Hollow Earth (Hallowed Realms Book 2)
Page 26
“My father may have murdered her, but your hand crippled my people. I’ll kill you for this, brother,” Aed threatened.
Brother? Aed and that thing were related? How?
“This is not my doing, Prince.” Alroy sneered when he said the title. “Your thrown-stealing father did this. He is to blame for more than you can fathom.”
Aed tried to get up from where he sat with his dead mother’s corpse, but Alroy’s other hand produced a sword with the same stealth as it had wielded on me. He placed the tip of the blade below Aed’s belt. “I wouldn’t move if I were you, or your family tree dies here and now.”
Aed froze in place, but the hatred for his brother was clear.
“Enough!” Taryn shouted. “I said I’d go with you, Alroy, but you have to let them go.”
Alroy and Aed had a stare down, but after a moment Alroy removed the blades from both of our bodies. Alana rushed up to comfort me, but I saw her eyes dart to Aed as well.
“Come. There is much ground to cover before the dawn approaches.” Alroy extended a bony hand out to Taryn, who swallowed back her disgust and took it.
“No!” Aed’s voice rang out with mine.
“I’m going with you,” I shouted. There was no way I was letting her leave with that thing, not after everything that had happened. I was going with her even if it meant my certain death. I could no longer live in a world without her.
“If anyone is going with her, it’s me,” Aed snapped.
“Don’t listen to these boys,” a voice came from the busted gate. He was covered in black blood, which meant he’d been able to take at least one of those things down.
“Eivin, no! You need to stay here and protect my family,” Taryn said. That must be her cousin. The one who trained her so well.
“I can protect you against further attacks from the king’s men. I know their tactics. How they think.”
“You think I need help against attacks from the king?” Alroy laughed menacingly. His eyes narrowed as surveyed all the people surrounding him.
“How delightful. Taryn has an entourage. She very well may need one.” He glanced at each of us where we stood in the destroyed garden. Aed, Tris, Seamus, Eivin, Alana, and me. A more ragamuffin crew you could never find.
“Take them all,” Alroy said with a simple wave. “And relieve them of their weapons.”
All at once, the remaining lorcan swooped around us. Blades fell to the ground before anyone had a chance to try to remove them on their own. These things were fast.
“March!” was all he said before he hooked Taryn’s arm around him and pulled her up beside him. A wall of lorcan caged the rest of us.
When it appeared they weren’t going to eat us, presumably unless they were provoked, we each relaxed into a temporary walking state. I had no idea where Alroy was taking us, but there was a sinking feeling that with every step we took, our fate hung in the balance. I glanced over at Alana, who had fallen back to walk beside Aed. His arm was around her waist, and her head was leaning for support against his shoulder. I wanted to be furious with him for touching her, but I could see that in his arms, Alana felt comfort. Although we were travelling in the right direction for Alana, the plan to get her to the Isle of Glass was slipping away with each step. In what might be her final days of existence, I decided I wouldn’t interfere. If Aed made her happy, who was I to deny her that in this impossible situation?
For several minutes we trudged ahead. Seamus and Tris were behind us. Seamus was barely able to keep upright because of his fever. I went to help carry him as Aed and Alana and I took up the flank with Eivin.
“So, if Alroy is Taryn’s brother…does that mean you two aren’t cousins?” I asked, trying to piece all of this together.
Eivin’s jaw hardened. “I reckon it does mean that. At least not by blood. She’s still my kin.”
There was no doubt in my mind that blood lineage meant nothing to him when it came to family.
“Is that why I can see her?” I asked. “Because she’s part human?”
He shook his head. “If that were true, lad, then every human she ever came in contact with would have seen her before you. No. I canna tell why the two of you can see each other. Just another mystery in this bloody mess.”
We walked on for several more minutes in silence before I got up the courage to ask the question I wanted to ask the most since we started the journey.
“Do you know where they are taking us?” I whispered. He was from these parts. Perhaps he could recognize the landscape, even in the dark.
“Aye,” was all he said.
“Well, where?”
Eivin’s jaw hardened as he clenched his teeth together.
“I know this path well. It’s the one I took on my way back from the Wall.
I tried to peer out into the darkness in between the lorcan around us, but all I saw was the faint dark blue tinge of twilight in the distance.
“Why would they take us to the Wall?”
“He’s not taking us to the Wall itself,” Eivin corrected. “He’s taking us past it.”
I blinked several times, trying to process what he said.
As I looked past Alroy, I saw what Eivin meant. In the predawn sky, against the backdrop of the burning town, I could see the Wall. Beyond that lived a place Taryn referred to as Hollow Earth—a home for the damned. A horror those in Netherworld were banished to die in. The prison for the lorcan.
This was happening. There was no escaping the path we were on. But I had chosen to go with Taryn. We all did. Now we would face the gates of hell together.
THE END OF BOOK 2
Thank You
Thank you for taking this journey with Taryn, Devlin, Alana and Aed. We hope that you have enjoyed Hollow Earth, The Hallowed Realms Book 2.
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Amy Miles and Danielle Bannister
Also by Amy Miles
Forbidden (The Arotas Series Book 1)
Reckoning (The Arotas Series Book 2)
Redemption (The Arotas Series Book 3)
Evermore (The Arotas Series Book 4)
The Arotas Book Bundle (Books 1-3)
Desolate (The Immortal Rose Book 1)
Savage (The Immortal Rose Book 2)
Defiance Rising (The Rising Trilogy Book 1)
Relinquish (The Rising Trilogy Book 2)
Vengeance (The Rising Trilogy Book 3)
The Rising Book Bundle (Books 1-3)
Wither (The Withered Series Book 1)
Resurrect (The Withered Series Book 2)
Affliction (The Withered Series Book 3)
The Trickster (The Trickster Trilogy Book 1)
The Ruby Eye (The Trickster Trilogy Book 2)
The Last Trick (The Trickster Trilogy Book 3)
The Trickster Book Bundle (Books 1-3)
Jasper
Netherworld (The Hallowed Realms Book 1)
From the Embers (Havenwood Falls)
Obsidian Flames
Zombie High Chronicles (ZHC #1)
Nailed It
Blogged That
Also by Danielle Bannister
Pulled
Pulled Back
Pulled Back Again
Enigma
Netherworld
The ABC’s of Dee
Doppelganger
Must Love Coffee
Short Shorts
About Amy Miles
Amy Miles is the author of multiple published novels, including her bestselling young adult immortals books, The Arotas Series. Unwilling to be defined by any one genre, she has written paranormal romance, science fiction/fantasy, post-apocalyptic, romance, inspirational, and plans to continue to explore new genres. She is the co-Founder
of Red Coat PR, a firm helping indie authors build a marketing base for their career.
She is also the co-Founder of Penned Con, an annual two day convention held in St. Louis MO bringing readers and authors together with industry professionals to learn, grow and give back. She and her husband are heavily involved in charity work through Action for Autism, a St. Louis based organization aiding families with autism and founded the Penned Con scholarship to benefit area families. She is an avid reader, urban homesteader, weekend golfer and Netflix binge addict who lives with her husband and son in South Carolina.
About Danielle Bannister
Danielle Bannister lives with her two children in Midcoast Maine along with her precious coffee pot and peppermint mocha creamer. She is a writer of all things swoon-worthy, angsty, and snarky. She holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Southern Maine and her Master's degree in Literary Education from the University of Orono. Her writing includes: a collection of short stories called Short Shorts, The Twin Flames Trilogy: Pulled, Pulled Back, and Pulled Back Again, The ABC's of Dee, Enigma, Doppelganger, Must Love Coffee, and Netherworld with author, Amy Miles.