And reeled backward.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I commanded the fire to stop trying to rule me. I needed to swallow it down—to remove the scarlet line that’d undoubtedly appeared around my pupils.
But it fought me. Burned me. Without Rook’s frost, I wasn’t strong enough, but...I was here because of this little girl. I was here to find out what the fuck was going on in this mountain.
Focus!
Locking everything down, my voice came out smoky and sharp. “Who are you?”
She held her bowl higher, her lips pinched and collarbones stark. “Take my blood. I won’t tell. But you’ll give me food, won’t you? The others did.”
My hands shook as I took her bowl and placed it beside the dead guards. She didn’t even give them a second glance. As if death was nothing to notice.
Sweat poured down my back. My heart slammed so violently, it threatened to rupture.
I could feel my control slipping. Feel the wrath winning. But...I couldn’t hurt her.
If I let go, I would melt this entire mountain.
If I lost control, everybody in it would die.
That knowledge was enough to keep me sane...for now.
Standing, I held out my hand. “Can you take me to where you live? Are there others down below?”
She eyed up my bloody fingers, then shrugged and placed her fragile, tiny hand in mine. “Okay.”
I staggered as the power inside mesnarled.
It wanted to burn.
Burn them all.
Burn every-fucking-thing to the ground.
Forcing a smile, I let her lead me deeper into hell.
* * * * *
The heart of the Eastern Crucible wasn’t a reactor.
It was a prison.
I lost the ability to breathe as the little girl guided me into the mountain’s belly, leading me into caverns bigger than the Dragon Courtyard. Other caves branched off, illuminated with lightbulbs bolted to the rock, casting shadows and glare.
The smell made my stomach turn over.
Rot and blood, death and waste.
Divots in the rock had become sleeping areas for anyone lucky enough to claim them. Stuffed with rancid hay and achingly cold, threadbare blankets looked as damp as the stone walls. Rats darted about—narrowly missing being caught by a group of starving men, the clink of their chains bouncing off the low ceiling.
My heart caught fire as the little girl tugged me deeper into her terrible home. Shallow troughs were filled with stagnant water. Several bodies lay where they’d died, and those lucky enough—or condemned enough—to still be alive, watched me with sunken, hopeless eyes.
Other men and women barely looked up as I walked past with my little guide, their ankles and wrists oozing from iron shackles. A huddled group of children glowered at me; one gnawed on a tiny bone—hinting at some point they’d been successful in hunting the rats.
Further in, cages lined an entire wall.
Animals looked through the bars. Goats and dogs, cows and pigs until we got to the end where a bear, a fox, and an emaciated panther brought tears to my fucking eyes. Just ribs and bone, its black pelt rubbed raw with sores.
