Page 29

Arianna

Arianna sucked in sharp, uneven breaths, her legs burning as she continued pushing forward. Ellie was always just beyond her reach, waiting around corners or at the end of corridors that seemed to stretch on forever.

Arianna kept calling her name, begging Ellie to stop, but she never did. Was Ellie leading her somewhere? Kirian was the only logical explanation. Perhaps the male was being held somewhere Ellie couldn’t access. Maybe he was hurt and there wasn’t time to explain. Or maybe Vairik was watching her little sister, just as Niall had been watching Gavin back in Ruadhán. Arianna recalled the male’s visceral fear at the prospect of being caught by his uncle.

The lighting within the halls remained dim, but her surroundings shifted from a cold dungeon to a space covered in lush rugs with pictures lining the walls that spoke of a history she knew nothing about. Heavy curtains hung over windows, effectively blocking the light from outside.

Arianna tried not to look at the pictures where eyes seemed to follow her every move. Childish fears resurfaced and she briefly wondered if the painting might actually be alive. Perhaps they reported everything they saw to Vairik and his council.

Arianna shook her head and shoved those fears aside. Something like that wasn’t possible.

She hoped.

The halls kept shifting in their structural makeup, as if the designer couldn’t settle in one artistic method of creation.

Some halls contained high arching ceilings while others were so low she could nearly touch them. Some corners were sharp while others were more rounded. Some were narrow others wide.

She passed under one of the high arches and briefly glanced over her shoulder. Her heart sank.

She’d lost everyone. Even Rion, who had been on her tail and who had always managed to outrun her.

It didn’t make sense and she couldn’t even pinpoint the moment he’d disappeared. It was as if the world had risen up to swallow him. One minute he was there, the next he was gone.

But she wasn’t alone. Ellie was here. Once she caught up to her sister and freed Kirian they could formulate a plan and escape.

Could she run to Saoirse and initiate the evacuation process early? Would it give Rion and the others enough time to escape?

Arianna nearly slid around the next corner. She caught herself on a dusty side table then found a large set of double doors closing just ahead.

Ellie.

Arianna lunged forward, gripped the thick brass handles, then swung the heavy doors open.

She paused on the threshold.

The lighting inside was nearly non existent. Small rays filtered through windows that were high up on the vaulted ceiling. Vines stretched around the shelves and reached for the sun above.

And covering everything were rows upon rows of books. The entire room might have once been as grand as Ruadhán’s library, but it was clear from the smell of rot alone that these volumes hadn’t been maintained.

Dust covered every surface and stacks of books, loose parchment, and quills sat at the foot of several shelves as if they’d been abandoned in a hurry.

The roots from the vines had crawled into the books surrounding them and a few shelves had broken altogether, the weight pressing down on the books below and bending their spines nearly beyond repair.

There were statues too, some broken, others intact that sat trapped within the dust, just waiting for the day they might break free.

Arianna studied the space, straining to listen. Then a figure appeared at the end of the aisle. One hand rested on the edge of a shelf as if she were waiting.

“Ellie.” Arianna’s voice cracked. “We can talk about it. Let me help you.”

Neither female moved.

Arianna squinted in the dark, trying to decipher the emotions on her little sister’s face, but the shadows were too thick. Almost as if they had a life of their own and were doing everything in their power to keep the two females separated.

Arianna scented the air, searching for anyone else who might be in the space, searching for Niall, but all she smelled were old books and rot.

She swallowed hard and her heart beat wildly as she took a tentative step forward only for Ellie to take off running.

Arianna cursed, her frustration growing as she gave chase once again.

Ellie pivoted left, diving down an aisle where the shelves reached higher than any Arianna had ever seen. Or thought possible. She tried looking up only to find the shadows obscuring the top most shelf. They swirled like dark clouds, taunting her with their presence.

A scrapping sound had her head jerking to her left then a thick, leather bound book flew out from one of the bottom shelves. Arianna skidded to a stop as it landed on the old lush rug that might have once been green in color. Dust flew up around the thick volume.

Arianna looked beyond it, only to find her sister standing at the end of the aisle again.

Had Ellie moved it? Was her sister trying to tell her something?

Arianna stared down at it again before carefully creeping toward the book. She watched her sister, ready to leap over the new object in her path.

Ellie didn’t move.

Arianna flinched when the book flipped open of its own accord. Her magic responded, spreading from her body until it kissed the edges of the shelves and dusted the wood. The book or whoever was responsible for the rapidly turning pages, didn’t seem to notice.

The book stopped moving once it reached a middle section and the world fell silent once again.

Arianna swallowed hard then crept closer, her magic vibrating against her very bones.

Pádraigín’s magic. It had to be, there was no other explanation. Only … she didn’t smell or sense it.

Words written in another language covered the left page and a piece of art covered the right.

The sketched image displayed dark creatures crawling up a mound of bodies, each reaching long claws toward a female standing at the top.

Fire surrounded her, almost seeming to extend from her tendrils of long dark hair. Ice hovered in chunks around her body, some having already impaled the dark creatures causing them to tumble off the pile. The wind ripped at her clothes and vines lashed out from the base of her feet.

Arianna glanced up just as Ellie took off running again. She cursed, leapt over the book, and followed.

She ran and ran and ran, watching Ellie’s back as they sprinted down the impossibly long hall.

Ellie finally turned and Arianna turned with her, swearing the shelves were growing taller while the aisles became narrower.

A sudden crash split the air that had Arianna spinning on her heel, heart hammering in her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

Another crash and the ground shook beneath her feet. Then Arianna watched as one of the tall shelves leaned and leaned and leaned until the books were falling one by one. The towering structure crashed into the one beside it. That one leaned as well, crashing into the next and the next.

Thunderous noise echoed from her left and she stepped back slightly when the wood groaned too close.

She watched in horror as a massive bookcase slammed into the one beside her—then it started leaning too.

Arianna pivoted and ran, her sister still ahead.

Books and shelves crashed behind her, filling the once silent space with falling tomes and splintering wood.

Arianna darted around another corner, hoping to find a way out, but she skidded to a halt when a shelf raced straight at her as if floating on a phantom wind. Arianna spun on her heel again and followed Ellie down another path.

Books began flying at them too. Not different books, the same book, over and over. They all landed at her feet, the pages flipping rapidly until they landed on the same one from earlier.

Arianna swore the letters were moving of their own accord, as if they were trying to fight their way off the page.

A shelf crashed to her right, impossibly close. She’d just looked and—

Arianna skidded to a stop but there wasn’t time to backpedal as the shelf directly in front of her came down fast. Ice burst from her body, rising up to cocoon around her form and catch the massive piece of furniture.

Arianna’s legs nearly buckled beneath the impossible weight. She could have sworn a massive hand was pushing down from the other side.

Her feet slid and she gritted her teeth against the weight, her magic writhing, pouring out, struggling.

A rush of icy wind hit Arianna from behind and she peered over her shoulder to find the floor—no, not gone. It looked like it’d never existed. But she’d just come from that direction, hadn’t she?

A tall cliff face had replaced the solid floors. A dark roaring ocean crashed against the rocks beneath, promising to devour anything that dared to land in the murky depths.

Arianna shoved against the shelf harder, trying to get her footing as she was pushed back, back, back.

Shelves toppled over the edge, splintering on the rocks below before being swallowed by the waves. She could see over the edge now and her pulsed raced when she glimpsed giant tales flipping within the current.

They swarmed around the books as if—as if—the books grew arms and mouths. Their agonized screams pierced the air, sending shivers down her spine. Arianna pushed against the shelf harder and peered back again to find the water red.

The books had vanished, replaced by bodies who were floating, fighting, struggling to get away from the serpent-like creatures racing for them.

Her feet hit the edge and the bookcase began to topple over. Arianna released her magic and grabbed one of the shelves, squeezing her way between the openings and pulling herself out the other side. She balanced on the wood, running along its edge in a desperate push back toward solid ground.

It tipped right as her feet hit the wooden edge and Arianna leapt. She hit the rocky cliff with her torso and slid a few inches before her hands found purchase. Something below roared, as if displeased it wasn’t getting her as a meal.

Arianna dug her fingers into the rock, breaking her nails as she clawed and finally rolled her body back to safety.

A repeated drumming had her whipping her head around to find the shelves marching, tottering on their corners as if they were feet. The books scrambled to jump off the shelves as if their lives depended on it. She could hear their cries as they pleaded to be set free.

Arianna jumped to her feet and squeezed around two wobbling cases, the space barely large enough for her to fit. She leapt through the second, scarcely dodging as one of the corners came down too close to her foot.

Papers flew up, blinding her as she tried to fight her way through. They slashed across her body, leaving tiny cuts in their wake that burned as if they’d been coated in acid.

Nothing made sense. Time was a warp. Images and whispers and screams all flooded her very soul.

Then the world froze.

Arianna fell to her knees, her mind spinning as she tried to collect herself.

The shelves had stopped mid movement, leaving most teetering on one corner. Books were suspended in the air, spiraling in slow circles. Pages floated as if an invisible string held them aloft.

The crashing of the waves vanished, taking all manner of sounds with it.

Arianna tentatively stood, her breathing ragged in the stillness as she spun in a slow circle.

She dared a step, but as soon as her foot touched one of the open books, gravity took over and it all came crashing down. Her magic sprung to life to cover her head as the thick books thumped against shelves and the stone floor. Spines splintered and corners dented as they all landed in heaps.

The shelves hit the floor with loud thuds that had Arianna wincing and the papers float down slowly.

Arianna spun again, assessing the area.

Ellie.

Ellie had been right in front of her before the shelves had started falling. Her heart raced as the books’ screams echoed through her mind. What if her sister had fallen? What if—

A lone figure stood down another isle, an unknown dim light illuminating her round face. She didn’t smile, but at least her little sister still appeared unscathed.

“Ellie,” Arianna tried again. “Ellie, tell me how to help.”

Arianna took one step toward her sister, but instead of running away, Ellie rushed toward her. Arianna stepped back at the sudden movement and lost her balance, nearly tripping over a pile of books.

Her little sister’s magic sprang to life and Arianna’s answered, blocking the sharpened spears with a wall. Ice burst in a kaleidoscope of white shards.

Ellie burst through them without hesitation and grabbed Arianna’s throat before slamming her against a shelf that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Arianna’s head cracked against the wood, then sharp pain lanced through her side. Arianna gasped for breath and looked to find Ellie gripping the knife she’d plunged into her sister’s side.

Arianna reached down and clamped one hand around Ellie’s wrist, freezing the joint up to her elbow to prevent her from twisting the blade further.

Ellie still tried to drive it deeper, pushing her body against the hilt.

“Ellie,” Arianna choked out. Their magic warred against one another, but the creature within Arianna hesitated, as if it cared for her little sister just as much as she did.

“Evelyn,” a voice whispered from the shadows. It slithered over Arianna’s skin and her hairs rose as another figure emerged through the shifting shadows. Those shadows swirled around him, pulling back as if submitting to their master’s will.

Ellie’s head cocked to the side like a defiant teenager.

“Play nice, we don’t want to lose our best piece before the fun’s even begun, do we?”

A terrible smirk spread across her sister’s face. The ice melted away and Ellie withdrew the blade before backing up. She flipped the bloody knife in one hand before slipping it back into its sheath without even bothering to wipe it off.

“Good girl.” He stopped too far away for Arianna to see his face, but some internal part of her knew exactly who he was. “We’ll take her with us. I have a few other matters to tend to before we can play.”

Arianna’s magic nearly growled within her own body, but just as it was about to lash out, the shadows rushed in like a black wave.

Oxygen and light disappeared. Stolen. Arianna clawed at her throat, gasping for breath and watched as her sister’s form slowly merged with the shadows, like giant fingers closing around her body.

Arianna tried to reach out with one hand, but Ellie turned away, leaving Arianna to sink into oblivion.