Chapter Thirty-Eight – Mira #2
‘Mira.’ Cassius’s hand grazed mine, and I went still. ‘They’re enchanted.’
A shiver went down my spine. Their eyes weren’t black like Aric’s, but they were eerily empty, unblinkingly reflecting the firelight.
‘Could Scarlett have done this?’ I whispered to him, not taking my eyes off the warriors.
‘I don’t know.’ Cassius hesitated, and in that hesitation, I saw the worry he was trying not to express.
I didn’t ask Cassius where he thought his sister would be. If I was Scarlett, I would have claimed the most powerful place within the Temple – and the most fortified. The Inner Sanctum.
Darkness greeted us as we entered the courtyard. A shiver crawled down my spine as our footsteps echoed, unsettlingly loud in the absolute silence. All the fire braziers were out, and a few had been toppled over.
A flicker of movement made me turn towards the looming pillars of the colonnade. For an instant, I could have sworn I saw a pair of golden eyes watching me. Eyes that weren’t quite–
My foot connected with something soft. I looked down, choked back a scream, and stumbled backwards.
I had stepped on a person .
No – not just any person. Nausea consumed me as I crouched down at Elian’s side. Please be alive. Please, please—
I turned him over, and my stomach sank. Even in the semi-darkness, I could see the blood coating his neck. Had someone slit his throat on Scarlett’s orders? Because she knew that Elian and Jadis were loyal to me?
Jadis . My blood ran cold. Darius’s death had been bad enough, but to lose her brother , her twin –
‘Come on, Mira.’ Cassius gave Elian’s body a cursory glance before raking his gaze over the bloodstained courtyard. ‘We can’t stay here.’
‘But Elian–’
‘Elian is dead.’ A cold statement of fact. ‘If we survive, you can see that he receives a proper burial. Until then, I would rather focus on not joining him.’
He strode ahead, weaving his way between the bodies. All of their throats were slit, and when I leant in to examine one of them . . . I jerked back in shock.
‘What is it?’ Cassius asked sharply.
‘Their throats – they’ve been torn out. As if by teeth or claws.’ I turned in a slow, wary circle, trying to keep the colonnade in my sights. Searching for those golden eyes.
All that greeted me was darkness, but my skin prickled – as if something was still watching us. Watching me .
Cassius followed the direction of my stare. I wasn’t sure if he had seen those golden eyes too, but his voice was resolute as he said, ‘We should retreat. You can send a message to the shifters, and–’
‘By then, it will be too late.’ I pushed through the heavy bronze doors. ‘I have to help my people. There must be survivors.’
Cassius cursed but followed me up the curving staircase, his presence steadying at my back.
The route to the Inner Sanctum was filled with more blank-faced clansmen and priestesses.
We gave them a wide berth, and they didn’t try to stop us as we passed, though I could have sworn their eyes followed me.
Was Scarlett watching us even now? Following our progress through the eyes of her living puppets?
Cassius heaved open the heavy doors leading to the heart of the Temple, and my grip tightened on my sword, expecting an attack. But the Inner Sanctum was as still as the rest of the Temple. Only two figures were visible, their bodies lying in front of the Sorceress’s dais–
‘ Lillian! ’
I sprinted the rest of the distance, heedless of possible threats. Falling to my knees beside my friend, I searched for a pulse. It thumped faintly beneath my fingers, in time with her shallow breathing.
‘What happened to you?’ My eyes canvassed her pale form. There was no sign of a wound; no obvious explanation for her weakened state–
Until I noticed the young woman lying next to her.
Scarlett’s body was riddled with scars, as though a person – or multiple people – had cut her open and left her to bleed out.
Her unnaturally pale skin was chalk-white, the skin beneath her eyes deathly p urple.
Only her red hair possessed any sort of vibrancy, and even that was darker than usual, silhouetting her body like a shroud.
Cassius crouched next to his sister, reaching for her wrist. An indefinable expression crossed his face.
‘She’s dying,’ I whispered. His sharp nod confirmed it.
Lillian’s hand brushed mine. I glanced down to see her eyes flutter open, the clear, uncomplicated blue that I remembered. ‘I don’t have long,’ she breathed. ‘Neither of us do.’
‘Don’t try to talk,’ I said, clutching her hand to my heart. Tears welled in my eyes but I held them back.
‘She’s fighting it.’ Lillian’s voice was little more than a rasp. ‘The Sorceress is helping her.’
‘The–?’
The doors swung open and Velanthe marched in, a blank-faced Odessa at her side.
In front of her was a little boy, and one glance at his red hair told me this was the child Aric had mentioned kidnapping – Roran’s son.
Velanthe kept a possessive hand on his shoulder, though he seemed to be enchanted in the same way as the others.
‘ You ,’ I hissed, drawing my sword.
‘Me,’ Velanthe agreed, and when she smiled, I saw that her teeth were stained red with Scarlett’s blood.