Surprised, I stepped back. Had Eleos always been capable of violence?
Blood trickled from Seth’s nose. Shocked, he touched his face and stared at the ground before slowly raising his eyes.
Eleos took a deep breath. “Gods.” He sounded relieved. “I’ve been wanting to do that for ages.”
A few expressions crossed Seth’s face. His hand clenched into a fist, and his lips drew into a line. Then, his fingers uncurled, and he bit the inside of his lip.
Finally, he nodded. “I deserved that.”
I agreed wholeheartedly. Hedid.
Wincing, Eleos dropped to a knee. Tearing a piece of my skirt off, I wrapped it tightly around his upper arm, doing my best to make a tourniquet.
“Why your blood?” I asked. “Doesn’t Seth normally use his own?”
“Eleos said I should conserve my strength,” Seth said, rubbing his cheek. “I’m our best bet for survival after all . . .” He trailed off. “Or, maybeyouare, princess.”
“Perfect.” Eleos wore a half-smirk. “That means we can leave Seth to die. Becausethat,” he breathed, “was incredible, Lady Aethra.”
My eyes watered, and a smile widened my lips. No one had ever said anything like that to me before.
Eleos smiled at me gratefully as I finished binding his wound. I helped him to his feet before realizing someone was missing.
“Wait.” I whirled around to look at Seth. “There was another girl. Did she have someone with her, too?”
Seth looked down. “Yes. Two young men.”
“What happened to them?”
“We were given two options,” Seth explained. “We could brave certain death for a chance to save you, or . . .”
“Or we could swim the safe passage back,” Eleos finished.
Grief laced through my heart. That poor girl had been abandoned.
Had she known, in her final moments, that her friend, lover, family—whoever they’d been—weren’t coming for her?
Pain shot through my skull again, and I pressed my hand to my forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Seth demanded.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “I’m . . . I’m fine.”
Light spilled from the nearby wall as a stone door scraped open. I expected to see Seraphim or Percy run toward us, but my hopes were quickly dashed.
Soldiers in silver togas and golden plate streamed through. Ten circled around us while another eight remained behind their line, bows knocked and drawn. Seth flicked his hand, and a bloodblade formed in his grip.
The last to emerge from the door was a nobleman—one I hadn’t seen before. Short silver hair framed his face, bound by a circlet. He wore the same golden breastplate as the soldiers, but a silken white toga flowed down to his feet, capped by an elegant, deep blue cape.
He was tainted, too. Silver eyes embedded on pallid skin drank in our features before his mouth rose into a smirk.
“The Oracle warned me you were a threat.” His gaze settled on Seth. “You are socloseto redemption. Why ruin it now by inviting your deaths?”
I glanced at Eleos and his injured arm. A fight with this many trained soldiers would be dicey. And I didn’t want to send this entire dungeon into high alert before we learned where the others were.
Nudging Seth’s arm, I tried to catch his eye. “Not now,” I whispered.
Scowling, Seth reluctantly lowered his blade, allowing it to fall to the cavern floor, where it dissolved into a pool of blood.
