She placed the fruit down before she stood, a smile on her face. An assassin strolled forward, handing her a dirty, worn journal. My heart thudded. It was Elianna’s. “Oh, but that’s exactly why I am bringing you both. Plus, this. You will be a nice gift to secure our new alliance. What better way to earn a permanent place under her rule than to bring the enemies that escaped to her doorstep?”
“You were never trying to help us, were you?” I said, realization hitting. “The battle of Goldpass. You watched the whole thing.”
“I wanted to see what I could do to help her,” Faye said with a shrug. “I was going to collect you both with the medallion and give it to her, but this will have to do.”
Vincent was on his feet before I recognized the threat. Shadows darkened on the wall, figures emerging from them, assassins all clad in black from head to toe and armed to the teeth.
Magic swirled in my hands, but died as something hit me across the back of my head. Everything went dark.
76
DIANNA
Iwrinkled my nose as we raised our balaclavas to our faces. Reggie stood, dressed in the same outfit and staring straight ahead. We were covered head to toe in dark clothes, our cloaks tied tightly around us as we made it to Aldmoor, the land of the decaying.
“You know,” I said, propping my hands on my hips. “When she wrote that on the map, I thought she was exaggerating, maybe trying to scare us, but …” I trailed off, letting out a low whistle and glaring at the smoke coating the atmosphere like slime. A mortal would die within seconds here from the pollution alone. It was a waste of a planet. I looked out at the rolling hills of dead, broken branches, the ash-covered landscape, and the numerous volcanoes spitting toxins into the air.
A shriek pierced the air, and Samkiel and I ducked for cover as a four-winged hairless creature flew overhead. It swept past us, screeching as it went, and circled around a handful of others.
“See, Reggie?” I playfully slapped his shoulder. “And you say we never take you anywhere nice.”
“I am truly spoiled,” Reggie said blandly.
Samkiel chuckled.
“How can anything live here?” I asked. “Gods.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps they lived here before it turned into a wasteland and evolution took care of the rest.”
I frowned, watching as the creatures swirled through the soup-like atmosphere.
“Let’s try to stay off the menu, then.”
“Noted,” he said.
Samkiel summoned a tent, the fabric as gray as the ash that drifted through the air like nasty snow. A stray wind caught the flap, opening it just enough to reveal the spacious interior, despite its unassuming outward appearance.
“Stay here and be safe. If you hear anything, teleport to us all right?” Samkiel said to Reggie.
I was so glad he still had at least that power. His visions were nonexistent right now.
Reggie nodded and looked at me. “Be careful.”
“Careful is my middle name,” I said, tossing him a wink.
Samkiel made a noise in his throat before wrapping an arm around me and leading me away.
“I promise not to be long,” I said to Reggie, waving as he disappeared inside.
WE HIKED THROUGHthe dead forest, staying out of range of those beasts until we came up to where theXwas drawn on the map. Looking up, I saw nothing out of the ordinary, just jagged rocks and shallow caves. Monstrous protrusions sprouted from sickly bodies of toxic goo, bubbling and spitting more gas into the air.
“Xmarks the spot, but I see no entrance,” I said, turning to Samkiel.
Samkiel’s brows furrowed, and he stepped in front of me. He crouched, tossing rotted branches and dirt to the side. I watched as his hands grew dirtier and waited.
“See?” I said. “Told you.”
“Ah ha!” he said, rising quickly.
