The Key (#1 of Anna Kippling Series) Paranormal romance by A.D. Duling (11 page)

“
Should we split up?” Val
suggested.

“
No we should stay
together.” Hayden stressed.

“
No, we should split up!”
She whispered. “Hayden you go left and Anna and I will take the
right.” Val instructed.

Hayden and Anna exchanged looks.

“
I don’t feel right about
that. I think we should stay together.” He argued.

“
Fine, but I think we
should go this way first!” she whispered back.

He stared at his friend for a moment, she
looked tired and frail. He was very disappointed in himself for not
noticing before. He looked over to Anna, she nodded.

“
Ok Val, if you think so.”
He agreed.

She stared back at him, her eyes looked like
dark pools reflecting the shadow of the person she once was. She
finally nodded and led the way. They followed her along down the
corridor that led into another room. A statue sat in the middle and
a pair of doors sat adjacent to each other behind it. One of the
doors opened and in stormed guards with swords already drawn.
Hayden quickly drew his sword; Anna had already done the same.

Val turned to them. “I’m sorry, I had no
choice!” She apologized.

“
We know Val.” Hayden
consoled her.

She looked over at him; tears welded in her
eyes and stepped back in defeat.

Behind the guards, in walked the General,
“Hello again, Anna.” He addressed her.

“
Hello, General.” She
snidely spoke back.

“
General? You mean
Chancellor.” He corrected her. He looked over to Val, “You did well
my girl and are free to go.”

“
Why do I not feel any
better?” She cried. “You said if I brought her to you, you would
remove the curse!” she pleaded.

He laughed. “Yes you are right, I did! But I
think I’ve had a change of heart.” He menacingly told her.

“
But I will die!” she
cried out.

“
Well, you have a big
problem on your hands now, don’t you?” he heartlessly snapped
back.

She turned to them, “I deserve this for
betraying you both, please forgive me.” She cried.

Anna remembered the beads and sheathed her
sword. She walked over to her friend and hugged her. “Eat one; I
think it will help you.” She whispered into her ear. She then
discreetly pulled the satchel out and stuffed it into the front of
her friend’s jacket.

“
How touching!” The
Chancellor responded to their display and sarcastically clapped his
hands. Anna sneered at him.

“
Escort this young lady
off of our premises and take the young man to his awaiting
quarters.” He ordered the nearest guards.

One grabbed Val roughly by the arm and led
her out of the room. The other walked over to Hayden.

“
It would be wise to lower
your sword.” The guard recommended. Hayden sheathed it and allowed
the guard to shackle his hands. He then roughly pushed him out of
the room.

The Chancellor walked over and stood in
front of Anna. “The rest of you leave the room, I want to talk to
Ms. Kippling alone.” He ordered.

The guards respectful bowed and left the
room.

“
What did you give to your
little friend?” He asked her.

“
I gave her a gift of
hope.” She answered him.

“
And what could you
possibly give her that could help her present
situation.”

She didn’t answer him.

“
It’s been foreseen that
you are the chosen one.” He eyed her up and down. “I don’t see
anything so special about you.” He snarled.

“
You came here to rescue
the Empress, not working out exactly how you planned now is it?” he
belittled her.

She remained silent.

“
Answer me!” he yelled and
slapped her.

The slap surprised her and she stumbled
back. Her cheek burned, but she didn’t rub it; not giving him the
satisfaction.

“
You’re here to defeat me.
So tell me, how do you plan on doing that Anna Kippling? ”He asked
her.

She didn’t answer.

He slapped her again; even harder. The blow
sent her tumbling to the floor this time. She reached up and
touched her nose, it was bleeding. She wiped it on her sleeve and
stood up.

“
Don’t you dare challenge
me girl!” he screamed and slapped her again; sending her right back
down, she cried out this time. He knelt down and grabbed her by the
hair; tilting her head up, “I’m going to kill you Anna Kippling and
I’m going to do it very slowly!” He hissed at her.

Tears fell down her face. He let go of her
and stood up.

“
A child, you’re just a
little child!” He spat down at her.

She looked up at him. “You’re right I am
just a child; but this child has a knife!” She screamed and plunged
the dagger she had snuck out into the top of his thigh!

He screamed and reeled back. She quickly
jumped up and headed in the direction the guard had taken
Hayden.

“
Guards!” he screamed out
and pulled the dagger out of it.

She ran quickly over to the door Hayden was
taken through and opened it. On the other side was another long
corridor and she ran quickly down it and ducked behind a large
statue sitting in a nook.

She pulled her book out. “Tell me how to get
to Hayden?” she asked it.

G
o to the last door on the left and take
the stairs down.You will enter another corridor. At the end of that
one; you will follow the stairs down, at the bottom is the door
leading to the dungeon.

She quickly put away her book and grabbed
the pendant. “Conceal me!” She said and rubbed the stone. She
instantly disappeared and followed the books directions. When she
reached the door to the dungeon she stopped. She hesitated, not
sure what to do next. If she opened the door, she risked getting
discovered if someone was on the other side.

She didn’t have to ponder long, when
suddenly the door knob started to twist and she hurried up a couple
steps and pressed herself tightly against the wall. The door opened
and sure enough a guard walked through. Before he closed the door
she was able to catch a peek inside and saw only one other sitting
at a table. She could also see Hayden sitting in a cell.

When the guard was far away enough, she
walked back up to the door and knocked on it. A second later, the
other guard opened it and she quickly slipped inside. He shook his
head and shut the door. He looked over to Hayden’s cell and sneered
at him. Hayden eyed him back. The guard then laughed and sat back
down at the table. Anna could see the cell keys hanging from a hook
just above the table; she sighed.

Now she had to figure out how to get the
keys!

The door burst open and a guard yelled. “The
girl has escaped!” The guard jumped up and ran out of the room with
him, leaving the door open.

“
What about the prisoner?”
she could hear him ask as they ran up.

“
Never mind him! He wants
the girl!” the other answered.

Anna grinned to herself and ran over and
grabbed the keys. Hayden saw them lift midair and jumped up,
“Anna!”

“
Reveal me!” she said and
appeared in front of his cell door. He rushed over to it as she
unlocked it.

“
Do you know where Val
is?” she asked him.

Then as if in answer; Val ran into the room,
her sword drawn!

Realizing there was no threat; she grinned
and ran over to them.

“
There she is.” Hayden
answered. Anna rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm when he
stepped out.

Anna smiled at the girl, “How are you
feeling?” she asked.

“
Never better…”Her friend
answered.

Chapter 16

V
al handed her the bag of beads. “I thank you for these; you
saved my life!”

“
I’m glad they worked.”
Anna smiled at her and took them.

“
I only had to take one
and instantly felt better!” she exclaimed. “Where did you get them
from Anna?” she asked.

“
You’ll have to tell us
about those later Anna; right now we need to get the Empress and
get out of here!” Hayden cut in.

She nodded and pulled out her book, “How do
we get to the Empress?” she asked it.

In the Chancellor’s office, go back where
you came and go through the other door, it’s up the stairs.

“
Where is the Chancellor?”
she asked next.

He is
in his office, waiting for
you.

“
Are we heading into a
trap?”

“
Is there no avoiding
it?”

No, to save the Empress this must play
out
…

“
How many are waiting for
us in the room?” she asked it.

There are five
.

“
Can we take
them?”

You must let them capture
you
.

“
What will happen to us,
if we don’t?” she asked, but Hayden reached over and shut the book.
She looked up at him. “Why did you do that?”

“
Sometimes knowing too
much can hurt you more than it can help.” He reasoned.

“
So we just walk into a
possible death trap?” she argued.

He nodded, “It’s one of those risks you have
to take.”

“
Maybe you can; but I
can’t!” and she opened the book back up. He gently put his hands on
hers and guided the book shut again. “You can question this so many
times and in so many ways Anna, but there is no changing it. Like
the book says; you have to let it play out.”

She put it away. “Fine; let’s go then!”

She turned and ran up the stairs, drawing
her sword as she went.

Hayden looked over to Val, “I love it when
she’s angry!” he teased.

She just laughed and they followed after
her.

They cautiously made their way back, when
they reached the room where she had just been in with the
Chancellor; Hayden noticed the blood.

“
What did you do to him?”
he asked her.

She grinned, “I stabbed him in the
thigh.”

He grinned back, “Good girl!”

Val walked ahead and peeked around the
corner, two guards stood, guarding the door that led up to the
Chancellor’s office.

She looked back at them. “There are two.”
She whispered.

They nodded.

“
When I say go, we go!”
Hayden whispered.

The girls nodded and they all got ready.

“
Go!” he said and they ran
out and attacked the unsuspecting guards.

Hayden took on the one on the right and ran
his sword through his chest. Anna reached the other before Val and
swung her sword at him, striking him in the neck. He reached up and
grabbed his neck and fell to the ground. She then raised her sword
and stabbed him in the chest. His eyes grew wide and then relaxed,
staring lifelessly up at her.

She froze in place and stared down at the
dead man. Hayden walked up behind her.

“You have to remind yourself that if you had
not killed him first, he would have killed you.” He reminded
her.

She nodded. He bent down and closed the dead
man’s eyes. Val grabbed the arm of the other guard and slid him out
of the way of the door. Hayden pressed his ear against the door and
listened. Hearing nothing, he grabbed the knob and quietly turned
it. Val and Anna stood ready as he opened the door; thankfully only
stairs awaited them on the other side. Hayden led the way and they
quietly climbed the stairs.

He stopped at the door and pressed his ear
against it and listened. He then lifted his head and looked back at
them. “It’s quite in there. Get ready… I have an idea!” He
whispered. He then reached up and knocked on the door. It remained
quiet, so he knocked again. Finally there came the movement he was
waiting for. The doorknob slowly began to turn, but Hayden didn’t
wait any longer and charged the door knocking the figure down on
the other side. Val and Anna ran in after into a dark room.

Then suddenly there was light and she was
blinded. She could hear Hayden wrestling with someone just off from
her. She blinked and looked around the room; just then a figure ran
up to her with an object raised above his head. She raised her
sword to defend herself and then suddenly something hard hit her on
the head and everything went to black.

A splash of cold water brought her back to
consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and reached up to rub her
aching head, but then something stopped her arm and she realized
she was shackled. She bolted up and looked around.

“
Welcome back, Anna.”
spoke a voice.

She looked over to the source and found
Hayden unconscious, lying chained to a table a few yards away from
her. The Chancellor walked up and stood above his head. He motioned
to a masked guard standing nearby who roughly walked Val over to
him.

“
I told you Anna Kippling,
I want you to suffer every minute until your death! And now because
of what you did to me, I am going to make your friends here suffer
as well!” He spat out to her.

He grabbed Val by the arm and pulled her
next to him. He grabbed her wrist and held her hand up and placed a
dagger in it.

“
Grab a hold of it!” he
screamed at her. Val did.

He then grabbed her by the chin and forced
her to look up at him. His eyes then glowed green, “I want you to
look me in the eyes, girl!”