The air itself felt thinner here, as if something vital had been sucked from it along with the lives. Each death sent invisible threads of energy spiraling back toward the castle, feeding Naveer's hunger for immortality. She was gorging herself today. I wanted to kill her, even if that meant we wouldn't win the second token. Fuck the talisman that was too difficult to obtain, and fuck Irridain Court.
“Fates,” Reyla hissed.How many?
Fifteen, at least.
They lay scattered like broken dolls. Flash-frozen mid-scream, their reaching hands and open mouths filled with crystalline death. The garden was already claiming them, silver-white crust weaving into their skin. One man’s boot had already sunk halfway into the path as the world around us digested him.
Lord Tyrrius would no longer sneer in anyone’s direction.
Farris growled, staying close to Reyla’s side, avoiding the bodies we passed.
“They didn’t make it past the first trap,” I whispered.
Vines looped around the leg of a woman near the edge of the path. A blade was lodged in the frosty world behind her, just out of reach. Her face looked peaceful, and that disturbed me the most.
“They’ll be gone by morning,” I said. “I suspect this garden doesn’t keep things long.”
Let's move.
Yes.
We picked up our pace, leaving the bodies behind.
The crystal walkway narrowed between two iced-over hedges. When Farris stopped, his tail spiking out, we came to a halt as well.
Should we take another path?Reyla asked.
I scanned the area, but the frosty sludge on either side could trap us within a few steps.No other way but forward. Watch everything. Wait for the trap I assume will soon be sprung.
With a grunt, my wildfire tightened her grip on her dagger. There was no one else I'd rather face a threat with than this woman by my side. I prayed to the fates I'd live a long life so I could tell her that daily.
We walked forward, Farris taking tentative, plucking steps. Iwas glad he'd come with us. Our friend was as clever and conniving as his mistress.
Mist hung in the air, muting details and camouflaging movement, and I didn't like that one bit.
I'd seen no sign of a frostwilla plant so far.
Light pressed through the arched dome overhead, a magical one that kept the cold in to preserve this garden, and the heat out. Only muted sunlight made its way through, enough to keep the plants alive, but not enough to melt the wintery world.
A cold wind picked up, swirling around our legs, and Reyla shivered. I swept my hand out, creating a warm buffer around her.
Even in this frozen hell, I'd keep her warm. I'd keep her safe. Two days left, and I refused to waste a moment not protecting what was mine.
I felt it before I heard it, a subtle pressure in my eardrums, like the air was holding its breath.
When we were halfway through the hedge row, Farris growled. His ears flattened, and he backed up until he reached my legs.
Reyla came to a stop, studying the area. “Something’s…”
In a garden this deadly, quiet meant someone was hunting.
A siren's scream slammed into us like a dagger.
One of the twin high ladies from yesterday stepped out onto the end of the path, wearing a pale blue gown and a darker blue cloak. Her lips curled back as she pumped out one siren's scream after another. Like a blade, the sound tried to bore through my skull.
Farris yelped and dropped flat, pressing his paws over his ears.
My knees buckled, and my vision tilted. The scream gouged at my mind, demanding entry, and only strengthening my walls kept it from separating my consciousness from my brain.
