Just as Daphne suspected, Zephyr tracked Nereus’s blood to Alistair’s new estate. Her oldest brother had moved out of the palace to a more secluded location, citing his need for peace and quiet during recovery.
Back then, Daphne didn’t suspect anything was wrong; she was simply delighted to have him out of her hair. Now she wished she made more of a fuss. Alistair clearly decided to move to a new location so that he could commit cris without fear of discovery.
"The sll of blood is very strong, and it’s not just Nereus’s blood," Zephyr said, nearly gagging at the various tallic scents floating in the air. "Daphne, we’re definitely at the right place, but this is dangerous. Are you sure you want to go alone? What if they are waiting to ambush you?"
"They wouldn’t be," Daphne said grimly, "because no one expects to be missing from my own coronation afterparty. Zephyr, fly over the gates, then go look for Atticus and let him know what happens."
"I’m not leaving you alone!" Zephyr squawked worriedly, "You’ll need to carry Nereus out of whatever hellhole they imprisoned him in. Besides, how do you hope to find him without my sense of sll?"
"...You have a point," Daphne reluctantly agreed. "Our main goal now is to keep out of sight and rescue Nereus."
"Got it," Zephyr said, and then he carried her in her arms and deposited her in a secluded corner of the courtyard. They kept their eyes and ears out for any passing servants, but the estate seed to be very empty― which was highly unusual for a prideful man like Alistair.
If he didn’t have servants, who was keeping him alive? There was no way he could fetch his own bathwater or shine his own shoes.
"Follow ," Zephyr whispered.
With his nose leading the way, they managed to find their way to a secluded room lined with multiple bookshelves. Zephyr paced back and forth in front of one of the walls, a frown on his face.
"I can sll more blood on the other end. But this is a dead end," Zephyr said. "Daphne, do you want to tear down the wall?"
"No need for that," Daphne hurriedly replied.
That would certainly draw undue attention. She turned her focus on the wall― from what she had seen of the estate while sneaking around, there shouldn’t be anything past it. Then again, she wouldn’t put it past Alistair to build a secret room so that he could stow away his victims.
Which ant there had to be a hidden entrance.
Daphne eyed the bookshelves for anything that seed out of place. There was one book whose spine was practically blank in comparison to the multiple books on the shelves― books boasting a variety of fancy tales.
She tugged that book from the shelf, flipping through it to look for clues. To her surprise, it was a copy of the sa book, The History of Magic, she had stolen from Reaweth’s library weeks ago. To think Alistair would have such a valuable text simply lying around in his new quarters!
To her bigger surprise, she saw a section with missing pages. Soone had torn out certain pages. Daphne squinted, if she recalled correctly, this section was about... transformations and disguises.
Kelpies were a key focus.
A shudder slithered down Daphne’s spine. She hurriedly felt along the back of the shelf for a clue. Her fingers caught on a latch, and she tugged at it. A panel popped open, with a lever for her to pull.
"Here goes nothing," Daphne muttered as she pulled it down, and Zephyr readied himself, preparing for a fight.
There was a mighty groan that seed to reverberate throughout the room, and Daphne watched with widened eyes as the wall started to shift, revealing a long stone staircase down into the darkness.
"Of course he has a secret dungeon," Zephyr grumbled, covering his nose with one hand. "It slls foul."
"We’re on the right track. I’ll go first," Daphne offered but Zephyr shook his head.
"It’s not safe. Let go first instead."
And so Zephyr led her down the stone staircase. They took special care to make sure they stepped lightly, for fear of alerting people of their presence. Every sound they made seed magnified in such an enclosed space.
Thankfully, there were lighted torches along the way down, and eventually, they made it to the bottom unscathed. Unfortunately, there were multiple tunnels in front of her. Daphne nearly groaned out loud. Her brother’s paranoia was making things awfully inconvenient.
"There’s magic here," Zephyr murmured into her ear. "Soone doesn’t want this place to be found. It’s so creepy."
Daphne agreed, "We’ll be gone soon. Which way is Nereus held?"
Zephyr pointed to the tunnel on the right, and off they went. There were multiple exits, but Zephyr’s nose was a godsend.
Soon, even Daphne’s weak human nose could sll the thick cloying scent of blood. More importantly, there was one room that was a lot hotter than the rest. It seed to practically radiate heat, and she found herself sweating even before entering.
Nereus must be held there. She gritted her teeth and sprinted all the way to the end, where a grueso sight greeted her eyes.
Nereus was chained down against a stone tablet with his limbs splayed in four directions. There was a heated collar at his throat, and another one binding his waist. Blood covered his body, and Daphne could see wounds littered all over his body.
"Nereus!" She cried out, devastated. Tears began to form in her eyes as she gazed down at his unconscious, bleeding form. Why hadn’t she looked for him earlier? "Nereus, can you hear ?"
"Bloody fuck," Zephyr hissed as he caught sight of the carnage. He looked around the dungeon room and nearly scread when he saw a pile of dead bodies in the corner. All of them were won with hair in various shades of blonde. "Holy shit, we need to get out of here!"
Nereus’s eyes fluttered open weakly at the noise. Was he dreaming?
"Da... Daphne?" He gasped out, his voice so soft it was barely audible. Daphne had to lean down closely to listen to him. "Is that you?"
"Yes, yes it’s ," Daphne choked out, brushing his cheek tenderly with her hand. Wet sticky blood clung to her palm, and she wanted to cry, but it was neither the ti nor the place. "Nereus, we’re here to get you out. Zephyr, help with the chains."
"On it," Zephyr said, all traces of levity gone from his tone.
He snatched the chains with his hands, trying to tear them apart. It caused Nereus’s limbs to shift, and Nereus groaned in pain.
Zephyr grimaced apologetically. "Bear with it," he said. "We’ll get you out of here."
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