Soul of Shadows | Eternal Bonds: Book 2

Chapter Twenty Two

AN: Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter Twenty Two! We'll be starting in Starlene's head this time. Hope you all enjoy! Be sure to drop some comments as you read! Now onward and forward to Chapter Twenty Two!

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*Starlene*

Marius had just left us alone and Damien had taken the brunt of his abuse this evening. My poor older brother was battered and bruised. It had been five days and my shadow still hadn't found anything useful that we could give Calder and the others to help them break in to Cygnus Keep.

I heard the door lock and the clicking of Marius' boots as he walked down the hall. Then my shadowy soldier slithered out of the darkness and appeared before us.

"Took you long enough," I told him.

"Apologies My Queen," he apologized.

"Please tell me that you found something useful," Damien told the soldier.

"I did," the soldier replied, "It seems that every night after Marius goes to sleep, the castle goes into lockdown. Nothing can get in or out."

"Is anyone out there still loyal to us?" I asked.

"Your scout General, Blaze is following Marius, but his loyalty lies with you and your family," the soldier replied, "He seems to be trying to figure out a way to break you out."

"Go to him and tell him that we are grateful for his loyalty and that he needs to override the lockdown," I told my soldier. The shadow shook his head.

"Blaze no longer has that level of security clearance," the shadow replied, "Marius placed William Whitehale in charge of security."

"And Malcolm?" Damien asked.

"Malcolm is locked in the study," the shadow replied, "Marius only seeks him out if he needs something. Malcolm remains loyal to you."

"Good at least we know who we can trust," Damien stated.

"What about the Court?" I asked.

"Many of them fled during Marius' attack," the shadow replied.

"Star, tell Cal what we found out," Damien told me. I nodded and closed my eyes. I focused on my bond with Calder.

"Star," I heard him gasp.

"Cal," I whispered, "Listen, I don't have much time. We might have found a way for you guys to break in to the castle. Blaze and Malcolm are still loyal to us. If we get Blaze to override the lockdown protocol after sundown, you guys can sneak in and take back the castle."

"You sneaky little genius," Calder smirked, "I love you."

"I love you too," I told him, "I'll give you an update when I figure out what the timeline will be."

"Okay," he agreed.

I came back to reality and turned to my shadow soldier.

"Get Blaze on board with the plan," I told my soldier, "Give him three days to steal a security clearance card. He'll override the lockdown on the third day."