And down.
And down some more.
I listened to drips of water and tried to lessen the splash of my boots in the pooling water on the stone steps. Alarmed scuttling warned me of creatures on the walls and on the ceiling, and the increasingly dank smell drew up a vision of stagnant water and algae.
Five years in this place.
I almost turned around for fear of what I’d find of my sister.
The floor leveled out. Somewhat. I picked up pace.
But not long passed before my divination magic flared. I froze.Voices.
My magus magic tugged me forward, and I moved on silent feet, spinning into a branching passage that I hadn’t seen.
“Athi ist kws,” hissed one demon to another.I hate this work.
Demons were a lot like humans sometimes.
A woman replied in Demon, “I like the shadows, but I like bed better.”
They laughed together, and I focused on invisible thoughts as they passed me by.
The guards were changing shifts.
I’d say that luck was with me, but this much luck was impossible. My divination magic was responsible for saving my ass.
I didn’t move until their voices faded above. The next set of guards would arrive shortly.
I opted for speed over caution, feeling confident that my warning system wouldn’t fail me.
How deep is this place?
I couldn’t help but think of my sister, torn apart and locked here for so long, but my thoughts also, unwillingly, drifted to another who had been locked in here for one hundred years.
One. Hundred. Years. In this dripping, moldy, cold place. At the same age as I’d lost my entire family, Carmine had been trapped in this place for a century by my father.
Carmine’sfather before that had allowed his son to live beyond birth, convinced by his queen that Carmine could be utilized in that time. On the sidelines, she had helped Carmine to forge plans to survive until the day they would need to kill the king.
When my father entered the scene and killed the king for them, he’d then locked Carmine down here for immortality. Carmine had escaped to conquer him, but not before one hundred years had passed. That was my entire life practically five times over.
No wonder Carmine was deranged. How did any person survive this intact?Ihad disorders, and I’d spent most of my life with a loving—albeit gore- and maim-loving—family. My heart squeezed at the thought of who Carmine might have been without a century in the dungeon. Would the icy version of him have taken hold? We might have been happy.
Until I’d birthed Adeuto, and then I would’ve had to kill Carmine anyway.
Mother be,I should feel grateful that I hated my mate-intended so much. To kill someone you detested was one thing, but to kill someone you loved.
A mate.
No wonder Carmine’s mother was so unhinged. She hadn’t killed her mate in the end, but she’d spent many years expecting to. Maybe even plotting how to do so.
Their history had been longer and more filled with despair and loss and heartache than I could understand. And I never wished to experience that firsthand.
Magus magic arrested my movement, and I sucked in a breath as instinct froze me. My ears tuned to the sounds of the dungeon. No sound other than dripping. I scented the air, then scented the area again with my magic, though I didn’t wish to leave any signs of my passage. The pools of water would eradicate physical signs, but magical signs would linger in a different way.
The barrier across the passage was so subtle that I stood for a full minute before discovering it. I released a shaking exhale once I did.Mother be.
I’d nearly charged into that.
