Now I had to bring it. If I didn’t, Thyra would never trust me. I needed that trust now more than ever. She, my blood, out of anyone in this world, might understand what I’d seen.
“This is it.” I tucked the Frør Crown in the inner pocket of my cloak. “Let’s go.”
We wound back through the mountains of treasure, and all the way, I did my best to hide my shaking hands. Vale and the others waited for us just inside the mouth of the vault. At the sight of me, their shoulders loosened, relief washing over their faces. Everyone, that is, save for Vale whose eyes widened. Try as I might, I could not hide my fear from him.
“Neve, are you well?” Vale asked as the group steppedover the vault’s threshold, back into the corridor to join Bac and Balvor. “You look?—”
Bells rang, and the roars of ogres filled the hall.
“Thieves!” One ogre barked, and I thought I heard rock fall. Perhaps they were pounding the walls? “Let us out! We want blood!”
Metal clanged, and my stomach plummeted as footsteps fell loudly and clumsily and the ground shook beneath my feet. The ogres were free. The leprechauns knew we were here.
Chapter 35
VALE
“Coinmaster!” I barked. “How do they know there’s trouble?”
The leprechaun looked up at me blandly, still under Bac’s enchantment. “The king insisted that an alarm was to sound if anyone left the vault and one of you stepped over the threshold, triggering the alarm. He seemed to think that someone might get in another way, but if they got out, then they’d be a threat.” He looked at Neve. “Seems she might be one to him, no?”
Fates. We are in trouble.
“Daggers out,” Caelo said. “We know there are ogres, and they look hungry. I can’t say what other monsters lie ahead but be prepared to fight all the way to the main level.”
“Since we’re no longer getting out of here quietly, we might need more than just daggers and throwing stars.” Neve darted over to the line of three swords. They were ancient and more decorative than most swords I’d seen.Prizes, all of them. “Take these!”
She passed me a sword, then gave the other two to Caelo and Freyia. Blades gleaming in the faelights, we took off, sprinting down the corridor. Under one arm, Bac carried Balvor. We needed the leprechaun to pass through the steel door near the entrance, but his legs were too short to keep up. Thankfully, the fae remained under Bac’s magical persuasion and did not fight.
We closed in on the draugr first, and he shifted to the side, bowing at Neve jerkily.
“My lady. Until we meet again.”
Neve should have kept running, should have ignored the undead creature. Instead, my mate skidded to a stop.
“Harvadril, you said you served me?”
“I serve the true Falk line, Princess Isolde. That is you and I, and no one else. Or if so, I have not met them.”
Neve nodded. “I ask you to join us. Fight with us all the way up the stairs.” She paused, her eyes lighting up as though she realized something. “Then, once you’re done, you can either return here or come with us.”
My brilliant mate!
The draugr gripped his rusted sword, thrilled by the idea of a fight. “I’ve been wanting to skewer those ogres for many turns.”
“Have at them,” Neve said and waved for the draugr to lead the way, which he did with apparent relish as we, once again, raced for the door.
I beamed at her. Draugrs were famous for their fighting skills, and they could not die. Putting this creature in theforefront was genius. Particularly as we weren’t sure what we’d meet on the steps.
As we approached the first of the caged ogres. The skeletal being surged forward to meet those who wanted to drink our blood and eat our bones. With grace that most living soldiers would envy, Harvadril cut down one ogre with ease, though as he did so, another ogre leapt on his back, sinking her teeth into the draugr’s bony shoulder.
Freyia caught up, sword in hand. With the speed of the vampire order, she grabbed the ogre by the head, pulled back, and cut across the neck. The second fell with a thud as four more shuffled out of their cages.
These new ogres drooled at the sight of the dead, and I got the sense they’d been waiting in the dark for death to come upon the others so that they could scavenge.
Time to put them out of their misery.I attacked one while Caelo brought his sword down on the other. The ogres were slow moving in body and mind and despite their massive size, they were weak from starvation. We flew high and targeted the veins in their necks to cut them down one by one. By the time we finished, Harvadril and Freyia had dispatched the other two.
“How many more?” Neve asked. “And why aren’t they here?”
