Page 41 of Inked in Emeralds (Inkbound #3)

C louds drifted in front of the moon overhead, sending shadows across our path, and the cool night air prickled at my skin as we walked.

A rusted iron gate stood at the far end of the gardens, and Nora paused as we reached it, sparing a final glance behind us to make sure we hadn’t been followed.

“Not far now. Stay close.”

She pushed the gate open, and a chill rolled through me as I scanned the winding path ahead. Weathered gravestones flanked us, and fog rose from the ground, swirling around our ankles as we stepped into the cemetery.

“Good thing this isn’t creepy,” Billy murmured, taking a step closer to me until our elbows brushed.

Nora ignored her and pointed toward a hulking, marble mausoleum a few dozen feet away. “That’s the place.” It stood apart from the rest of the graves and looked as if time hadn’t touched it. The iron door was already partially open, squeaking gently as a breeze came through.

“You four will go inside. Get to the bottom of the stairs and I’ll close the door behind you.

Drink your potion, and I’ll say the incantation from here that will bring the trials within to life.

Beware that, while you know right now in your minds that this is magic and the trials are a test, once you drink the potion, the consequences will become very real to you.

” She glanced at the night sky and then back to us.

“Take your time and be deliberate, but don’t dawdle.

Especially in between. Go from one to the next. We don’t have time to fool around.”

Bonnie had been flying high above us and Nora whistled softly, calling to her. “I’ll keep watch and take care of the falcon until you come out.”

I reached out and took her hand in mine, giving it a squeeze. “If someone comes, make sure you protect yourself. Run, hide, whatever it takes. You’ve done so much for us already.”

“Your mother was like the sister I never had. I don’t know what my life would’ve been if she hadn’t shared her knowledge with me.” She squeezed my hand back and held my gaze. “So, I will be here when you get back.”

I recognized the mulish set of her chin and the determination in her eyes. I’d seen it in Molly countless times, and I knew there was no point in arguing.

“See you on the other side.” I sucked in a final breath of the chill night air as I pressed the door open, revealing a stairway that stretched into the darkness.

Hook moved to continue ahead but I tugged him back so we could take the first step side by side.

If I was leading my team into trouble, I was going to be on the front lines.

My pulse hammered in my ears as we neared the bottom of the stairs. It wasn’t that deep, but the air here was stale, and a musty dampness seemed to cling to the walls.

With that, the iron door swung shut with a clang. Billy let out a muffled curse. “Can’t see a damn thing.”

“Take out your vials,” I instructed, reaching into my pouch and retrieving mine. I tried not to think about what was inside as I tugged the stopper free and held it a few inches from my lips.

“Ready…set…go.”

I snapped my head back and dumped it down the hatch. The look of it had been bad, the smell, awful, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the taste. Like if someone took a dead body and soaked it in rancid sausage water for a month, then blended it together into a sticky, chunky soup.

Tasty.

I couldn’t see my friends, but I could hear their feet stomping and the choking sounds that let me know we were all in the same boat. In that moment, I channeled Moll’s voice in my head.

Harmony Marie Fallowell! Stop being so dramatic and get it done, this instant!

I bent at the waist, braced my hand on my thigh, and used every muscle in my body to force it the rest of the way down. The only saving grace? Since it was a single mass, once it was down, the torture was over.

“Done.” Billy paused, gagging one last time for good measure. “The good news is,” she croaked, “nothing that happens from here could be worse than that, so…”

“Bloody hells, that was foul,” Duncan agreed.

I waited for Hook to chime in, but he was silent.

“James? You alright?”

My pulse was rising when he finally answered with a cough. “I’ve been better.”

The grim but flat reply eased the tension in the dark space for an instant and the three of us chuckled.

“Step one, potion down. What’s?—”

Before I could finish, a faint humming filled the space, and a pinprick of golden light flickered into view from above, shining down the passage in a tight beam.

I felt for my whip, suppressing a shudder as we walked gingerly after it, Hook at my side, with Duncan and Billy bringing up the rear.

The light danced all around, illuminating just enough of the darkness that we could see where we were stepping.

After a minute of walking, it pulsed, growing suddenly brighter to illuminate a carved stone archway just ahead.

“Guess we’re supposed to go through,” I murmured, taking the first step through the opening.

The moment I did, a rush of air whipped up behind me. Hook growled and I spun, whip ready, to see him staggering back from the entrance, as if he’d hit some kind of invisible barrier.

“I can’t get through.” His voice was oddly distorted.

Billy lifted a hand to try but was stopped in mid-air.

Duncan went next, but after expecting to be stopped as well, he wound up stumbling right through it, grunting with surprise as he gripped the wall for support.

Relief flooded through me as he approached. At least I wasn’t alone. Still, I’d rather all four of us be together…

I turned to look at the others, only to find their images going fuzzy. A moment later, the entrance solidified into solid rock.

I blinked, trying not to panic about the fact that we were now in a sealed room with no visible way out.

“It must be my mother’s magic.”

I did my best to focus on that fact. The trials were sure to be scary and maybe even dangerous, but she wasn’t trying to kill us.

Right?

I shoved aside the nerves and turned my attention to the golden orb that poked through the wall and began floating to the center of the room.

The space was large, a thirty or forty foot square. Not only was there no exit, but there also wasn’t even a single window.

Duncan pulled up beside me and we both stopped to stare at the massive, brass scale at the room’s center. On either side of it lay a pile of emeralds as tall as me, with gems of all sizes, from tiny pebbles to chunks the size of boulders.

The orb of light lowered, dropping to the floor a few yards away.

A chill rolled through me as it pulsed again, beginning to shimmer and warp.

It grew, taking on the shape of a massive lion.

Its face, on the other hand, was human, but ever-changing.

The features shifted, making it impossible to get a clear idea of what it looked like.

What was clear, though, was the creature’s glowing, golden eyes, which were fixed right on me.

Duncan’s hand went to the hilt of his sword. “What the hell is that thing?”

A sphinx . I couldn’t form the words, but although I’d never seen one, I knew it to be true.

The creature’s lips tipped into a strange smile.

“Harmony MacInnes…daughter, tinker, pirate, mage. But not queen. Yet.” Its voice shifted from masculine to feminine, and from deep to high, unsettling and impossible to place.

A chill crept up my spine as it echoed the words of the last prophecy.

“MacInnes? Is that my true last name?”

“It is. A proud name inherited from your father, Alistair MacInnes. You are the only remaining soul of his bloodline. Will you be the last? Time will tell.”

Its face grew serious, those golden eyes seeming to stare right into my soul.

“In emerald hues, two piles lay,

Upon these scales, your fates now sway.

Match the sides and be precise,

Balance calls; heed its advice.

Judge not by eye alone, beware,

The truth concealed is waiting there.

Find harmony of heaviness,

Or suffer grave unpleasantness.

Think sharp, think swift, your time draws thin,

For soon the walls come pressing in.”

As soon as the final words left its mouth, the ground began to tremble beneath our feet. A low groan echoed through the room, stone scraping against stone.

I turned, my fingernails digging into my palm. “The walls.”

Clouds of stone dust filled the air at the edges of the room as the grinding sound continued, and the walls began inching toward us, at a snail’s pace, but there was no question.

“Hell,” Duncan hissed, lurching toward the gem piles. “Quick. We need to balance the scales.”

I followed him to the center of the room, each of us taking position on one side of the scale.

The two plates were already imbalanced, with Duncan’s side sitting a good deal higher than mine.

He hefted a large emerald onto his hip and slid it onto the plate.

The scale began to wobble, shifting back and forth for a long moment before shifting toward him.

My heart pounded in my chest as I took another look at the walls. Their progress was still slow, but steady, and based on the square footage we’d lost, I doubted we had more than ten minutes before they flattened us out like pancakes.

I scooped up an armful of smaller emeralds, piling them onto my side. It teetered, as if it was just about to balance, then lurched back down, crashing into the ground with a clang. “What the fuck is going on?” I asked, wiping sweat from my forehead.

Duncan grabbed his side of the scale, pulling the large emerald off and replacing it with a slightly smaller one, but it didn’t budge. “I don’t get it. Yours should be way heavier…”

To test it, I grabbed the biggest emerald I could lift, sliding the others out of the way before plopping it down on the plate. It still didn’t budge.

“Okay,” I muttered, slapping my hands to the side of my face. “We need to think… Maybe it’s working backwards?”