Lorian was searching the walls for the entrance to the chamber, running his hand along each smooth surface, his eyes intent. I scanned the room for anything out of place.
One wall contained shelves that held ancient-looking weapons, scrolls, even a jeweled crown, which looked to have been tossed absently onto a shelf.
Just a few of those jewels could feed my village for months.
I took a step closer, peering at it.
“You help me find what I’m looking for, and I’ll give you jewels of your very own,” Lorian said, starting on the next wall.
I surveyed the shelves. They weren’t completely flush against the wall. One side jutted out slightly, drawing my attention.
I squinted into the gap.
“Those jewels better be big,” I muttered. “Because I’ve found it.”
Lorian’s hard body was caging mine before I finished my sentence. I went still, but he merely shifted me aside, then leaned against the shelves. Blood dripped from my nose, and I wiped at it. Panic returned with a vengeance. If my power slipped in front of a guard, we were both dead.
“I’m almost out.”
He sent me an unconcerned look. “No, you’re not. Work harder.”
He was facing the wall. I could pick up that decorative knife and stab him straight in the back.
“An attack from behind isn’t your style, wildcat,” Lorian murmured, still pushing the shelves aside.
“You know nothing about me.”
He just snorted at that, stepping back to survey the door. With a glance at me, he tore the bottom of his shirt, handing the material to me. “Let’s go.”
“If someone walks into this room, they’ll know we’re in here.” I could picture it. The guards drawing their weapons and either killing us immediately or hauling us down to the dungeon. They’d torture us down there. They’d need to know just how we’d gotten this close to the king. Iron would be shoved into my body, and they’d likely execute me the next day—just like Wila.
“Then you better ensure no one walks in here.”
Bastard. Smug, glib bastard.
He was already grabbing my hand and pulling me after him. “I can wait here,” I insisted, pressing his shirt to my nose to stanch the bleeding. Now I was breathing in his wild scent. For some inexplicable reason, my heart rate slowed and I could take a full breath. I scowled.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Grinding my teeth, I stepped into the space. The stone was clean and dry, although the air smelled stale.
It wasn’t a room. Lorian was walking down a set of stairs. The walls were so narrow, if I held out my arms, I couldn’t straighten them. My breath came faster. The walls seemed to press in on me, the roof inches from my head. My power slipped, and I caught it once more, a metallic taste flooding my mouth.
“I’m not doing this.”
“Oh yes, you are.”
“I, uh, don’t do well in small spaces.”
“It will be over soon.”
“Did no one ever teach you empathy?”
He chuckled. “Empathy is useless in this world. Besides, my empathy won’t make you strong.”
Was that why he was like this with me? Because he wanted to make me strong?
My heart was already galloping in my chest. I stumbled on a step, hitting Lorian in the back, and he sent me an exasperated look over his shoulder.
“Almost there.”
He was right. The stairs expanded, and so did my lungs as I could finally take a full breath. We were in a tunnel. Torches were positioned every few foot-spans, and while it was still far too narrow, I focused on holding time. This was much longer than I’d ever attempted to hold it, and blood dripped freely from my nose. The scrap of Lorian’s shirt was soaked.
“Ah,” he murmured, satisfaction dripping from his voice.
The tunnel ended. I looked up. And up.
The stairs suddenly made sense. The cavern was expansive, the ceiling so high it loomed above our heads.
Marble pillars stood several foot-spans apart, encircling the room like silent sentries. But my gaze snagged on the middle of the huge space, where an altar was surrounded by tall, unlit candles.
And on the altar? Basket after basket of oceartus stones. Not one of them was glowing. Empty.
Lorian prowled across the cavern, headed for a collection of wooden chests.
I gazed around the cavern. Surrounding the pillars, walls of bookshelves were stuffed with thousands of books. I wandered closer, intrigued despite myself.
Hunting the Fae. The Human’s Guide to Fae Magic. The Fae Wars. Gods: A Complete History.
My fingers tingled at the thought of having access to these books. Oh, the things I could learn. Maybe I’d discover some way out for us hybrids. Perhaps one day, I could even have that future I’d always dreamed of.
A quiet life. A life without killing.
Small dots appeared in front of my eyes. Pain erupted inside me, as if I were being ripped in two.
The world had gone white, and then the white turned dark once more. My grip on the thread of my power was slipping, slipping…
I dropped the thread and leaned over, almost vomiting.
Oh gods. We were dead.
Lorian turned. Somehow, he knew, and he opened his mouth—likely for some cutting remark that would, in his mind, motivate me to do better.
Scuffing on the stairs.
Footsteps.
My lungs forgot how to breathe.
Lorian moved faster than I’d ever seen. He leaped across the cavern and pulled me behind the closest pillar, his eyes glittering with banked fury.
My heart thundered, and I trembled. Behind me, Lorian was so still it was as if he’d stopped breathing.
The High Priestess stepped into the cavern. She didn’t bother glancing around, her gaze on the blue stones. My eyes met Lorian’s, and he gave me a warning look.
I peered around the pillar, just in time to see the High Priestess pluck one of the stones and shove it into the pocket of her robe.
She glanced around the cavern and then whirled, striding toward the stairs.
Relief crashed through me, my knees turning to water. If not for Lorian pressing me against the pillar, I would have slumped to the floor.
Neither of us moved for several long moments.
Finally, Lorian let me go.
I swallowed. “What do we do?”
“We don’t need to do anything. Except you. You need to—”
“Work harder. I know. But why wouldn’t we need to do something?” My voice was very small. “Should we…kill her?” She would have seen the door cracked so we could get back out. Unless she was an idiot, she either knew someone had been here or knew she was being watched.
Lorian’s eyes gleamed in amusement. “My, how things change. Just weeks away from your village, and you’re already turning into a little savage.”
I stared at him. He turned and strolled away, back toward the chests he’d been inspecting.
“She must have noticed we’d unblocked the entrance,” I said, reaching for patience.
Lorian just shrugged. “She was clearly busy with her own sordid deeds. What do you think she’ll do? Tell the king she noticed the door was ajar when she snuck down here to steal from him?”
He had a point. But… “You’re not worried?”