26. Rozronuuk
Chapter twenty-six
Rozronuuk
The Autumn Court
T ime held no meaning in the siren’s dungeon beneath the colosseum. I recognized the stone structure of the walls from the nights I’d waited in the holding cell. This was different, though. Darker. Damper. Depressing. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in the cell, days, weeks, or months. There were no windows to tell the rising and setting of the sun. No way to count off the days. Inside the long corridors and small cells, the only light flickered from the torches on the walls and the sirens never let them die down. The guards would wander the length of the cells, replenishing the rush stalks dipped in sulfur and lime and setting them alight mere moments before the previous torch died. Burning wood and sulfur impregnated the stale odor of the dungeon, but at least it covered the unwashed bodies’ stench. Along with the obnoxious odor, it was perpetually light and dark at the same time. Flickering shadows played tricks on the mind. The meals were bland, scarcely enough to sustain the prisoners, but that was the point. They would feed no prisoner a feast. My stomach rumbled. I kicked the bars for the millionth time. Beside me, Raelin sighed as though she tired of my continual brute attempt at breaking out of the cell.
“It hasn’t worked before. Why do you think it would now?” she sniped.
I could, with great pleasure, strangle her, but I wouldn’t. She was Thea’s friend, and possibly a chance for me to find out what Melanie did to my mate. Melanie was smart enough to keep me alive, knowing my death would infuriate my brother and war would ensue. He’d annihilate anyone who killed more of his family. His collection of energy-filled memories ensured he was the most powerful demon in existence. It would only be a matter of time before he came looking for me. What then? Would they have a witch spell me? Trick me into believing everything was as it should be. Or would Melanie attempt to kill us all in her greed for power?
I growled.
Raelin shuffled to the border of her cell, the farthest away from me as she could get. Good. She was afraid of me. Everyone should be scared because once I got out of here, no one was safe from me finding my mate. Nor were they safe from me hurting whoever had harmed her.
A click of heels echoed down the hallway. My ears pricked. The guards didn’t wear heels. The steady cadence grew closer. I caught sage and something older than time itself in the air. The witch’s power pushed against mine like a living pulse field. Saltine stopped in front of my cell. The light from the torches flickered uneven shadows over her face and gave her hair a halo effect. As if she were an angel.
“Saltine, you bitch, why did you knock me out?” I said as I stepped closer to the side of the cell.
She paced away as though my getting closer scared her. She should fear me. I’d wring her neck until she answered my questions. Then I might let her go or not. Saltine spun, her dark robes flaring behind her like a living shadow playing even more tricks on my mind. She marched back to my cell.
“You would have destroyed the entire siren population with your rage.”
I snorted. “My rage is under control.”
“You think you can control it, but when it comes to your mate, you can’t.”
“Did you come here to gloat?” I folded my arms. “The great Saltine shackled the Rage Demon prince.”
“As if that was my goal.”
Cryptic as always, she didn’t offer me more of an explanation. Instead, she slid her hand under her black robe, withdrew a round pouch of burlap tied with an ochre string, and nodded at the two guards. The guards stepped closer with small steps as though they, too, were frightened. Shadows and light flickered over their stern faces, familiar faces that scratched at the back of my consciousness.
I turned my attention back to Saltine. She was the biggest threat. Sirens I could kill with ease. This seer witch had proven she could incapacitate me. I wouldn’t fall for her spells a second time. “What have you got there? Another potion to knock me out?”
She threw her head back and cackled. The sound echoed through the cells and down the corridor.
Damn witches and their cackling set my senses tingling and my ears ringing.
“A potion to break you out of here more like it.”
“What trick are you playing now?”
“No trick.”
I dropped my arms and stepped up to the side of the cage. “And what, you two are going to let her?”
The guard stepped forward until her face was lit by the torches instead of being in the shadows. Now I remembered her. Arine, Thea’s personal guard, said, “We’re Thea’s personal guards, except…”
“What she’s trying to say,” Raefa said, stepping forward. “We believe you now.”
“Oh, how kind of you both. You believe me. Thea’s mate.” I thumped my chest. “I should rip out both of your hearts.”
Saltine cackled again.
I narrowed my eyes at the witch. Maybe I’d rip her heart out, too. She stepped forward as though she didn’t fear me. Her black boots hit mine. She stood toe to toe with me through the bars. Not one ounce of fear emanated from the witch. Damn, she boasted balls bigger than some demons I knew.
“Now, Beast, you need to promise not to kill us when we let you out or I won’t let you out.”
“Damn you.” I bared my teeth.
Her grin widened. She knew I had no other choice.
I nodded. “Let me out. I promise not to kill you.”
She lifted the small burlap pouch. The fabric swung between her fingers like a hypnotizing pendulum in the torchlight. “Step back. This packs a punch.”
I took one step back and raised my brow.
She gathered the material in her palm, blew on the burlap, then threw the pouch at the bars. The fabric burst, sending a blinding white light flash throughout the dungeon. I shielded my eyes from the sudden brightness after being in the gloom for so long. My head ached. An invisible force thrust the bars, groaning inward from the explosion, and created a hole large enough for me to squeeze through. I dove through and grabbed Saltine by her hair.
She smiled in her creepy way, which sent a chill down my spine.
“Let her out too.” I nodded at Thea’s handmaiden. “You two, protect her until I get back with Thea.”
Saltine rustled under her robes, extracted another pouch as though she’d been planning to the entire time, and tossed the pouch at the bars on the cell beside mine. A flash of bright white light burst before my eyes, blinding me for another minute. Somehow, Saltine slipped out of my grip during the explosion.
Saltine stepped backward, still smiling.
I advanced on her. My strides were longer than hers.
She held up a halting hand. “Wait. I did what was necessary. You’ll thank me one day.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“Your mate is on Earth.”
My footsteps faltered to a stop. “Earth? Where?”
She shrugged. “A little seaside village is all I saw in my vision.”
A vision. Did I dare trust her visions? What if she had seen me destroy the sirens? What if my being in the cell was the best thing?
“Do you realize how many places I’ll have to look that have a seaside village? Earth has more sea than land.”
“You’ll find her.” Shadows from the torches danced over her face and body, seeming to pull her into them.
I took a step closer. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t trust her. She’d knocked me out. Helped put me in a cell. If she experienced a vision of Thea’s location, without doubt, she saw more. She could give me more to find my mate.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
She lifted her hands from under her robe. An inky mix of black and gray swirled around her form, making shadows where there were none moments before. Her body wavered in the darkening light as though the shadows consumed her and became one with the witch.
“Saltine,” I hissed.
Her body disappeared from my sight, but the faint scent of sage hung in the damp air, and then her voice whispered from the darkness, “One word will set her free.”
“Free from what?” I roared.
But Saltine vanished. I tore through the hallways of the dungeon up the stairs and halted in the center of the colosseum. The golden sun of the Autumn Court blinded my eyes, but I’d already created a portal. Earth was my destination. My mate’s life depended on me finding her. Her freedom, too, by the sounds of Saltine’s words. Thea would have it all back once I found her. I’d give it back to her even if I needed to kill her sister and whoever else had taken Thea’s life away from her. Thea’s queendom, her crown, her title, and her revenge against her sister would be ours.
The Winter Court
Days had turned into months of searching. I grew desperate. Despondent. How hard was it to find one person on Earth? Rumors abounded through the humans, the fae, and other creatures that the siren queen was on Earth, causing an uproar. She was attempting to take over Earth from the fae guardians. Humans loved the fae with their powers over nature. They helped them produce a sustainable living from the land. What could the false siren queen want with Earth? To enslave all men with siren voices. Then what? It made little sense. I suspected her presence on Earth was more about the imposter searching for Thea now I’d escaped. She’d have to realize if I found Thea, then her reign would be over. There was no way Melanie would give up the crown now she’d had a taste of controlling power. Which meant Thea’s life was in jeopardy every moment I spent searching for her and not finding her.
In every village I scoured, fear emanated from the humans. Sirens were ruthless when they wanted to be, and Melanie was a heartless sister. Those traits added up to a dreadful leader. If, no, when , I returned Thea to her kingdom and crown, what would Melanie have left her to rule?
Flaring my large, leathery wings wide, I created a portal and flew into the Winter Court. Guards yelled as I swooped through the icy air, snow falling onto my exposed limbs making me miss the coolness of home. I landed on the castle balcony, snapping my wings back into my torso, and readied myself for the guards with their swords drawn to defend against the threat. Me. Was I absent from the Winter Court so long that they failed to recognize who I was? My brother rushed from his room clad in only a silk black robe, throwing open the doors and stepping onto the ice-covered balcony where I’d landed. I suppose it was understandable the guards would be more on edge with me landing this close to the king, but damn it, I was the demon prince. His brother.
“Hold,” my brother bellowed so loud the ice on the balcony and sides of the castle cracked as though a massive earthquake had ruptured the foundations of our lands.
The guards at once lowered their lethal swords, but they stood at attention, leather combat outfits creaking with the motions as they remained ready to defend their king at a moment’s notice.
“Where the hell have you been?” my brother groused, tugging his robe around his waist and cinching the belt.
I didn’t miss the fact he was naked underneath. Sorry to see. Obviously, I’d interrupted his man whoring. Glad one of us was enjoying ourselves.
“One.” I held up a finger. “In a cell.”
“Are you kidding?” His obsidian eyes sparked with red gold flecks.
“Two.” I held up another finger. “On Earth seeking to find my mate.”
“Brother. Start from the beginning,” he ground out while tapping his fingers to his thumbs in a rhythmic cadence that told me his rage was building and he was stopping it from blowing up in both our faces.
I sighed. He was the one who’d helped me get my rage under control. If he lost himself because of me, then I was the worst brother ever. I told him all that had happened, and by the end, he looked ready to murder the entire siren population. His fingers tapped faster than I’d ever seen. I couldn’t have him murder my mates’ people, even if it would satisfy both our rages. Thea would have my balls if I let anything happen to the sirens.
“I need a locator spell,” I finished. Even though I was loath to pay a witch for help after Saltine’s hand in all that had happened to Thea.
“I’m uncertain one would work,” he said in his big brother-knows-the-best voice. “We have nothing of hers to make a spell with and I will not risk you returning to the Autumn Court.”
I cursed the logic he possessed. His small smile of supremacy made me want to grab him in a headlock and hug him at the same time.
“Come inside.” He nodded at the door, and the heavy, gray curtains billowing in the icy breeze.
We moved inside to his bedroom. Whoever he’d invited to his bed had disappeared, but the rumpled burgundy silk sheets showed my assumption was right.
“Hmm.” He sat in the leather chair, steepled his hands, and put his chin on them. “Let’s puzzle this out. If she’s on Earth, why wouldn’t she have returned to the Autumn Court?”
“How would I know?” I scowled.
He stared me down, eyes drilling into my skull, making me think harder. Smarter.
“Because she couldn’t.”
“All immortal creatures with access to power can sift through the realms.”
I paused behind the other leather chair and dug my fingers into the smooth surface. “What you’re saying is she can’t access her powers.”
“Spot on.” He slapped his hands on his thighs. “Locator spells work on power, so that’s why they wouldn’t work. It’s why her sister hasn’t found her.”
“What would work?”
“I’m assuming you didn’t complete the mating bond.”
“No.” I grimaced.
“Smart on her sister’s part.”
I scowled. A headlock it was then.
He lifted his hands in an apologetic gesture. “You’d think her twin could find her, too. They’d share a strong sibling bond.”
“I don’t need all these postulations. What I need is answers on how to find my mate.”
The door burst open, and Tay raced across the room, her long, dark hair flying like wings themselves. A second before she collided with me, I opened my arms and embraced her.
“I knew something was wrong. I kept telling Rexan you would have come back by now. The stupid idiot didn’t believe me.” Tay sat up and stared me square in the eyes. “What’s wrong?”
I urged her onto the floor by my feet and braided her out-of-control hair while I once again retold the events. Tay hummed and gasped at the moments as I laid them out for her. When I’d finished, she withdrew a knife from under her dress. The curved dull gray blade appeared as though a fire had scorched it, but we made the material from the ice steel of the Winter Court. Strong. Unbreakable. If used to stab a demon in both eyes, then fatal too.
“Tay, what are you doing?” I struggled to keep the concern out of my voice, but we kept these blades a secret for a reason. How had my sister found one? I shot Rexan a concerned glance. He too looked taken aback she had one in her possession.
“I need one of your bones.”
“Wait.” I held up my hands, but she grabbed my foot.
I struggled against her firm hold on my leg. “What are you doing?”
“I dated a sorcerer for a bit, and I picked up a few things.” She wrenched my leather boot from my foot. “Brother, your feet stink!” She gagged for added effect.
“They do not.”
But they did. When was the last time I washed?
She sliced the blade through my toes before I even realized her intent. A howl yelped from my lips as the air whooshed from my lungs. I’d suffered worse, but Tay’s injury was unexpected.
“What the hell, Tay?” Rexan jumped to his feet and snatched the knife from her hand.
She gathered up my toes. “I’ll throw his bones across a map and, with a bit of luck, we’ll get a read on your mate’s location.”
“With my toes?” I lifted my foot onto my knee and wrapped my palm over the end as blood dripped onto the timber floor.
“Quit your crying. Your toes will grow back by the time I’ve boiled the flesh from these.”
I tried not to gag but failed. At least Rexan appeared to have a greenish hue to him, too.
“You might as well go bathe while you’re waiting.” She scampered off the floor and strode from the chamber as though she carried pretty flowers in her palms instead of my severed toes.
“Should I be worried?” I asked Rexan.
He shrugged. “Tay is Tay. We’ll have her back whenever she needs us.”
I nodded and staggered to my feet. Balancing on the heel of my foot, I hobbled over to the door. “I’ll be back soon.”
“May as well meet us in the war room. That’s where I keep all the maps.”
Freshly bathed and dressed in clean leather pants and a jacket, I made my way down the stairs to the demon’s war room. It’d been a few hundred years since we’d seen war. The last one ended when someone killed our parents in the conflict. Rexan had come into power as the king of the demons and enacted a treaty with the angels. They stayed well away from us in the heavens, and we never stepped a foot in their realm. Not that we wanted to go. The war had been all the angels’ doing. Humans thought demons were evil. If only they knew.
As I stepped through the doorway into the cavernous room, Tay bounced on her feet as though eager to try this thing called bone-throwing. A collection of white bones, feathers, and buttons laid on the table before her. Rexan spread a yellowed map of Earth on the circular table, pinning the corners to the table with smooth obsidian rocks.
“How does this work?” I walked closer to the table, glad my toes had grown back while I bathed in the bathtub because walking toeless had been difficult.
“I pick up my collection, give them a shake, and throw them over the map.”
“Any idiot can do that.” I scooped up the collection, and at once, a strange sensation cascaded through my bones as though my body recognized the other parts of itself. “Ah, here.” I thrust the bones into my sister’s hands. “Is that a siren feather?”
“Yes, idiot. Here goes.” Her gaze flickered back and forth between the map and her hands as she shook once, twice, three times, then released the contents of her hands onto the map.
The bones tinkled as they bounced over the stone table. The feather rolled and fluttered across the map. While the black buttons turned end over end as they appeared to spin off of their own volition. Magic swirled, sending up sparks of glittering white amongst the rolling items. End over end, the bones tumbled. My bones. I kind of wanted them back, but what would I do with extra toes?
All at once, the air stilled. The items stopped as a whoosh of air and the atmosphere left the room. My ears popped. I stuck my fingers in my ears and wiggled them about, attempting to relieve the pressure.
Tay peered over the table at the disarray of objects that appeared in no order or correlation at all.
“Looks like it didn’t work.” I placed my hands on the rim of the table and leaned over the map.
“See here.” Tay pointed at a white toe bone. “This bone is pointing toward this feather over here. Thea’s feather might I add.”
My gaze snagged on the lone feather. I wanted to snatch it up and smell the feather to see if I caught the sweet scent of my mate. Tay slapped my hand. I hadn’t even realized it’d moved.
I growled.
“Dick, I’m trying to help.”
“Well, hurry.”
“You can’t hurry divination.”
I cocked an eyebrow. The only seer I knew of was Saltine, and I’d want to throttle her if I ever saw her again.
Tay touched a black button, followed the line to another small bone, and over to the rest of my toe bones. As her finger moved along the line, it gave the impression of being a point on a pentagram star. Hope flared. Perhaps Tay had picked up more than I gave her credit for with the sorcerer.
“She’s here.” Tay slammed her pointy finger on the map.
Rexan leaned forward, frowned a tad, and said, “Ireland.”
“Well, shit, that’s where the most fae live beside the Summer Court. If Thea’s sister is there searching for her, then I have little time.” I placed a swift kiss on top of Tay’s head and waved a portal into existence. “Thanks, both of you.”
“If you don’t come back soon, we’ll come to find you this time,” Tay said, shooting Rexan daggers with her eyes.
My wings flared, the large, black leathery appendages taking me to my mate once and for all. Thea would be back in my embrace, and then I’d never let her go again.