Page 103 of Secrets of the Six

“My father – “

All threats suddenly die on the tip of the heir’s tongue when we sail beneath hundreds of chandeliers of varying size and metallic finish. I’m so used to our only source of lighting beneath the mountain I forget how magical and impossible it must seem to an outsider.

Rogelio stares upward in awe. “Where are we?”

“The City of Dreams,” Olli says, pointing ahead to the shoreline where dozens of winged men, women and children await our arrival.

“Venturans?” Rogelio gasps before focusing on me. “How is this possible? I thought my father executed all of them.”

I splay my wings and he lurches backward, finding himself tucked against Carmen.

“Not all of us.”

“You’re a Venturan?”

He has questions, and I don’t have time to answer any of them. I remind myself he is a problem for later.

“Olli and Carmen, take him to Bram. Cas, you’re with me.” I disembark our gondola the second it slides up next to the wooden platform. I sense Cas on my heels as we weave through the Venturans gathered around the dock.

“Where’s Alba?” I call out, knowing she’s more than likely making her rounds through the catacomb city.

A little girl, no older than six, points me in the right direction and I nod my thanks before marching away. If I let myself dwell on the thought the girl was born down here and has never seen the light of the sun or what life above ground entails, I will completely spiral and lose myself. She, and the rest of my people, motivate me to succeed.

“Alba!” I yell, scanning beneath the canopies of the stone archways for the healer’s familiar face.

I nearly trip when the tip of my boot catches on one of the hundreds of rugs covering the hard, cold stone pathway but Cas grabs the back of my shirt and keeps me upright.

“Alba?” I cry out again, desperation overtaking me.

“Remus? Cas?”

I turn and catch sight of her and exhale a sigh of relief.

Alba Silvanus comes from a long line of healers and learned herbology from Pillar Ollivander. She’s the sole reason our people have survived below the surface for as long as we have and right now, she’s my only hope in saving Ines.

Cas marches up to her and whispers something in her ear before planting a gentle kiss to her temple.

Determination settles across her tawny-brown features when her gaze fixates on me.

“Alba, I need your help.”

She wipes her bloody hands on her apron and approaches me fast.

“What happened to her?” she asks, pressing her palm to Ines’ paling forehead.

“She was stabbed.” I swallow, reserving the details for a later time.

Alba’s calculating brown eyes meet Cas’. Once their engagement was announced a year ago, it seemed they developed an entire language that could be deciphered in one look. From the sadness they exchange, my stomach flips.

“She’s cold,” Alba says, turning on her heel. “Bring her in here.”

We hurry down the main street and enter the tent she uses as a hospital. There are a few sick Venturans lying in cots, but she bypasses them as her staff care for them.

“Over here.” She motions us to the back where a wooden table sits empty, as if Alba was prepared for her day to take a tragic turn. “Lay her down.”

Alba grabs a knife mounted on the wall and slices through Ines’ clothing to see the wound. When her abdomen is exposed, Alba stops, her hands already coated in Ines’ blood.

“Tell me you can save her, Alba!” I yell when she remains motionless. “You have to help her.”