Page 124 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

I didn’t see any sign of my captor or Meera’s. Was it possible the others didn’t know we were here?

I stepped forward, the terrain too uneven for me to gain purchase, and my heel slid on a rock. A small echo sounded from the scuff of my foot, and I froze. No one turned toward the hall. They were still watching the akadim fucking in the water. Thankfully, their grunts and growls drowned out all other sound.

Taking another step, and another, I held my breath until I reached the farthest alcove.

Just like I’d suspected, Meera was there. She was slumped over the hay bed as if her captor hadn’t been bothered to actually place her onto it properly. A gash ran across her forehead, caked with dirt and dried blood. I moved into her alcove and crouched down beside her, feeling her forehead.

She was burning hot. She definitely had an infection. If the akadim didn’t rip us to pieces, they were going to sicken us to death. I had to wake her without making a sound, without speaking, and without her making any noise either.

If only she could read minds, too. I opened my mouth to whisper her name, but fear gripped my throat, and only wordless breath hit the air. A fresh set of growls came from the next room, and water splashed. Like me, Meera also reeked of urine and sweat, and my gag reflex was already at its limit. But I kept my mouth clamped shut and covered hers with my hand. Then I pressed my free hand down on her forehead—avoiding the cut—my arms shaking.

Please, please, wake up. Wake up.

A moment passed, and then she began to stir. Hazel eyes flew open and looked up, wide with fear, as tears fell instantly through the streaks of blood and dirt across her cheeks. Her aura seemed to burst to life at once like a cold, wet rain that I felt washing down on me. It was too much. She was too emotional, too afraid.

I shook my head. No time for this. We needed to run. We could cry later. Be afraid later—be afraid for fucking forever—as long as we got out of here.

Where are we? she asked in her mind.

I stood, jerking my chin at the hall.

Is it safe? she asked.

I shook my head again. But staying wasn’t safe either.

Her face crumpled; her mouth opened in a silent cry. The thought she’d barely voiced in the back of her mind—she wished I hadn’t woken her.

But there was no time for that. I reached for my stave, brandishing it before me.

Meera wrinkled her nose. Magic doesn’t affect them.

I held in an exasperated sigh, pointing my stave at her bed of straw. I lifted several of the pieces up and then let them drop. Maybe magic didn’t affect akadim, but it certainly worked on everything else inside this hellhole.

She nodded and unsheathed her stave.

My heart pounded so hard against my chest I was sure it would be echoing into the hall, but the only sounds came from the akadim. I stepped beyond Meera’s alcove, keeping close to the wall. Fresh grunts began behind me. The sound of flesh slapping flesh echoed against the cave walls. Whichever akadim were at it now, they were not in the water. They were close by.

Just stay occupied with each other, I prayed.

I took another step forward, turning back to see Meera behind me. We locked hands and started making our way back through the hall, around the corner to where I’d been kept. When we approached the room with the body, I pointed at Meera, signaling at her to look in the other direction. She frowned, but after I insisted, she listened and managed to pass by the forsaken without seeing her. I didn’t need her to also be thinking of that image, dreaming about it. Having to see it in just my own thoughts was enough for me.

I hoped all the akadim were in the other direction and that this way would lead us out. We moved together, holding each other’s hands so tightly, my arm was going numb. But I couldn’t have let go or loosened my grip if I’d wanted to. I was far too afraid.

The space beyond us was dark, but as we kept moving, I could make out a faint light from a torch.

My hand shook as I lifted my stave, tears rolling down my cheeks. This had to work. This had to fucking work.

“Ani petrova lyla,” I whispered under my breath.

The lights from the torches vanished. As we continued on, I called forth every approaching light until familiar sounds echoed before us—water splashing, grunts and groans of pleasure, skin against skin—the same sounds I’d heard before.

The exact same sounds.

Fuck. Fuck! We’d gone in a circle.

We had no choice. I was going to take their light and keep going. If there was a way in, there was a Godsdamned way out. It was probably on the other side of the pool. I nearly groaned. Of course, they weren’t guarding us; they were guarding the fucking door. I realized we weren’t being kept far from each other—we’d been placed at equal distances from them. I felt sick.

Gently, I pushed Meera into the wall, then I pushed myself against it beside her, feeling soft muck rub into my hair and dress.