I switch directions to move toward the courtyard that she requested, ignoring the flare of pain throughout my body as Limbo tries to pull me in another direction. "Do you fancy madness?"
"Since I 'fancy'you, the answer must be yes."
She's teasing, but I still find myself happily flustered. "Careful, love. I enjoy hearing that a little too much."
"You can move your hand. I've been in Limbo before and came out just fine."
I pause before the courtyard, glancing down at her. "When was this?"
"When I killed your father. He took me here to try disorienting me while we were fighting."
That obviously didn't work out in his favor.
She reaches up to remove my hand from her eyes, peering up at me curiously. I'm momentarily panicked that she's going to melt into a psychotic attack and shatter under the duress of this foreign plane, as I've seen happen to countless others.
Instead, she tips her head. "Why are your markings glowing?"
"It's to tell me that Limbo needs stewarding, or there will be tears between the planes of existence. But it will have to wait. You're feeling all right?" I check, fascinated.
Maven nods, glancing around as tendrils of her dark hair waft around her blood-streaked face. "Limbo is bizarre and otherworldly. Distorted. Some would call it disturbing."
"So you like it."
"That's what I just said."
I smile. It's unusual that Maven can withstand Limbo. Then again, she grew up in a far darker, unquestionably cruel plane of existence. Perhaps it's no wonder her mind can tolerate this dream plane more easily than most.
Yet the fact that she activelyenjoysmy domain pleases me more than I might have imagined.
Maven removes herself from my arms but takes my hand to pull me toward the exit. "Come on. The others are waiting."
"No need for doors here, darling."
I guide her through the castle wall and glance around the tiny courtyard. It's as it's always been, but Maven pulls me toward the old gardening shed. A moment later, we pass through a molding trapdoor into a claustrophobic, narrow, dark passageway. Catacombs, I realize. A dim light shines somewhere far down the hall, so we drift towards it, turning a couple of corners.
The light is from Dirk holding a torch. Their air elemental is unconscious and quite severely bloodied. Kenzie is fussing over her, while Frost and Decimus are scowling at each other as if they're in the middle of a heated argument—a surprise to no one, I'm sure. Crane lies on the dusty ground, drawing broken, ragged breaths. He looks awful.
"And I thought that fae couldn't possibly get any paler," I hum.
Maven crouches beside him in Limbo, tugging off her blood-soaked gloves. "Do you mind…?"
Right. I was enjoying our private little stroll through Limbo, but at least this part never gets old.
When I reappear, both my quintet members startle and swear about me scaring the shit out of them just as I expected.Decimus recovers quickly when he sees Maven also just appeared and is now testing Crane's forehead.
"Shit, did he just—were you just in—are you okay?" He fumbles in shock, pulling her up into his arms and burying his face in the side of her neck. He just as quickly jerks away, snarling, "Wait a fucking minute. Damn it, Boo, is thisyourblood?"
"Relax. Not all of it is." She pats his shoulder reassuringly. "Put me down. We need to get going before the bounty hunters catch up."
Frost tenses, looking at me. "None of their hellhounds got a taste of her, did they?"
I start to shake my head and then frown. She did bleed out in that hallway. Is there a chance they could pick her scent out amongst all that blood and death?
Kenzie jumps up with a smile to greet Maven when Decimus finally sets her down. "You made it! I was getting worried about—oh, ew. No offense, May, but you need a shower. And I mean more than the rest of us, which isseriouslysaying something at this point. Speaking of which, when we get to the ruins, are we just running or…more transportation magic?"
She looks as if she dreads the answer, but her idiotic vampire match pipes up as he turns to Maven. "Like I said before, why can't we just fucking transport already? You can at least do that much, right? Get us the hell out of here."
His tone toward her grates on my nerves, and I'm not the only one. Frost glares at him, and Decimus bares his teeth. If he weren’t important to someone important to Maven, I would have removed this vampire's head from his body the first time he insulted my keeper.
