Page 68 of By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2)

Fifty

Raptor

Our party follows Gwenna as she moves through the tunnels. The lantern is behind her, yet she can seemingly see well in the dark. She paces ahead of our group, her eyes focused on nothing at all, and sometimes pauses, touching the wall.

“We’ll come back to this,” she mutters as she moves on. “Not today. Not right now.”

A bit farther down, she brushes her fingers over another part of the rock wall and then turns to our straggling group of tired, injured, trapped people. “We have to get through this wall here.”

“And that leads us back?” Rooster asks.

“No, but it’s where we need to go.” Her gaze darts over me, and I straighten, wanting her to say something. But her head jerks and she turns, as if pulled away, and then nods, closing her eyes and rubbing her arms. “This is the only way.”

Stork and Shikra and one of the enforcers take up pickaxes and get to work.

Jay remains nearby, bandaging some of the worst of Buzzard’s wounds. “How do we know she’s not leading us on a chase?” Jay whispers to our group. “This seems like nonsense, fairy tales.”

“She won’t lie to us,” I insist, offended that he’d even suggest such a thing.

“I thought the same about the guild once, and yet here we are,” Jay says, shaking his head.

It doesn’t take long for them to hammer through the new wall, which is astonishingly thin. Gwenna isn’t surprised by this. She simply nods as if she knew it all along and steps through to the other side ahead of us.

“Wait,” says Rooster, reaching for her. “There could be ratlings—”

“No ratlings,” she says in that distant voice of hers, and continues forward. “Come. We’ve still got a ways to go.”

She drifts onward through a new tunnel that climbs steeply and twists in unexpected ways.

I share an uneasy glance with Stork, because this isn’t a tunnel that’s been used before.

To call it a tunnel would be giving it too much credit.

It’s more like a fissure in the rocks—my hooves struggle to find purchase, and each step feels dangerous.

The passage is tight, and at some points we have to turn sideways to go through and climb over a tumble of rocks.

Stork breathes heavily when we’re forced to squeeze through a very cramped crevasse.

I probably lose a layer of skin as we do, and angle my head oddly to get my horns through the narrow rocks, but it opens again soon enough.

Getting Karref’s limp body through takes some finagling, but no one is willing to leave him behind.

A short time later, I smell moisture in the air. And then I hear running water.

“Almost there,” Gwenna says in that drifting voice, as if she’s not quite with us mentally, even if her physical body is. I’m worried about her, but I trust her to lead our party forward. If anyone can find a way out, it’s Gwenna with her strange powers.

I just don’t want anyone using this against her.

We get down on our knees to crawl through the last portion of the cave—we Taurians on our stomachs and unconscious Karref dragged on a cloak—but once we’re through to the other side, I see moonlight ahead.

“Incredible,” Rooster says, pulling himself through the narrow hole. “She truly did find a way out. Where are we?”

“By the river that cuts through the woods,” Master Jay says, moving to stand beside him. “I can hear the water rushing nearby. How she knew that cave was there…”

“No one says a word of this,” I growl at them. “No one. Understand?”

Exhausted men nod at me.

Satisfied, I stalk forward to talk to my female.

Now that we’re free from the caves—and any possible ratlings that would have followed us—I want to talk to her, to find out if she’s all right.

Buzzard is settled with the wounded enforcers near the stream.

He doesn’t look good, but he’s conscious.

Karref has been roused and is leaning against one of the other enforcers.

Everyone else is on their feet—battered, but on their feet.

“What do you mean, you had a rescue signal stone this entire time and never used it?” I hear Rooster demand of Shikra. “Why not?”

“Who’s going to come rescue us?” Shikra asks, his voice dripping with derisiveness. “The same ones who left us there to rot?”

That silences the guild leader. Good.

I frown as I head down the muddy side of the hill toward Gwenna.

The passageway had led us to a very narrow, shallow cave—more of a tumble of rocks on the side of a hill nestled against the bank of the river.

The others rest near the cave mouth, but Gwenna doesn’t seem to be staying put.

She keeps wandering away in that strange, drifting way of hers.

“Gwenna.” I catch up to her, and she doesn’t turn. “Gwenna, are you all right?”

When she doesn’t respond, I touch her arm and force her to turn around. Her skin is like ice, her pupils huge. She stares through me without seeing me.

I want to shake her, but she’s a small, fragile thing, my human mate, and the last thing I want is to hurt her.

What did she say before? That distractions were the only thing that pulled her out of it?

I contemplate kissing her, but I’m mucking terrible at it, and I can’t kiss her like a human does.

I consider for a moment, and then glance around to see if anyone is looking our way.

When they’re not, I reach out and brush a hand over her front, and then pinch her nipple through her corset.

She jerks with a gasp and reels. Her eyes blink hard and then her pupils contract. Shivers rack her body. “Oh. Oh, Raptor. Look at you. You’re all bloody.” Her ice-cold fingers reach up to touch my muzzle. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I reassure her, caressing her too-cool cheek. “What are you doing here?”

“I came after you. I…” Her throat works. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Then she turns and vomits at my feet.

I kneel beside her as she gets the worst of her sickness out of her gut, and when she’s done, she shivers wildly.

“Gods, I feel disgusting.” She wipes the back of her hand over her mouth and then sags against me. “Talking with the dead for too long makes me feel…rotten inside.”

“Rooster knows. Garesh’s balls, everyone knows your secret.” I stroke her sweaty hair back from her face.

“I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t stay home safe if you were in danger. We had to come find you. It was the only way I could get them to let me into the tunnels to find your party. They’d wiped you from the day’s roster. The messages were a trap—”

“I’d figured as much.” I keep my voice soft, humbled that she’d put herself in danger to protect me. “You saved our lives, little bantam. How did you know where to find us?”

“I went…went to the temple of Romus to speak with Hemmen’s spirit.

He told me everything. Said that they were planning to get the Taurians out of the way so they wouldn’t be bothered in the tunnels.

And Rooster sent a missive, too. Didn’t want to use a mancer and set a bad example.

Goodness, is it cold out here?” She shivers violently.

I drag her closer to me to share my warmth with her smaller form. “Come lean against me. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, sweetheart. Don’t you worry.”

To my surprise, Gwenna begins to laugh. She looks up at me, her eyes a little wild. “Do you know, when I first realized I had powers, I was terrified because I thought the guild would kill me on sight? But after today? After this afternoon? I’ve realized they need me.”

I bite back my frown. “Need?”

“Yes.” She blinks rapidly, then tucks her cheek against my filthy shirt. “Do you know how much treasure the dead just showed me? It’s going to take years to dig it all up.”

“Huh.” I rub my hand up and down her back. I’m still worried. Mancers are illegal, and far too many people know about her powers for my comfort. The urge to protect her is fierce, and I hold her close. If Rooster tries anything, I need a plan. I’m not letting them hurt my mate.

No one is sure how safe the guild is now.

“Spies could be everywhere,” Rooster frets, pacing and wringing his hands as the rest of us relax by the riverbank. “What if they’re not just the lift operators? Not just the repeaters? What if this is an absolute coup?”

“It won’t be a coup,” Stork insists. “No one likes a thief.”

But Rooster isn’t so sure. He’s also worried about the rest of Gwenna’s friends who’d arrived at the lift with her—Archivist Sparrow, along with Kipp and Arrod. Upon hearing those names, Jay becomes agitated, too. “What if they’ve been hurt?”

“They’re smart. They’ll figure out how to stay safe,” I reassure him. Well…Kipp’s smart, at least. “And Master Hawk isn’t going to let anything happen to Sparrow.”

Rooster points at Gwenna, who’s been sleeping in my arms for the last several hours. “Wake her and ask her to speak with the dead. See if she can feel them.”

“She’s tired and drained,” I growl at him. “She needs to rest.”

“Yes, but this is an emergency.”

I lower my voice and lean in. “For someone who didn’t want to use mancer powers, you’re sure quick to pounce on them now.”

That silences him. He goes back to pacing.

In the end, one of the enforcers, named Hopkins, goes into the city. He’s got family in the lower side of Vastwarren, and he’s going to visit them and gather forces to go to the city guard. From there, they’ll head for the guild quarters and see just how bad the damage is.

The rest of us wait by the riverside.

In truth, I thought the night would be endless, but I’m exhausted from fighting, and it’s nice to just sit and hold my mate close.

Gwenna sleeps on through the night, lightly snoring in my arms in a way that I find utterly adorable, and which causes Stork to frown in our direction.

Like I care what he thinks. Jay seems thoughtful as he sits with us, washing his wounds and offering to tend to mine.

I snarl at him, as any good Taurian would. If anyone’s going to fuss over me, it’s going to be Gwenna.

It’s dawn before we hear horses approaching.

I gently set Gwenna down on the ground as she sleepily tries to focus.

I kiss the top of her head, and a surge of love for this small, determined female fills my heart.

“I won’t let anyone touch you,” I tell her, pulling her close to my chest. “I’ll fight every last one of them if I must. Don’t worry. ”

She leans against me, fatigued. Through the haze of exhaustion on her face, fear flickers. “But what—”

“No buts,” I tell her gently. “You’ve been mine since the first day we met, and nothing today is going to change that.

You think I would let you be in danger? That anyone here could keep me from my mate now that she’s safe in my arms?

I’ll handle this, little bantam. You don’t need to worry at all. ”

I mean it, too. My protective instincts are surging—a stronger sensation than my mucking knot, that’s for certain—as I make sure she’s settled and comfortable.

Then I move to the front of our group, and my hands curl into fists.

If I must fight to shield my mate and my companions until my last dying breath, I will.

If I have to fight all of Vastwarren to protect Gwenna, I’ll gladly do so.

If I have to fight the gods themselves to keep her safe…bring it on.

But when the horses arrive, it’s Master Tiercel, Hopkins, and two other guild masters. “It’s all over,” Tiercel says, riding forward. “You’re safe. I’ve got a wagon full of medics heading up here. I heard there were wounded?”

Rooster pushes forward. “The insurrection—”

Tiercel holds up a hand. “Fizzled into nothing. Master Hawk has arrested all of the lift operators and is holding them for questioning.”

The guild leader blusters. “That…that’s very good. But why isn’t Hawk here to report on this to me?”

“Have you ever seen a Taurian on a horse?” is all Tiercel says, and I laugh despite myself. Count on Hawk to swoop in and save the day. Someone probably threatened a hair on Sparrow’s head, and he cleaned house.

Which is good, because it means we can finally rest.