There would be no escaping. Even if I could somehow reach that hole—and that was doubtful since it was over fifteen feet off the ground and the walls had spells embedded in them to deter climbing—it was unlikely I could budge the grate covering the exit.
The only way out of this cell was for someone to let me out.
“Hello! Anybody up there?”
I nodded at the resounding silence that answered. Yup. Just as expected. There was no one around. No one probably even knew I was down here.
“Great.” I slumped against the wall. “What now, self?”
I couldn’t let Brin have the satisfaction of winning. Staying put like a good little girl until he decided to let me out wasn’t in my nature. I just had to figure out how to escape. That was all.
I quirked an eyebrow at the pool of shadows waiting in the corner. “I don’t suppose you have any ideas?”
His black fur did an excellent job of allowing him to blend into the dim gloom hanging around the recesses of the cell. If I hadn’t sensed his presence, I never would have spotted him.
The shadows shifted as Alches laid down, watching me with alert eyes as he propped his head on his paws and tilted his ears forward to show he was listening.
“That’s all you have to say?”
I don’t know why I expected anything more. If there was one thing the realm guardian had been consistent in, it was his unhelpfulness. At this rate, he might as well have stayed away.
At the very least, he could do something about his friends.
I glared at the ceiling. “Why is it always birds?”
There was a whole flock of them up there, hovering in midair as they perched on something unseen. Their beady little eyes staring. Always watching.
I shuddered. So creepy.
Dismissing them from my thoughts, I focused on Alches. “Is this a test?”
It wouldn’t make me happy, but I could understand if it was.
Instead of answering, Alches rose to slip from the shadows and fully materialize in my cell. I was silent as he padded over and stopped a foot away.
Before I could say anything, he started to retch. Loud hurking sounds that would have propelled any dog owner into action.
I was no different, coming to my feet by instinct. Though there was no carpet to drag Alches off of.
A second later, he regurgitated a solid, slimy looking mass onto the ground.
“Ew,” I said in disgust at the sight.
Vomit was something I’d never handed well.
Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the thing he’d brought up was a brown, leatherbound book that looked familiar. It was the Fae relic that had attached itself to me a few years ago. No matter what I’d done to dispose of it— toss it in a river, drop it down a ravine, burn it—it always found its way home again. Each time reappearing on my dresser looking no worse for wear.
It wasn’t until Alches ate the damn thing that it had stayed away.
Now it was back.
I lifted my eyes from the harmless looking book to the realm guardian. “What do you expect me to do with this?”
Alches offered me a doggy grin, complete with a lolling tongue and slightly slobbery jowls.
“That’s not an answer.”
He woofed once before turning and padding into the shadows, leaving me alone without an explanation. Again.
