From the moment Speck’s parents found me lost and abandoned in the woods, he’d been the single shining light in my life. But a sweet and inquisitive infant to my seven turns, he was a living doll. An adorable plaything, put on this earth just for me. I’d spent more time caring for him than even his exhausted mother. How proud I’d been when he took his first step with the brace I’d crafted. All these years, Speck never understood how much I’d needed him. Far more than he’d ever needed me.
How Istillneeded him.
Perhaps if I but grazed the surface of my magic as I hadwhen I’d healed the cut on my arm, I could help without doing harm.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I grasped the stone at my throat and placed my hands on his chest. Closing my eyes, I delved deep into my center, calling upon my gift. At my beckoning, that bright energy welled up inside of me, traveling down my arms to my fingertips. Beneath my palm, a golden light flared. I sent that energy outside of myself, into Speck. He stirred in my grip, thrashing against his bonds, crying out. No! I jerked my hands back.
The moment I released him, Speck quieted.
Breathless, I peered down, my panicked gaze traveling his body for some change. Good or bad.
Again, nothing happened. Because I hadn’t a clue what I was doing. Argh! It wasn’t as if my magic had come with instructions.
Tears burned my eyelids. “Oh, Speck. I’m so sorry. Don’t worry, I won’t give up.”
Exhausted, I slumped into the chair Myrna had kindly placed near Speck’s bedside. I clenched my hands beneath my chin, doing the one thing I hadn’t done since the goddess had forsaken me. “Great Hathor. If this magic you’ve instilled in me cannot help one innocent soul, then what good is it?” The stone dug into my palm as if I could wring a solution from it by force. “Help me save him, and I promise I’ll do anything you ask. Just tell me what I’m supposed to do. What is it that you want from me?”
Water trickled in the silence, Speck’s raspy breaths the only sounds. I gnashed my teeth so hard I feared they would shatter. What did I expect? An answer from the deity who’d made me her handmaiden, then left me on my own with no guidance?
Dirt and grit scraped at my eyeballs. My body ached from the trip to Nefarr, muscles burning, mind fogging. I let my chin sink lower, heavy weights tugged at my eyelids, and I allowed them to slide shut. Just for a moment. Just to rest—
A whisper slid through the haze. “Serafina.”
My head jerked upright. A voice. Did I dream it? Speck lay motionless on the cot, Sebastian curled tight against him. I was alone. The dungeon air pressed damp and cold around me.
“Serafina.” Louder this time. Clearer. My heart lurched.
“Hello?” I called out.
When no answer followed, I rose to my feet and exited Speck’s cell. Sebastian leapt from his spot on the bed, chasing after me as I closed the cell door.
“Is someone there?” I examined the corridor in both directions. Near the stairs, a dull light shone. “Myrna, is that you?”
“This way,” the voice whispered.
What sorcery was this? It wouldn’t come as a surprise to find that the dungeons were haunted. The whole castle, for that matter, given all that had happened here.
“Meow.” Sebastian raced for the stairwell as if that strange voice had dangled a fresh fish beneath his nose.
“Sebastian! Get back here, you crazy ass cat.” I scurried after the deranged feline. “You have no idea who is up there.” Or what.
After climbing several flights of stairs, I lost track of him. On the top floor, I peeked both ways into the next corridor. “Here, kitty, kitty,” I hiss-whispered. I did not want to be wandering around this place in the dark. Sebastian may have nine lives, but I only had one.
My surroundings weren’t unfamiliar, at least. This was the hallway that led to the library, I’d discovered the first time I’d dared to explore the castle.
“Serafina,” the sound whispered in my ears. I squinted, spying the dull light floating in the darkness. Beneath it, darted a small black shadow.
Damn cat. It was as if Sebastian and the disembodied voice were in cahoots.
Splayed skeletons littered my path, and I picked my way around the piles of bones. “The things I do for you,” I muttered.
The closer I drew, the more the bodies piled up. Golden metal gleamed beneath the dull solar crystals. The bodies of the fallen were dressed in armor instead of leather. The royal guard?
Just as I neared the end of the hall, the light darted low, disappearing through a massive arch with piles of rubble filling the entrance. I scanned the splintered wood and mounds of broken stone before me. I knew this place. This was where Alaric had roared at me the night I’d gone exploring.
Except he wasn’t here to stop me this time.
“Sebastian?” I called out. Did he somehow slip inside the room?
