Greed caused me to lose her.
Greed had gotten good people killed and torn our lives apart.
The absence of Gravelock’s soldiers outside weighed on me, because turn after turn, we still hadn’t run across a single soul, where there should have been guards posted.
But there were plenty of other, invisible protections.
Foul magic hung thick in the air, a constant, oppressive reminder that danger waited around the very next corner.
Whatever part of the temple we were in now was ancient.
Cursed.
A place where anguished faces were carved into the walls, mouths open in silent screams, carved-out eyes staring blankly.
Runes and symbols were scraped into the stone in long, angry slashes, as if the stone masons had been locked down here, forced to carve the words of the gods into stone until they’d gone mad. None of them were legible, perhaps from some ancient language no longer spoken, but my skin prickled, dread crawling over me like ants.
“We’re getting closer,” Varian murmured. “Up ahead.”
His eyes found mine and like me, he was thinking of the last time the three of us had done a job together, and the disastrous ending to that night.
How many times had we regretted ever setting foot inLord Maldrake’s palace?So many, I couldn’t count.We’d regretted that choice while chained in a prison cart on our way to Caladrius, over a roaring fire with strangers, while trekking through the cold-as-fuck High Barrens, searching for innocent witches to kill.
I was so fucking full of regret over that night, it was a wonder I didn’t explode.
But now that we were in the Shadowlands, I was one step closer to getting my revenge on the asshat who set us up.
The Fae fuck who ruined our lives and cost me a future with the female I loved.
And he would never even see me coming. Not until it was too late.
Over the next five minutes, the past swallowed me alive, my instincts sizzling with every new trickle of fear, the panic racing up and down my spine. There was nothing here, nothing but darkness and cobwebs and these slashing marks that seemed to grow angrier with every passing moment.
As if the very walls were screaming at us to run.
One more turn and, thank fuck, we came face to face with a massive, rune-inscribed door.
The power radiating from the thick iron was palpable, a hum that ripped into my bones like a sharpened saw through a tree. Varian’s face turned grimmer the longer he studied the glyphs, hands clasped behind his back, as if he was physically restraining himself from touching them.
“The Triune is behind this door.” Varian shook his head. “But we’re not getting through. This isn’t just some clever lock or warding spell to break. The protections are woven into the stone itself. Perhaps even hammered into the iron. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Not a surprise,” I murmured, “given how old this place is.”
Clever, really, choosing an ancient temple for a hiding place. This magic down here tasted arcane enough to be obsolete, spells no mage or sorcerer of our time could understand. Or break. And Varian was as clever as anyone I’d ever met, but even he was stumped.
“I…can’t even tell what sort of magic this is,” he muttered, only confirming my suspicions.
Frustration flared in my chest, but I forced myself to think. “Then we’ve confirmed everything we can right now. We’ll head back to the island and regroup. Maybe Rooke will have an idea of how to break through such old magic.”
Lyrae reached out, her hand almost brushing the door. Fear washed through me in a sickening wave before she paused, her fingertips an inch from the faint glow that would probably kill her. “We’re already here,” she shot me a questioning look, as if she hoped I might agree. “We shouldn’t waste this opportunity.”
Before she could take another step, my fingers closed around her wrist and I tugged her to a safe distance. The glowing runes around the door seeming to mock our failure, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about treasure, or riches, or even the fucking Triune.
“I’m not…we’re not taking any unnecessary risks, Lyrae,” I murmured against her ear, hoping she couldn’t tell my voice was shaking. “We’re heading back to Frostveil, where the four of us will come up with a plan.”
“We have to get outside this section of the temple,” Varian said, sweat beading on his brow. “My magic is for shit down here, maybe because of whatever’s imbued into these stones.”
I was spooked, that’s all,I told myself, as we crept back the way we’d come.
