“And that requires at least three sub-forms.” The woman flipped frantically through her ledger, but the sound of talons scurrying over stone made her look up. The maroon-skinned imp returned, waving a slate over his horned head, and he propelled himself up onto the desk. She tugged the tablet away from him, grumbled, then blew out a sharp breath.
“Well, if that’s what they insist upon.” She flung the slate over her shoulder, but it disintegrated before shattering against the wall, and she slammed the ledger on the desk shut, barely missing one of the imp’s talons. “Protocol still demands confinement,”—she let her gazes run over Amma again, distaste clear in each pair of her red eyes—“and a cleansing, thank darkness.” A forced smile returned when she regarded Damien again. “And, of course, you will have the opportunity to refresh yourself before being granted an audience with the council about all of this.”
“Fine. Provide me with my key, and I will see to it that she and I—”
“Ah, no.” Tone terse, she gestured into the darkness at their side. “You, Lord Bloodthorne, are free to go to your chamber, but the captive must be taken into holding. If the council approves, then, and only then, will she be released.”
Heavy footsteps approached, and a presence hemmed in at Amma’s side where once there was only vast nothingness. She turned with Damien’s hand still on her neck, and was immediately met with scales and fur. A long glance upward revealed two creatures, one covered in thick, brown bristles with an animalistic snout and horns, the other tinged green and sporting tusks that jutted up from a deep underbite. Both woreweighty axes strapped to their backs, blades stained. Amma pressed herself backward into Damien, and despite his warning, she grabbed onto his tunic. Whatever they expected of her, surelybothof them were unnecessary.
There was a third form, one so small Amma had missed her with the appearance of the other two. Popping out from between the brutish ogre and minotaur, a woman with a shock of red hair flashed her a bright smile, amber eyes even brighter. “One for confinement?” She wrapped small hands around Amma’s arm and tugged her forward.
Damien’s grip was gone, and with it went what little command Amma had over her heart. It beat madly in her throat, even as the woman’s delicate touch turned her about and hugged her to her side.
Hand out as if still gripping Amma’s neck, Damien’s jaw had gone so tight she thought his teeth might shatter. His fingers curled into a fist, knuckles cracking, and violet eyes trailed upward to meet those of the massive creatures standing just behind her. A callousness crawled over Damien’s features. “If either of you touch her,” he said, voice so cold even Amma shivered, “I will slice off whatever you did it with and shove it down the other one’s throat. Understood?”
Both beings took a long step backward.
Damien turned to the woman at the desk, displeasure set deeply in his eyes. “Let’s get this over with. Where is the council?”
“I assure you, a meeting is just a few short moments away. Let me show you to your room first, so you can make yourself…presentable.” She started away from the desk, her many legs silent over the stone as she went.
Amma’s stomach flipped—gods, he was about to leave her—and she opened her mouth.
Damien’s gaze snapped to her, silencing whatever she mighthave pleaded of him, his warning reiterated without words. He followed after the woman into the darkness, and all Amma could do was watch him go.
CHAPTER 2
JUST AS A SNAKE SHEDS ITS SKIN, SO MUST A HUMAN SHED HER CLOTHES
Amma was tugged from her petrified state through the meager space between an at least seven-foot-tall minotaur and a just-as-hulking ogre. The monstrous men threw themselves out of the way to avoid even an accidental brush with her. Damien’s warning had worked, but it didn’t quell the frenzy with which Amma’s heart was attempting to escape her chest.
“First time, huh? I can tell, it’s in your eyes. And the rest of your face too.” The woman trotted off, Amma caught in her clutches, gentle though they were.
Amma jogged to keep up but glanced over her shoulder. The massive guards followed behind, keeping their distance but cutting off any last glimpse she might have caught of Damien as he disappeared in the opposing direction.
“Listen, don’t worry, you can totally leverage this if you play your cards right, trust me.” She’d lowered her voice, but her lilt was sing-songy and not at all how Amma expected the person taking her intoconfinementwould sound.
Amma was swept sideways and down a much more narrow corridor. The guards’ steps continued to clang behind them but kept their distance. Amma had no idea what to even call the massive, maze-like place she’d ended up, every hall dark and windowless, but the slip of a woman dragging her through it meandered about with total confidence. Soon the way back wascompletely lost on Amma, not that turning and fleeing was an option with axe-wielding giants on her tail.
Pulled to a stop before a door, her guide turned sharply, holding a hand out to the two men. “Ladies only,” she said with a grin and a wink, then pushed into the chamber and hauled Amma inside.
Shutting out the ogre and minotaur in the hall left the two of them alone, but the sound of gently running water filled up the empty space. The walls inside the new chamber danced with an ebbing reflection like glistening spiderwebs in a light breeze. It reminded Amma of the karsts’ turquoise entrance, but here it was much brighter than the rest of the halls, and warmer too.
Three levels high, the central features of the chamber were tiered pools, each pouring into the next. The water’s source spilled out from a long, narrow slit set high into the back wall, surrounded by snaking, metallic tentacles and inlaid with gems for eyes to represent a beast Amma hoped she would never come to meet. The whole place smelled of jasmine, and the heady, damp air made Amma’s achy muscles relax.
“I’m Fryn!”
The woman at her side extended a hand, amber eyes unblinking and full of eager intent. She had her hair all bundled on the top of her head, but as she tipped it, a thick coil fell free. And then the coil looked right at Amma.
Throwing herself back, Amma’s boot slipped on the tile, but Fryn caught her. “And that’s Clio.” Giggling, Fryn shook the hand she’d caught, pointing to the diamond-headed serpent wiggling its snout beside her ear.
Amma stammered out her own name, eyes tracked on the snake, the exact ginger color of Fryn’s locks, but it wasn’t a camouflage technique—the reptile was actually attached to her head. It was much smaller than the one that had tried to swallow Amma in the Innomina Wildwood, but for a moment struckthe same fear. Then the snake’s little tongue poked out, and its lipless mouth pulled back into something like a smile. Another snout rose from the mass of slithering bodies on Fryn’s head, each with a distinct, banded pattern along its back the color of maple wood, bellies a lighter pine.
“Let’s see, that one’s Doris, and she’s Thaleia, and this one’s Neso, and those three are Eudore, Eunice, and Euagore.”
“Oh, hi.” Amma waved to them, and their heads bobbed back.
Fryn spun, and a whole host of snakes rose from the coils at the back of her head. “Then there’s Arethusa, Calypso, Ploto and Proto, Halie, and Xantho.” Little tongue zipped in and out of mouths turned up, and Fryn spun back around. She ran a finger under Clio’s jaw. “We’re all very pleased to meet you.”
