My rapid inhales fill with chalky dust. I need blood to help this wound heal. But how? I check our surroundings. My eyes adjust to the faint light. Darkness clings to the walls as they curve into a carved-out arch. We’re in a tunnel. Pressing my toes into my boots, I note the uneven slat of the ground; my eyes follow the pull, stretching down into a slope as black as Sable’s heart. The air is stale, devoid of life. Only mage lights, which hover around Sable and her mages, light the way. Even if we run, the path will be blind unless my fire can light it.
“Where are we?” It’s a stupid question I can answer myself, but Sable loves to talk. I’ll use that weakness to my advantage.
She glides a wicked finger down the stone walls. Only magic could carve stone this smooth.
“It’s marvelous, isn’t it?” Sable gloats. “I heard the King of Caldera had earth magic; he specialized in liquefying stone. Have you ever picked up a rock from a babbling brook, one that was forced to allow water to tunnel through it? That is what the old books describe Caldara as, a stone filled with polished tunnels framed within the mountain. The king carved these tunnels himself.” She smacks the wall. “It’s written that his castle was pulled and shaped from the mountain. He thought he could reinforce the walls, but the rocks were stronger.”
The chill that blankets my skin can never be shed. We’re where Everett wanted us all to be.
Selene’s lips part, ready to beg her twin to free me. A moment later, she snaps them shut. Sable would relish killing me if she knew Selene cared. Selene knows it; she’s plotting how to get me out alive.
Me, not her.
I shake my head.I’m not leaving without you.
She looks to the floor, her face pale with secrets she hasn’t spoken to me.
“How?” I ask. Fighting is useless. I’ll let Sable lead us to the book, then find a way to attack.
The man holding Selene nods his head. His partner, a small female mage, places cuffs around my wrist; mage cuffs intended to bind magic. The small female removes my sword, covered in Galen’s blood; the weight of it has the tip clumsily hitting the ground.
“You’ve been busy. Who did you kill, Titus?” Sable dances closer to me, taking her time to spin as if I want to admire her curves. She pushes up so her lips kiss my ear. “That looks fresh,” she purrs.
I twist my head away.
The man holding Selene grunts, pressing the knife closer. He sends his magic out. I expect an attack, but it hits my sword, melting the metal.
Hector! I look at him fully. He’s my height, leaner, with exposed arms covered in runes. All bark, no bite, since magic isn’t linking them. His skin is tanner than Selene’s sun-kissed glow; his dark hair is shaved short. Eyes dead and cold.
The woman who cuffed me joins his side. Her dress and jewels are oddly placed, her brown hair pinned into a high bun. She’s Sofia, Hector’s sister, the mage who opens portals as easily as one flips the pages of a book.
Mages are limited to opening portals to places they’ve seen. Sofia must have snuck into Selene’s room, preparing for the day she’d ambush Selene, taking her right out from Galen’s nose and delivering her to Hector and Sable.
Another mistake Galen made. Other kings do not allow portal-opening mages to wander their lands freely.
But she brought us here, into the tunnel. That means they found it before we did! Sable could have taken the book. Why bring Selene here? Why risk it?
I look at Selene. She’s figuring it out, too.
“You know why we’re here,” Sable grunts at Selene as she finger-combs her hair. My fingers twitch, knowing it feels the same as Selene’s. Silken. “I always had a suspicion you knew what Everett was hunting. You were like his notebook.” Sable’s words are sour and rotten. “A place he jotted down ideas, vented.” She whirls and faces me. “But your reaction is odd, Titus.”
She comes closer and… fuck! Her eyes widen, narrow, then glow with glee at my exposed mate mark.
“Oh… my…” She tips her head back. Her laugh echoes like a wildcat. She leans over, grasping her stomach. “I always planned on making you suffer, Selene. I planned to have you watch asthe world burned, but here I am with your mate.” She spins on her toes, grabs Selene’s silk shirt, and rips the neckline open, exposing her matching mark. “Mated.”
Jealously rolls off her tongue. She looks over her shoulder at the melted sword. “Galen must have loved that. That’s his blood, isn’t it?” She grins.
She’s fast. I’ll give her that.
“We’re wasting time.” Hector shoves Selene down to her knees.
I dive forward; it’s my only chance to defend us. Landing on top of her, directly above her heart.
“Do it,” she whispers. I bite her, sucking down only a gulp of her blood before magic yanks me off and sends me flying down the tunnel. The mage cuffs prevent me from attacking outward with my magic, so I focus a small dose of the magic into healing my lungs and ribs.
“That was very naughty, Titus,” Sable scolds me. “I love to play with bad things. Perhaps you and I should play.” She looms over me.
I tug at the cuffs. I need to get them off.
