Raze the Night (Nightstar Book 2)

Desperate times required desperate actions. And Mhalyn couldn’t imagine the times to become any more desperate.

After what had happened, the Court had decided to put Daryan into house arrest and take away his power through an old law meant for crises. And Mhalyn would have thought that to be good given what Daryan had been doing.

But she’d seen Fennrin as well. Daryan had done something to him. Before he’d been angry and irritable, but Mhalyn had felt like she could still reason with him.

That was no longer the case.

When she’d asked him how he was handling things, he’d happily told her that he was content, saying something lovey-dovey about Daryan. When she’d asked about the Daybreaker, all she’d gotten from Fennrin was confusion. As if he didn’t know who she was talking about.

And that was when she knew. Daryan had done something to him. Given him something to make him act this way.

It made Mhalyn sick to her stomach. Even once she’d started noticing that Daryan was acting…wrong, she never would have thought he’d go as far as to drug Fennrin into compliance.

And so that was how she’d found her way here, at a rebel hideout that hopefully contained a rebel or two she could contact. After that battle, they all had disappeared, likely to regroup and figure out what to do next.

It had taken so much research and investigation to find a hideout—one that Ainreth had supposedly sent his parents to—and finding an excuse to travel there had been nearly just as difficult, but now Mhalyn was in the right place. It had to work out.

Walking down the dark street of the small town with a hood over her face, Mhalyn kept checking her face in the tiny hand mirror she’d brought with her. She had to keep track of if her tic was going, and given how stressed she was about everything, it was constantly trying to.

It was just too recognizable, and it might betray her identity if someone were to ask about having seen her. But as long as she kept checking on it, she could stop it. She just wasn’t aware that it was happening without seeing herself.

Finally finding the right house, Mhalyn looked around, but the street was thankfully empty.

She raised a shaky hand and knocked. Mhalyn waited for a bit, putting her ear to the door. She couldn’t hear anything, and no one was opening the door.

Mhalyn squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to try to stave off her bad thoughts at the possibility of having wasted all that time only to find no one.

She tried the doorknob, assuming that the door is locked, but to her shock, it opened, making her blink.

Worried even more that no one was here, she walked inside, closing the door behind her.

“Hello?” she called, looking around the small room. It was dim and empty, aside from a few pieces of furniture stacked against a wall, a cloth thrown over it.

She pulled her hood down, walking into the room next to this one, which used to be the kitchen, judging by the fireplace. But this room was just as desolate and lifeless as the one before. This house was abandoned, that much was clear.

Sighing, Mhalyn was about to turn around and leave when she noticed a trapdoor in a corner. Frowning as she walked to it, she lifted it up, wincing at the creak it produced.

There was a ladder leading down into a basement. And Mhalyn could hear faint voices coming from below.

Her heart stuttering in both excitement and nervousness, she started to climb down the ladder. She looked around once she reached the bottom, blinking when she was met with a well-lit, well-furnished space. It was a stark contrast to the bare emptiness of the upstairs.

She could hear the voices better now, but she still wasn’t close enough to make out the words, which were coming from the room connected to the one she was in. It seemed the basement copied the space above.

Mhalyn didn’t try to sneak up on the people here, but she did nothing to call attention to herself either, too nervous to. She couldn’t help but worry how they might react to her.

“Is he….?” she heard a man say, followed by a tense pause.

“We don’t know. I tried to run to him, but Fennrin stopped me,” said a voice Mhalyn could recognize. It was Petre, Ainreth’s former lieutenant. Mhalyn let out a breath of relief. Petre would know the leaders of the rebels, surely.

As she reached the slightly open door leading to the other room, Mhalyn paused, looking through the crack. She caught a glimpse of five people sitting on a couch, as well as Petre, whose back was facing the door. Mhalyn could recognize them by their red hair.

So these must have been Ainreth’s parents. Mhalyn grimaced. They must have been going through heartbreak right now.

“If he didn’t stop you, you would have been killed,” said one of the two men sadly, a tear running down his face.

“But there is a chance he might still be alive?” asked one of the women. They were all huddling close to each other. Mhalyn’s heart ached as she watched, leaning on the door a bit so she could hear better.

She felt bad about eavesdropping, but she couldn’t help it.

“Yes, but….” Petre sighed. “He’s in Orinovo now. Probably Diramisk. I don’t know who could help us get there to rescue him. I—”

The door creaked from Mhalyn pushing it ever so slightly. And everyone was now looking at it.

Before she could open it properly to show herself and apologize, though, Petre sprung up and swung it open.

They grabbed her, pulling her inside and pushing her against a wall, a dagger held to her throat.

There was a brief shock in their eyes when they recognized her, but then their forearm held against her chest just pushed against her harder.

“What are you doing here?”

Mhalyn swallowed, trying not to panic despite the blade against her throat. “Please, I mean no harm. I’m unarmed.”

Petre quickly checked her for weapons before drawing away, letting her go. They still looked guarded, holding their weapon in her line of vision—a constant threat.

“Why were you spying on us?” they said, scowling.

Mhalyn ducked her head in shame. The suspicion was very warranted. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure how to approach. I…need to talk to you.”

Petre studied her through narrowed eyes. “And?”

Mhalyn took a deep breath, her eyes flicking over to Ainreth’s parents who were all watching with concern and confusion. But despite this interruption, their grief was still there, it was palpable.

She nodded and swallowed. This was the moment. There would be no going back. She was going to betray everything she knew. And it was going to be the most correct, necessary thing she had ever done.

“I found you,” she said, looking Petre in the eye. “I found you so I could help the rebels. Help you.”

Petre blinked, their mouth opening in shock as they stared at her. “What?”

Mhalyn nodded, feeling bold now that she’d said it. “I want things to be okay again. I want Lys-Akkaria to prosper. And it can’t like this. Not with Daryan as its leader.”

She smiled a bit, so eager to make a change. “I agree with you rebels. It’s time sun sets on his reign, and we bring the dawn of a new era. And I want to help you make that happen.”