The leftmost passage sloped upward at a steeper angle. The air grew uncomfortably warm, thick with humidity.
The torches flickered without reason.
Then, one by one, they went out.
Darkness swallowed us whole.
Up ahead, a door stood barely visible, a thin line of light bleeding from beneath it.
Malzaun raised a hand. Everyone froze, spears angled, shields lifted, breath held.
"Keep formation," he said quietly. "Eyes forward."
Daemon's hand found mine in the darkness. His fingers were ice-cold, but the contact grounded her. It reminded me that I wasn't alone. We stalked up the stairs without making a sound.
When we finally reached the door, Malzaun signaled everyone to hold. He walked up to the door alone and took a knee on a step. For a moment, we sat there as he listened for any movement on the other side.
We heard nothing. Absolute silence. The silence should have provided relief, but instead, I was more unnerved. The atmosphere inside the castle was a stark contrast to the burning city outside.
Malzaun turned around and gave us a nod that we returned.
Squad Seven formed up. Kane and Kael flanked. Zephyr melted into the rear guard where his skills would prove most useful.
Malzaun opened the door. Light blinded us for a moment, but we forced our eyes to focus. On both sides of the door were racks of food. In front of us were barrels of wine stacked on top of one another. The door had been disguised as a storage rack.
Down the hall, something stirred. Not the king. Not his guards. Something older and infinitely more patient. A sentient evil.
I took a deep breath and centered myself. I felt the Veil respond to my will.
We moved forward.
CHAPTER 27
SERIS
The cellar smelled wrong.
Not the mustiness of old stone. Something colder.
I gripped the hilt of the blade Kaelen had pressed into my hand that morning, fingers slick. Behind me, Daemon's team spread into formation without a sound. Years of operating together had made them fluent in silence.
Malzaun raised a fist. We stopped. He looked back at Daemon.
Daemon stepped to the front. Our team lined the walls of the cellar, waiting to exit into the hall.
"Something's off," Daemon murmured beside me. "Kael."
Kael moved up to the entrance. His footsteps didn’t make a sound. He slipped into the hall alone. For a brief moment, we held our breaths in the suffocating silence. Beside me, Kane shifted his grip on his weapon, sensing the same unnatural tension in the air.
I felt it too. The air pressed against my skin with unnatural weight, carrying the same wrongness I’d sensed in the tunnels.
This wasn’t simply the pressure of war.
This was hunger.
"Clear," Kael whispered from the other side of the wall.
Clear.
