Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Enti smiled. “Correct. We’re each to serve a minimum of five hundred years, but the Gaolers only release prisoners during an Accession. Sadly, I’ll be here for half a millennium more till the next one. Yet it’s not so bad.”
Silt had never considered the possibility of a release! If Enti spoke the truth, then all he had to do was survive here for five centuries, and this plane wasn’t much worse than Poly.
Yet Kosmina looked suspicious. “How do you know about paroles?” Despite burning to secure her “information,” she’d been on her best behavior during dinner. Royal etiquette must be ingrained in her.
“When I was captured, I read the minds of the Gaolers,” Enti said. “I know their intent. You earn your freedom through survival and learn your lesson never to offend again.”
“I find that . . . illogical.” The vampire pushed aside her goblet. Setting aside her royal socialization as well? “If the Gaolers released immortals, then every Lorean would know about this place. And what am I meant to learn since I never broke a law?”
“Unfortunately, you are in an unfair quarantine situation. Of your other point, perhaps the Gaolers will make us forget about this place and that’s why none speak of it.”
“How is a lesson to be learned when the punishment is forgotten?” Were Kosmina’s eyes reddening more?
“I have no idea. But the fact remains that we will be released.”
Silt frowned. The sorceress sounded like a zealot, determined not to entertain contrary arguments. Still, that didn’t mean her belief was wrong.
Kosmina said, “I appreciate your offer to stay, but I will continue searching for an escape.”
Enti sighed. “Your plague might not progress to the end for years. You can remain here in safety, or you can court death out there or worse—for no reason.”
Silt would much rather be dead than transformed. “Why are you so certain there’s no escape?”
Xodin answered, “Because my demons and I searched almost every inch of Nightside looking for one. The only place we haven’t explored is this realm’s most deadly heart—the hive of the ghouls.”
Kosmina leaned forward, as if she’d just received good news. “Then that’s where my chance lies. Tell me about this hive.”
The demon said, “It’s a mountain teeming with ghouls. They dig tunnels throughout it, dumping rock all around. We don’t know why.”
“No one has ventured inside?”
“Whenever we get too close, their sentries spill out like a kicked ant mound.”
“Silt and I contended with a legion of wendigos in unfavorable conditions,” she said. “Ghouls shouldn’t prove more difficult. If enough of us unite, we can take that mountain. We have strength in numbers.”
Silt glanced down the table. These libertines weren’t about to abandon their lair. Kosmina’s drive was like a shining beacon, separating her from those who’d learned not to dare .
Have I learned not to?
Enti said, “There’s one other problem. If you somehow got past the ghouls in their favored habitat, you would then face one best avoided. What do you know about the primordials?”
“A bit. They’re the strongest and oldest of a species, either because they were born first or because they’ve outlived all others. A firstborn primordial can spawn child terrors—monsters—with their blood.”
Rumor held that Sequara, Silt’s scorpion, had descended from a child terror. Though she’d been a loyal creature, original child terrors were vicious, arising from a single drop of blood to defend the primordial to the death.
Kosmina asked, “Are you saying the primordial ghoul lives in that hive?”
“One of them.” At her frown, Enti explained, “Everyone thinks that the ghoul king of the mortal realm was the primordial of that species, but he shared an egg with his queen and mate. She rules Nightside’s hive.”
“Twin primordials,” Kosmina murmured, deep in thought. “So who laid the egg? Wouldn’t that be the primordial?”
Silt had to say it: “We’re debating which came first, the ghoul or the egg?”
Enti shrugged. “There’s no debate. When I read the Gaolers’ minds, I learned that all of our immortal species were seeded by gods. The answer of all answers: the egg came first.”
Silt raised his brows. “So who created the gods?” Perhaps with her mind-reading ability, she’d come across that information. The Gaolers might have known.
“No idea. Nor do I know who created the worlds. That line of thinking will drive you either to insanity or religion. Like the hive’s primordial, it’s best avoided.”
Her advice got his back up. Avoid certain thinking? Yet hadn’t he done that through his habit?
While he processed this new and startling information, Kosmina’s focus was in full force. “Can we get back to the topic of the hive? Chiefly, an incursion into it?”
Xodin’s wings fluttered against his chair. “My demonkind and I will pass on any incursion. We’ll be here, enjoying the perks”—he raised his mug of demon brew—“until the Gaolers return for us with a parole in hand. You should stay here as long as you can, princess.”
Enti tilted her head at Kosmina’s undeterred expression. “The prospect of facing the mother of all ghouls—who can spawn even more and varied monsters—doesn’t give you pause?”
The princess lifted her chin. “My uncle Trehan killed the primordial demon in a bloodsport contest, without creating a single child terror. Part of my sword training was under his tutelage.” Her uncanny eyes glittered with determination. “I like my odds.”
Pride swelled Silt’s chest. Fascinating female. Still, that didn’t mean he was going to head out with her and share those odds. For argument’s sake, he asked, “Enti, how many are we talking about in that mountain? Do you have an estimate?”
“We do. If I could convince everyone here to fight, the ghouls would outnumber us a thousand to one.”
Even Kosmina’s confidence appeared to take a hit. Then she rallied: “The seismic activity here is unmistakable, and the quakes are intensifying. Our choices are simple—fight or perish.”
Enti adjusted her mask. “It’s just a cycle. Nightside is a world still in the throes of birth.”
“Or death.”
“I’ve been here for a century. The realm always quiets. I understand why you would want to leave—and I’m sympathetic—but others don’t feel such pressure.”
Silt didn’t. A parole offered him hope he hadn’t felt in memory. No more exile in Poly. No more hunters breathing down his neck. Hell, he could behold his Sorselan oasis once more.
Kosmina glanced at him, then back to Enti. “I will take my shot.”
“Very well,” the sorceress said. “If you give me a list of provisions in the morning, I can try to outfit you, and we will wish you all the luck in the worlds.” She turned to Silt. “What about you? Will you continue on with your travel companion?”
Leaving this place would be lunacy. But if Kosmina was set on going, he couldn’t force her to stay. He’d have to send her on her hopeless way.
Forgo her. Forgo revenge. Break the chain of pain.
The idea felt like reaching for a handful of sand and gripping ash instead. The only other option would be to follow her. He stared at Kosmina’s resolute gaze. Something mysterious binds us. “I will—” A scent hit him, and his muscles went rigid.
Demons had retired to a nearby balcony to share a pipe. Smoke slithered up from the bowl, curling in the still air like a viper’s trail over sand. “Stay.” Silt cleared his throat. “I will stay.” Not because he planned to relapse, but because he simply didn’t share Kosmina’s urgent need to leave.
The princess flashed him a look of confusion, but what else could she expect? Revenge couldn’t outweigh survival.
“Then we should welcome you to your new home in style, sorcerer,” Enti purred. “Perhaps with an after-dinner smoke? Our opium is the finest in all the worlds.”
He’d decided not to let down his guard near another powerful Sorceri. A decision had been made. But one small inhalation didn’t mean instant ruin.
Fucking does! A hit would turn into oblivion, and he knew it.
In a challenging tone, the princess asked, “Yes, Silt, will you smoke?”
He narrowed his eyes. He’d been proud of matching wits with her. He’d been proud of the erection he’d thrust while cradled between her soft thighs. Opium would rob him once more.
But could he remain here for his entire sentence and never falter again? How else would he pass the years? Maybe he ought to follow the princess to the gallows?—
More smoke wafted over him. It wove a tapestry in his brain, promising to temper all his unfamiliar emotions—so many of them centering on the vampire.
Just one taste. To find my footing . . .
Though he hadn’t answered, Kosmina looked disappointed in him. She rose and told Enti, “Thank you again. I’ll draw up a weapon plan tonight, and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“Of course. Sleep well, princess. Ring the servants if you need anything.”
Silt stared at the doorway long after she’d strode out of sight. Then he turned back to face yet another threat within Nightside.
Himself.