by Boone Brux
“What are we going to do?”
She sounded so heartsick, the last thing he wanted to do was let her down, but how could he get Esmeralda out of the ice and get them to safety?
“Step back.”
Jade did as he asked. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet. Maybe nothing.”
He pulled out the axe from his waistband and clutched the handle with a double-fisted grip. This weapon was immortal. Maybe it did more than just send the Bane to the Abyss.
Luc drew the axe back and brought it down in an overhead arc. The blade struck the ice and bounced off. He stepped close, but the strike didn’t appear to have any effect or even leave a mark. He tried it again, battering the surface with four hacking blows. Nothing.
“Damn.”
Jade watched him, her fingers pressed to her lips as if praying for success. His determination grew and suddenly giving her what she wanted so desperately was the most important thing in the world to him. The dragon stirred inside, giving him what he hoped was the answer for getting Esmeralda free. He leaned the axe against the wall and refocused on the ice, tapping into the beast.
The animal pushed for dominance, wanting complete freedom to transform and conquer. He pushed back but allowed the beast to stretch. Luc sent a mental request to the dragon for help, asking for guidance in the quest. The beast calmed and answered with fire.
Unlike the uncontrollable blasts that had ignited the forest the night Jade had been shot, this fire was intentional. Like an extension of his arms, the flames, the dragon and Luc became one.
Energy raced down his arms. He opened his hands and spread his fingers, wearing the white-hot heat like a pair of gloves. With a tentative touch, he brushed his palm across the surface of the ice. A rivulet of water ran down the front of the window and the hiss of steam spiraled up from his hand. He raised his other hand and swiped in the opposite direction, again melting the ice.
“It’s working.” Jade took a step back as his movement became bigger.
The process was slow and he wasn’t sure what he would do when he got close to Esmeralda’s body. He worked in silence, always aware of Jade hovering a few feet away. To her credit, she never once offered advice or suggestions. This was his gift, part of being a Shield.
When only inches separated him from Esmeralda, he once again asked the dragon for guidance. The intense heat faded to merely hot. Awareness of the beast lingered at the back of Luc’s mind, as did its awareness of him. Working together, guiding the heat, they were able to accomplish a miracle.
Luc glided his hand along Esmeralda’s leg. A loud crack popped behind her body and her limbs crumpled, sending her toppling out of the ice. Jade leapt forward and Luc managed to catch most of Esmeralda over his shoulder. He eased backward, inching his way out of the window. Jade guided him and then lifted much of her sister’s dead weight so he could get his footing.
Together they gently laid her on the ground. Her skin was cold and white, her lips blue. With tentative hands, Jade brushed back the chocolate brown locks from her sister’s face. She seemed unsure what to do or how to help Esmeralda.
Luc laid his head on her chest. Damp cloth pressed against the side of his face. He lifted his head, tore at the laces on the front of her gown and repositioned his ear.
“What…” Jade clutched her sister’s hand to her breast. “Are you doing?”
He held up a hand for silence and closed his eyes, listening—hoping. Then he heard it, the faintest beat. Not fully trusting his hearing, he pressed two fingers against her neck, then her wrist, each pulse point telling him the same thing. He sat up. “She’s alive.”
Tears brimmed in Jade’s eyes, spilling over and streaming down her cheeks. “Are you certain?”
He took her hand and laid it against the side of Esmeralda’s neck. “Feel that?”
She shook her head, her words rasping from her throat. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Close your eyes.” He covered her hand with his and pushed her index and middle finger deep into her sister’s neck. “Wait.”
It took several seconds, but Jade’s eyes popped open. “I felt it.” She sat a few seconds longer, the smile spreading across her face. “It’s a miracle she’s alive.”
She twisted and threw her arms around Luc. He caught her up, pulling her tightly against him. A miracle? He wasn’t sure. The fact that there was a demon walking around with Esmeralda’s soul wasn’t happy news.
He didn’t voice his thoughts when he released Jade. She was brave and had been incredibly resourceful on this mission, but he suspected seeing her sister’s body had pushed her past the point of reason.
He stuck the axe handle in the waist of his pants at his back and tugged the strings of Esmeralda’s bodice together. Their situation had just gotten a lot more difficult. In addition to his already weakened state, escape had already been questionable. Now he had a body to carry. He scooped up Esmeralda’s limp form and stood. “We need to get out of here—now.”
“I’ll check if there’s another way out.” Jade jogged to the end of the room, disappearing into the darkness.
He waited, shifting under Esmeralda’s weight. The seconds ticked by and still she didn’t return. As he crouched to lay the limp form on the ground, Jade reappeared.
She slowly walked back, surveying the walls. “It dead ends.”
“Then we leave the way we came.” He readjusted the body and looked around. “It doesn’t feel right leaving them here.”
“I know.” Jade rubbed her arms vigorously. “But there’s only two of us and a whole army of Bane.”
“Another time?”
She smiled. “You can count on it.”
They moved back into the corridor and crept along the wall. The air grew warmer but nowhere near warm. Luc turned sideways and repositioned Esmeralda’s body in order to fit through the narrow passage. They halted at the entrance and listened. All seemed quiet. Jade tiptoed forward to peek into the chamber.
Luc looked up. Three feet above him, a lumpy black shape clung to the ceiling. Dark eyes as round as quarried onyx stones stared back at him. The creature didn’t move or send up an alarm, but the way it looked at him, unblinking, gave him an uneasy feeling. As though there was more to the imps than just resembling huge bats.
Jade eased back to where he waited and mouthed, “Empty.”
He nodded, hefted Esmeralda’s body, and tilted his chin toward the door, giving Jade the signal to lead. They inched forward into the chamber. The fog had completely disappeared and the path to the doorway was clear and thankfully empty. They skirted the chains and were almost to the door when a figure stepped out and blocked their way.
“Leaving so soon?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
A wicked smile quirked at the corners of Sha-hera’s mouth, showing off her pointed white fangs. She cocked her head. “What do you have there?”
Jade positioned herself in front of Luc and tensed, ready for an attack. Nothing was going to stop her from getting Esmeralda’s body out of the Shadow World. “Step aside, Sha-hera.”
“I don’t think so.” She gave Jade a disgruntled look. “At least not until you answer my questions.”
The demon glided toward them. Both Jade and Luc retreated several paces. There was no other escape but through the door Sha-hera blocked.
The demon bent and snagged the chain that had shackled Luc’s ankle, holding it up. “I assume these were for you.” Her yellow gaze rested on Luc and then slid to Jade. “And this…” She kicked the band that had imprisoned Jade. “Was for you?”
Neither answered her question. Jade kept her body between Luc and the demon, ready to fight if the bitch so much as twitched a wing.
“Since we are such good friends, Jade…” She drew out the name and paced back to the door. With a dramatic pivot, Sha-hera faced them and flared her wings, completely blocking their only escape route. “I will make you a deal.”
The demo
n couldn’t be trusted in the simplest of matters, but they had no other choice.
“What kind of deal?” Jade asked.
Sha-hera crossed her arms over her ample chest. “You answer my questions and I will let you go.”
Jade smiled sweetly. “As simple as that? You’ll just let us pass?”
The demon held up her hand. “I swear it.”
“A Bane promise holds little weight,” Luc said.
Sha-hera lowered her hand and shrugged. “True, but really, what other choice do you have?”
“Why?”
“You have information I need and I’m willing to compromise. But decide quickly. I’m not very patient.”
It would be a waste of time to press the demon into the promise of keeping her word. She either would or wouldn’t and they would have to deal with the consequences. Jade glanced at Luc. He nodded.
She faced Sha-hera. “Ask your questions.”
“Good.” The demon straightened. “Somebody held you prisoner, yes?”
“Yes.” Jade said.
Sha-hera’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”
Loyalty warred inside her. If there was a chance to escape and get Esmeralda’s body to a safe place, then she would do anything. But what if the demon Rell really did embody her sister’s soul and the limp form in Luc’s arms was a trick or an illusion? Jade swallowed her doubts and made her decision. “Icarus.”
A finely sculpted brow arched, the singsong note in the demon’s voice telling Jade she knew Icarus was not the only abductor. “And?”
“And Rell.”
“So the two of them are working together.” She glared at Jade. “Why?”
Too late Jade remembered the tattoos on her hands. She pressed her palms against her thighs and slid them around her back. The demon watched her movements, understanding slowly dawning on her face.
Sha-hera lunged forward and grabbed Jade’s arms, yanking her hands up to look at them. “How did you get these?”
Jade circled her arms, twisting to pull free. “That I will not tell you.”
“It matters not.” Sha-hera’s smile turned to a sneer. “I know how it was done, but I venture that Icarus does not, correct?”
Neither Jade nor Luc answered her.
“No, that is why he tortured you—to get information.” Her smile was one of genuine delight. “One last question.” She turned and glided away from them. “Did Icarus mention the Abyss of Souls?”
Jade gritted her teeth, sure her answer would give Sha-hera a distinct advantage. The situation between Rell and Icarus was pulling Rell deeper into the struggle. With the discovery of Esmeralda’s body, Jade knew that putting her sister in danger was the last thing she wanted.
She looked the demon squarely in the eye and lied. “No, he didn’t. What is the significance of the Abyss?”
Sha-hera waved a finger back and forth. “No, no, I am the only one who gets to ask questions.”
“At least tell me why Esmeralda’s body was frozen in ice.”
Sha-hera stepped to the side, giving them a clear path to the door. “You will have to be satisfied with an unhindered escape.” She tipped her small blue horns toward the limp form in Luc’s arms. “And your useless prize.”
No matter what the demon inferred, Jade would not believe her sister was dead. She couldn’t give up that hope. Not yet. “Then we are free to leave?”
Sha-hera held her arm out to her side, indicating the doorway.
“Just like that?” Jade said. Nothing was ever this easy with a Bane.
“I said I would keep my word.” She lowered her arm. “Go.”
“And you will not follow us?” There was a trick within the demon’s actions, but Jade couldn’t put her finger on it.
“I will not follow and Vile has forbidden all demons but me to enter these caverns, so there will be no Bane to pursue you.”
“What about Icarus?” Luc asked.
A malevolent smile crept across Sha-hera’s mouth. “Yes, he’s been a very bad demon. Won’t Vile be angry with him when he finds out that not only did Icarus violate his private realm, but also let you two escape?”
Jade’s stance relaxed a fraction. “Ah, I understand now. We escape, you tell Vile, he becomes angry with Icarus and you are once again in the king’s good graces.”
“Not as dumb as I thought.” Sha-hera leaned a shoulder against the wall. “But you’d better go before Icarus returns.” The demon’s gaze turned hard. “Or I run out of patience and claim you as my own prize and present you to Vile.”
“Why not do that anyway,” Luc asked. “Would you not still gain his favor?”
Jade turned and glared at him, but he ignored her.
“I thought about it,” Sha-hera said. “But this plan gains the same favor and thwarts Icarus.” She moved to block the doorway. “I assume you can find your way out?”
Slowly she pivoted. “And I’ll be sure to let your sister know you found her body.”
The demon’s light footfalls echoed in the passage before fading.
“Let’s go.” Jade jogged to the entrance. The passage was indeed clear.
Luc joined her at the opening, shifted Esmeralda’s body to lie over his shoulder and exited first. She followed him down the corridor. As the distance between them and Sha-hera widened, hope that they might actually escape grew.
Their course turned upward. The heat and the tang of sulfur hung in the air. They rounded a corner and Jade recognized the jutting stone at the top of the passage. It had been her boundary as a child, the marker at which she was not allowed to venture beyond.
She pointed. “We’re almost there.” As they approached the opening to the cavern, she grabbed Luc’s arm. “I’ll enter first. Wait until I signal you.” She squeezed past him. “If Rell is in there, I don’t want her to see her body—not yet, anyway.”
“Be careful.” He walked so close the toes of his boots kept kicking her heel. “Check the ledges and the ceiling.”
“I will.”
“And make sure she’s not bathing in one of the pools.” He kicked her again. “Some of the bigger boulders could hide her.”
Jade gritted her teeth and stopped. Luc barreled into her, sending her stumbling into the wall. She spun and glared at him. “I know what I’m doing.” He opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off. “Shhhtt!”
Not waiting for his unwanted response or look of disapproval, she spun, took a deep breath, and crept to the entrance of the cavern. Her heart fluttered like moths beating against the glass of a lantern, erratic and out of rhythm. A veil of wet heat lay like a blanket in front of the door. She glided slowly forward, leading with her shoulder, and stepped inside. Her eyes darted around the roof of the cavern. No dark shapes huddled in the shadows and no grating nips flared on her body. There was no indication that Rell was in the chamber.
The slow burble of bubbles in the greenish-blue pools continued to roil and the vents hissed. This cavern would forever remain unchanged, no matter if its occupants lived or died—left and returned—were happy or battled great darkness. Until some cataclysmic event transformed the face of Inness, her childhood home would stay hidden from most of the world, unaffected by time.
The large, flat rock she used to sleep on stood like a silent reminder of her past. Jade squared her shoulders. Perhaps this would be the last time she would ever set foot in this place. She smiled at the thought.
Jade motioned Luc forward. He turned sideways and ducked to enter the chamber. Not wasting any time, they skirted a ring of boulders and traversed the thin bridge of rock between two pools. The narrow crevice lay directly in front of them. Luc stopped and lowered Esmeralda’s body to cradle her.
“I don’t think I can carry her and fit through the passage. Once we make the turn, the opening narrows.”
Jade glanced down the dark passage and then walked to where he stood. She hoisted one of Esmeralda’s limp arms around her neck and settled her sister’s dead weight solidly on top of her sho
ulders. “Maybe if we balance her between us, we’ll be able to slide through.”
Luc gave a quick nod and draped Esmeralda’s other arm around his neck so she hung between them. “It’s worth a try.”
They sidled into the passage. At first their movements were awkward and Jade found herself repeatedly slamming into her sister like an expanding and contracting accordion. But as the light dimmed and they were forced to use their other senses, a rhythm emerged.
Sweat dripped down Jade’s temples and into her eyes. She blinked away the irritating moisture and tilted her head to wipe the side of her face on the sleeve of her sister’s gown. Their labored breathing bounced around them and was occasionally punctuated by a grunt when one of them hit a protruding rock. Jade blew a lock of hair out of her eyes, swearing Esmeralda was getting heavier with each shuffle they took.
The path turned and the opening narrowed even further. Their pace slowed considerably. Though now in complete darkness, she could hear the rasp of Luc’s leather as he maneuvered through the constricted opening. A hint of fresh air brushed her face and she inhaled, turning her head to capture every wisp.
The linen shirt she wore under her tunic stuck to her like a thin layer of wet paint on a canvas. Again a puff of cool air circled around her heated cheeks. “I think we’re getting close.”
“Let’s hope so. I don’t remember the passage being this long.” Luc said.
“That’s because we weren’t hefting another person.”
Luc grunted but didn’t reply further. They shuffled around the last corner and were enveloped in cool air. Sighs of relief escaped them. Jade stopped and leaned against the cold rock wall. Luc did the same without complaint.
An oval of gray light marked the end of the tunnel. How long had they been held captive? Tears threatened to well and her nose tingled at the sight of freedom no more than a few yards ahead. She swallowed hard, frantically blinking back her swelling emotions. The word rasped from her throat. “Light.”
He seemed to understand the importance of that single word. “A miracle.”