Page 30 of The Uncrowned King (The Bastard Duology #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY

“I doona know about this,” Brandr murmured.

Derek stood beside him as they looked at the small entrance at the base of the mountain.

Hector came up on Derek’s other side and squatted to gaze into the hole barely big enough for them to squeeze through. He straightened, his lips twisting. “Do we have a choice?”

“There’s always a choice,” Villette said from behind them. “But if you wish to defeat Miena, then that’s where you need to go.”

Merrill joined them and caught Derek’s eye. “Does this look familiar?”

“It does not,” Derek replied.

Villette blew out an audible breath. “It will. This entrance will take you down the tunnel. You’ve used it countless times.”

“For what?” Con demanded.

Villette made a sound of impatience. “Many things. We don’t have time for this. Trust me.”

“You ask the impossible,” Alasdair told her.

Derek wasn’t sure about the opening, and taking Villette’s word contradicted his feelings about her. But she was on their side. This time. Then there was Kora. If it would save her, then he would do whatever Villette asked.

“I’m going in.” He shot Villette a warning look.

“The tunnels were dug after Miena was imprisoned,” Villette told him. “She won’t know about them.”

There was a chance it was a trap, but that could be said about anything when partnering with someone like Villette. Derek drew in a deep breath and jumped into the opening. He folded his arms over his chest, but his shoulders still scraped the sides, the stone tearing at his shirt and raining dirt and rocks upon him.

The drop was short. He landed and moved out of the way as his night vision took over, allowing him to find the only passageway out. Within moments, the other Kings and Rhi stood in the cramped room.

Derek peered down the shaft. “This way.”

“Hold up,” Con said.

Derek swung his head around. “What is it?”

“We’re no’ all going,” Merrill said.

Derek looked at each of them, his irritation spiking at yet another hesitation that kept him from Kora. “Fine. You’ve done enough.”

“We’re still with you,” Con stated. “It’s better if we split up in case it’s a trap.”

Brandr looked up through the hole to the darkening sky before he spoke. “What’s the plan then? Just split up?”

“Something like that,” Rhi replied with a grin.

Con looked around at them. “We know more dragons will come for us. Villette might have helped to this point, but I doona put it past her to set a trap. We doona know what’s down that passage,” he said, nodding toward the tunnel Derek stood beside. “I willna leave any more of our kind behind in this place.”

Derek suspected that the last bit was directed at Merrill.

“I’m going with Derek,” Con announced.

Merrill inclined his head. “Me, as well.”

“Then it’s decided,” Alasdair said.

Derek didn’t wait for the others as he hurried down the narrow tunnel. It cut through the ground in a straight line, and the walls were smooth to the touch—even the rock had been honed down. He heard Con and Merrill catching up to his long strides. No one said anything as the passage spit them into a low-ceilinged cavern. There was nothing inside but rocks and an impressive stalactite formation in the center.

He had hoped something would look recognizable, but once again, he found himself gazing at unfamiliar walls.

“Here,” Merrill said.

Derek swung around to see Merrill disappearing behind a boulder. He trailed Con to the huge rock and walked around it to feel air against his face. Neither of them hesitated to follow Merrill.

The path was tight and winding but short. They moved into another opening with yet another tunnel. They navigated three more with nothing looking even remotely familiar before they spilled into a cavern with a soaring ceiling that domed above them.

Merrill grunted. “There’re no doors here.”

“Anything?” Con asked as he glanced at Derek.

It was the same question every time they came out of a tunnel. Derek turned in a circle to look about the place. He was ready to give the same answer as before when he suddenly stopped. There was nothing particularly interesting about the wall, but something about it caught his attention.

Merrill came up beside him. “You recognize something?”

“Maybe,” Derek said.

Con walked to where he had been looking for a closer view. There wasn’t anything at eye level. Derek could see that. He lifted his gaze. His heart beat faster when he found the dragon carved into the rock by talons— his talons. The illustration was clumsy and awkward, but it was his. Instantly, the memories came tumbling back.

“I know where we are,” Derek declared. Both Kings turned to him. He pointed to the dragon. “I drew that.”

Merrill gazed up at the carving. “Why there?”

“In case I ever forgot about this.”

Derek shifted, standing tall in his true form. He released a short burst of fire at a section of the wall. After returning to his human form and covering himself with clothes, he walked to where the fire had hit the stone and ran his hand diagonally from the right down to the left. A hidden door slid open, big enough for a human to pass.

Kora couldn’t stop shaking. She couldn’t even press her arms against her sides for warmth. Her flames wouldn’t answer, but she kept attempting to call them to her anyway. She tried to imagine them covering her, warming her, but nothing could penetrate the cold.

Miena’s words hung in the air long after the door had slammed closed. Kora tried not to think about how long she might be locked away. The binding vow wouldn’t be fulfilled until each promise had been satisfied. That meant she could be here for decades. Centuries, even.

Unless Miena killed Villette.

Kora’s link to her nemesis kept her from dying over and over again. Though if she succumbed to the cold, at least she would get a little relief. The way things were now, she was stuck in it, suspended in an endless glacial climate with no end in sight.

She hoped someone would think to come and look for her here. Surely, they would come to Stonemore. Kora had no idea if Miena had returned to the battle or if it had been suspended. The not knowing was almost as bad as the temperature.

Her gaze dropped to the ice that held her from the knees down. She couldn’t see her feet through the cloudy, frozen water. The lava had been sweltering, but she could handle the heat. The cold was a different beast. Her muscles stiffened and cramped, and her reaction time dwindled to nothing. Even her thought processes had slowed to a crawl. She enjoyed nothing about glacial climates. It might be pretty, but its havoc on her body wasn’t worth it. It seemed Miena had found the perfect torture.

Yet even as Kora’s body suffered, her heart felt the deepest ache. She was once more parted from Derek. They had gotten lucky with his memories, but she wasn’t sure they would be so fortunate this time.

Though she hated to admit it, Miena was right. She and Derek hadn’t spent a lot of time together. They had talked and shared things, but not nearly enough. Even when Derek was once more himself, she had lost precious hours because she had been healing. The few moments she and Derek had snatched for themselves were ruined by the knowledge that innocents had died as she moaned in pleasure.

At least Derek had the Kings now. He wasn’t alone. He would never be alone again. He needed a home and a family. Con and the others would give that to him. She wondered if they would take him to Earth one day. Kora couldn’t imagine going to another realm to see the people, taste the food, and experience the differences. She probably wouldn’t get that opportunity, but Con would make sure Derek did. And that pleased her immensely.

“I love you,” she said aloud, hoping the words reached Derek.

Words she had never spoken to him but should have.

She had thought they weren’t needed because she felt it in his actions and saw it in his eyes, but she was wrong. She needed them. And he likely did, as well. They’d gotten a second chance, and she had blown it.

Just as she had blown her opportunity to catch Miena unawares.

Kora would never forget the look of triumph on Miena’s face as she was battered with magic. Her teeth chattered loudly. An ache began in her neck from trying to clench her mouth closed. She let her mind drift, creating a world where there were no Star People, one where she and Derek were free to live together in peace. She would tell him her deepest, darkest secrets. He would share his in return. Then they would forge a solid foundation that carried them through the eons.

She could picture it all. A cottage in a flower-filled meadow with a river running alongside it. Mountains rising on either side. She imagined him soaring among the peaks, his magnificent form backlit by the setting sun. Or maybe flying so high she could only see his silhouette against the moons.

They would argue but then make up with wonderful sex then lie in each other’s arms for hours afterward. He would be by her side when it was time for her to hunt evil. They would live as passionately as they loved.

Kora let her fantasy expand to include those at Iron Hall. A family for both of them. Friends to share things with. There would be large gatherings for celebrations, and perhaps her and Derek’s family would include one of the children who’d been saved from Stonemore.

Derek would be an amazing father. She could picture him in the meadow with the spring sun rising on the horizon and a little girl laughing atop his shoulders. He might be at the river in the last days of summer with a young boy at his side, teaching him to fish. Or perhaps they would be blessed with both a girl and a boy.

Kora was so immersed in her imagined world that she almost felt the sun on her face for the briefest moment.

But the cottage and meadow cracked and shattered like ice. The children iced over, and then, so too did Derek. Leaving her with nothing but her frosty prison.

A tear dropped onto her face and immediately froze. The pain was intolerable, but it was only just the beginning. She wouldn’t give in to the wail of hopelessness rising inside her. She would fight. For Derek. For love.

For herself.