Chapter 77
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Ellery
“Okay, we’ll try something else then,” I muttered.
Talking to yourself is another sign of insanity.
Oh, fuck all the way off.
Determined to ignore my doubts, I studied the gargoyle as I tried to formulate another plan. It could be that this was the wrong statue, and I’d have to find another one for the Heart, but I’d try everything with this one before I started going through the others.
I studied its open mouth and sharp teeth as I tried to talk myself into sticking my hand in there. I’d robbed the aristocracy; I could do this.
But all I could picture were those teeth clamping down as soon as I placed my hand inside. They were sharp enough to pierce skin, break through bone, and rip my arm free.
My mother always said I had a big imagination, and right now it was in overdrive as I shifted the stone so I clasped it between my thumb and index finger.
At least this way, if it chomped on me, it would only get two of my digits.
They were the two I’d miss the most, but we all had to make sacrifices.
As soon as I set the stone on the gargoyle’s gray tongue, I yanked my hand away and cradled it against my chest. From within the gargoyle’s mouth, the stone gave one more, bright red pulse before going black.
If it wasn’t for my lightning, the cavern would have been plunged into darkness. As it was, my glow only illuminated me and the statue before me.
I kept waiting for something more to happen, but nothing did. Were we all wrong, including the gargoyles? Did the stone not bring them to life?
What was I supposed to do now? Did I break it? Had I done something completely wrong and failed everyone?
I backed down the path and edged toward the middle of the cavern as my mind spun. If I’d somehow broken the stone, then we were all fucked.
That would leave only me and whatever small army I could gather to make a stand against the duke, his massive contingent, and his towering walls. I’d die trying to free Ryker, because I would never let them take me alive. When I died, the duke would kill him.
As soon as I thought it, I knew I was wrong. He wouldn’t kill Ryker; he’d torture him for centuries before finally ending it. I’d be the one with the far better fate, and I couldn’t let it end that way.
I blinked away the tears filling my eyes as I backed into the center of the cavern and stood there, waiting. The light surrounding me didn’t spread beyond a few feet; complete darkness encompassed the rest of this place.
I couldn’t see the gargoyles anymore, and silence filled the vast space. If they woke, I’d hear them moving; the crackle of my lightning wasn’t loud enough to cover that.
But the only sounds I heard were my lightning, small breaths, and the rapid beat of my heart as I struggled not to spiral out of control. This had been my last hope… it was my only hope.
And now it was gone.
As much as the stone’s power unnerved me, I missed its rhythmic pulse. The beat was something familiar and oddly comforting. I hadn’t felt so alone while it was shifting through its colors.
Now there was just me, my lightning, and terror.
The seconds ticked into minutes as I stood there, trying to decide what to do. And then a monstrous face loomed out of the shadows above me.