Page 45

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Ellery

Walking beside the giant, I studied his handsome features in the sparkling light. “Who gave you the watch?” I asked.

Ianto’s hand instinctively went to his pocket; he rested it over the small bulge there. “My mother gave it to my father for their fiftieth anniversary. She must have saved for twenty of those years to get it for him; it was his prized possession. It’s all I have left of them.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I thought of my parents. I only had memories of them, so I understood how much that watch meant to him.

“She had it inscribed,” Ianto continued. “It says, ‘To my love, to my life, forever and always.’”

“That’s a wonderful memory to have in your pocket.”

He smiled at me. “It is.”

“What happened to them?”

“They were killed by berserkers while traveling through the realms. My father was also a big man who often used his size for entertainment. Some immortals didn’t appreciate losing to him.”

What a stupid reason for a man to lose his parents. “I’m sorry.”

Ianto rested his hand over his pocket again. “Their friend brought word of their demise and my father’s watch. I was grown by then, but it was still a devastating blow.”

“Of course it was. No matter the age, it’s never easy to lose a parent.”

He squeezed my arm. “No, it’s not.”

“So, you decided to carry on the family tradition by following in his footsteps.”

“I’m bigger than my father, and I was already wrestling by then. Aside from mine work or being a guard, there’s not much for a man like me to do in Tempest, and I decided to travel the realms. First, I found the berserkers who killed them and made those assholes pay for it.”

“Good.”

I didn’t know when I’d gotten so bloodthirsty, but I was glad to hear they were dead.

He gave me an understanding look. “It’s not easy to lose our loved ones to senseless brutality.”

“No, it’s not.”

We fell silent as we descended before rising again. All around us, the tree roots moved with increasing intensity before vanishing once more.

It wasn’t as cold in this tunnel section, but a shiver made its way up my spine. It had seemed like the roots were trying to tell us something or… warning us away.

It left me with a feeling of unease. We were in a section where it wasn’t too cold, but the dampness in the air increased as the mineral aroma of the rocks and the rich scent of the earth deepened.

Ryker’s and my lightning bounced around the tunnel as I examined the tunnels large enough for the gargoyles to fly through. Had those stone creatures come alive and swept toward us with their claws outstretched and fangs on full display as their mouths hung ajar?

I glanced behind me. No beat of wings came from the darkness, and no screeches of bloodlust filled the air as death barreled toward us.

Like the last time we were here, the tunnel remained silent except for our steps and the shifting roots… when we encountered them. Despite this, I kept glancing behind us as I waited for something to attack.

The tunnel toward the gargoyles was clear last time, but something could be hiding in this section. It could have moved toward the gargoyles without us knowing and now be stalking us.

I wanted to feel safe here; I didn’t.

When we rounded another bend, a dim red glow emerged from the shadows ahead. We stopped as that glow pulsed like a heartbeat, growing brighter with every beat until it exploded with light and faded to a softer, pink hue.

“What is that?” Callan whispered.

“I don’t know; we’ve never encountered this before,” Ryker said.

He glanced at me as the dimmer glow continued to pulse. That uneasy feeling creeping through me deepened. I didn’t know what lay ahead, but I felt its power in every one of its pulses.

“We have to see what it is.” My voice came out as more of a croak than I would have liked.

When Ryker came to stand beside me, I clasped his hand and took a deep breath before continuing toward that throbbing light.