Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Since no one ever returned from the Halalház, no one could expose the location.
Theories and speculation buzzed around HDF.
Istvan sent out spies, but so far, those scouts either never came back or never located it.
It wasn’t at the top of our priority list compared to all the other things we had to worry about, so this feared place remained unknown to us.
Sloane pulled me down the cobbled streets, Vale behind me, Connor in front.
It was strange to think tourists used to stroll freely through this area at one time, while now only a handful of the older human soldiers could recall what this area had once looked like.
If you were wealthy enough, you could try looking up pictures on the internet, but Killian had blocked most for security reasons, along with live-action maps.
Just as our side did.
I was getting to see what few had seen in person.
We were not very far from Killian Bastion or the castle when Sloane stopped us in front of a building.
It appeared similar to an ordinary attached house, painted a buttery yellow with an arched metal door at the entrance.
A single guard stood outside. He opened the door the moment he spotted Sloane, exposing a set of steep stairs leading down.
Connor greeted him without a pause, heading down the stairs, the rest of us following, my bare feet slapping against the cool cement steps. I flinched as the door slammed behind me, the sound of my fate, my heart thumping in my throat.
When we got to the bottom of the dark space, the temperature was chilly, the air musty, feeling like a cellar.
My gaze absorbed the low cave ceiling and arched passages.
It was dark, dank, and windowless with various rooms and spaces everywhere.
The suffocation of being trapped underground burrowed into my lungs, causing them to move in and out frantically.
We passed fountains and statues, and one gated space painted with the gruesome image of a man on the back wall.
Vlad the Impaler.
Dracula.
“This is the Labyrinth?” It was something you heard about, our elders telling stories of its existence, but to my generation, it had become a story.
History said it had been used for various things throughout the years, even to imprison the man whose picture hung on the wall.
However, before our country was divided, at constant war between humans and fae, it was a cheesy tourist attraction.
The fae squad led me down more stairs hidden in a cove, away from the tourist area, going deeper into the Labyrinth. In the darkness, my lungs tightened, my pulse racing.
More soldiers greeted us at the bottom, where another gate was erected, blocking off what appeared to be a pitch-black tunnel. “Need entry through. Dropping off prisoner 85221.”
“Yes, sir.” A young woman bowed her head at Sloane. Pulling on gloves, she unlocked the gate—a sign the bars were made out of pure iron. Most fae species had a weakness, not that we had figured them all out, but to Fairies, one was pure iron.
I didn’t think it was a coincidence the weakness for the highest ruling class of fae was widely known. It wasn’t just humans who didn’t like the fae pyramid and wouldn’t mind seeing the fay topple from the peak.
The gate clanked and cracked open, jolting me back to my current situation, dipping my knees.
Sloane gripped me harder, yanking me through.
Fire-bulbs dotted the walls; motion sensors ignited the path a few yards in front of us as we continued to move.
The gate slammed behind us, and my heart jumped into my throat.
Nothing about this made sense. “I don’t understand. I thought we were going to the prison.” I looked over at Vale.
“We are.” A cruel grin parted his mouth, showing off his white teeth. “Just a little farther.”
“What?” I gulped. We were right below the castle grounds, not where the infamous and terrifying legend of the Halalház should be.
Istvan was convinced it was in the Zugliget area, near the Tündér Mountain quarry, which made sense.
Out far enough from the city, but still close, with minimal population in the area. It was an ideal place for a prison.
Predictable.
We were idiots. What better place to hide your captives than in plain sight? We never even contemplated it was in the city. So many of our fighters, taken by fae, had been closer than we thought. Cruelly close. To be right under your army’s nose and know no one would ever find you.
My teeth sawed into my bottom lip. I would not cry. I would not show emotion.
The tunnel went on for what seemed like hours, zigzagging deeper, going up, going down, other tunnels splintering off.
Sloane didn’t hesitate on his path while my brain locked on each change.
Finally, we went up steep stairs, circling up until my thighs burned, reaching a small arched door at the top.
Sloane shoved at it, the door squeaking open. Vale rammed my head down, pushing me through the exit, stepping us out onto pavement into the cooling evening. Unlit and quiet. No guards keeping watch here.
I twisted my head, staring up at a statue I had looked at from across the river through binoculars.
The Citadella on Gellért Hill. Different from what was taught in human school, the fae claimed this statue of a lady holding a feather secretly represented the hiding fae, a sign that their power would prevail once again.
We entered the area behind the statue and went through more carved arches.
Where everything changed.
Vines and weeds grew up the walls and hung overhead resembling a hidden garden. The pristine paths crumbled and broke under my bare feet. I was overcome by the sensation that we had stepped back into a different time. The fae king clearly wanted this place to look rundown and unused.
It took me a moment to realize we weren’t alone.
Wearing all black, some almost blending in with the walls like they were ghosts, silent and deadly, a dozen guards strolled the area.
Weapons I had never seen before were in their hands or dangling from harnesses.
Bars and gates closed off almost every opening, giving “visitors” one way in and one way out.
The atmosphere plucked at my skin as my eyes picked up more and more soldiers, lining stairs below and above. They covered every inch, but you’d never notice them from afar. This place was impregnable.
I gulped, feeling the thumping of my heart crank up, sweat dripping down my neck.
Most saw Sloane and stepped to the side, eyeing me with speculation or boredom. We went down a set of stairs, descending into the mountain.
No escape. As good as being buried alive. Panic spun my head, and darkness edged my vision.
“Hey, Sloane.” A breathtaking dark-haired man with a long, refined nose and eyelashes a girl would stab someone for greeted him. He reminded me of a show horse. Long, shiny hair and huge dark eyes. Probably a shape-shifter.
“Zander.” Sloane nodded.
“I heard you were bringing us another prisoner.” The man stopped, his gaze going over me.
“Your new guest,” Vale replied, motioning to me.
“Her?” Zander’s lids narrowed on me then went to the guys. “She did that?” He nodded to the bruise on Sloane’s face.
“She’s a feisty filly.” Vale winked back at me.
“She got the drop on you?” Zander gapped at Sloane.
“Why the surprise?” I snipped. “Is it because I’m not male?”
“No.” He snorted, sounding like a huff. “We aren’t chauvinistic as you humans are. But for someone to do that, I’d expect them to actually be dangerous.” He leaned close to me. “Man or woman.”
“How do you know I’m not?”
“Been here far too long.” He chuckled. “You are not dangerous.”
“Hey, it’s the big boy’s club.” Another man strolled out, a woman right at his side.
“Sloane.” The woman nodded at my lead guard. “Vale. Connor.” She addressed the other two.
“Jade. What’s up, sweetheart? I can tell you’ve missed me.” Vale winked at her. He seemed to be the more playful, cocky one of the group.
“This is her?” Her partner stepped back, laughing, his golden feline gaze roaming over my bare legs and bloody gown. Another shape-shifter, some kind of wildcat. “Really?”
“Don’t let her scrawny ass fool you.” Connor shook his head.
“Oh, what? Did this little waif of a human kick your ass, Connor?” The man was far smaller and less built than Connor, but his arrogance consumed the space, reminding me of Aron. He’d be fun to put in his place.
As if Connor could sense my thoughts, his hand clamped down on my shoulder. “I would love to see this girl spread you over the cement, but we need to transfer her. I’d rather get to the pub and see my woman.”
“It’s only been six days since her capture; she is still healing, but don’t underestimate her,” Sloane added, pushing me forward toward them.
The fae woman nodded. She was so stunning it hurt to look at her, but her strange reddish eyes told me she was a demon, what they used to consider “dark fae” or Unseelie.
None of it mattered anymore, just like race/skin, color wasn’t relevant among humans anymore.
All that was important now was humans versus fae.
Fae came in every shape, size, and magical ability.
From high fae to sub fae, the types varied far more than human races did now.
In the last twenty years, the mixed species of half-human, half-fae exploded across the world, although a huge following of extremists on both sides fought to keep the bloodlines pure.
“Don’t worry, boys; the babysitters are here. You can go back to your cushy jobs up there.” The guy waved his hand in the direction of the castle.
“Watch yourself, Zion.” Sloane stepped closer to him. “I am your superior, and if I killed you, no one would miss you.” Sloane flicked his head to the woman. “Not even Jade would shed a tear.”
Zion snarled, his chest puffed out, and his eyes challenged Sloane.
“Zion, come on.” Jade yanked him away, her fingers wrapping around my cuffs, tugging me away from Sloane. “We got this.”
The guy huffed, stepping back.
I twisted to see my three captors. Was it strange to feel scared to leave them? They were all my enemies, but at least I felt they performed their jobs with respect. These two terrified me, especially Zion.
The pair hustled me forward, the door to the outside world slamming with a screech. My body jerked with fear, tears burning the back of my eyes, bile hovering in my throat.
Don’t show weakness.
From now on, if one sliver of emotion escaped, I would be torn apart. Even faced with a life of misery and hell, your first instinct was to survive. Try to make it against all odds. But no one had ever been reported to endure this place.
My new guards led me downstairs, deep into the earth’s crust through two more heavily guarded gates, finally reaching an unlit passage.
My gaze latched on to an orangey glow shining at the end of the wide tunnel, displaying a massive chamber beyond.
I was assaulted by smells and noises—shouting, banging, crying, screaming, chanting, along with smells of body odor, piss, shit, dirt, and things I had no name for.
I scrambled backward, tugging against the hold Zion and Jade had on me, trying to retreat from the onslaught of fear. Zion’s fingers dug into my skin, dragging me out of the tunnel and onto a metal landing overlooking the space.
Fright skimmed oxygen through my lungs, dimming my sight. My jaw locked down, a guttural scream wailing inside while everything on the outside froze.
Even after all my nightmares of what I imagined the House of Death to be like—and I had a very active imagination—nothing came close to what it really was.
“Yeah, girlie. Most piss their pants here. No shame. Happens to the best of them.” Zion leaned into me with a cruel wink. “Welcome to your new abode, human.”