We stare back.
Malachi moves. So fast I don't register his arm leaving me until Vida is drawn between us and the creature, glyphs blazing along the blade.
"She is not yours to claim, warrior."
Malachi begins to speak. Low, guttural words in a language I don't recognize. The Shroudmaidens shriek, the sound ricocheting off the stone walls. Margot's smoke surges around us, forming a barrier.
"She. Is. Not. Yours. To. Claim."
The voices speak as one. Deep. Ancient. The memory stones in the walls flicker in response, as if awakened. The Shroudmaidens launch into the air.
Lanterns rise behind us. The light spreads, revealing what the darkness hid. The Shroudmaidens hover beneath the dome. But beyond them, the walls glow with countless memory stones stretching into an endless hall.
And between those stones, suspended in the air, more Shroudmaidens than I can count. My pulse thunders.
"Oh gods," Margot breathes. Her smoke barrier wavers.
Kage's shadows tighten around us, compensating.
The Shroudmaidens laugh. The sound is terrible. Wrong. It echoes off the walls like breaking glass.
One of them dives. Its smoke-body bends, and suddenly a face materializes inches from mine. Glowing eyes. No features. Just light and hunger.
"You fed?—"
Malachi's blade cuts through the air. The creature vanishes before it can finish.
Silence.
They're gone. All of them. As if they were never there.
I press a hand to my pounding heart and stare into the dark hall. I don't know what horrifies me more: the endless memory stones, or the accusation the Shroudmaiden started to make.
You fed, it said. Fed what? The Shroud? Them?
Naima's voice pulls me back. "That sword. What are those glyphs?"
"Wards against evil."
I frown at his answer. There's more to it. There has to be. But the narrow staircase looms ahead, and we're out of time for questions.
Kage sends a shadow upward with a lantern. The light climbs and climbs, swallowed by darkness long before it finds the top. When he lowers the lantern, I notice the steps more clearly.
Steep. Chipped. As if no one has walked them in centuries. That doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense.
Kage retrieves his shadow and turns to face us. He taps the side of his temple. "Dray?"
Draven dips his chin. Some code between them. I don't ask.
The plan is set. Draven and Margot stay below. Malachi and Naima search for the scepter. Kage and I find Jordi.
I should tell Malachi what Mortiana said about the scepter. That it's not here. That she'll give it to us herself. But the words won't come.
Kage gives Malachi the same signal, then moves toward the stairs.
"Wait." I catch his arm. "Naima should go first."
Malachi shakes his head. "We stick to the plan."
