Voice urgent now, he overpowered her, pulling her away from the river and back in the direction of the cave’s mouth. “There are realms within the realm. This is where the people and creaturesyouneverwant to meet are kept. Aidan is the only one who comes here and for good reason.”
“As in the prison he mentioned?”
Relief poured through his features. “Yes, exactly.”
“That means they’re locked up.”
Yanking her arm free, she took off again. If they were locked up, then there was nothing to worry about. She didn’t trust any of them to tell her what was in that ledger anymore. She was going to get it herself.
Chapter 33
Natural light fadedinto gloomy dark as she hurled herself deeper into the cave. Eventually, an enormous wrought iron gate appeared, and two small familiar creatures paced in front of it. Crusher was nowhere to be found, but her siblings sat down staunchly at Elysia’s approach, tilting their heads in question.
Crusher trailed her constantly when she was in the death realm. The little dog even slept in her room now, but these two remained Aidan’s shadows. Tiny growled in the back of his throat, his tan fur bristling along his spine and little pointed teeth showing. Brutus didn’t bother growling. He instead galloped over, headbutting her legs as if he could move her backward.
Hands on her hips, she pulled out her Georgia Parker voice, chastising them both. “Am I not to be Aidan’s counterpart? Do I not have access to this place?”
Brutus paused, his enormous eyes suddenly uncertain, but Tiny snarled, making ungodly noises as he grew bigger. Thanks to Crusher, she wasn’t caught off guard and recognized he hadn’t grown to even a quarter of his full size. Her gaze narrowed.
“Your threats are empty. You wouldn’t dare harm me.” She skated around Brutus and walked right up to Tiny. “I’m going through this gate, and if you have a problem with it, then go getAidan and tell him if he hadcommunicatedbetter, I wouldn’t be busting into his wretched prison.”
Tiny gave one more low growl and disappeared, likely off to rat her out, but that was fine. She only needed a few minutes. The massive gate boasted thick iron bars with little space in between. Functional, it hadn’t been made to be beautiful. She touched a brown splotch on one of the bars, her face twisting when she realized it was old, flaking blood, but then the bars hummed. Stopping, she experimentally wrapped both hands around the bars, and the humming grew louder. There was an ear-splitting creak as the gate lurched open.
She glanced back to where Grim was approaching. “Are you coming?”
There was a tearing sound, and then wings the same smooth brown as the rest of his skin emerged with lighter markings near the ridges of his bones. He stalked past Elysia into the prison.
“If I grab you, don’t fight me.” Tension radiated off the reaper. Wisely, she slipped through the gate, jumping when it locked shut with a clang, and didn’t argue.
“Understood,” she murmured.
The river reappeared and she stared at it in consternation. Hadn’t the river ended?
Grim flicked his gaze from her to the boiling river. “All the rivers are sentient. They can move and appear as they will. That’s how Aidan called the river to the throne room the day you made your deal. They listen to him occasionally.”
She gave the river a little wider berth. “You’re saying the river could decide toboilus?”
Grim gave her a look that finally sent the smallest sliver of guilt shooting through her. “It’s aprisonfor the worst people ever to grace the godsdamn realms. Mortals, gods, and everything in between.”
Squinting, she quickened her pace as they came to a split in the path.
“This way.” She turned to the right. The ominous minorchords echoing in her mind did nothing to ease the tension in her body as they hurried through the dark with strange moans and scraping sounds traveling out of the dark.
“It’s just a little further,” she said only to stop abruptly, Grim slamming into her back.
Maya had chosen the first cell, which could have been a kindness…if it hadn’t been a cell in a magical prison for demons that looked likethat.She took a tentative step closer to the cell, and Grim swore as he realized what was happening.
“Listen, Aidan would rather read you every single page of that ledger aloud than have you take another step.”
That was probably true. She stood at the rusted bars now, staring at the humanoid creature huddled in the back. Gray skin and yellowed eyes, she’d never seen anything like it. Its limbs were longer than a human’s with hands and feet more like that of a rabbit’s. Between the limbs, feet, and protruding curve of its spine, she imagined it could lope and jump in a manner that would be enough to give her nightmares.
Yellow eyes glommed onto her frame, and she stilled. It was practically skin and bones. Maybe it was weak. Maybe she could just grab the ledger and walk out.
“Elysia, I’m counting to three, and then I’m fucking taking you out of here like a toddler over my back. He’ll kill us both if anything happens to you. And by us, I mean me.”
“Okay, okay,” she relented.
He was right. Whatever that creature was, she didn’t feel like getting eaten by it today. If nothing else, at least she had likely made Aidan piss himself when Tiny delivered the news of where she was right now. She wrapped her fingers around the bars, peering in closer to look at the ledger. She wanted to know exactly which of his ledgers Maya had stuck in there.
