Chapter 47
Chapter
Forty-Seven
Titus
I’m a violin out of tune. A string deep within my chords splintered and broke.
When that portal opened, I panicked—made a deal with darkness, handing over my heart to save Selene. I used all my magic to kill Galen.
I don’t know how I time-weaved. It lasted but a second, but that was all I needed to reach the portal and dive inside. One second was all it took for my mate to be ripped from my arms. One second of using my magic when I had nothing left weakened me in a way I fear is irreparable.
I spring forward, hands reaching for the flesh of Sable’s neck. Shock turns to joy when my fingers wrap around her skin. But then joy erodes, crystallizing into a plague of decay.
I’m a wooden ship left in the harbor: salt gnaws at my hull, and my stomach twists with pain. Sable’s smirking eyes tear me plank by plank down to the keel, crumbling all my hopes that Selene and I can find safe waters.
Sable’s face reddens from lack of air, but her grin punches me as hard as an anchor drags and tears into the ocean floor, forcing me to halt. Magic tears my ribs, breaking, bending, pushing two of them into my lungs.
It’s her death magic! If I don’t release her, it will spread, taking root.
I let go, coughing up blood. My breath is too short. My subconscious scrambles to heal me, but it’s like licking a plate you savored. Nothing is truly left. I need my mate’s blood so I can have the power to heal, but feeding from her would alert them to just how strong we are.
I reach out ready to cover Selene, but her abductor presses a dagger to her chest.
Sable rubs her neck. “Titus, ever the noble guard protecting my sister. Galen must love you. Jumping through portals into the unknown to save my twin.”
She doesn’t know I killed Galen.
Selene swallows and looks at me with eyes that lie. It’s okay; this will be okay. I’m fine. She silently blinks.
My rapid inhales fill with chalky dust. I need blood to help this wound heal.
But how? I check our surroundings. My eyes adjust to the faint light.
Darkness clings to the walls as they curve into a carved-out arch.
We’re in a tunnel. Pressing my toes into my boots, I note the uneven slat of the ground; my eyes follow the pull, stretching down into a slope as black as Sable’s heart.
The air is stale, devoid of life. Only mage lights, which hover around Sable and her mages, light the way.
Even if we run, the path will be blind unless my fire can light it.
“Where are we?” It’s a stupid question I can answer myself, but Sable loves to talk. I’ll use that weakness to my advantage.
She glides a wicked finger down the stone walls. Only magic could carve stone this smooth.
“It’s marvelous, isn’t it?” Sable gloats.
“I heard the King of Caldera had earth magic; he specialized in liquefying stone. Have you ever picked up a rock from a babbling brook, one that was forced to allow water to tunnel through it? That is what the old books describe Caldara as, a stone filled with polished tunnels framed within the mountain. The king carved these tunnels himself.” She smacks the wall.
“It’s written that his castle was pulled and shaped from the mountain.
He thought he could reinforce the walls, but the rocks were stronger. ”
The chill that blankets my skin can never be shed. We’re where Everett wanted us all to be.
Selene’s lips part, ready to beg her twin to free me. A moment later, she snaps them shut. Sable would relish killing me if she knew Selene cared. Selene knows it; she’s plotting how to get me out alive.
Me, not her.
I shake my head. I’m not leaving without you.
She looks to the floor, her face pale with secrets she hasn’t spoken to me.
“How?” I ask. Fighting is useless. I’ll let Sable lead us to the book, then find a way to attack.
The man holding Selene nods his head. His partner, a small female mage, places cuffs around my wrist; mage cuffs intended to bind magic. The small female removes my sword, covered in Galen’s blood; the weight of it has the tip clumsily hitting the ground.
“You’ve been busy. Who did you kill, Titus?” Sable dances closer to me, taking her time to spin as if I want to admire her curves. She pushes up so her lips kiss my ear. “That looks fresh,” she purrs.
I twist my head away.
The man holding Selene grunts, pressing the knife closer. He sends his magic out. I expect an attack, but it hits my sword, melting the metal.
Hector! I look at him fully. He’s my height, leaner, with exposed arms covered in runes. All bark, no bite, since magic isn’t linking them. His skin is tanner than Selene’s sun-kissed glow; his dark hair is shaved short. Eyes dead and cold.
The woman who cuffed me joins his side. Her dress and jewels are oddly placed, her brown hair pinned into a high bun. She’s Sofia, Hector’s sister, the mage who opens portals as easily as one flips the pages of a book.
Mages are limited to opening portals to places they’ve seen. Sofia must have snuck into Selene’s room, preparing for the day she’d ambush Selene, taking her right out from Galen’s nose and delivering her to Hector and Sable.
Another mistake Galen made. Other kings do not allow portal-opening mages to wander their lands freely.
But she brought us here, into the tunnel. That means they found it before we did! Sable could have taken the book. Why bring Selene here? Why risk it?
I look at Selene. She’s figuring it out, too.
“You know why we’re here,” Sable grunts at Selene as she finger-combs her hair.
My fingers twitch, knowing it feels the same as Selene’s.
Silken. “I always had a suspicion you knew what Everett was hunting. You were like his notebook.” Sable’s words are sour and rotten.
“A place he jotted down ideas, vented.” She whirls and faces me. “But your reaction is odd, Titus.”
She comes closer and… fuck! Her eyes widen, narrow, then glow with glee at my exposed mate mark.
“Oh… my…” She tips her head back. Her laugh echoes like a wildcat.
She leans over, grasping her stomach. “I always planned on making you suffer, Selene. I planned to have you watch as the world burned, but here I am with your mate.” She spins on her toes, grabs Selene’s silk shirt, and rips the neckline open, exposing her matching mark. “Mated.”
Jealously rolls off her tongue. She looks over her shoulder at the melted sword. “Galen must have loved that. That’s his blood, isn’t it?” She grins.
She’s fast. I’ll give her that.
“We’re wasting time.” Hector shoves Selene down to her knees.
I dive forward; it’s my only chance to defend us. Landing on top of her, directly above her heart.
“Do it,” she whispers. I bite her, sucking down only a gulp of her blood before magic yanks me off and sends me flying down the tunnel. The mage cuffs prevent me from attacking outward with my magic, so I focus a small dose of the magic into healing my lungs and ribs.
“That was very naughty, Titus,” Sable scolds me. “I love to play with bad things. Perhaps you and I should play.” She looms over me.
I tug at the cuffs. I need to get them off.
“You like them?” Sable mocks. “I could chain you to my bed, allow my twin to watch. I share her face; I’m sure I could get you hard. Oh, come on, give me a snarky reply.” Sable turns. “Nothing from you, Selene? Oh, this is no fun,” she pouts.
“Enough, Sable. It smells. Let’s move.” Sofia’s sister lights another mage light and inspects her nails.
“I’m going to say this once.” Hector’s voice is ice as he looks at me. “I need Selene, not you. Sable, you can do what you want with him, but if he tries to attack, he’s dead.” He looks down at me. “Understood?”
I grind my teeth.
“Hector.” Sable rushes to his side and kisses his lips, but his eyes remain open and on me.
Sable thinks she can wrap every man around her finger, but the higher she climbs, the less they bend and break. Hector stands tall, unmoving. Sable was the one who was bending, not him.
“It’s a straight path down.” Hector steps back, flexing his fingers; even his knuckles are tattooed. “You will go first.” He glares at me. Slowly, I stand, pressing my hand to my ribs so he thinks they still pain me. “Then Sable, then Selene, and my sister and I will be last.”
Sable pouts. “But I want to have fun with them.”
“You can have fun.” Hector grabs her chin. “Once I get our book.” He kisses Sable with a lover’s fury.
Sable grinds her hips into him as she moans. I’m about to look away when Hector opens his eyes and glares at me again, like a knife ready to peel flesh from bone.
He fists Sable’s hair, pulling her away. “Go,” he orders me.
I take a hesitant step, eyes searching the darkness. The weight of Selene’s stare has me faking confidence. My exhale fans out like heat over sand, stretching far and wide.
“Our brother’s killer is your mate,” Sable taunts, her breath heating my neck.
“It could be worse,” Selene snaps, trying to make Sable think she doesn’t love me.
“Nothing is better,” Sable sings. She traces her fingers down my neck as I walk. “Titus, how much do you know?” she persists. I want to walk slowly, but hearing Sable gloat has me quickening my pace. An expert made the path, and not a single stone is uneven, allowing me to catch my breath.
“I’m more curious,” Selene replies, “why do you need me?”
“You must know a lot, sister. Everett was so detailed, but he had no idea I had someone on my side helping me.” Sable spills like water.
Hector’s exhale is a hiss of irritation.
Having such a blabbering weakness clinging to his side doesn’t sit well, but he doesn’t stop Sable…
because he needs her to get that book for him.
Has Sable considered what comes after? Once she frees the Vitalis, I doubt Hector will be so tolerant.
“For years, Everett was ahead. Then I met Hector, and he gave me all the tools I needed. Told me where to turn.” Sable blows Hector an air kiss.
“And what did that cost you?” Selene retorts.