Page 47 of A Curse So Cruel (Fated Mates of Shadowbone Academy #1)

He cackles, saying something in my head, but I don’t hear it.

We reach the end of the corridor, and it splits off, branching to my left and right.

The wallpaper has changed, no longer black filigree, but a pattern of roses surrounded by thorny vines that repeats over and over.

And there’s something about it… I move to the left, stepping into the corridor and running my hands along the aged wallpaper as familiarity tingles through me.

“Not that way, girl,” Elgen hisses. “The dorms are to the right.” She moves in the opposite direction, trying to lead me away, but I don’t budge. I trace my fingertips over one of the black roses and get an odd sense of déjà vu. It’s like I’ve been here before, but I can’t remember when.

Torches line the walls and the flames flicker as if there’s a breeze, though I can’t feel anything.

Bad, Shade. Don’t you dare go down the creepy corridor.

I know I should listen to my instincts, but I can’t help myself.

I came to the academy to find answers, and as much as I want to follow Elgen and Tarlaz to the dorms, I have to know what’s down here. This might be my only chance.

Slowly, I make my way down the corridor until we reach a reinforced, steel door.

Again, there’s something so familiar about it, and when I reach out, brushing my fingertips over the metal, I hear multiple locks click as they unlock, and the door slides open revealing a stone staircase.

A torch burns on the wall close to the door.

“What’s down there?” I ask the shadows who are keeping their distance from the door.

Neither Tarlaz or Elgen look like they want to answer, but it’s Tarlaz who speaks. “The dungeons.”

“Dungeons?” My voice is high-pitched in my mind. “Okay, well that’s terrifying.”

“Exactly, so come,” Elgen snaps, and had she been corporeal, I have no doubt she would have been yanking my hand and pulling me in the opposite direction.

“But,” I say softly, “there’s something about this corridor and this door… I feel like I’ve been here before, but I can’t remember...”

“If that’s true, then it’s probably for the best, girl,” Elgen says smoothly. “Some things are better left forgotten.”

I don’t like the sound of that, and I hesitate.

As much as I want to know what’s down there, everything inside me is screaming at me to run.

Swallowing, I decide to heed my own warning, and I turn away from the dungeon of death or whatever the hell is down there.

I’ve only taken one step when a feminine scream reaches my ears.

It’s low, as if carried on the unnatural breeze in the air, and the sound sends ice sliding down my spine.

Damn it, Shade. Just ignore the haunting scream .

For all you know, it’s coming from a monster trying to lure you down there.

I’m not a hero. That was always Blake’s job in our relationship, but no matter how badly I want to flee, I simply…

can’t. I think of Kenzie and what she’d said about Leira’s disappearance.

About all the missing students. What if they’re down there?

Or what if whatever is happening in the dungeon, is what happened to me in my past?

And what if the guys are in on it? That last thought makes my blood go cold.

Biting my bottom lip, I try to calm my racing heartbeat, and I move onto the first step, taking the torch from the wall.

“Foolish. Foolish, girl,” Elgen snarls, and I almost lose my nerve, but another scream carries on the wind, and I find myself moving. If I turn back, it could be too late for whoever’s down there.

“If I get captured or something, please find a way to tell Kenzie what happened,” I tell the shadows. “And Thane and the others,” I add.

“Pshhh,” Elgen hisses in my mind. “If you have a death wish, there’s no point in us playing the hero.”

“Gee thanks,” I mutter.

I almost expect the shadows to desert me there, but I’m glad when they follow, making creeping movements like they’re walking down the spiraling staircase with me. Curiosity keeps my feet moving, and I nearly trip twice, but I keep it together, heading down.

When I reach a stone landing, there’s no relief as I approach a barred door. Like the door at the top of the stairs, it unlocks when I touch it, and I step inside, faced with rows upon rows of barred cells.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Tarlaz mutters, sounding spooked. “The professors would not like this.”

But the strange sense of familiarity keeps me walking forward. The first cells are empty of prisoners. In each cell open iron manacles rest on the floor, a drain sits in one corner, and there’s a single metal cot fixed to the wall.

Dread pools in my stomach as I walk past the cells, toward the screams. It’s not like I haven’t seen cells before.

I went with Blake plenty of times to the dungeon beneath the demon palace, but this feels different.

A sense of foreboding sweeps over me as my boots scuff the rough, stone floor, and I’m halfway down the rows of cells when I stop walking.

“What is it?” Elgen hisses to me.

Frowning, I peer at the cell on my right.

It looks identical to the other ones I’ve passed, and yet, dread pools in my stomach when I stare at it.

The barred door is slightly ajar, and I push it open, getting a better view.

Scratches cover the walls, deep grooves taken out of the stone, and my breath catches in my throat.

I finally remember why the cell looks so familiar. The dreamcrawler.

An image appears in my mind, and it’s the memory I’d seen in one of the dreamcrawler’s eyes.

This is the cell that I’d been shown, and I remember watching myself as some past version of me rocked on the floor, sobbing.

But…how? My stomach cramps as panic has me freezing in place, and I stand there for a little while, unable to move.

“Like I said, some memories are best left forgotten,” Elgen’s rasping voice is grim but kind, and it helps snap me back to the present.

“Do you know what happens down here? Have you seen me before?” I ask the shadows, desperate for answers, but also terrified of what secrets my past might hold.

I wonder then, whether the fact I can’t remember could be due to a coping mechanism.

Had I endured something so horrific that my brain completely shut down, protecting me from the memories? I shudder.

“We have not seen you, girl. We don’t like to come down here,” Tarlaz replies.

I frown. “Okay, but you must have seen ? —”

“Admiring the artwork?” a man’s voice cuts in, and I jolt, my heart leaping into my throat.

“Oh cruel souls!” Elgen shrieks in my head, like she was surprised as well. “See, this is why we don’t come down here, girl! Someone is always sneaking up on you.”

Heart pounding, I pivot to find Professor Yevar is standing a couple paces away from me. He’s dressed casually in a neat gray suit that washes out his pale eyes, and he smiles showing his perfectly straight teeth.

“Crap, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” I blurt, because it’s the first thing that comes to mind. I clutch my chest because my heart feels like it’s going to pound right out of there. “P-professor. I’m glad I finally found you.”

“You’re glad you found him? Is that the best you’ve got?” Elgen scoffs in my mind. “Like I said, Tarlaz. She has a death wish.”

“You’re not helping,” I sing-song back at her. “You could have kept watch and told me he was coming!”

“We were very helpful, girl,” Elgen gripes. “When we warned you not to come down here in the first place. Now, tell us what grilled cheese tastes like before he ends you.”

I ignore her.

“Found me?” Professor Yevar quirks a brow.

I scramble for an explanation, all too aware of the manic gleam in the professor’s eyes.

“Uh yes, Professor Thane sent me,” I lie.

“He wants me to…” I trail off. Dammit. Why isn’t this guy at the meeting like the others?

Except, for all I know, the meeting with the queen has finished by now.

I wonder if the guys are looking for me, and the thought gives me comfort, because Professor Yevar is creepy as hell.

“Yes?” the professor urges, his milky eyes boring into me expectantly.

“Tell him you’re here to collect someone,” Tarlaz suggests. “It is a prison, after all. Why else would you be down here, except to deal with a prisoner or become one.”

“Well, look at that,” I reply cheerfully. “Someone’s finally helping.”

Elgen grumbles in my mind.

Professor Yevar is still staring at me with his unsettling gaze, and I fake a smile.

“Yes, he sent me to get her,” I say confidently, and I give him a look when I say ‘her’ like I’m implying he should know who I’m talking about.

Of course, I’m making this up, but I think of the cries I’d heard earlier.

The cells are quiet now, but they’d sounded feminine, so I hope I’m on the right track. I hold my breath.

There’s a flash of something dark in Professor Yevar’s mirky eyes, but I’m rewarded when the professor’s expression changes, becoming passive. He spins on his heels, leading the way to another cell.

“Well, it’s about time,” he muses. “I confess, I hadn’t expected Professor Thane to send a student to return her to her dorm, and the timing is poor, but I’m glad he’s finally stepped in to put an end to her punishment.

” He stops at the front of a cell and unlocks the door, gesturing inside.

“It was getting rather uncomfortable having her here.”

My stomach twists with dread as I stare into the cell, not sure who I’m going to find.

The air is stale, and the scent of faeces has me trying not to breathe too deeply, but I squint into the darkness.

At the back of the cell, I spy a figure with a mop of black hair, crouched against the wall.

Her knees are drawn up to a face with red rimmed eyes, and I let out a small gasp.