THROUGH THE PORTAL
25
- ALANIS -
M y body slams onto a cold, concrete floor. It takes me a moment to gather my breath, for stars to stop swirling in my vision.
Groaning, I sit up and take in my surroundings. I’m in the center of a room with multiple passageways leading into darkness. The stone walls glisten with dampness, and the sound of dripping water echoes from one of the corridors. The most worrisome thing about this room is the piles and piles of bones littering the floor. Based on the number of skulls, my quick guess is there are at least ten bodies in here alone, leaving me feeling uneasy about what else I’m going to find.
Standing, I peer down the four passageways I could take, all of them dark and damp. The one on the left has a faint light flickering just around the bend, and the trickle of water echoes out of the one on the right. The one in the center stands eerily silent and dark. The only passage behind me slopes slightly downward, as if descending deeper underground. By the smell seeping out of that tunnel, my best guess would be it leads to the sewers of whatever building this is.
I have no clue where this portal dropped me, but one of these passages may lead me to my brother. I contemplate the three choices before me. I have no desire to have a run-in with any ghouls, or Iclas. The faint light at the end of the hallway on the left gives me pause. It could be a sign that the inhabitants of wherever I am are down there.
It leaves me with two options.
The middle archway is so silent that it makes me uncomfortable. The other simply boasts the sound of water. The prisoners could be down either path. Taking a deep breath, I follow the sound of dripping.
The further I walk, the colder the air becomes, so cold that my breath clouds in front of me. The hallway turns abruptly to the right and I stop, coming face to face with a large iron door. There’s no way to see what’s beyond it, not even a little window. It could be a room or it could be another passageway. I look around for something I can use to pick the lock and find absolutely nothing but smooth, damp stone.
Taking a deep breath, I try to slow my racing mind. I have an idea, though it’s not one I’m excited about. But it just may be crazy enough to work. I return to the antechamber, examining the piles of bones. Each pile looks to be an entire skeleton. One skull is clearly human, which terrifies me. A few other piles of bones are definitely Fae. Long, sharp canine teeth scatter the floor, as if they were forcibly removed from their owner’s mouth. I swallow the bile racing up my throat.
I say a quick prayer and grab one of the elongated teeth. The lock is an old one, so I twist and turn the tooth inside, feeling out the locking mechanism but I can’t seem to get it to turn over. The tooth isn’t quite long enough. I brush a strand of hair off my sweaty forehead, cursing under my breath. My daggers won’t work, either. They’re too thick to fit into the narrow lock.
And then a whispered conversation with Malakai about magical locks pops into my head. From past experience, there is a good chance magic runs in my veins, though I still need a pattern to open the door. If Iclas created this lock, it could be anything. I run my fingers over the lock in the shape of a skull. He seems to be oddly obsessed with collecting skeletons.
Nothing.
I try the royal crest, three lines representing three swords and a circle in the center to represent the Gods.
No luck.
Maybe I just don’t have magic. Maybe Malakai is wrong about my bloodline. Maybe the magic I seemingly had before was a fluke.
I’m so frustrated I could scream. I sink to my knees, feeling the stress and exhaustion begin to overtake my body.
Iclas created this portal in the hopes Paliri would come back to him. It is possible the pattern could be something of meaning to Paliri instead of Iclas himself. There was an insignia at the bottom of the final written page in her journal, an entry specifically about Iclas.
Raising my head, I take a deep breath. If this doesn’t work, I will have to try the middle passage. I lift my shaky hand and close my eyes, focusing everything I can on my thoughts. Praying that magic runs in my veins, I start with the line and hurry to draw the half circle, finishing with the spokes depicting the rays of the sun.
A clicking sound comes from the lock and then another. The bolt on the door slides open.
I can do nothing but stare.
I have magic. Now more than ever I think back to the rumors. They were all right. It’s not as terrifying as I once might have expected.
Steeling my nerves, I pull the heavy door open and step through.
I squint my eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness in the room as I count the men chained to the wall. The missing soldiers, though not all of them. Six went missing, and we found one in Bone Valley. That means there should be five in this room, but there are only two—and neither is Elion.
“Help us. Please,” begs a scratchy voice from the corner.
I hurry and kneel in front of the soldier. “Where are the others? Where is Elion?”
He coughs. “They took him a few days ago and haven’t brought him back. They took another one of our men, too, and he has yet to return. Did Levi make it out?”
Just the mention of Levi’s name blasts me back to the past. When I saw him injured in that foyer, I felt overwhelmed. Levi. The boy I once loved. The one who showed me kindness and helped me learn all about this realm and the creatures and people that inhabit it. The man I spent countless hours with around my table, laughing and joking with my brother.
The same man who broke my heart with his betrayal.
I shake off the memories and get back to work trying to figure out how to release them. “Yes, he did. Don’t worry, I am going to get you two out of here. Do you happen to know where they took the others?” When I reach for the shackles, I flinch at how cold his hands are.
He gives me a faint smile. “Who are you?”
“Alanis,” I whisper.
His eyes grow wide. “Holy shit. You’re Elion’s sister.”
I smile. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Elion talks about you all the time.”
My heart warms, knowing that even though my brother created this new family, I was always on his mind. “Why are you all in iron chains?”
The soldier behind me is the one who answers. “The ghouls who originally took us had us in regular steel chains, until one of our brothers somehow escaped on the way here. He had a broken leg from the attack, so he probably didn’t make it far. It was enough that the ghouls became concerned. None of us knew how Matix got out until they came back from chasing after him, whispering about magic. Apparently, he was from a Witch bloodline and used what little magic he had on an opening spell on the lock. After that, we were all shackled in iron just to be safe.”
I glance around the room, but no one has a broken leg. “And where is Matix now?”
“No idea,” the man says. “He was never in here with us in the first place. Matix and Hammon never made it here.”
I nod. “We found one of them, but he didn’t have a broken leg, so it wouldn’t have been the Witch.”
He lets out a breath. “So Hammon is all right, he made it out?”
My face must say it all.
“What happened to him?”
“It looks like the ghouls killed him and left him in Bone Valley. The creatures got to what was left of him. We weren’t able to identify him, but at least we know now so his family can find closure.”
The one in front of me nods, but I hear a whispered curse at my back.
Since the locks are iron, any magic I have won’t work. The locks are shallower than the door, though. I race back into the hallway and grab the canine tooth, then manage to free the two soldiers.
“How the hell do we get out of here?” one of them asks.
“I’m not exactly sure,” I say as I lead them back to the antechamber I originally found myself in and explain how a portal dropped me here. “The door to the back probably leads to the sewers, so you could find an escape route that way. Do any of you know where we actually are?”
They both shake their head. “No, we were knocked out for most of the journey. Pretty sure they brought us through a portal, too.”
“I’m not sure where anything leads, but the sewer would be the best bet.”
The men turn towards the door and I turn toward the middle passage.
A hand stops me. “Where are you going? We have to get out of here.”
I look at the man, smiling, before sliding from his grip. “I’m not leaving without my brother. Do me a favor?”
“Anything,” he breathes.
“Find Malakai Blackburn.”
His eyes widen. “The crown prince?”
“Yes, find him or Kailu. They can help.”
“Why would the crown prince and the highest-ranking general help us?”
I balk at his words. “Did you say Kailu is the highest-ranking general?”
“Uh, yeah. His friend Siveral is next in line.”
Stupid Fae bastards leaving important information out left and right.
I shake off my annoyance, since it really isn’t that important. “Malakai, Siveral, and Kailu are all at the palace with others who are helping locate all the missing people. Find Malakai and let him know you saw me. That I’m all right. Tell him the portal is in the Vale inside the wishing well.”
He tilts his head, looking at me with a funny expression. “I don’t think the crown prince will come here to rescue you. No offense, I’m sure he is occupied with other things…”
I grab his shoulders and stare at him right in the eyes. “He will come for me. Just give him my message.”
“You can’t expect—”
I cut him off with a growl. “He is my mate. He will come for me. I don’t need a male to save me, I just need him to know that I am alive.”
The soldier’s eyes are so wide, I fear they may pop out of his head. “Your mate,” he whispers. I’m sure no one was expecting the rebel prince to end up with a mate.
“I will pass on your message,” he says at last. “Please be careful. He may just kill me himself for coming back without you.”
I quietly walk down the dark hallway, my fingers grazing the damp stones as I navigate through the blackness. I follow the curve of the wall and come to a stop at the cool air blowing through the tunnel. I feel around the damp stone wall and can just make out the metal banister of the stairs leading downward. I take the steps slowly, doing my best not to trip and plunge to my death.
I arrive in another hall, this one dimly lit by a single lantern, but there are still no signs of life—just another set of stairs. I hurry down those steps and find myself in another antechamber. This one is also decorated with multiple bones and two iron doors on the far right wall.
I hurry to the first door and kneel before it to repeat the process I used on the lock upstairs. It clicks open and I cautiously step inside. The sight before me turns my stomach and I slam my hands over my mouth to hold back a scream.
The man in the lone chair is completely drained of blood, his body pale. His blood pools on the floor, and his lifeless gray eyes have gone cloudy with death. His fingers have been completely severed and lay strewn on the floor around his feet. Knives stick out of his thighs and burn marks cross his bare chest. Vomit burns the back of my throat. As I fight to swallow it down, the man’s left leg catches my attention.
The leg is broken at the kneecap, sitting at a funny angle.
Matix.
I back out of the room and turn towards the only remaining door, wary of entering for fear of what will greet me inside. I run the pattern over the lock, and as it clicks open anxiety dances through my body, making me lightheaded.
I step through and my breath whooshes from my lungs at the brown eyes that meet mine. “Elion.”
- ELION -
The Banshee kneels beside me, as she does most days now. The horrors she has had to face are things I would never wish upon my worst enemy. I certainly haven’t wanted to live them. The bruise on my jawline is just another gift from the cloaked bastard.
The Banshee runs a soft hand over the purple-mottled skin. “It could be worse. At least he hasn’t stabbed you again.” Her voice is light, her face severe.
I quirk a brow at her. “Did you just try to make a joke?”
Her lips curl at the corners in what I think might just be a smile. “Maybe,” she whispers.
I chuckle softly. “How did it feel?”
Her nose scrunches up in the cutest way, and my heart skips a beat.
“It felt weird.”
I laugh, and now she really is smiling. Her face completely changes, becomes bright and full of life, so unlike how I normally see her. The cloaked man has slowly been draining the life from her. Each time she kills at his behest, another piece of her goes missing.
I refuse to let her disappear because of the evils of this world. Even if all I can do is pull a smile from her every once in a while.
A noise in the hallway draws her attention and her face pales. “I must go. I will return as soon as I can.” She brushes a hand down my face and I lean into that touch. Savoring it.
She disappears right as the iron door is slowly pushed open, a figure stepping through. “Elion!” the shadow gasps, rushing closer.
My mouth drops open, and I can’t quite believe what my eyes are telling me. Please, for the love of the Gods, tell me that my hard-headed sister did not just walk herself into this damned place to save me. Please tell me she isn’t stupid enough to do that.
I watch as she soaks in every detail about me. She looks well enough. Gods, the stubborn woman is going to give me a heart attack, but she’s still a sight for sore eyes. I’ve missed my little sister more than anything. She has been my partner in crime for as long as I can remember. When I had nothing left, I still had her.
All my other emotions fade into the background when confronted by the fear now overwhelming my senses. The cloaked man enters behind her on silent feet. A terror even greater than when I was taken hostage by ghouls slices through my very heart.
“Alanis!” I yell. But my warning is too late. He slams a metal rod down on the back of her head, and she collapses, out cold.
I fight against my restraints. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
The man leaves and returns with another metal chair, setting it across from me. Then he dumps Alanis’s unconscious body into it and restrains her with shackles.
His voice slithers out, oily and vile. “What a nice surprise. Looks like I can begin my plan sooner than expected.”
Cursing, I pull against my restraints, the biting pain nothing compared to my anger. “I don’t know what you want from her, but she has nothing to do with any of this! She’s human . She can’t help you.” I try to say the words with conviction, but even I am unsure of what Alanis truly is. My mother always feared her, though I never knew why. But then we came here and she mentioned that damn sensation of something drawing her here. The Primal Scroll I found only made me question it more.
He laughs, a sickening sound that sends goosebumps slithering over my skin. “Don’t be stupid, boy. Even you don’t believe the lies you spew. Alanis is exactly who I’ve been searching for, and now that she is in my grasp, everything I ever dreamed of is within reach. Which means I have no use for you anymore.”
My stomach lurches as I stare into his dark hood, unwilling to look away.
“Don’t worry, I’ll let you have a brief reunion with Alanis before I kill you. It would be no fun if she didn’t get to watch as I drained the life from your body.”
He turns without a backward glance, slamming the door.