Elio tugged hard on her leash as the Goldoth guards unlocked her door. Without a word, he pushed her into the black room. The fae lights turned on with a lazy glow as she walked toward the darkly blanketed bed. She kicked the dog bed for good measure, one tiny fuck you to the folk who believed they could own someone.
She let herself flop back on the bed, closing her eyes in exhaustion. She wasn’t surprised when the Goldoth king and queen tried to extract information from her. She was just happy they bought her lies, but it was puzzling that they believed they could control her truths when they hadn’t been the ones to offer her food or drink. There’d been a moment where she wasworried that Rylo would make her spill her secrets, it being the first time she’d had to eat or drink something he offered her. She’d made it a point to use extreme caution with where her food or drink came from, and had so far avoided the unpleasantness of spilling her secrets to any fae who gave her a bite to eat.
The tight bodice of her gown squeezed her waist and chest. Morgan needed relief from the corset before she could let herself drift into sleep. She stood, tugging on the laces before she slipped out of her stays and let the heavily ornamented dress spill to the floor.
Wearing only the slip under her gown, she took a deep breath, the first she’d had in hours. Crawling back into bed, she tucked herself under the covers and tried to let her exhaustion overtake her. The fae lights dimmed and darkness consumed her. Not even the light of the moon or stars infiltrated this windowless room. But she couldn’t relax to fall asleep, even though her body felt exhausted. The collar around her neck itched and the heaviness of the relic tugged at her chest.
Or was that the twitchy itchies? That sense of foreboding that she and Avery had all their life seemed to be at a constant simmer under her skin in Aeritis, and she learned to live with the reality that her untimely doom could happen at any moment here. But now her chest felt tight, and even the relief of taking off the gown hadn’t taken away the unrest in her heart, the sickness stirring in her stomach. It was obvious to her that this was a dangerous place, it was no surprise that she couldn’t let her body calm down enough to find proper rest.
As she tossed and turned in the bed, Morgan heard the click of the lock and the crack of the door. No light pooled from the tunnels outside, but she sensed someone stepping into her room.
She could only hope that it was Rylo, but the unease in her stomach told her otherwise.
“Rylo?” Her voice shook as she said his name.
“It’s not Rylo.” A dull amber glow cascaded off Elio’s skin.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Morgan asked. The fae lights gleamed to life, illuminating the bronzed skin and grey wings of Elio.
He didn’t answer, only moved forward to the bed, pulling the blankets off her and tugging her by the arm. Morgan twisted and writhed, escaping his grasp. She leapt to the other side of the bed, putting space between them.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted. She saw him flinch from her loud tone. Right, sensitive fae hearing. It was probably her only weapon against such a powerful man. “I’ll scream if you come any closer.”
“Don’t be a fool. I have no intention of hurting you and shaming my king. We have work to do.” He dangled a key over the bed. “Let me get that collar off you. Do you think your shadows can disguise us?”
“What?”
Elio’s face looked like carved bronze, so inhumanely beautiful it didn’t seem real. “The relic. The reason we are here.”
Morgan stepped around the bed, tilting her neck for Elio as he clicked the collar off. The icy metal fell to the floor with a clank and Morgan rubbed where the collar had stung. She’d only worn it for less than a day, and already it had chilled her skin to the touch.
Her shadows poured out of her, dancing at her feet as she stepped back from Elio’s grasp.
“Thanks for that. How did you get that key?”
“I have my ways of getting what I need,” Elio responded as he moved toward the door.
“Fair enough. Where do we go from here?” Morgan reveled in the power that returned to her fingertips, the misty darknessthat called to her. She grabbed a wool dress and slid it over her head before putting on slippers.
“According to Rylo, you have the answer to that.” Elio pointed to the necklace. “We don’t have much time. Rylo is only going to be able to distract the Goldoth monarchs for so long before he’s dismissed for the evening, or before word gets to them of your escape.”
Morgan closed her eyes and let her mind settle. She focused on the necklace pressed against her throat, the heavy sensation wrapping around her. Then she felt it. A tug, a calling that she hadn’t noticed before. She pulled her magic toward the necklace, feeling her shadows wrap around her throat. Morgan’s ears began to ring, a sharp shrill sound that she’d only heard twice before. The sound she heard when she and Avery went through the portals. Yet there was no pressure change, nothing yanking her back to her realm.
She took another deep, calming breath, letting her mind become clearer, more focused. The necklace seemed to sing to her now, calling her to follow its path. Before she followed that tug, she reached out for Rylo’s bright, bold mind. She wasn’t even sure if she could reach him from this distance, but she did, following the connection she’d established between them. He needed to know that she had her magic back and she was going after the relic. After all, the sooner she completed that task, the sooner they could go home.
Her voice was otherworldly and full of power, as she said, “I can feel it calling to the other relic,” and she stepped into the tunnel. The tugging led her deeper underground through passageways that became rawer, less refined as she and Elio walked in silence into the belly of Aeritis.
Avery
The musty scent of dirt and old lumber filled Avery’s nose as she held Savine’s hand tight, the warmth and the pulse of their shared touch giving her a sense of calm in the silent darkness. Kyla stood on her other side, and Avery’s shoulder grazed Kyla’s arm. It felt as though she had a phalanx of support as they made their way down the dark and damp tunnel to Kinlon’s cell. Garnel and Jay were following behind them. It was the first time Garnel had left his room in nearly a month, but Savine had demanded he be present to interview Kinlon.
So this was Orofine’s own prison. The raw gloom of it was unnerving, with tangling roots of trees exposed around the roughly hewn passages. Muddy cells dug out of the earth and secured with some kind of bones made Avery’s skin prickle.
“What kinds of bones are those?” Avery muttered.
Savine squeezed Avery’s hand. “The bones of an ancient line of elk rulers. They gave up their freedom in alliance with the fae, to protect this nation from its enemies.”
Avery let silence descend on them again as they walked deeper into the prison. There were a few stirrings from the cells, but it was strangely, eerily quiet.
