Page 21

Chapter Ten

ARABELLA

D arkness consumed her. It was everywhere, diluting her senses and thoughts until all she knew was the endless void.

One moment, she was stepping forward, an unholy siren’s song lilting through her mind. In the next, tidal waves crashed over her. She tried to reach out, desperately grasping for a handhold, but she had neither fingers nor a body.

For a moment, it felt like she ceased to exist as she floated in the fathomless deep.

She wondered if it was possible to die without a body. She felt herself sink, succumbing to the weight pressing ever downward. The will to fight seeped from her, and eternal night filled her until she was forced to become one with the starless void.

Then there was a sensation like the popping of a bubble atop the surface of water.

When Arabella opened her eyes, she thought it was night.

She stood in the middle of a desert with rolling hills of sand in every direction. The inky sky bore neither stars nor moons. Yet somehow, she could see in the unlit landscape.

Suddenly, a sound came from above her. There was a scream and then a muffled thud.

No, two thuds.

Turning, the sand shifted beneath her leather boots as she spotted an unconscious Jessamine and a very angry, very sandy Breckett.

A moment later, wings darker than the sky spread out above them, flapping as the prince descended with irritating grace to the ground. Once he landed, he tucked his wings behind him. Then he scanned the landscape—and likely found the same thing she had.

They were utterly alone in a dark wilderness.

A crippling truth settled in her bones.

Their supplies wouldn’t sustain them for long . They had waterskins, some dried meats, and other supplies, but it wouldn’t be enough to even see them out of the desert. If there was anything other than deserts in the Abyss.

We’re going to die here , she realized. The map doesn’t work, and there’s no water.

Why hadn’t she gone straight to Elias? Fuck the army. Maybe she could’ve made a deal with Magnus to free Elias…

A sudden wrongness struck her. It took her a moment to place what.

“I can’t feel Elias.” The words came out as a whisper as fear iced her veins.

Hadeon frowned at her before realization dawned in his eyes, which was quickly replaced by confusion. “Your mating bond?”

She nodded, pulling at her jacket and leathers, desperate to remove them from her chest—as though she could touch the magical connection that tied her to Elias.

Had she broken the mating bond by coming to the Abyss? Assuming that’s where they were and they hadn’t stumbled into some other realm.

“I can’t feel his pain, his fear,” she said, her throat tightening. “When he’s awake, it’s always there…”

The prince was suddenly before her, extending a gloved hand toward her chest. She felt the rumble of his magic as his eyes closed, though she couldn’t see a shift in power.

“No,” he said. “It’s not… gone. Your scent is still mated.”

She blinked.

She’d forgotten there was a fucking smell to fae when partners found their mates. Closing her eyes, she felt toward the tightness in her chest.

But… Hadeon was right.

Reaching toward where the bond should be, there was a tiny flower made of flickering flames within her chest. It hadn’t been snuffed out. Somehow, she knew the swaying of the flames was in time with Elias’ every breath.

He was alive.

Opening her eyes, she swiped a sleeve over her damp cheeks.

Hadeon extended a gloved hand toward her, and she belatedly realized he held the map. “Be more careful next time.”

Frowning, she nodded. She must have dropped the map when…

Just what had happened? One moment, there was that awful screeching sound in her mind, and then her thoughts weren’t entirely her own. It was like a presence, a strange drive, had filled her and willed her steps forward.

Like something wanted her here.

She shook her head. Whatever had caused her to go through the gateway—whether it was something or someone—was yet another question without an answer. And one she’d have to deal with later. For now, she needed to make sure Jessamine was okay.

Hurrying over to her friend, she felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt a strong heartbeat.

Jessamine was fine.

The gateway had just been too much for her.

“You’re conscious.” Breckett gestured in Arabella’s general vicinity.

“Unfortunately for all of us, so are you,” she said halfheartedly as she brushed Jessamine’s hair out of her eyes.

He was right though. She hadn’t passed out from going through the gateway like she had the other times.

Did repetition make traveling through it easier?

Or did the destination impact the difficulty for enchantresses to travel by gateway?

She suspected the reason gateways made enchantresses ill had something to do with the unnatural nature of the tear in the world.

After all, enchantress magic was rooted in nature, and whatever magic had created the gateways was entirely different.

Although she’d been fine going through the gateway this time, Jessamine hadn’t been so fortunate. Perhaps the reason was something else entirely—something she had yet to consider.

Breckett made a sound that she was going to pretend was complimentary.

“Fortunately for me, you’re on your feet,” he said as he walked away from Jessamine’s unconscious form, his eyes on the distant horizon. “So, you can carry her.”

“And you can read the map.” Arabella scooped Jessamine off the ground and into her arms. When Breckett didn’t reply, she shifted her friend over her shoulder, holding her with one arm as she opened the map with the other.

To her utter shock, the once empty map flowed with dry ink as it spread across the parchment, filling it with illustrations and a distinct, thick black line across it that led toward a large X.

How…?

But she wasn’t about to question their sudden luck.

Hadeon appeared at her side. “I’ll be damned.”

She was about to say she had nothing to do with the map’s sudden agreeableness, but Breckett spoke first.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re amongst the damned ,” the erox hissed from where he stood at the edge of a nearby hill of sand, overlooking stretches of a deep, fathomless desert. “We may very well become one of them if we remain for too long.”

Right.

It was time they were off.

Biting her lip, she looked at the surrounding desert and then glanced down at the map.

There were a series of lines, which looked like waves at first glance.

After a moment, she realized they were meant to be the rolling hills of sand.

Across the top of the map was what appeared to be a massive mountain range.

Then tiny clusters of trees were dotted throughout the desert.

Oases , she realized. Water.

Thank fuck.

There was a thick line that went from right to left across the center of the map. Beneath the X was what appeared to be another cluster of trees. Perhaps another oasis?

If the top of the parchment was north, it would imply they’d be journeying west to get to the place marked on the map.

However, there was no way to determine how many miles the journey across the map would be.

There was no scale for distance. It could be anything from a few miles to hundreds of miles.

She pointed to the nearest cluster of trees on the map. “We make for an oasis. Even in a desert as cold as this one, we won’t last long without water.”

Sweat gathered beneath her breasts and along her limbs, making her leather pull uncomfortably.

If this desert was similar to ones in the mortal realm with an unyielding sun, travel would be much slower in the heat.

At least, that’s what she’d gleaned from the books she’d read.

She’d never actually been to a desert before.

But here, the climate was cool. Gusts of wind carried crisp air—and sand—toward them.

“Prince, can you scout ahead?” she said with a nod toward the sky.

Hadeon waved a hand. “Of course.” Spreading his wings, he was about to launch into the air when he paused. “And Hadeon is fine.”

She shook her head. “We can behave more familiarly around each other once there isn’t a bargain hanging between us . ”

It would be wise not to allow herself to get too comfortable with this male. Even if they temporarily shared the same goal.

“As you wish,” he said. Then he took off into the air with several beats of his powerful wings.

Breckett frowned at the prince before his gaze settled on the map. “Do you have any idea how to read that?”

“None,” she said, her eyes on their surroundings.

There was no sun, no moon, no stars—nothing to indicate which direction was north, south, east, or west.

Sighing, she started walking in the direction Hadeon had flown off in, carrying Jessamine over her shoulder.

I suppose this direction is as good as any .

Before she’d taken two steps, the strange presence she’d felt a few times—the one that felt like a dark cloak over her shoulders—returned.

Only this time, it was stronger than ever.

The dark draped over her, and her shadows rumbled to life.

The thorny vines seemed to nuzzle into the misty darkness hovering around her.

But even as her shadows moved, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She froze in place, trying to steady her racing heart as she glanced around.

Other than the dark mist, there was nothing else. It was just her, Breckett, and Jessamine.

Then the pressure atop her shoulders shifted. As though it was trying to turn her. Brows furrowing, she allowed her shoulders to move with it until she faced the opposite direction Hadeon had flown.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she considered which direction to go.

It was possible whatever it was had brought her through the gateway. It was also possible not everything in the underrealms wanted to consume her soul. Or it could be a demon that was leading them to its lair and some horrible death.