At least I know Nate is doing what he can to help me while also hunting for his own goal. My stomach twists. I still hope I made the right decision in trusting him and believing his story. I’ve misjudged so many people, put my trust in the wrong place too many times. Yet, I know I can’t do all this on my own. I need allies.
“I found something.” I blurt the words out. These two women have earned my trust more than most. I might as well see if they can help. “At the queen’s temple here. There’s a hidden storage space or room. I don’t know if there’s anything inside it yet, but it’s promising.”
I decide to leave out the shaking and that I was fairly certain the goddess of death directed me there.
“Does anyone else know about it?” Antonia asks.
“Not as far as I know.”
“I could use the distraction,” Charlotte says, her words muffled by the bite of pastry in her mouth.
“We need some tools, though. Any ideas how we can lift or remove stones without drawing too much attention?” I ask.
“I can find something for that,” Antonia says.
Charlotte pours herself another cup of tea. “Well, then I suppose we need to inform the guards that we will be spending the day praying for the emperor’s health.”
Thirty-Three
Sabina
Somehow not a single guard says a word when Antonia shows up at the temple with an iron bar in her hands.
Nate lifts an eyebrow, but I drag her inside where Charlotte and I are waiting for her.
All the candles are lit again. Or still. I’m not sure which it is. Or how they haven’t all burned to nothing. I haven’t yet figured out how magic works, but I’ve seen enough to know that it’s real and capable of far more than I realized.
“How far do you think it goes down?” Antonia looks at the hole.
“No idea,” I say.
“Only one way to find out.” Antonia manages to pry two stones free while I catch them and set them aside.
Charlotte holds one of the candles over the dark space and something glints in the light. “I think someone hid valuables here.”
Antonia drops the bar, then we crouch next to the hole. Charlotte is right, it’s packed full of metal cups and jewelry and even some weapons.
“What is all this?” I ask.
“Maybe a servant was hiding it?” Charlotte asks.
“Or the people who built the estate? Maybe they hid it and planned to come back for it?” Antonia suggests.
I reach toward it, my fingers brushing over the hilt of a silver dagger. Pain explodes through me, and my body tenses as power surges. I’ve lost all control, but I can feel the darkness rising, the usual slithering coming out abruptly and without any hesitation. I’m struggling to breathe as I fight to regain control.
The room goes dark. Antonia makes a strangled sound. Panic flares. I can tell the shadows are holding her, squeezing her the way Caiden had used them on me. I pull them back, desperate to summon them away from her.
Then there’s a scream that’s quickly silenced. It’s Charlotte. I’m certain of it, but I don’t know what’s happening. I can’t feel the shadows anymore even though the entire room is still saturated with them.
They wrap around me, constricting tighter the more I fight them. I’m trying to call them back, to end this, but I have no control.
There’s more screaming, then I hear pounding on the door. The guards are trying to get inside. They can’t see this. I don’t need anyone else to know about this.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I struggle against the terrifying power I’ve unleashed. That’s when I realize my fingers are still wrapped around the hilt of the knife I picked up. It’s like I’m locked in place, unable to release it.
Instead of trying to contain the shadows, I turn my energy on the weapon in my grasp. Lifting my fingers from it shouldbe easy, instead it’s like I’m pushing against a boulder that’s keeping my hands in place.
Finally, I manage to remove my thumb, then the rest of my fingers regain the ability to move. The knife falls to the ground, clattering against the other items in the pit.
