THIRTY-SEVEN
WILLOW
I’ve seen many unexplainable things in Vakeeli since my very first drop from the portal, but what Selah has just done takes the cake.
I can’t stop my jaw from falling even as Killian insists that we keep moving.
“This way!” Killian storms through the corridor, leaping over the lifeless bodies of servants and guards until he reaches a wing we haven’t gone through before. “There has to be a way out of here.”
He shoves a thick door open, and it takes us through a grand room made of tan marble and navy velvet curtains.
I glance back, stomach dropping when I see the flames trailing behind us. They’re a few feet away, but it’s strange they’ve made it this far already.
“How are we going to get out if we’re bound to this stupid castle?” I ask, searching for an exit. “If we try to leave, we might die!”
“I know, I know,” he pants. “But there has to be somewhere on these grounds we won’t be touched by that fire.”
“Why did she even do that?” I ask as Killian digs his fingers into one of the velvet curtains.
“She’s fucking demented, that’s why.”
He rips the curtain down, and the rod clinks to the ground. He picks it up, kicks the endpiece off, then snaps the rod in half to form two jagged edges. Good enough for a weapon. I’m not sure it can be used on any of those immortal monsters though.
“Let’s go this way.”
I follow his lead, and we drift from room to oversized room.
“Wait. Kill—the fire.” I stop midway through another corridor, watching the flames creep around the corner. “I think it’s following us.”
“Why would it be—” Killian jerks around to see the same thing I’m seeing. The flames are ripping across the floor and torching everything in their way. “ Fuck .”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Let me think,” he mumbles as we walk faster. “Most castles have cellars. Blackwater Manor has one, and it’s fireproof because we keep a lot of our ammo and explosives there. The last thing we want is our home blowing up. This castle likely has the same thing—or at least a bunker of some kind. Council Castle had a fleet once, and if they protected this castle, it means they stored many of their weapons around here somewhere. Most likely in a cellar too.”
I nod. “Then let’s go there.”
When Killian runs, I do too, and we don’t stop until we reach a winding staircase. “It’s gotta be down there.” He hustles down first. I spot those flames over my shoulder as I rush down.
Why the hell are those flames coming after us? I have no doubt Selah is controlling them. She wants us to burn right along with this castle.
But why? Why kill the people who wanted her freed? Why burn The Council’s only home down? How can she be so deceitful after everything they’ve done for her? Not that I care much for The Council, but her lack of respect and loyalty stuns me. I see why Hassha and Korah never woke her.
When we reach the bottom of the staircase, I’m breathing raggedly and Killian is standing in front of a door that has a wheel with spokes. He grips two of the spokes and tries twisting the wheel several times, but it doesn’t budge.
The flames slip down the stairs, getting closer.
“Killian,” I warn.
“Yeah, I know. I know.” He gives the wheel a twist again, grunting as he does so with all his might. Still, the wheel doesn’t shift.
He looks to his left, searching for a way out.
To our right, there’s no way either.
“Fuck, Willow,” he rasps as the flames cause a spark in his eyes. “I think we’re trapped.”