Without thinking, I ran toward the path where they’d taken Magnus. I went to dodge around Pride, but his hands fell on my shoulders, and he released a bone-chilling snarl. His fingers digging into my collarbone pierced my flesh and drew blood. Before I could formulate a thought, my feet left the ground.
Lifting me, he flung me away as if I weighed no more than a pebble. A scream lodged in my throat as the world whipped around me and the wind tore at me. The ground became a dizzying blur until I had no idea where I was.
And then I hit the earth.
Breath burst out of my lungs when I crashed onto my side, and my back screamed in protest as I skidded across the ground. The rubble still raining down from the ruins pelted me; I threw my arms over my head to shield it before I crashed into the rocky base of the monolith.
Lying there, I panted through the pain in my ribs as I tried to get my bearings. Overhead, the cloud of smoke cleared to reveal more of the red sky, but from my angle, I couldn’t see what happened to the ruins.
Turning myself over, I clawed my way up the pile of rocks until I arrived at the top and settled only a foot away from the monolith. My heart sank when I finally saw the ruins again.
Or at least I saw what remained of them.
A perfect single square piece of the three-story section had collapsed. If anything was in that section, it was dead.
CHAPTER 40
Magnus
When I crashed into the bars of my cell, they held firm before bending outward with a low screech.
Come on! Come on! Come on!
Gritting my teeth, I pushed harder as rocks battered my body. One of them crashed onto my heel, turning it to the side until something popped and I nearly went down.
Amalia.
Her name became a mantra in my head compelling me to continue as the world narrowed to a pinprick of light and thought around me.
The bars broke in half as they finally gave way beneath my weight and my determination to be free. Momentum carried me across the rubble spilling out of the cell and into the hallway. I had to keep my head bowed and my shoulders hunched to avoid smashing them off the ceiling. When my cell collapsed, the shockwave of the force lifted me off my feet. I curled into a ball to avoid breaking my neck on the ceiling as I flew across the hall.
I saw the wall coming but was helpless to do anything to stop myself from being slammed into it. My entire body jerked and twitched when I collapsed onto the rising debris. Lying there, I inhaled large gulps of dust and sand while the thunderous noise dimmed and a few rocks clattered into place.
Opening my eyes, I blinked away the thick coat of dust caking them. The layer of rubble coating me fell apart as I rolled to the side and rose to my hands and knees to survey the destruction. In this position, the ceiling scraped the tips of my horns. The debris packed the hallway, and closer to where my cell had been, it rose until it was impossible to tell the ceiling from the floor.
Wren!
I should have expected this kind of booby trap, but I was so focused on getting to Amalia that I hadn’t stopped to think the fae might have worked into place something designed to kill their enemy should they discover a way to break free.
Tricky little extinct race, and more vicious than I’d believed.
But then, I suspected they were pushed to more brutal means in an attempt to keep their home. And those means had failed.
Crawling forward, I made my way toward Wren’s cell. My heart battered my ribs with every passing second as I made my way across the unsteady ground. When the area narrowed further, I slid to my stomach and dragged myself through the destruction. The stones abrading my flesh, smeared more of my blood across the Abyss as I battled to reach Wren.
She has to be alive. I would never forgive myself if I’d killed her. I liked the feisty ex-mortal, and I couldn’t be the one who entombed her under a mound of ruins. I didn’t let myself consider that I might also be buried in here; it wasn’t an option.
I listened for any sound from Wren. A footstep, a breath, or a call, but all I heard was my labored breathing as dust billowed off the rocks before me with each breath. I didn’t dare yell out for her; the jinn and horsemen already knew something happened up here, letting them know I’d survived it by calling for her would only bring them here faster.
The bars of Wren’s cell came into view, and I slithered toward them at a faster rate. The ceiling pressed against my back and rocks dug into my chest as I pulled myself forward to peer through the bars. My heart sank when I saw the wall of debris ending only inches from the ceiling all the way around her cell.
It would take days to dig her out, but if her head had been crushed, there would be nothing I could do.
A flicker of something on the other side of the cell caught my attention. From the way my face was positioned against the bars, the debris looked as if it stretched all the way across the cell. When Wren moved again, she broke the optical illusion, and I spotted her on top of a two-foot mound of rubble. She stood with her back pressed against the bars opposite my cell.
Despite the destruction wrought on my cell and the ring of rubble around hers, the rest of Wren’s space remained remarkably untouched by dirt and rocks. Not one pebble made it beyond the symbol on her ceiling.
I suddenly understood why the three-story section of runes had remained intact. The symbols had protected this area of the structure from collapsing until I broke one of them.
“I’m coming,” I said to her.
She gave me the finger.
Smiling, I pushed myself away from the bars and wiggled through the wreckage toward the corner of her cell. It widened out again when I neared the bend, and on my hands and knees, I scuttled around the side of Wren’s cell.
When the rubble dropped off dramatically, I slid down the rocks to stand on the smaller pile outside her cell. Her eyes swung toward me, and though she grinned, she looked as gray as a ghost.
“Were you trying to kill me?” she asked.
“No, and thankfully I didn’t.”
“Yeah, thankfully, dumbass.”
I smiled at her before inspecting the bars; I hoped they would give way from this side without her having to destroy the marking. Neither of us would survive more ruins filling this place. However, I suspected the symbol was only meant to make it impossible for those inside the cell to breakout.
The booby trap was more malicious than I’d expected from the fae, but they wouldn’t make it so their prisoner could never exit once they were inside.
But what if they’d made it so the only way someone could walk freely out of the cell was through the door? I glanced at the scant foot of space available between ceiling and floor where Wren’s cell door was located.
If that were the case, I’d find out soon enough as I didn’t have enough time to dig through all of that and get her free before the jinn returned.
Gritting my teeth, I ignored the pop in my shoulder as my muscles strained while I worked to separate the bars. For a second, they didn’t give, and then, with a low squeak, they began separating.
“Oh,” Wren breathed.
I pulled the bars more than a foot apart and stepped aside. “Hurry,” I urged. “They’ll be coming for us soon.”
“I can’t believe that actually worked,” she muttered as she gripped the bars and started to wiggle out. “I should have destroyed the thing days ago.” Her chest came free, then her torso. “I’m so mad at myself. Thank—”
The second her feet slid free of the symbol, she vanished. One minute she was before me, and the next, she was nothing but air. I gave silent thanks she was free and back with Corson before turning to search for a way out.
Too bad it wouldn’t be that easy for Amalia and me.
• • •
Amalia
Tears streamed down my face when I buried my head in my hands and wept loudly. Magnus was still alive, I could feel him through our bond, but I would never let Pride or any who stood with him know. When I thought of my mother,
the tears came easy.
They all had to think Magnus was dead. It might be the only chance we had of getting out of this place.
While I cried, I tried to think of some way for us to escape. How could I get to the ruins without someone stopping me? And what if Magnus was trapped beneath that mess?
One problem at a time.
Cracking my fingers apart, I assessed the others with blurry eyes. Lust ordered some of the jinn to check the ruins and report back to her immediately. A few of them hesitated, but they all obeyed her command.
What if I went back to get the others? What if I returned and brought some of them here to help us fight? Would they believe me about what had happened, or would they think I was trying to set them up?
They would know I was Magnus’s Chosen; they’d have to see that all I’d want was for him to be safe, but would they think I was plotting something against all of them?
No, that was not an option. I would make them believe me because I had to do something, and staying here wouldn’t do Magnus or me any good, not against these numbers and the horsemen. I hated leaving Magnus alone here for even a second, but it was all I could think of to do, and I wouldn’t leave for long.
“Someone get that pathetic bitch down from there,” Lust sneered.
Now or never.
Lowering my hands, I pushed myself to my feet. The rocks surrounding Absenthees were solid, but some of the debris from the collapsing ruins shifted beneath my feet. I stifled a cry and flung out a hand to steady myself before I fell over.
When my hand connected with the monolith, I froze as a bolt of power raced from it and into me. This wasn’t like the hideous jolt of energy that came with the life going through me after someone died here.
No, this was more like when the pool of water enveloped me, only this was so much more! I felt electrified with the power suffusing me. Everyone had believed the fae to be weak with an inactive ability, but in this place, they had created a thriving world of life and power.
“Oh,” I breathed when beneath my palm, one of the symbols warmed and a faint hint of orange light illuminated its edges.
“What secrets do you hold?” I murmured.
A rock clattering nearby drew my attention away from the monolith. While I was focused on Absenthees, a handful of jinn had started climbing the rocks toward me.
I didn’t want to let go of the monolith, but I couldn’t stay here. I had to get to the others, and the jinn were closing in on me. When I jerked my hand away from the tempting structure, the light vanished. I glanced longingly at Absenthees before waving my hand in front of my face, and opening a portal, I stepped into it.
“No! Stop her!” Lust screamed.
But she was too late as I was already entering the cave while the portal closed behind me, officially sealing me off from Magnus. Panic rose within me, but I shut it down. I had to be calm and reasonable when talking with the others. It was the only way I’d be able to make them understand Magnus needed help.
I opened my mouth and started to gush out an explanation of what happened. “You have to help….”
My voice trailed off when I realized I was speaking to an empty cave. I stood, gawking at the shadows hugging the spacious area as somewhere in the distance water dripped onto rock.
What? Where? I couldn’t form an answer as the only hope I had of saving Magnus exploded into pieces around me.
They wouldn’t leave Magnus behind, I was confident of that, but why had they gone? Then, I realized they’d either been forced to move or were dead. Had Astaroth or someone else somehow uncovered their location? Had Magnus’s illusion covering the front of the cave crumpled when the ruins collapsed? Magnus wasn’t dead, but was he so severely injured that he couldn’t hold an illusion anymore?
No matter what had happened here, it all equaled the same thing; Magnus and I were on our own.
CHAPTER 41
Wren
I came awake with a start, jerking against whoever held me and flinging myself forward.
“Wren!” Corson’s arms constricted around me.
The fight went out of me when he pressed me against his chest. “Oh,” I breathed and draped my arms around his neck. I inhaled his scent as my lips rested against my fading bite on his neck. “It’s you. I’m… I’m… back.”
I had a vague memory of having gone somewhere without him, but where had I gone and what happened?
“You’re back.” Distress and relief resonated in his voice as he stroked my hair. “You’re back.”
“I missed you.”
“And I, you.”
I let myself drift into his comforting embrace, but I turned my attention away from his neck when my fangs pricked with the impulse to sink into his flesh and mark him. However, I sensed others around us, and I wouldn’t share our private bond with them.
“Others went with me, didn’t they?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“How many remain wherever I was?”
“Just Magnus and Amalia.”
Leaning back in his arms, I smiled when his beautiful citrine eyes met mine. I cradled his cheek as love swelled within me and his eyes danced with joy. I was so focused on him that it took me a minute to notice the dark purple leaves and arching branches over his head.
We certainly hadn’t been anywhere like this before… before…
Total recall danced at the edges of my mind, but the memory of where I’d been continued to elude me. Then, I forgot about trying to recall my whereabouts when I realized we were in a grove of calamuts.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Trying to get help,” he said, “and failing.”
“Where is Amalia?” an unfamiliar voice demanded.
I turned my head to find a striking woman with black hair and black eyes staring intently at me; I guessed she was the speaker. I didn’t respond to her as my gaze traveled over all those gathered around us. I’d never seen the six men and women standing with the woman who’d spoken, but I recognized the ones gathered close to Corson. However, there were far fewer demons and humans here than there should be.
“Where is everyone else?” I demanded.
Lix grunted before chugging from his flask; Erin rested a hand on his shoulder. From over Corson’s shoulder, Jolie gave me a wan smile.
“This is all that’s left,” Corson murmured. “There are twenty-three demons, including Magnus, two angels, and twenty human survivors.”
There’s only forty-five of us left!
My stomach turned over at the realization. Yesterday, or however long ago it was before all this occurred, there were one hundred twenty-five of us. Eighty had died while I’d been wherever I was. If I were still human, the knowledge would have made me puke.
“Oh,” I breathed as I took note of all the missing faces. For years, I’d fought relentlessly against those who sought to kill us, and I’d aligned with the demons in the hopes of keeping the Wilders alive, but I’d lost so many of them in one fell swoop.
“This is not your fault,” Corson said as he guessed at my thoughts. “You could not have stopped this. None of us could.”
It was true, but it didn’t matter; I still blamed myself. If Randy is still alive, he’s going to be so disappointed in me. He’d left me in charge while he went to find a safer place for us to live, and I’d failed.
No, you didn’t, and he won’t be disappointed. The reasonable voice in my head replied. And the reasonable voice was, of course, right, but I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d let Randy down and that I’d failed all the Wilders who were lost.
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Lix said in a tone so icy I half expected to see frost billowing from his jaw as he spoke. “Some of those gathered here might have been able to stop it, or at least attempted to stop it. They definitely could have stepped in to save a couple of lives. Just one life would have been better than none, right, Rislen?”
“We cannot go against our kind,” the beautiful woman who’d spoken t
o me stonily replied to him.
“Your kind?” I inquired.
“Rislen is a jinni,” Corson said.
“Jinni,” I snarled.
Before I could control them, my five-inch long talons sprouted from the backs of my hands. They’d grown over the past couple of months, but they still weren’t as long as Corson’s, and they may never be. They were lethal though, and I’d seen enough of the jinn to know I’d happily slice and dice them.
“Easy,” Corson murmured and rubbed his fingers over the back of one of my hands. “Rislen is Faulted, as are the jinn standing with her. We came here in the hopes of getting their help.”
“And we’re not leaving until we do,” Hawk stated.
Overhead, some of the calamut leaves stirred when a shadow soared above them. Tipping my head back, I watched as Raphael swooped over the trees before disappearing. Caim must be up there somewhere keeping watch with him too.
“Faulted?” Lowering my head, I focused on the others again. The word niggled at the back of my mind, begging me to recall something.
“There are some jinn who are more Fae-aulted than the rest. It’s a complicated story, but—”
“I know it!” I cried, cutting off Corson as some of the pieces locked into place. “Magnus told me about the Faulted!”
“You saw Magnus?” Corson demanded.
Did I? I must have seen him if I’d said that, but where and how… Then the fog dispersed and memories flowed forth.
“Yes, the jinn brought him up and imprisoned him in the cell next to mine. He told me everything that’s been going on and about Amalia, his Chosen.”
“His what now?” Vargas blurted.
“His Chosen,” I said. “Put me down.” I flattened my palm against Corson’s chest. I didn’t want out of his arms, but I had to stand. When he set me on my feet, he kept his arm around my waist. “You didn’t know he’d claimed her?”
“No,” Erin answered. “The last time we saw them, there was no indication of anything like that.”
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