My head was spinning, and my knees shook, but I managed to get a grip on myself as I stared at the male before me.
“A little help here,” Sorsha called through the opening in the rock, drawing her weapon as she glared at her brother.
Kaden was breathing hard, his chin lowered as he glowered at me. He still seemed to be in some sort of trance, but I had no idea how to break it.
Adriel reappeared a second later, his expression wary as he took in the scene.
“We may have a problem,” Sorsha told him.
Adriel didn’t ask what she meant, but his movements were slow and predatory as he stepped between me and the prince. His gaze was hard as it settled on Kaden, searching those demon-black eyes for the male who lay beneath.
“We have to go,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you, but I need you to get your shit together and not try to kill us before we escape this place. Understood?”
Kaden nodded, though his jaw clenched as he cast a hateful gaze my way.
“If you try anything, I’ll kill you myself,” the royal guard added, almost as an afterthought.
He held out a hand, and Kaden took it, gingerly pulling himself to his feet. Wordlessly, the four of us clambered out of the cell and into the narrow tunnel.
Kaden moved stiffly as he edged his way to the front, his bloody wings sagging behind him.
I stifled a gasp.
There were so many wounds in them — dozens more holes and lacerations than the number of stakes Sorsha and I had removed. Some of them were partially healed; others were red and angry, festering with splinters. It looked as though he’d been nailed to that wall repeatedly and then ripped off for sport.
Furious tears burned my throat, but I swallowed them down and took up the rear. My eyes scraped the shadows for any sign of Semphrys’s minions, but we encountered no one as we made our way up through the bowels of Dorthus.
The narrow stone tunnel sloped sharply upward, ending at a set of stairs that reminded me horribly of those carved into the Tower of Souls. Kaden had to be in terrible pain, but he didn’t stop or even slow down as the steps became steeper, winding around what must have been the outer shell of the volcano.
Soon, it began to feel more like mountain-climbing than ascending a flight of stairs. Entire steps had crumbled in places, forcing me to pull my whole body up to reach the next one.
My muscles burned with exertion. Sweat trickled down my back, causing my leathers to stick to my skin. It was unbearably hot inside the volcano, and my throat itched forwater, but I welcomed the discomfort because it meant we were approaching the surface.
Finally, the staircase reached a landing that led to another tunnel, where small holes in the rock revealed lava gurgling below. Shrieks echoed down the passageway, causing my hair to stand on end, but Kaden still didn’t stop.
As we came to the end of the passageway, the rough volcanic rock gave way to polished obsidian, and I knew we had reached the main level of the palace.
Kaden moved like death itself, his shadows billowing around him. His battered wings spanned nearly the full width of the corridor, and when two lower demons emerged from a chamber on our left, coiled ropes of shadow shot from Kaden’s hands.
They wrapped around the demons’ throats, choking them until they went limp. Kaden discarded them on the floor with a thud and continued as if there’d been no interruption.
We rounded a corner into an antechamber I recognized, though it still bore signs of the destruction Kaden and Adriel had wrought upon our last visit. The center of the ceiling had caved in, the intricately carved buttresses chipped and crumbling.
Demons froze at the sight of us, but Kaden simply sent out more lethal tendrils of shadow, knocking one demon against the obsidian wall so hard I heard his skull crack.
Another demon lunged for Sorsha, but Adriel ran him through with his sword, and more wispy ropes of darkness found the demon’s head, twisting until his neck snapped.
Silence fanned out around the antechamber, and Kaden paused as if waiting for something.
A dark figure appeared at the end of the hall, and myspine stiffened. The male was tall and well-muscled, his features handsome yet artificial.
Fleshtalker.
“Well done, my prince,” the demon crooned. “You have delivered our prize. His Majesty will be so pleased to know that yourmateis with us at last.”
A sickening chill raced over me at his words, and I tightened my grip on my dagger.
“Would you care to summon your father, or shall I do the honors?”
