Page 25

Arianna

Her friends disappeared behind a bend in the hall, then Arianna turned to face Rion and the others.

“Ready?” her mate asked. He was sturdy. Prepared. He’d been on missions before. As had Talon. Maybe she was the only one still questioning their decisions.

Arianna rolled her shoulders and refocused. “Let’s go.”

Conall gave Gavin the go ahead and they all ran down the opposite hall. Arianna refused to look back.

Various doors were already open, the contents within rummaged through by the previous groups who were already deep within the castle.

How long would it take Vairik to realize his castle had been infiltrated? Was twelve hours too long to hope they could remain hidden? He was a male with ten thousand years of experience. Was it possible they’d all walked right into a trap?

They rounded a corner and froze at the site of a male relieving himself against the already damp wall. Conall lunged for him, knife drawn, and before the male could adjust his pants, Conall tore the blade across his throat, splattering blood all over the stone floor.

Conall wiped the blood on his pants before sheathing the weapon. She stared, watching the crimson sink into the crevices before following the line in the stones. Conall didn’t pause. He simply gestured for Gavin to keep moving. Arianna noted the way Gavin’s face had gone pale.

They kept running, climbing staircase after staircase and running down hall after hall. Rugs replaced the previous bare floors. Paintings and vases began lining the halls. Curtains hung over drafty windows. It seemed with every step, the entire structure came to life spreading color and warmth that felt so at odds with the castle’s outward appearance.

Gavin paused at a door and Conall crept forward. Voices echoed from the other side and Conall pressed a finger to his lips. He unscrewed a canteen and used a bit of the water to draw a rune over the handle. The mark glowed then the lock clicked and Conall cracked the door open to peer inside.

She stepped forward and rose up on her tip toes to look through the tiny top window.

A pair of Fae dressed in white cloaks emerged from another doorway, dragging a limp prisoner between them. Fae. The prisoner was Fae. But he was far too skinny, evidenced from his protruding ribs and cheekbones. He wore nothing more than a pair of torn, battered shorts. Chains dangled from his frail wrists and the look in his eyes. That damn hollow look—

Anger flared through her anew and hoarfrost coated the carpet at her feet. Conall backed away and no one reached for her as Arianna blasted the door wide open.

Those holding the male between them stared at Arianna in shock before she formed a spear of ice and let it fly straight through one of their skulls. His companion dropped the injured Fae and tried to raise his hands, but ice was already crawling up his legs, covering his torso, and finally his face.

Her body shook with rage. They didn’t deserve mercy.

Conall approached slowly, giving her a wide berth. He knelt and withdrew a set of keys from the pocket of the dead Fae, then turned to help the injured one lean against the wall.

The male’s breath was ragged, his eyes open but not quite seeing.

“It’s okay now,” Conall assured him. “We’ll get you out of here.” Someone handed Conall a cloak and he draped it around the male’s shoulders.

“Don’t leave her.” The Fae’s voice was broken and raw. “Please,” he rasped. “Don’t let them throw her out like—like all the others.” His shoulders shook, voice breaking.

Arianna stepped toward the room they’d dragged him from and peered inside. Her eyes widened, bile rose in her throat, and Arianna tore her gaze away, bracing one arm on the opposite wall as she struggled not to heave.

She covered her mouth with one hand, trying to shake the horrifying image of the Fae female inside. Her chest had been split wide open, ribcage sawed in two and Arianna was pretty sure the red clump floating in the jar on the table was the female’s heart.

Blood soaked the sheets and had dripped onto the floor. So much blood—Arianna vomited then Rion was at her side, rubbing circles on her back as he kept watch.

Conall peered inside next and cursed, slamming his fist against the wall.

The male still slumped on the ground didn’t react to any of them.

Gods, what kind of monsters had her sister?

“Why?” She kept her gaze on the floor, willing her nausea to pass. “What was—” Arianna wasn’t sure she could even form coherent sentences.

“He’s searching for the link to the bond,” Conall said, voice dripping with menace. “I told you, he’ll do whatever it takes to be rid of it.”

Arianna’s gaze drifted to the frail Fae male again. The hollow look in his eyes wasn’t due to the chains or any torment his body had suffered. It was because he’d seen the single most important person in his life torn apart. He’d watched his mate die and had been powerless to stop it.

Arianna turned away from him. The bond wasn’t something physical, surely Vairik knew that by now. Was this to be her fate if he captured her or Rion? Would he kill them in front of one another just to see what might happen?

Every Fae who’d been blessed with the bond could tell him it wasn’t something physical. It ran deeper. It was part of their soul, etched into the very fiber of their being.

Arianna strained to listen for more heartbeats. There were a few, but as she lifted her head to count the doors along the hall, she realized the corpses likely outnumbered those still alive.

She clenched her fists. She was going to kill Vairik. Him, Niall, and anyone else who felt it was acceptable to treat Fae like animals.

A deafening crash had them all starting. Arianna spun, her heart skipping a beat as she watched an iron door slam shut, blocking their way back down the stairs.

Her skin prickled, every instinct roaring at her to move as another door slid from the ceiling and slammed shut even closer.

Without a word, one of Conall’s warriors grabbed the male from the floor and began running. Rion grabbed her hand as another iron wall slammed down, sectioning off each room one by one.

They sprinted down the hall, Gavin leading the way.

The doors kept slamming behind him one at a time, the noise grating against her nerves as she pushed her body to move faster.

Those carrying the male fell behind then a cry split the air. She looked back, but Rion kept pulling her forward. Arianna’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the bodies of the prisoner and Conall’s warrior get caught in one of the cruel jaws of the iron doors.

An arm fell, severed from the body.

Conall cursed, she thought Gavin might have screamed.

Arianna’s heart beat against her ribs as terror flooded through her. Slam. Slam. Slam. The doors gave chase, as if they were a creature of their own, reaching forward to devour them all whole.

Her nails bit into Rion’s hand and they pushed. Faster. Faster. Faster.

Gavin crashed into the door at the end of the hall, desperately twisting a handle that refused to open. Conall slid to his knees beside them, summoning his magic. He drew a rune and the door swung open.

Two of his warriors followed, each sliding to a stop behind their leader. Rion kept pulling her, tugging. She could feel his panic pulsing down the bond.

Another wall slammed behind her and Arianna swore she could feel the metal slide against her hair. They just had one more to get through. She threw her magic outward, knowing it might do little good against the iron itself.

“Hurry,” Conall screamed, even as his magic joined her own.

The iron door let loose then Rion’s magic tore the stones apart, rushing to catch the wall before it fell. It slammed against his magic, pushing as if there were another force on the other side.

“Slide,” he commanded and pushed her to his front. Arianna stared at the opening that was growing smaller and smaller. She didn’t hesitate, Arianna pushed harder, then dropped to the floor, letting her body take the impact as she slid across the stones and directly under the heavy iron that was crumbling Rion’s magic bit by bit.

Rion followed right after, his foot grazing the top of her head. Conall and his warriors grabbed them as they tumbled through the door, then Gavin slammed it shut.

Silence stretched out around them, their breaths haggard and hearts pounding. Gavin collapsed to the cold floor, the area once again appearing like the dungeons down below. Her pulse roared in her ears and she gulped down air.

“How do we get back?” one of Conall’s warriors asked.

“We don’t. We move on,” Conall said. Arianna glanced up at him and the warrior who kept looking at the door as if it might reopen.

“But … what about the others?”

“They knew what they signed up for.”

“But we can’t blow this place if they’re stuck in there.”

“And what would you have us do?” Conall demanded. “Spare one life at the expense of thousands of others? If I were stuck in there, I’d expect no different.”

One life.

One life.

Arianna was doing all this for one life.

And Conall had just confirmed that one life meant absolutely nothing to him. “You came all this way to rescue Ellie, but not your own people?”

His gaze turned to her. “I came all this way to destroy everything Vairik has built. If I’m able to rescue Lady Evelyn in the process, then I’ll do it.” Conall pointed behind him. “But there’s nothing I can do for them now. We have limited time to do what needs to be done. There are dozens of people relying on me to ensure that happens. I know nothing about the mechanisms in those doors. I can’t be everywhere all at once.”

“I’ll stay behind,” his warrior offered. “I’ll open the doors.”

“Leo,” Conall sighed. “We need you for—”

“I’m not leaving them.”

A growl in the looming darkness had them all turning. They’d entered a strangely circular room with ceilings so high she could only just glimpse the rafters above. A steep staircase rose to her left, but to her right, the room expanded, cloaked in nothing but shadow.

Her skin crawled with something thick drifting through the air. Conall cursed and before she had time to question anything, dozens of wings unfolded from the shadows.

Rion moved, his magic rising to block the Dark Fae as they dove after them, talons extended. She joined the others with magic of her own, until the world around them was nothing more than a frenzy of water, ice, wind, earth, and flames.

It was over in minutes. Blood permeated the air, the acrid tang stinging her nostrils as they all watched the darkness in silence.

Her breaths were too loud in the large space. “Why were they here?” Arianna tried not to pay attention to the way the claws seemed to extend from fingers, nor the way these creatures resembled the Fae more than the ones she’d encountered at the village.

Judging from the experiments in the other room and the creatures lying dead before her, it was clear Vairik had been tinkering with more than just bonds over the years.

He was … creating things. Creatures. Fae. He was playing with their lives. But for what? Revenge? Boredom? Had he gone mad after all the years he’d spent plotting his vengeance?

Conall sniffed the blood at the end of his blade and recoiled. “A good way to keep those below from moving to higher levels if they were to escape, no?”

Guards. Free labor. The things they’d just killed were nothing more than slaves. Slaves to Vairik’s will and slaves within their own mangled bodies.

More growls sent chills down her spine and Arianna glanced toward the staircase to her left before looking back into the shadows. Her heart ached, knowing there was nothing she could do for the Fae that’d had their bodies twisted against their will. She knew giving them a quick death was likely a mercy. Even so, she didn’t want to be the one to do it. Not until they made sure there was no other alternative. If they’d been changed, then maybe, just maybe, they could be changed back.

“We can make it,” she said. They all followed her gaze toward the set of stone steps that wound up the wall toward another door.

Conall stepped closer to the shadows. “You first.”

She didn’t hesitate. Arianna broke into a sprint right as the first set of mangled faces stepped into the light. Gavin followed on her heels.

Rion’s magic ripped free and shoved the creatures back, causing them to roar in anger before his feet were hitting the steps too. She focused on her footfalls, ensuring she didn’t trip as she bounded for the door.

Someone below yelped and Arianna turned to find the male that had wanted to return for his comrades being drug down the stairs, one claw straight through his calf. The creature that had him sank its teeth into the flesh of his thigh before Conall launched a series of spears to impale the creature.

Another grabbed the male’s arm, then yet another clamped their jaws around the male’s neck, ripping the tender flesh.

Her stomach twisted in knots at the sight. Seconds. Mere seconds and one of their comrades was dead.

Her magic pulsed beneath her skin. She stared up at the door just a few feet away, knowing full well it was likely locked. The creatures would be upon them before they made it.

She stopped short and Gavin screeched as he passed her. “What are you doing?”

She shoved him forward. “Use a rune and unlock it.”

He moved at her command and steady voice. The last of Conall’s warriors ran by her, Conall too, his eyes wide as he stared at his queen.

Rion paused at her side, right as she let her magic burst forth. It raced down the stairs, enveloping everything in its path. The clawed hands paused mid-movement, the growling faces went utterly still with their mouths wide and gaping. Their wings were spread wide, as if ready to use them to propel the creatures toward their next meal.

The world fell silent.

A lock clicked, then the door behind her opened.

Their breaths all hung in the frigid air as Arianna stared at the Fae before her, wondering what their lives might have been like before coming to this wretched place.

Vairik was angry that so much had been taken from him, yet he’d taken so much more. How could he not see that? How could he not care?

Arianna turned without a word and Rion let her pass before following.

Once again, they found themselves in another long hall, doors upon doors lining either side of the space.

Lights flickered overhead, likely powered by Fae stripped of their freedom. She’d have to find them too.

There were so many that needed saving and just like with Ruadhán there wouldn’t be enough time to get them out. Conall had already known this. Accepted it.

Her stomach soured, but the plans were already in motion. She couldn’t stop it even if she wanted to. Unless she and Rion said to hell with the plans and hunted down Vairik right now.

Arianna glanced at Conall again, wondering if someone he knew had faced Vairik before. Conall seemed confident they wouldn’t stand a chance. But hadn’t the gods gifted them powers to conquer the evil of the world? Would those gods stand with them against someone like Vairik or would they remain silent as they’d done these past ten thousand years?

“Which way?” Rion asked.

Gavin’s mouth opened, his breath still ragged. He stared at the door they’d just come through, then clenched his jaw. They all had a million questions. A million comments about the violation they’d just witnessed. But it was clear now wasn’t the time.

Gavin’s eyes were wide and wild as he glanced down each hall, trying to gather himself.

He’d been raised in these halls. He’d stood in his grandfather’s presence and knelt at his feet. But it was clear he hadn’t known the extent of Vairik’s atrocities.

It was easy to conform to something you were raised in. Easier to ignore issues that glared in the face of others. It took someone brave and possibly a little reckless to upend the system they were born into.

The hall to their front rose in an upward slope, curving in a way that blocked their view. The hall to their left was short, with only a handful of doors on the right side, each made of iron. After the creatures they’d just encountered, she wasn’t sure she wanted to open them and find out what might lie within.

The hall to their right was long, once again hosting doors along its left side, all the way down.

Gavin pointed straight, but she didn’t hear his words when a shadow moved to her right. Arianna’s head whipped around and she nearly stopped breathing at the sight of a familiar face.

Arianna’s lips parted and she slowly turned, studying the dark hair and bright blue eyes that stared back.

Her hair had been pulled back into a tight braid that crowned her head. Arianna had never seen her sister wear it in such a fashion. Her clothes were midnight black and Arianna swore she could see blades tucked within holsters around her thighs.

Ellie just stared, expression unreadable. Did she see her? Did she recognize her?

Arianna’s heart beat wildly and she stepped forward, scarcely willing to believe.

The moment stretched on forever, then Ellie pivoted on her heel and disappeared around the corner.

Arianna sprinted after her. She didn’t turn to check if her companions were following, . They were always following, always watching. They’d scent Ellie and know. Hell, they’d hear her heartbeat and realize something was amiss.

But why was Ellie here instead of in chains? Why had her sister looked bathed and clean rather than dirty and tortured?

Arianna rounded the corner and found her sister waiting, staring at her again. Her eyes were strangely vacant, like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Ellie,” Arianna called to her, but Ellie just disappeared behind the corner again.

Arianna took off at breakneck speed, reaching the end of the corridor only to find Ellie disappearing behind the next and the next and the next.

Arianna couldn’t catch up, no matter how hard she ran, but she wasn’t giving up either. Not when her sister was right here in front of her.

She could grab Ellie and run. Flee from this place and reformulate a plan with Conall and his rebels at a later date. They could take on Vairik’s entire army and destroy Ashling later. As long as she had Ellie, she could take on the world.