going to have to do a lot better than that."

Shivers stroke my skin. I try to convince myself it's because of what he's said and not because of the way he holds me to him, his chest hard against my back. He releases me the second I put pressure on his arm. I spin around, pushing my shoulders back and meeting his eye, hating the warmth seeping into my cheeks.

"Give me that back," I say, nodding at the dagger.

The second he holds it out, I snatch it from him, shoving it back into its sheath and folding my arms, trying to ignore the smug expression on his face.

"I'm serious, you know. You can't go wandering off with your guard down like that," Killian says.

"I was fine."

"If I'd wanted to kill you right then, I could have." He shakes his head, expression growing more serious. "Deserters are loyal. But you're not one of us yet, Freya, and there are people like Jax and Jessenia who don't think you should be one of us because they see you as a liability. When it comes down to it, they won't have your back."

"Are you implying that you would?"

"I told you I was here to keep you alive, didn't I?"

The first time he'd said it, there'd been a teasing look on his face. But when I search his eyes for any hint of humour, I come up empty.

"Yeah, well, I don't exactly trust you."

"I don't blame you. But I promise I won't let anything hurt you."

His midnight eyes trap my gaze. They remind me of the night sky, reflecting the distant lights of the forge like tiny stars. His promise stirs something inside my chest. And even though he's given me no reason to, I believe him.

I know he's a deserter now, but Killian Li is just as much a mystery to me as he was when he first arrived in Veymaw. I have no idea how much of what I found out about him was true and what was a lie. And that irks me, because despite the arrogance, the devilishly handsome gaze and loud confidence, I want to know him. The truth.

"You told me you came to Veymaw from Portson," I say. "True, or false?"

"True."

"Your father was a trader."

He grins. "False."

Of course. Because they were deserters. "And what happened to them? Is your father really dead?"

"I..." he pauses. "I don't know if my father is alive."

"Was he taken by the shifters? Like my brother was?" I immediately regret my words, recognising the expression on his face. I change the subject. "You said the deserters must prove themselves to Trina. So she has insurance." He nods. "What does she have on you?"

"I never had to prove myself to Trina," he says. "I'm not from Veymaw. My loyalties have been proven elsewhere."

"Portson," I say. He nods. "You told me you moved here because you had no choice."

"Also true." He leans back, staring at me. "Are you done quizzing me, now?"

"I still have questions."

"Of course you do."

Before I can say anything else, Jax turns up. "What're you doing? We're ready."

I nod, stepping past Killian to meet the others. Killian stops me, wrapping a hand around my wrist and pulling me back. I take a shaky breath, glancing up to meet his eye.

"What're you doing?"

He reaches forward, to my face. He grabs the hood of my cloak and pulls it over my head, tucking a stray hair in the collar of my shirt. "There," he says. "Better."

Warmth rushes to my cheeks but I turn before he can notice, meeting Jessenia and Jax in the foliage.

"We have 30 minutes," Jessenia says, her eyes scanning across each of us. "In and out. No pit stops. Killian—"

"Greybis pub."

Jessenia nods in approval. "Coax is being held above before they transport him to the coast tomorrow."

Coax, I think. So they're looking for someone.

She looks to Jax. "I'll get us in. From there—"

"Find Tetterman," Jax says.

"Tetterman?" I demand. "You mean the councillor?" They all blink at me. "He's in the forge?"

"There are always shifters in the forge," Jax says. "It's a good place to hide. Doesn't matter if you're shifter or human."

A shudder crawls down my spine. I'd known there was a possibility, but I'd never encountered one in my ventures. The thought makes me pause—would I have known if I did? I think of councillor Tetterman, his cool, steely gaze, unforgiving eyes. What could he possibly be threatened by? "What's he hiding from?"

A small smile crosses Jessenia's face. "Us."

I swallow, watching Jessenia as she tucks her gun into the waist band of her pants and retrieves a machete like knife instead.

She untwists the hilt, drawing out three four small, rounded fruit that stain her hands red. Jax takes one, tucking it into his cloak pocket. Killian does the same. When Jessenia hands the last one to me, I furrow my brows, turning it over as it stains my fingers. It looks like a berry of some sort, but not one that I've seen before—too pink to be a raspberry. I raise it to my nose, but before I can smell it, Killian catches my wrist.

He shakes his head when I look over at him. "Nanium," he murmurs, guiding my wrist to my side. "You'd be dead before it reached your stomach."

I drop it immediately, glaring at Jessenia. "Why would you give this to me?"

She seems unphased that I almost brought it to my mouth. "If you're caught by a shifter, you eat that berry."

"I'd die."

"Exactly."

She doesn't elaborate, turning back to face the forge. A shudder wracks through my body as I pick the berry up again, sliding it into my pocket without a word, but only because Jax is watching me. I wouldn't eat that berry. No matter what.

I swallow and lean back on my hands, trying to mask the way they shake. Before I can ask anything else, Jessenia is ushering us from the shadows. We creep around the edge of the buildings, never delving into the streets. Drunken laughter fills the air as we near the Greybis pub and come to a stop again.

Jessenia crouches low. "Killian."

He nods, ducking his head beneath his cloak, and before I can blink, he's disappeared into the narrow street connecting the forest to the forge. I shift closer to Jessenia in his absence, my fear growing.

"Where's he going?" I ask.

"To create a distraction," Jessenia says. "The forge is crawling with shifters tonight, ready for the transfer. If any of them sense deserters near, we won't get within a foot of that building."

I look back to the forge, where Killian has melted into the shadows, my stomach tightening. "What if they... what if they catch him?"

She turns to look at me, her eyes narrowing. "They won't."

"How do you know?"

"Killian is very skilled at what he does. He won't get caught."

I see him in my mind—the way he glides through the forest, the way he can charm just about anyone with a simple grin, and I don't doubt what she's said for a second. I may not have known he was a deserter, but I always knew he was lethal.

"Who is Coax?" I ask, keeping my voice low.

"My sister," Jessenia says without looking at me.

"Your sister is with the councilman?"

She ignores me, murmuring something to Jax and creeping forward a few steps so she's slightly out of ear range. Her hood has fallen slightly, revealing black ringlets that frame her face.

"The shifters captured Coax last week," Jax whispers, arm brushing mine as he crawls closer. "We received a tip that she'd be relocated to the coast tonight."

I furrow my brows. Aside from councillor Tetterman's visits, the shifters only come to Veymaw on the night of the Red Moon. For the past five years, many bystanders have been killed. Samu was the first person they didn't kill on the spot. But Jax said they captured Coax last week.

"Why would the shifters keep her alive?" I ask.