“Keep it,” I spat, turning from him. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of whatever he had to give me ever again.
I had barely turned my back on him before I heard the heavy clang of an attack against the gate.
I didn’t turn to see what he had done. I let the angry yells that Edmund filled the air with wash over me as I ran. The clangs and yells of Edmund’s attacks lessened the further I moved from the barrier, but I focused on them, knowing they would grow the second the shield collapsed.
I overtook Sain quickly, his pace quick in the panic that seeped off him, but his body not up to the strain.
“You will have to seal the door to the tombs. Otherwise we will not have enough time.” Sain’s voice was low as he spoke, his pace not nearly fast enough for us to get away.
“You think I don’t know that already?” I grabbed his arm, knowing he was too weak to move fast enough and pushed him forward through the ancient chapel we had entered.
I would have loved to walk quietly through the massive space, bask in the ancient architecture of the buttresses and stained glass windows I had known since I was a child. But the manic yelling of the man behind us was a heavy reminder of the desperate situation we had found ourselves in.
The calm heads of the pious people turned at our frantic movement and the yells that followed us in. I saw the ancient priest step forward in his long black robes, his hands extended in welcome and worry.
He was sweet and kind. All of these people were and I knew Edmund would kill him.
“Vytékat!” I yelled to the old priest. His face opened in horror as the high screech of my voice broke through the relative quiet of the cathedral.
He wasn’t moving. Fine, I would make him.
I lifted my hand as we passed him, his body lifting ten feet into the air before I sent him tumbling into a confessional.
It was enough. Edmund’s growing screams mixed with the new fear of those in the chapel. I saw people cowering against walls, hiding under pews, and a select few darted toward the main door to the beautiful room.
I didn’t wait to watch them hide. I kept my attention in front of me. There were only a few rooms to go before we would reach the catacombs, only a few minutes before we would reach Ilyan’s tomb. We could make it.
We could.
Sain and I turned at the ancient pulpit at the head of the chapel to dart through the heavy wooden door to the left of one of the many sandstones statues. I heard the door slam behind us, and for one brief moment, we were trapped in silence. I listened to my labored breathing, Sain’s panting, and felt the tightness of my chest adding to the panic I felt.
“To the door,” Sain whispered.
I nodded once before continuing to drag him behind me.
My heart beat and sputtered as we moved through the small bare hallways of the offices and apartments of the clergy before coming to a lone, black, stone door at the end of the empty hallway.
The catacombs.
My hand touched the ancient knob of the door as the door several halls behind us opened, releasing the screams we had trapped in the main chapel back into our ears.
He was coming.
I caught my scream in my chest. The door swung open and I shooed Sain into the dark, damp space in front of us, closing the door behind us as quietly as I could.
The smell of ancient death hit my nose. The long forgotten smell of loss ignited my panic even further.
I sealed the door, my magic closing the cracks and melting the stone together into a solid slab of rock.
It was pointless really, Edmund knew where we were going, but anything I could do to slow him down, I would.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Our breathing escaped in a rush as our feet moved us down the winding stone steps and into the depths of the tombs below the Cathedral.
“Faster,” Sain panted. I wasn’t sure if he spoke to me or to himself, but I took it at as a warning and let my magic flood through both of us, increasing our pace.
We flew down the staircase as the air became damper, the light dimming as it welcomed us into the home of the dead. We reached the base of the staircase, the dark expanse of the tombs a vivid reminder of the prison we had just left behind - the prison I had left my mate in.
I couldn’t think that way.
Death filled my lungs as we moved past the large, dark stacks of bones that made up the walls of the labyrinth we had walked into. Skulls smiled at us, each one a casualty of plague or war. The bones served as a warning to grave robbers, but it was not one I needed to heed. We were going into a tomb, not taking things out of one.
My magic heightened my sight as we moved through the maze of bones, Sain’s green light once again shone brightly in front of us as it led the way. We moved quietly through the deathly green hues, our ears perked for the sound of the door exploding off its hinges.
The sound never came.