by Kayleigh Sky
“What is it?”
“A name,” Rune murmured.
Facing them near the head of the body, Anin twisted his head to get a better look. “W. R. O. U. Y. N.”
“My name,” said Rune. “It’s an old spelling.”
“So…” Camiel came up from behind. “Poor Bronny was a message.”
“I suppose.” Rune swallowed against the burn in his throat. “Obviously, it’s no secret we’re here. The secret is, who knows?”
He turned to Camiel, whose hooded gaze told him nothing.
“What now?” Uriah asked.
“We keep going.”
“Into their hands?”
“We’re already in their hands,” he said.
And that was why he hadn’t wanted Isaac here. He’d lost his fortitude with the unraveling of his plans at Otto’s hands. But that had been his own doing in a way. He’d had no will to deny Jessa his love. He’d known Otto would come for him. And what did that say that everything he’d given his life to—given Zev’s life to—had come apart in the light of his little brother’s smile? And now?
Beware the endless descent into fire, the way of no return, the false promise of victory. Carelessness burns, confuses, and corrupts.
“We can’t go back. The only way out is in front of us.”
“Out?” murmured Camiel.
Rune didn’t answer. He couldn’t make himself. Couldn’t quite believe he was giving up.
Isaac grabbed his hand. He smiled at him. “I’ll get you home soon, I promise. You can go back to Zev’s.”
“What about you?”
He laughed. “I’m a murder suspect. But that doesn’t matter. We have to get out of here first.”
He strode down the tunnel with Isaac beside him. A few minutes later, a shout shattered the quiet. “WAIT!”
He spun, pushing Isaac away, as Camiel ran at him.
42
Into the Fire’s Belly
Isaac hit the wall and staggered onto one knee.
In front of him, Rune froze, his face a mask of confusion. Camiel was only a foot away when Uriah leaped and knocked him flying into the wall opposite Isaac. From behind, Anin soared over Uriah’s body and slammed into Rune. Isaac gasped and sprang to his feet. With his fists in Rune’s shirt, Anin jerked them both back into the tunnel. A wave of fire and heat exploded in the cavern. Flames shot to the ceiling, hot air blasting into the tunnel. Isaac flung his arms over his face and tripped over Uriah. His head hit the ground, and blackness flooded his eyes.
“Isaac… Isaac…”
He blinked and found himself sitting upright with Rune’s arms around him. Shadows from the fire danced on the walls near the mouth of the tunnel.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Rune looked over his shoulder. “It’s dying down now. Coming out of the cracks in the ground.”
“If we—”
—kept going…
He pushed into Rune’s chest, smothered in his arms, Rune’s breath against his cheek somehow warmer than the fire. Though maybe he imagined that. It probably couldn’t be, but the touch was soft and toasty against his skin. He gave into the urge to nuzzle for a few minutes and burrowed into the cushion of muscle and heat. Rune’s heart pounded under Isaac’s ear, his voice a rough rumble.
“I want to know everything you know.”
At first Isaac thought Rune was talking to him, but what the hell did Isaac know? Words stuck in his throat, and he sat back on his ass.
“Talk, Camiel.”
Oh. Cammy.
Rune stood and pulled Isaac up.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“What you know. Was that not clear. Don’t test me, witch.”
“It’s that,” Camiel snapped. “This was a sacred place for witches. But not with fire,” he added. “We, meaning Nezzarram witches, gathered in this spot. I was only here once and not for a ceremony. Abadi…” He shook his head as though it had filled with the smoke of the fire. “The night after your visit, she left.”
“And you knew that. You lied.”
What looked like a sneer formed on Camiel’s face until Uriah’s growl wiped it away. Camiel slid closer to Anin and swiped his forehead of sweat. “I was ten. I loved her. I never saw any reason to tell her secrets. She was dead, and she did no harm.”
Rune stepped closer to him. “You saw her die?”
“No. I only went about halfway. I barely remember the trip. I almost didn’t remember this place.” He took a breath. “We were more than witches. Families from Kolnadia. She woke me, held a finger to my lips so I’d be quiet. We left in secret, heading for Majallena, but we didn’t make it. I try not to remember. Forgetfulness is pleasanter,” he added.
“I can’t give you that luxury,” Rune said. “Why did she break her exile?”
Camiel’s jaw tightened, a corner of his mouth twitching in a smile. “Why would she tell a ten-year-old anything?”
“You were her protégé.”
Camiel expelled a slow breath. “She was waiting for you in the gathering hall before you left for the train. Just waiting. Passing the time, I think.” His smile had turned rueful. “So she threw a few cards down for me. ‘What do they have in common, Cammy? Tell me a story.’ But then her face changed. She moved her hand over the cards that lay face up. When you’re a child, adults never look scared, but she did. She told me to go to her room and get the bracelet from the box under her bed. That was the bracelet she gave you. I can’t say for sure, but I think she saw the Upheaval coming.”
“You lie, Nezzarram! Why not tell me?”
Camiel shook his head. “I’m not lying. I think she saw it and wanted to go to Majallena.”
Rune’s voice rose in a roar. “And sent me away with no warning!”
Isaac squeezed his hand, and Camiel blanched. “I cannot tell you what you want to hear.”
Rune put his face close to Camiel’s. “What do I want to hear, witch?”
“Only you know what you would have done.”
After a few seconds of silence, Rune took a step back and laughed. “I will never know. Be careful now, witch. You said nothing of this place to me.”
“You have my word, sire. I did not remember it. I warned you.”
Rune’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust you.”
Camiel dropped his chin but remained silent.
The fire’s gone.
Rune startled and glanced from Isaac to the cavern. “Come. Which tunnel, Camiel? Do you remember the way to Majallena from here?”
The tension that worked its way from Rune to Isaac stole his breath and tingled along his nerves like the anxiety he’d fought against every time he’d fed a strange vampire. Most of the time, he’d trusted his instincts, but making a mistake meant getting drained instead of paid. So far, they’d escaped being drowned, sealed in an airless vault, and burned alive. How many times were they going to get lucky? Maybe Rune was counting the odds.
Camiel stepped out and raised a haunted face to the shattered ceiling. Then he gazed at the burnt walls and turned back. “I need a flashlight.”
Uriah handed him one, slapping it hard onto Camiel’s palm. He switched it on and moved the beam from tunnel to tunnel. “What is your letter, sire?”
“Joal.”
Camiel pointed the beam at a symbol barely visible in the burned rock two tunnels away from them. “It’s there.”
“I’ve been to Majallena many times,” said Rune. “I don’t remember this.”
“There are many ways to our destination, sire.”
Rune gave him a fond look. “Oh Cammy. I hope you are well paid.”
“I do it for love.”
The tone was so far from Camiel’s usual that they all stared at him. Rune shook his head, then turned his gaze to Isaac’s. “You first.”
“I’ll go last,” Camiel chirped. “Just in case we need a sacrifice to the fire god.”
Rune curled his lip over a fang. “You are not leaving m
y sight.”
“Well, that’s uncomfortably intimate.”
“Camiel,” Anin murmured.
Isaac shifted his pack on his back, took a breath, and bolted. He made the distance in six steps and dashed through the tunnel entrance. Uriah followed him, then Anin, Camiel, and Rune. Isaac glanced back once, then marched on. At first, the darkness wrapped around him like a blanket thin enough to move in but not see through. Every step was a stumble into the unknown. Then a glow from a lamp in a niche appeared. It was wan but another one seeped a dim green in the distance. He sped up. The tunnel wove around boulders that had resisted the vampire engineers who’d built it and protruded like vertical speed bumps. For miles no other tunnels intersected. When he spotted one, Isaac glanced back at Rune, but Rune shook his head. They pushed on past several more tunnels until they reached a spill of rubble across the floor. It dribbled away from an opening in the wall that resembled a burrow more than another tunnel.
Isaac looked back, expecting to move past it, but Rune took his arm. “Wait.”
A frown creased Rune’s forehead, his mouth tight and drawn. He bent beside Isaac and peered into the dark. “This one,” he murmured.
To Isaac, Camiel’s “Why?” sounded like a whine.
The tunnel was small and grimy and darker than the others.
“I don’t know,” Rune murmured. He straightened, pulled his pack off his back, and pushed it into the opening. “I’ll go first.”
Isaac waited even after Rune’s feet disappeared. A few minutes later, Rune’s voice bounced back. “It gets wider.”
Taking a deep breath, Isaac plunged into the tunnel as though diving underwater. It rose and fell like a rollercoaster, and the press of the rock dragged at his anxiety until it slithered over his skin like bugs. He closed his eyes, scrambling on hands and knees until fresh air touched his face, and he crawled out. Rune played his flashlight over the chamber they stood in.
More rubble splashed across the floor, but a stone bench was carved into one wall. Rune scraped his boot across a design covered in dirt and rock. “Looks like a medallion with a figure carved into it.”
The others appeared. “What is it?” Uriah asked.
Rune shrugged. “I can’t tell. Help me clear it.”
Uriah and Anin joined him, Anin moving some of the bigger rocks, Rune and Uriah kicking away the rest of the debris.
“That’s Barachiel,” said Camiel. “From the card Abadi’s in.”
A perplexed look came onto Rune’s face as he gazed at the image. “I’ve been wondering why she’d put herself into a Royal card.”
Isaac moved closer to him and gazed down. The archangel sat inside a gilded chariot. The gold outlines remained, and maybe once there’d been paint on the rest of the design, but it was long gone now.
“I wonder how long it’s been here,” he said.
Rune’s head moved in a slow shake. “A long time. It looks like it was closed off until one of the earthquakes. Odd how much was hidden from us. But…” He raised his head and panned the light to the chamber’s exit. “I know this place. Somehow. We’re near Celestine.”
“Lovely,” Camiel drawled. “The scenic route.”
“Whatever,” Rune said. “We’re going home.”
“You know what the humans say about that.” Isaac looked over, but Camiel waited until Rune turned to him too. “You can’t.”
43
Trapped
Like hell Rune couldn’t go back home. He was only a few miles away, so close he could taste it. Or smell it. His memory filled with the aromas of food cooking in the plaza, the low buzz of activity in the castle—a comforting sound that often lulled him to sleep. Vampires were a social people, no matter how treacherous they also were.
How many secrets they kept.
How many lies they told.
And Abadi had lied to him. Kept secrets from him. Even now, as he stood beneath her statue, the others standing around him, they glowed in her eyes and danced on her smiling lips.
She sat on a throne in a gold-edged, tourmaline-lined alcove. Her gown was blue and red and gold and fell in flowing folds over her knees. Her hair was pulled up in the high single braid Mal often wore and studded with jewels. Her eyes sparkled, cheeks flushed, lips scarlet. Beautiful and… alive.
So alive his heart ached as though he’d lost her all over again. He closed his eyes and pictured himself fighting his way back to Celestine through the tunnel to the castle. It had been bent and twisted, and he’d lost his way. Panic had teased his nerves until… a ball of light had pulsed up ahead. Warm and golden, it had bathed the walls. The treasure. I saw it. But impossible to reach. He’d lost it. Lost the treasure, his bracelet, and Abadi.
He opened his eyes, and she smiled at him.
“What’s it made out of?” Uriah asked. “It’s so big.”
“Clay,” he said. “It couldn’t have been done long before the Upheaval. Stone or granite would have taken too long.”
Isaac gazed up with awestruck eyes. “It’s so lifelike.”
Too lifelike. It hurt to see her again. Why didn’t you talk to me? Why did you hide your secrets from me?
What were her secrets?
Rage and frustration rose in him. Why didn’t you love me?
“Why?” he blurted. “What was she that she made this? That others made it for her?”
He stared at Camiel, who chewed on his lip, then shrugged. “I don’t know. Anyway, I’m hungry.”
“You’re hungry?” He swung his arm at the statue that towered over them. “Don’t you feel anything? You were the son she lost, not me. She didn’t trust me.”
His train of thought was illogical, even to him, but Camiel didn’t appear bewildered. Abadi had had her secrets, and it had made her allure all the more powerful. “She didn’t carve this herself. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s a shrine.”
Camiel glanced at him from the side of his eye. “Or a message.”
“Or a clue,” Anin said. They all stared at him. “Isn’t that what we’re doing here? Looking for clues?”
Rune blew out a growly breath, hot with annoyance at himself. There was only one reason he was here—the treasure. Abadi was gone. Celestine gone. But the Adi ’el Lumi were here. The Lotises were here, because this was where the treasure was. He’d seen it twenty years ago, or at least the way to it, before the Upheaval had cut him off. But that treasure was the salvation of a monarchy that had lasted thousands of years. A symbol the Adi ’el Lumi needed to live, but it was Rune’s, and the culmination of a promise he’d made to save the human race.
That was what he had to remember.
Not Abadi.
Not his fated and the whisper brush of Isaac’s fingers across the back of his hand.
That, he couldn’t think about. Isaac was forever beyond reach. He was too good for Rune. Too much like Jessa, whom Rune had done everything in his power to keep happy and innocent. Things Rune had never been—he’d been his father’s son and steeped in blood.
“The self is the other,” he said, reciting one of the ciphers. “The mirror a dark reflection. Look not away. Look in. The truth will be yours.’ She is the mirror, isn’t she?”
This was going to end now.
Camiel edged into Rune’s sight, his gaze stricken. “What are you saying? You don’t propose to destroy her?”
“I propose to look for the reflection. A reflection isn’t external. It dwells behind the glass.”
“Behind her? Do you think the statue moves?”
“I think it opens. Probably, but we don’t have time to figure out the mechanism. We dig around it, but once we’re through, I go on alone.”
“You can’t,” Isaac said. “You need us. We all came together for a reason. You don’t believe in coincidences. Jessa told me. You can’t think that the way we all got here was an accident.”
Rune froze his heart and hoped it showed. “You served your purpose.”
Isaac flinched, but then he took a
breath and said, “Good try. You’re not scaring me off. I’m going with you. We all are.”
Rune curled his lip and let his fangs drop. “Not anymore.”
“I’m your fated, not your subject.”
Uriah moved closer to Isaac. Awaiting a sign from Rune? To restrain him? Gag him?
“Don’t cross me.”
I have to.
“We aren’t holding you back.” Isaac said out loud.
Rune let a hiss form in the back of his throat. It heated the words on his tongue like fire. “We dig.”
Anin stepped forward. “I’ll go back for shovels. I saw some in the last maintenance shed about an hour back.”
The bitterness in Isaac’s eyes shone vivid despite the dark. You won’t give up.
I told you once before. I have no choice. You know what’s at stake.
Yeah, me. I’m the one you’re gonna lose, not your treasure.
That isn’t—
But Isaac grabbed his pack off the ground, said “I’m going with Anin,” and ducked into the narrow tunnel that led back to the chamber.
Rune waved Anin after him. “Go. Don’t let him out of your sight.”
No choice.
He knotted his fists instead of dragging his hands down his face. Let them think he didn’t care. That he wouldn’t hesitate.
“Tell me your thoughts, Camiel. Throw a card. Cast a spell. How do we get on the other side of that statue?”
“Not that statue. Hers. And I don’t know.”
“LOOK!”
Camiel jumped, and Uriah ducked his chin and joined him. Camiel stared at Abadi’s face, but Uriah turned back, a frown forming on his face at the same time Anin’s voice floated back. Distant and… scared.
“Isaac! Isaac!”
No, no…
Rune ran.
44
Horror
The ringing in Rune’s ears blared like a crescendo. Isaac! Isaac! His shouts followed Anin’s. Where was the damn vampire? Where was he?
His heart burned, pulsing in pain. Blind panic washed through him, rising like floodwaters and hurling the detritus of memory at him. The collapse of Celestine’s walls and columns. A dead child under a boulder beyond his ability to save her. Mal holding Jessa’s limp body. Her dying cry to him in the mines. His shaky fingers holding a necklace over Jessa’s bed. “You’re going to be fine. I promise, and when the surgery’s over, this is yours.” Struggling not to puke on Jessa’s bed. Afraid he’d fail him the way he’d failed Qudim and Dawn and Abadi and his people… And Isaac.