Chapter 136- Fire in Her Veins

Lexy

I stepped forward and faced the room, my voice calm and commanding.

“Thank you all for gathering here for an extra day,” she began, letting her gaze sweep the room. “We are entering a time where unity will either forge our survival or our downfall. It is my responsibility as Queen not only to protect our lands, but to ensure that every alliance we hold is strong, transparent, and beneficial for all.”

“As per what Adrian has asked of me to finish completing this alliance, I will be declining it. But I will let Tarria choose for herself once she is back from a training mission” I finished speaking.

I looked directly at Adrian and asked him, “Out of all my warriors, why Tarria?”. I looked for any hesitation in him, but he held strong.

“I saw her the first day at the meeting. I caught her name when someone addressed her” Adrian responded with a small smirk on his face. He knows what he’s doing and has come prepared, but so have I.

I’m keeping my spirits up that we *will* find her before the end of today. I left everything in the hands of my best warriors.

The meeting continued until I called a break for everyone to have lunch and take a breather. I took this time to go to the office and contact my warriors. CJ got ahead and had my lunch on my desk as I arrived.

“Thanks, muñeco” I said sweetly. I took a couple of bites and got straight to work. I contacted the warriors’ scouts. “What’s the progress?”. “You were right my queen. She was at the location, but it seems like she was captured a 100ft from there” he reported.

Before I could say anything else he spoke again. “They were clumsy in her retrieval, and we been following the trace”. “Contact me as soon as you find anything” I responded and then hung up.

We still had 45 minutes left before the conference continued.

Tarria

The cold from the chair seeped into my bones like poison. My wrists were raw from the iron shackles; my ankles bruised from every failed attempt to twist free. They had learned from my last escape, and this time, they made sure to immobilize me completely. Leather straps dug into my chest, shoulders, and thighs. The chair itself was nailed to the stone floor, and from the tightness of the bindings, it seemed Kael had overseen it himself.

But they underestimated one thing.

They thought that binding my body meant binding my will.

My breath became slow and steady as I examined every inch of the room again, seeking something—anything—that I might have missed. The walls were bare, no windows, just a flickering oil lamp in the corner that cast long, dancing shadows. The floor was stone, uneven in some places. The chair creaked ever so slightly when I shifted my weight, but the sound was too faint to echo beyond the door.

I let my head fall back, closed my eyes, and focused inward.

They talk about the power I have but where is it when I need it.

Just one.

My breath turned warm in my chest as I focused on anything that could come out of me. A shimmer ran down my spine. Pain bloomed in my wrists where black smoke began to appear

A loud pop cracked the air as the left wrist cuff snapped.

I yanked my hand free and ripped the remaining strap from my arm with a surge of adrenaline. With my left hand free, I reached over and worked quickly on the right cuff. The black smoke had weakened it, and within seconds, I was free from the chair’s grip.

My legs were still bound at the ankles, but without my arms pinned, I managed to lean forward and tear at the restraints. My fingers burned and shook, but the leather gave in under force and the last strap fell away.

I stood, swaying slightly. My legs were numb, my muscles stiff, but I couldn’t waste time. I scanned the room once more. No guards. No cameras. They thought they had time.

They were wrong.

I crept to the door and pressed my ear to the wood. Silence.

Either they were too confident to post a guard this late, or Kael was baiting me.

I didn’t care.

I slipped through the door and moved like a shadow down the narrow hallway. Every sound was magnified—the creak of the floorboards, my soft breaths, the occasional distant clang of something metallic. My bare feet barely made a sound.

There were no signs to tell me where I was—underground, likely beneath the room I was in before. I remembered some of the layout from my first escape. If I was right, I could follow the air flow to find a ventilation shaft that led outside.

A few turns later, I found it.

A shaft, just above shoulder height, covered by a rusted grate. I braced one foot against the wall and yanked. The metal screamed in protest but gave way. Cool, fresh air kissed my face. I didn’t think—I climbed in.

The crawl was tight, painful, and suffocating in moments. I scraped my knees, my elbows, and bruised my ribs when I slipped on a slick patch. But I kept going.

Light.

A sliver of it glowed ahead.

I pushed forward, heart pounding as I reached the edge and kicked at the thin mesh that covered the outer opening. It broke free and I rolled out into the night.

The forest was dense and quiet. Moonlight filtered through the trees, bathing the world in silver. I took one breath, two—and ran.

Branches clawed at my skin. My feet bled. But I didn’t stop. I didn’t care where I was going—just away.

Something cracked behind me. A twig.

I spun.

Not Kael. Not one of his guards.

A dark shape emerged from the trees.

I dropped into a fighting stance, body low, teeth bared. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”

The figure stepped into the moonlight. A woman—no, a wolf-shifter, dressed in battle gear, the Phoenix crest stitched over her heart.

“Tarria?”

My breath caught in my throat.

Another scout stepped out beside her, then another. Three. Four. A small squad. Lexy’s colors.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes. I’m—”

Before I could say more, my knees gave out. Arms caught me before I hit the ground.

“She’s burning up,” one of them said.

“Get her wrapped,” another snapped. “We need to move now. Lexy said we had until sunset.”

“I need… to warn her…” I croaked.

“You’ll tell her yourself. Just hold on.”

They moved quickly, efficiently. A cloak was wrapped around my shoulders; water pressed to my lips. I took slow sips, willing my vision to clear.

“Lexy sent you?” I whispered, still not fully believing it.

“She never stopped,” the leader of the squad said. “We’ve been tracking your energy trail for two days. It kept fading and flaring. We thought we lost you.”

I nodded slowly. “Adrian… Kael… my father… they’re trying to crown me.”

“Will report to her immediately.”

Even now, battered and weak, I smiled. My Queen was waiting. She had never stopped searching.

And now… now, I was going home.