Page 129 of Reaper's Quest

I cracked my eyes as the door to my enclosure swung open, accompanied by only the groan of protesting iron and empty air. No one stood present. No one unlocked and opened the cell door.

Against the protest of my many aching muscles, I shoved my body upright.

“Chace, my dear boy. We must move quickly.” The voice belonged to Aldine, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The air in front of me rippled. In the fluid motion, my elder appeared. Aldine pulled a cloak from his body and draped it over his arm, revealing himself washed in the greenhaze of my vision. With a firm grip, he clasped my wrist and tugged me to a stand.

I blinked hard, my body swaying in search of balance. Was this a trick? A new kind of torture?

“How did you find me?” My voice worked like razor blades on the inside of my throat.

“It’s amazing what you can learn when others are unaware of your presence.” Aldine’s lips pulled into a weary smile. He shoved the cloak and a key into my hold. “Take these. No matter what happens, you keep hidden and keep moving. Get yourself free of this place.”

I glanced down at the bundle of fabric and the sliver of metal. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

What kind of magic had Aldine brought to my rescue, and where had he found such things?

Aldine motioned for me to put on the cloak. I did as requested. The clothing article hung over my shoulders large, bulky, and completely unremarkable.

“They’re Killian tools. The key will open any door or lock, and the cloak will grant you the power of indiscernibility.” Aldine pulled the arms of the cloak toward the floor, hiding my hands, then he grabbed the edges of the hood and tugged it up and over my head to cover my face.

Despite the material, I could still see the world before me, now tinged with a slight silvery haze.

“Keep the key safe,” Aldine ordered.

The key, long and slender, featured a largeKand a small skull at the center. I slipped it into my thigh pocket.

“Can you see all right?” he asked.

“I see you.”

Heavy footsteps echoed in the tunnel, heading in ourdirection. I stared into the darkness, my chest clenching and heart thrumming like a battering ram. We should run. Only…

Can I? I’m in less-than-ideal condition, and it’s probably too late to try. In my current state, the mad male of a jailor would easily catch me.

Plus, I was still barefoot and chained to the floor.

Aldine didn’t turn toward the approaching sounds. He held his gaze steady in my direction yet failed to meet my eyes. In fact, I got the strange sensation he peered straight through my chest.

“Aldine?”

He shushed me. “Use the key to unlock the chains and say not another word until you are far from this place and somewhere safe.”

“I don’t?”

“I said silence,” he whispered with a hiss.

I clamped my mouth shut and watched in horror as my wicked jailer appeared out of the darkness. He stepped to the open door of the prison cell, a muddy haze surrounding his body.

“What is this?” the bastard bellowed.

“I would like to know the same thing.” Aldine turned to the door. “What have you done with my charge? I know he was here. Where is he now?”

I stood beside Aldine in plain sight. What kind of mind game was he playing?

Oh, right. I blinked, hard, and rubbed my forehead, attempting to dispel the haze from my mind.Invisible cloak. That’s what Aldine meant by indiscernibility when he’d given me the Killian’s cloak. It granted the wearer invisibility. The whole reason I hadn’t seen Aldine enter my prison.

“Liam Aldine,” the jailer said with a sneer. “I caught rumor you might be in our citadel. I have to admit, I never expected to see you again.”