Chapter 53
Shadow
I ’d been pierced by adrenaline’s arrow—I could feel it flowing through my veins, increasing my strength, sharpening my fight-or-flight responses. It had nothing to do with the bloodstained ground I stood upon right now. No, it had everything to do with the future, which was coming fast.
In a few hours’ time, Avriel and I would hopefully be very far from here, and that was what had my system on high alert. Today was the day we’d leave it all behind and find a new chance at life.
Together.
For the briefest of seconds, I glanced toward the balcony, looking right past the empress, toward the female standing behind her—Avriel.
Her worried eyes met mine.
I knew she felt it too. The anxiety. The worry. The fear.
. . . The hope .
That was the key to this whole thing.
Pulling my gaze from hers, I set my sights on my opponent, handing myself over to the duty I was here to perform—crushing souls. With each life I stole, the crowd only seemed to become even more wild. They chanted my title, over and over again—
Soul Slayer.
It was a title I had grown to hate.
A title I couldn’t wait to leave behind.
When the event was over and the crowd had had their fill of blood and guts, I returned with the other soul crushers to the underbelly of the arena to a washing chamber.
Sweat, ichor, and death permeated the air, hanging over us all.
The sounds of shifting stools, trickling water, and light conversation flowed throughout the room.
I sat on a bench beside a few other immortals, directly across from Aryx.
His large body looked much too big for the stool he sat on.
“You seem distracted today,” he said, wringing out a cloth over a bowl of steaming water. He handed it to me.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” I answered him honestly, hoping he’d leave it at that. Steam curled around my hand as I took the ragged cloth. I pressed it to my skin, wiping the sand and blood from my arm. The heat felt good against my overworked muscles.
Aryx dropped a bulky forearm against his leg, resting it there as he peered up at me, his eyes like a hawk’s talons trying to pierce through me.
A small part of me wanted to tell him the truth—I was leaving with Avriel. But if I did, I knew the danger it would put him in, so I kept my expression as hard as the steel of my blade and turned my attention to washing my skin.
When I felt his reluctant eyes pull away from me, I felt the smallest bit of relief.
“Oy! Water boy, I’m out,” Jacob, an immortal who I was certain was the descendant of a god who had fucked an ostrich, said, as he tossed his bucket at the newest member of our group, seated a few spots down from me.
The reason why I had developed my theory about Jacob was simple—ostrich brains were smaller than their eyeballs, which meant their eyes took up more space in their empty skulls than their brain did.
The same could be said about Jacob, whose intellectual shortcomings were vast. If it weren’t for the eighth Wonder of the World swinging between his legs, I was certain the empress would have had his soul crushed centuries ago.
“I’ll get it,” I said, dropping my cloth on the bench before I stood up.
Aryx eyed me, suspicion growing. Water duties were reserved for those who were new here. It was rare for someone such as me to go get more water for another soul crusher, but it wasn’t completely unheard of.
I shrugged. “It smells like stale farts in here.”
That got a laugh from a few of the others. Aryx only continued to eye me with a great deal of skepticism.
I grabbed the bucket from the floor and left the room, weaving my way through the hallways.
A petite, hooded figure waited further down, a satchel on her back.
Her body was tucked against the wall as if she were trying to become one with the shadows.
Spotting me, she quickened her pace toward me.
“Ready?” Avriel asked as she looked up at me underneath her hood.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be. Stay behind me, alright?” I said, the words a soft command.
She nodded, her hand finding mine.
Gently, I tugged her behind me, leading her into the room where water was gathered from a well fed by a subterranean river. It was then brought up and boiled in massive pots before it was delivered to the washing room.
“Boilerman,” I said to the stocky fellow, his back turned to us. “We’re out of water.”
“Hold your horses. Next pot’s a comin’,” he replied, not bothering to look my way, his magic controlling the flames beneath the steaming pot.
That was a mistake.
Bang!
I sent the bucket sailing into the back of his head, sending him ass over teakettle. He fell onto the ground like a bag of coal.
“Is he . . .” Avriel looked at him and then up at me, eyes large.
“No. He’ll have a sore head when he wakes, but he’ll be fine,” I said, dropping the bucket beside him. “Come on. We don’t have much time.” I gave her a pull, and we rushed over to the well.
I looked over the gray stone, down into the darkness waiting below .
The sound of rushing water could be heard, roaring and growling.
“I’ll take the satchel.” I held my hand out.
She nodded, pulled the strap from her shoulder, then handed it to me. It had a surprising bit of weight to it. I crossed it over my body, my eyes catching with hers.
This time, it was my turn to ask, “Ready?”
“I guess so,” she replied, starting to lift herself onto the edge.
“No.” I shook my head, my eyes flicking to her clothes. “Your dress will make it too hard to swim.”
“Right,” she said, jumping back down.
I looked the other way, giving her privacy as she undressed herself.
“What should I do with my dress?” she asked.
I glanced at the unconscious boilerman. Although he hadn’t seen us, the other soul crushers knew I had intended to come to this room.
Sure, they would tell the empress, but why should I leave any extra clues behind if I didn’t have to?
Things might point to where we’d gone, but I didn’t need to spell it out for them.
“Toss it in the well,” I replied.
“Alright,” she answered before she hoisted the fabric onto the edge and then shoved it over. I glanced down the well, watching as the darkness swallowed it. We both did. Our gazes met, and my breath snagged in the back of my throat—I had never seen so much of her before.
A silk chemise clung to her sensual feminine curves.
She looked stunning. The swell of her breasts—
Focus, jackass, I scolded myself.
“You go first,” I told her. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath as she got up on the side of the well. I didn’t miss the tremble in her hand or the fear in her expression as she peered down the hole, looking our unknown fate straight in the eye. Her face tipped up to mine, her voice small. “Shadow?”
“Yes?”
“If this doesn’t work—”
“No,” I cut her off. “It’s going to work. We’re going to get out of here.”
“It’s going to work,” she repeated with a firm nod. She kissed the rabbit’s foot she clutched in her hand and then jumped inside the well, her scream echoing through the stone walls. It was abruptly cut off as she fell into the river—
Splash!
I hoisted myself up onto the edge and followed after her.