Page 42 of A Castle of Broken Memories

A flicker of red caught the corner of my eye—the spell slipping free of my cloak. A glance over my shoulder, and my gaze met Jack’s, his pale green eyes only just visible in the light streaming down from above.

We were officially out of time.

Dropping each others’ hands, the four of us tore up the last two flights of stairs as fast as our feet could take us. I yanked open the twentieth door just when the monster let out a deafening roar, and waved the others through while I held it. Jack’s hand wrapped around my waist as he passed, pulling me into the room a moment before the monster’s claws struck the closing door.

I leaned into him, letting his strong arms hold me up while I caught my breath—until I realized what I was doing and stepped away with a shaky laugh. “That was close.”

“Too close,” Calum agreed, and I looked over to find him supporting Tenebris, who was about two shades of green away from barfing. Calum rubbed his back while holding him steadily upright. “And was it just me, or was that giant monster out there… crying?”

“That’s what I thought too,” Jack said.

I nodded. “I think it hurt its hand when it took out that chunk of the stairs.”

“Poor baby,” Tenebris muttered sarcastically, a sheen of sweat glistening on his angular face. “If only it’d hit something softer, like us.” He ran a trembling hand through his hair. “Gods, I miss being able to teleport. It was such a handy skill to have when brutish beasts started taking swings at me. Although right now, I’d settle for seeing this curse contained and us heading off into the sunset.”

“Wouldn’t we all,” I murmured as I finally took note of our new surroundings. “Holy…” My breath caught, and I gazed about in awe. “They sure don’t do things by halves in this place, do they?”

Where I’d been expecting a pristine hall with an elaborate altar, there were huge, thick trees full of twinkling lights and a wide path cutting through them. It led over a stone bridge dotted with glowing lanterns, a serene little stream winding its way beneath and disappearing into the woods. Farther down, I made out a clearing, the edges of which were lined with tall, columned arches draped with ivy and lush purple lilacs. Carved wooden pews filled the spaces on either side of the path with a moss-covered altar waiting at the end, raised atop a dais of similar stone and embedded with faintly-colored crystals.

And there, nestled between two golden chalices the size of wine bottles, was a decanter.

My heart tripped into overtime.

The artifact.

Wordlessly, I felt myself moving down the path as if led by an invisible hand. The others fell into step behind me, silent for once while the beauty and natural reverence of the room sunk in. My gaze remained fixed on the decanter as I stepped onto the dais. I stretched my hand out, tentatively stroking the smooth glass. Light emanated from its surface wherever my finger touched, leaving a brief, glowing trail in its wake.

“This is it,” I whispered.

“It’s beautiful.” Jack’s voice rumbled behind my ear, and I shifted to the side while he stepped onto the dais beside me.

Soft purple light surrounded us, and I gasped to see the muted crystals beneath our feet had started glowing. “How’d you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Jack replied, looking around in confusion. “I’m just standing here.” He stepped off the dais, and the light from the crystals dimmed. “Whoa.”

“Ooh, let me try.” Tenebris brushed past him to hop up onto the dais beside me. Nothing happened. He shrugged. “Maybe it just likes Jack.” He shuffled off, and Jack stepped back on. The crystals burst to life.

“Huh. They really do seem to like you,” I murmured, eyeing the glowing stones curiously. “I wonder…” I stepped off the dais, and the crystals immediately lost their light. “Weird. It’s almost as if…”

Jack’s hand reached out to wrap around mine, and he pulled me onto the dais beside him. Soft lavender light filled the space around us. “It likes us together,” he finished, his voice husky.

I swallowed, my body swaying closer to his. “How strange.”

His eyes hooded, his free hand settling at my waist as his head lowered in my direction. “Not so strange.”

My heart pounded frantically, slamming against my ribcage as if it, too, wished to be closer to the man standing before me, and my lips parted in anticipation. The tiniest of lifts up onto my toes and our mouths would line up…

“The artifact,” I blurted.

Jack blinked.

I reached for the crystal decanter, fingers wrapping around its narrow neck and drawing it in front of my chest like a shield. “We should see if it works for the, um, for the spell. Get this curse contained so we can go home.”

Jack took a step back. “Right.” He cleared his throat. “We should do that.”

“This is better than the soap operas they have in the outside world,” Tenebris whispered, and I looked over to find him and Calum sharing a pouch of sunflower seeds as they watched us. I narrowed my eyes, and Calum at least had the decency to look contrite. Tenebris merely grinned and tossed another seed into his mouth.

To think I actually used to sleep with that monkey.