Still growling he says, “Stay.” Pointing at me as he faces the men on the stairs.
I obviously don’t listen, I head straight for the third bedroom and my way out.
I click the lock on the door into place and begin my search for the opening to the catacombs. I look behind all the tall wardrobes before running my fingers along the wall. On one of the side walls I feel a slight indent, and, as I follow it around with my fingertips, I can trace the outline of a door. I push against it, but nothing happens, so I stand back and look around for some kind of lever or button.
I need to hurry and get through that door. I don’t want to chance the mountain following me in here, and then stalking me all the way through the tunnels in a bid to claim me.
I cannot see anything out of the ordinary until I swing my gaze back to the hidden door. As I squint at the faint patterns painted all around the room, I realize they are Fae symbols. The only problem is, I can only understand the modern version of the Fae language, not the older more archaic version. Some of the symbols appear to be familiar but are not quite right.
Right in the middle of the door, though, is a symbol like ouroboros, the serpent eating its tail. It is a circle with a V running along its line. It did look very similar to the Fae symbol for open, so I trace its pattern on the wall. As I reach the end of the design, the symbol starts to glow, then the door clicks open, just as a pounding starts on the door.
I quickly run to the window and open it, making it look like I have escaped that way. Hopefully, that will stop the mountain from following me. I duck through the opening and push the button at the side of the door, so it clicks closed behind me as if I’d never been through it.
There is a small amount of light in the passage coming from various gaps in the wooden floorboards and cladding, its faint grey glow makes it easier to ascend the stairs and follow the winding corridor.
I can tell the minute I leave The Black Hall and enter the catacombs as the wooden paneling makes way to damp stone, and the dusty smell turns earthy. A few steps in to the tunnel and the faint light dissipates, turning the tunnel dark, but, as I look ahead, I can see a warm orange flickering further down the tunnel.
As I move closer to the orange glow I see the tunnel opens into a larger room, the ceiling still low, but the room far more expansive. Wooden stalls create a maze of merchandise and flickering candles. There are far more Fae down here than I thought there would be, all going about their business, casually shopping at a black market. I’d have thought it’d be more clandestine but, then again, the Seelie are the biggest contradiction ever. They look and act all prim and proper but are by far the vilest of the Fae. At least the Unseelie didn’t hide their more nefarious natures.
I scan the vendors, looking for a woman, but all I can see are some of the odder creatures that live in Faerie. I walk over to the first stall and address the vendor, unsure what it is I am actually looking at. It has eyes and a mouth, so I assume it can speak.
“I’m looking for Ylaine,” I say, staring at the pockmarked face of the most horrendous-smelling being I’ve ever met.
I don’t receive an answer, it just points across the row and a few stalls down. I thank the weird-looking Fae and move past the stalls, curiously eyeing their wares. As I pass the first stall I begin to see a theme. A lot of the stalls are selling body parts of things. No doubt, everything bought at this market is for some type of spell.
As I pass another stall, the vendor shouts in a voice that almost tinkles. “You smell like you have a deep need, just a pint of—”
I don’t hear the rest of what she says as I quickly move past to find Ylaine.
I reach the stall the other vendor pointed to and see two Fae. One is very goblin-like, short and stumpy with pebbly skin and a huge nose. The other is as tall as a normal Fae, but with half his face burnt away.
I turn to the goblin. “I’m looking for Ylaine.”
“You’ve found her,” she grates out, her voice sounding almost like she was gurgling. I must be staring a bit too hard because she says, “I haven’t got all day. What do you want?”
Trying hard not to stare at her, or smell her, I ask, “I need some Essence of Tourmaline and Night Dust.”
She eyeballs me for a few seconds, scrutinizing me. “Those are expensive items.”
“How much?” I ask, backing away from the smell slightly.
“I’d ask for your first-born child but that could take forever to obtain. What magic do you possess?”
“None. Don’t you deal in gold?” I ask, a bit taken aback she’s not asking for currency.
“You High Fae, always with the money. A good bargain should be in trade,” I huff out my breath, not wanting to inhale anymore. She glares at me then carries on. “How much gold do you have?”
I answer, and she clears me of all the gold I brought. She then hands me a small ornate glass vial with the smallest amount of black powder in, and an even smaller vial, which looks to be empty.
I look at the empty vial and then her. “If these are not what I asked for, then I’ll hunt you down and make you pay,” I grind out, then stalk off. I’ve probably just been ripped off, it wouldn’t be the first time. It’s hard to know what to pay for things when you have no clue of their worth, or use.
I pocket the two vials, then realize my only way out is back the way I came. So, I grab the nearest Fae by the arm as she walks past.
“What?” she spits at me. Narrowing her eyes like she is looking at an insect, not a person.
I draw out my sword and point it at her throat, I’ve messed about enough for one day. “How do I get out of here?” I ask, as menacingly as I can.
“I really hate this place,” she says. “Go to the end of the market, you’ll see the word ‘duel’ painted on the wall. Go left, and you should find your way from there.”
I release her, then head straight through the market towards what I assume will be an exit. But knowing the Fae, she could be sending me to a death of wandering dark tunnels in an endless loop. I’ll probably fall down an oubliette and be trapped forever. Not trusting the answer, I ask the same question to one more vendor and another Fae. Two of the answers are the same, one is not. In this case, majority rules, so I carry on towards the sign ‘duel.’
Once I reach the sign I follow the Fae’s instructions and find myself outside in a matter of minutes. I can see The Black Hall from where I emerge. The entrance to the catacombs is concealed behind a bush, slightly off the street at the end of The Black Hall’s wrought iron fence.
“That lying sack of shit,” I curse Adam out loud. There is absolutely no way he doesn’t know about the other entrance. I suppose he might have never been to the market, but he has manipulated me quite well once before.
Chapter Eleven
I reach out to open the door to Rozen’s, when the door opens and Rozen grabs me off the steps. He pulls me into the house and slams the door behind him.
“What the hell are you doing?” I shout at him as I right myself.
He doesn’t answer, he just grabs my arm and marches me into the kitchen. As I near the table, I see a body on the floor.
Rozen still holds my arm tightly, he shakes me. “What did you do?” he asks.
I look back over at the body and realize it’s Roan. I pull myself out of Rozen’s grasp and run over to him, dropping down to my knees. As I lean over him I can see he’s dead, his throat ripped out. His eyes, glazed and milky, stare at the ceiling. I drop back on my knees and look at Rozen. I can see the fury on his face. I just stare for a moment open-mouthed, my brow furrowed.
The part of me that would have been upset about his death died when he betrayed me and his friends. I’m more pissed off that I haven’t been able to bring him to justice. I just don’t understand what had happened, or why.
“I don’t get it,” I finally say.
“I found him on my doorstep,” he says, advancing on me. “What did you do?”
I get up off the floor and
face him. “I didn’t do anything, dickhead. He accompanied me to The Black Hall, spouting off about becoming their Alpha. I kind of got the impression that wasn’t going to happen. But I was too busy making my way to the catacombs so I can do your bidding, oh great and powerful master,” I say, nice and sarcastically.
He glares at me.
“He was alive when I left, I just assumed he was using himself as a distraction like you said.” I smile as sweetly as I can muster. “Why do you even care, you’re a heartless bastard.”
“I don’t care, and I am a heartless bastard as you so eloquently put it. I do, however, need someone that can go about my business for me whilst I’m here, so that bitch queen doesn’t realize I’m invading her space again. My plans are thought out very carefully, and ever since I made the mistake of tracking you down, none of them have gone right. I’m this close to telling that bastard to deal with you himself.”
“What bastard?” I ask, curious.
He doesn’t answer, he just glares.
“I suggest you disappear upstairs because, right now, I’m seconds from ending your life so I’m free of you!” he growls at me, his hands curling into fists at his side.
I take that as the hint it is and run upstairs to my room. I shut the door and barricade it with a chair, not that it would do much good against Rozen.
What the hell had happened to Roan? The Rogue Lycans had obviously killed him. I just found his demise a little excessive. I actually thought they’d just send him away with a warning to not invade their turf, maybe rough him up a little bit. Are the Rogues even more aggressive than normal Lycans?
All questions aside I am pleased he is no longer a problem because, in some respect, I did blame him for having to sacrifice my whole life. A small part of me is still saddened, though, not for me, but for everyone that has lost him. He’d been led down this path because I wouldn’t finish mating with Bastian.
Maybe the part of me that is sad is just feeling guilty. What if I’d agreed to finish the bond with Bastian straight away, would this have happened? But I can’t think about ‘what ifs’ right now.
I creep out of the house at the crack of dawn to meet Adam, relieved that I’m not writhing in pain the minute I step out the door. I’m also happy I don’t have to face Rozen after the mood he’d been in last night. The more I can avoid him the better, especially if it means I’ll stay alive long enough to get myself out of this situation.
As I walk into the bar, Adam rushes straight over to me, pulls me into his arms, and kisses me. I pull back and glare at him.
“Go with it, Scarlet, the queen’s guards are here,” he whispers against my lips.
He doesn’t have the charm turned on this time and, as his lips caress mine, I don’t fully melt into his arms. Instead, I loosely wrap my arms around his waist. He spins us around and starts backing me up towards the rear of the bar. All while expertly moving his lips against mine. As we reach the door to the back of the bar, I think he’s about to release me, but, instead he deepens the kiss.
Suddenly, I’m completely in to it and get lost in the sensation of his tongue sliding against my own. I pull my arms tighter around his waist.
He breaks away from the kiss and pulls me away from him, holding me by the shoulders. I look up at him then and realize we are already in the back room.
“You obviously didn’t take my advice and finish mating with Bastian, yet you’re here, unscathed and unmated. I’m impressed,” he states clearly, not at all affected by kissing me.
I, unfortunately, am affected by him this time. I have no clue what is wrong with me. I glare in response.
“Don’t worry, Scarlet, you only reacted that way because you are feeling the need to fulfil the mating bond. That feeling will only get stronger as each day passes. I’m sorry I had to greet you that way. Some of the queen’s guards were in there. I couldn’t chance them seeing you because of your little issue with Bryn and Bronwyn.” He backs away and sits back in the chair, I remain standing by the door, glaring, until I get myself together.
Bloody mating bond!
I move over to the bed and awkwardly sit down opposite Adam. He grins at me as I glare at him, like it’s his fault I’m getting desperate all of a sudden.
I huff out a breath. “How many entrances are there to the catacombs?” I ask, peeved that he’d misled me.
“A lot, but I only know of two. The second one would have been equally harder for you to gain entry to because it’s near the castle.” He narrows his eyes. “I take it you found another way out and that’s why you’re pissed off at me? I haven’t intentionally tried to mislead you, this time.” I roll my eyes and reach into my pocket for the two vials. “How exactly do these two vials help me get into the archives?” I ask, holding them out to him.
“The last time you went into the archives you walked in through the front door like any Guild Hunter, albeit illegally, as you didn’t have permission. This time, you will need to enter through a tunnel. However, at the end of the tunnel there will be wards. The Essence of Tourmaline will get you through them,” he says, pointing to the larger of the vials. “Once you pass the wards, you will need the Night Dust to cover your activities.
“Once activated, it will blanket everything in darkness. Only you will be able to see through it because you’ll be wearing this.” He reaches behind his back and produces a necklace, a string of diamond-like stones that glitter in the early morning light. “This is the necklace of light, a Fae relic I have borrowed from The Guild, so please don’t lose it.”
He passes me the necklace and I try to clasp it around my neck. He gets up and moves my hands out of the way, securing it into place then straightening it. I inch away from his touch immediately, unsure what to think of these sudden stirrings I am getting.
Adam backs away and moves over to the door. “Come on, we need to get out of here and get you in the archives. We’ll talk on the way.”
We head out the back door and double check there are no more guards hanging around before we start to work our way through the maze of back streets. The back streets are designed specifically so the Human tourists can’t find their way out without help, which they would have to bargain for. I had once been lost in here for a whole day. After trading all my money and weapons, I bargained with a Fae criminal for a map, so I wouldn’t have the need for the Fae version of ‘help’ again.
“So, you want me to get you your file?” I ask as we walk down a long thin alley.
“Yes,” he states, but doesn’t elaborate.
“Why?”
“The same reason as you wanted yours, to see what the bastards really have on me.”
“What did you do to The Guild to get you tethered to them when it’s obvious you don’t want to be?” I ask as he stops us at the side of a sewage drain.
“It’s not what I did to The Guild, it’s what I did to the queen. She holds more sway with The Guild than any other Fae.”
I stare at him, waiting for more but, instead, he bends down and lifts the grate out, exposing a ladder. “Fantastic, you want me to wade through a sewer to get to The Guild.”
“Well, it’s not really wading when there’s a path at the side of the waste.” He smirks. I roll my eyes and sigh. “I’ll be coming with you as far as I can.”
Adam climbs down the ladder first, then shouts for me to join him. As I get halfway down the ladder, I feel his hand cup my ass.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I say, swatting his hand out of the way while clutching onto the ladder with one hand.
“I thought you might need steadying,” he says, and I can hear the laughter in his voice.
“I think I prefer working with Aylesbury, at least he doesn’t grope me at every opportunity,” I say as I reach the bottom of the ladder. When I turn to face Adam I do it with unshed tears in my eyes. I really miss him.
“What’s the matter?” Adam asks, gripping my shoulders and looking at me intently.
“Aylesbury’s g
one, he died a few days ago,” I tell Adam, then burst into tears.
He pulls me into a hug and holds me close until I get a hold of myself. As my tears abate, I realize that, even though I was upset, I did enjoy the feel of cuddling up to his magnificent body.
“How?” he asks when the tears slow to hiccups.
“I don’t know,” I answer, evading the truth in case I invoke the blood oath by revealing what happened. I can’t handle that pain when I’m overemotional as well.
“Right, which way?” I ask, pulling away and glancing around the dimly lit sewer.
We were at a junction which split two ways, the dim light came from really old Fae lanterns sporadically embedded into the ceiling. There was a rather small path to either side of the murky water that flowed past us. I’m not sure Adam will be able to walk that easily on it, though, as the ceiling arches, which means there is only room for someone of my limited height to walk easily.
Adam takes the hint and heads off to the right, with a lot more grace than I am managing, and he is at least a foot taller than me. The path is barely wide enough to walk on without turning sideways but, somehow, Adam traverses it a lot easier than I do.
I stumble after him as he turns down another tunnel. Partway along there is an arch in the wall and Adam slides into it. As I follow him, I can’t see anything other than darkness. Adam strikes a match and lights a torch hanging from the wall at his side. The brickwork here is crumbled, leaving a gaping hole close to the floor.
Adam grabs the torch and holds it close to the hole. I peer inside and can only see a narrow tunnel dug out of the earth.
“This is where I’ll wait. Pass me the Essence of Tourmaline and your sword, you won’t fit through there with it strapped to your back.”
I reach into my pocket and hand over the vial, then bend over to prop my sword against the wall. As I stand, Adam blows dust straight into my face just as I take a deep breath in ready to speak. I instantly sneeze.
“What was that?” I shout at him, rubbing the dust out of my eyes.
Sacrifice Page 7
