He stepped back, sucking all his body heat along with him. A part of me ached to pull him back. Just so I could punch him in theeye.
“Enough.” Lugh ducked out of the vaults and flicked his fingers at the two warriors. They moved forward, grabbing the heavy wooden door and slamming it in my face. Heart beating, I stood there for a moment staring at it. Even though I’d known it was coming, I still didn’t feel prepared. They’d shut me in with theSluagh.
My hands clenched, and I turned to face the long stretch of corridor before me. The headlamp flickered, threatening to plunge me into darkness. I tapped it. The beam of light stayed strong. Blowing out a hot breath, I began to inch my wayforward.
Lugh had explained that there would be several forks in the vaults. I was always to take the right, no matter what. So, when I came to the first bend and two tunnels stretched out on either side, I wentright.
My feet splashed into deep puddles of water. Grime ran down the crumbling stone walls. The stench of mildew and rot swirled through the corridors, and I had to swallow down the need togag.
Why the hell had Lugh made me do this? Hell, the entire court had chosen it. They’d seemed eager to see me sweat, almost like they were a Court of Wankers more than anything else. I had only been alive long enough to remember the mortal realm, this realm. But I’d heard stories of a time before this, when our kind held court in a different realm. The faerealm.
Back then, we’d been cruel. We’d been wicked. We’d beenharsh.
The fae in this castle seemed to be remnants of that time. Especially Lugh. Thebastard.
I came to another fork, and took the right again. My breath misted before me as I crept forward even more. This wasn’t so bad. So far, I hadn’t seen a single bloody Sluagh. Maybe they’d moved on from these vaults and found some other underground hellhole tostalk.
But just as my relief started to build, a strange scuttling noise whispered through the darkness. I paused, breath held. Flicking my ears toward the sound, I listened again. More scuttling, along with the hiss of paperybreathing.
Terror speared my heart. That noise was unmistakable. The Sluagh were upahead.
Maybe there was another way to tackle this Lugh problem. Maybe I could get the information we needed through a different kind of mission. I didn’t need to risk my life to prove to Lugh that I was worthy of his acceptance. I could turn around right now and get the hell out ofhere.
But how would I take him down? He had clearly holed up in the castle. All of his secrets lay within. He’d made me sign a blood contract, for fuck’s sake. If he went to those kind of lengths to protect himself, I’d never be able to get close to him without being a member of hiscourt.
I sucked a deep breath in through my nose and steeled my nerves. I was Moira Talmhach, and I was a bloody good warrior. These Sluagh wouldn’t stand a chance againstme.
I inched forward, step after slow step. The Sluagh didn’t have hearing as good as mine, so they likely didn’t know I was down here with them yet. I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. The element of surprise was one of the only tricks I had in my bag, especially when I had no idea how many of them therewere.
Lugh had mentioned dozens, if I were lucky. These vaults were the perfect playground for the walking dead. They were dark, musty, and full of rats. No sunlight could get to them here, and Sluagh tended to disintegrate when rays of sun touched theirskin.
On that note...I flicked off the headlamp, and the world turned pitch black. Steadying my breathing, I focused my fae power on my sight. The world became a bit brighter but only just. At least I could see my feetnow.
A Sluagh rounded the corner. It hissed, and I stumbled back. Even in the darkness, my enhanced sight gave me a full view of the creature. The skeletal frame hobbled toward me on feet that were half-covered in rotting flesh. It stank of disease, like a pile of excrement dipped in a vat of stagnant water. It reached out toward me and screamed, mouth open wide to reveal of pit of darknessinside.
Swallowing hard, I held up my sword before me. My heart ricocheted through my chest. My palms were slick with sweat. It had been a long-ass time since I’d seen one of these things, but the terror it brought was all thesame.
It lurched toward me, and I whirled to the right. My side slammed into the slick wall, and pain radiated from the bruised skin. Gritting my teeth, I pushed off the wall andcharged.
Magic swirled through my veins as I tightened my grip on the sword. My body became one with the steel; the feel of it hummed beneath my hands. Grinning, I stared down the Sluagh. It had slowed to a stop as my magic coursed through my body like an electriccharge.
Before the creature could turn and run, I rushed forward. My sword arced through the air, and then madecontact.
The Sluagh’s rotting head fell to myfeet.
One down. How many more to go? There was notelling.
After wiping my sword against my jeans—I refused to fight with the Sluagh’s blackish blood on my weapon—I came to another damn fork in the path. How many tunnels did these vaults have? It was a fucking maze downhere.
Just as I turned toward the right once again, my ears flicked. They caught some distant sound, coming from the left. Frowning, I paused. Somewhere, down the left path, the clanging of steel echoed into myears.
Instinctively, I took a step towardit.
What the hell was going on? Had Lugh sent another recruit down here to complete the same damn trial asme?
The guy was a sociopathic jackass, but that didn’t make muchsense.
Another Sluagh lurched out of the tunnel to my right. Just in time, I swung my sword up to block the weapon it held in its hand. The steel of the creature’s blade sang as it met mine. My heart thumped as I took a step back. That was a fae weapon. A gleaming sword that rippled with the magic coursing through itshilt.
