34. Chapter Thirty Four Callum
Chapter Thirty Four: Callum
I paced as I waited for Cyerra to return, running my hands through my hair. She was taking too long to come back. Just when I was preparing myself mentally to tear the walls down to get to her, she popped back into existence, a thick tome clasped to her chest. “Where the fuck have you been?” I snapped.
“Easy, puppy, I found an alcove back there. On it was a pedestal that held this book,” she explained, still cradling the book as if she couldn’t let it go.
“What took you so long?” I asked, trying to figure out what was so hard about grabbing the book and bringing it back. It shouldn’t have taken her the thirty minutes it had.
“Well, getting it off the pedestal wasn’t that simple,” she said, dragging out the word “ well,” looking sheepishly at me again. I didn’t like that look.
“What do you mean? What aren’t you telling us?” I pushed her for an answer.
“So, the book was stuck. It wouldn’t budge. However, my tattoos started glowing again when I touched it. Obviously, I snatched my hand away, but I couldn’t find a lever or anything to release it. I touched it again, placing my hands on the slate pages, and…” she paused taking a deep breath as she rushed out the rest, “then the book poked me, and once it had my blood, it released. But I’m here now, everything’s good. Nothing happened.” She smiled up at me innocently. “Should we go now? This seems like it should be enough for Rhowyn.”
“Not so fast.” I put a hand on her shoulder to hold her in place. “Don’t think I missed that little bit. It took your blood?” I needed her to clarify.
“Just a little bit, a small pinprick really.” She tried to assuage my nerves unsuccessfully.
“Whatever this temple was, it’s connected to the Ravens. If anything, she was probably the only one who could have gotten in here. I have a feeling that if we had tried to force access, the magic would have retaliated,” Jonathan reasoned, letting her off the hook.
Realizing I wasn’t winning this battle, I sighed. “Fine. But don’t think I’m not telling Rhowyn.”
“Shit, do you have to?” Cyerra whined, knowing the conniption Rhowyn would throw when she found out the risk Cyerra had taken by doing what she did.
“I wouldn’t lie to her, and she’ll have questions when we tell her about this place,” I told her honestly, happy that she didn’t seem so smug now. “Let’s take a quick look at the book,” I said, holding my hand out to see what was so important that it had been kept secret for millennia.
Instead of handing it over, she hugged it tighter to her chest. “Let’s get out of here first,” she suggested, avoiding the fact that she didn’t want to hand it over.
Narrowing my eyes, I prepared to rip it away from her, but the snap of a branch had us shutting up and turning to face where the entrance had been. Straining, I heard mumbling from multiple men and a single female voice. A woman that was definitely not Rhowyn. “We need to hide,” I said.
“And just where do you think we should do that?” Cyerra asked, her eyes wide as she sensed the danger. “It’s not like there’s anything to hide behind.”
“Take us through to the alcove that the book was in. Hurry,” Jonathan snapped at her as she rushed over. We clamped our hands on her shoulder, turning to smoke and pushing through the mortar like before. She released her magic, cramming us into a room that was barely three feet by three feet. Right smack in the middle of the cubby was a large pedestal that forced us to get closer than we had intended.
Just as we settled, a voice came into focus. “We need to find the book. It’s here somewhere, I can feel it.” Titania’s tinkling tone had my back snapping straight as flashbacks of having to remain silent while she took pleasure in my pain assaulted me. Next to me, I vaguely heard Jonathan’s breaths start to rush in and out. He was also reliving her torture.
I forced my eyes shut, taking a deep breath in and holding it for a count of three before exhaling. Repeating this process until I had grounded myself back to reality, I leaned down to Jonathan. “Take a deep breath. You can’t panic here. You’ll give our location away,” I pleaded with him on a whisper, barely more than an exhale.
His eyes met mine, wide with pinpoint pupils, terror painted across his stricken face. Demonstrating what I needed from him, I took a deep breath and held it, nodding at him to do the same. He inhaled shakily, barely able to hold his breath for a second before it was rushing out again. I took another breath, and he followed my example until slowly, his muscles began to relax.
A male voice, Bernard, spoke in response. “We’ve scoured these ruins too many times to count, and we’ve always come up with the same result. Nothing to show for our efforts.”
Titania snapped at him, “I don’t want to hear that now. I need that book. It’s the key to everything. Without it, that little wretch will succeed. I need to stop her if we’re going to open the gate. It’s the only way we’ll ascend and become gods, finally displacing that whining bitch, Avalonia.”
“Fine. I’ll look aga…” Bernard’s words trailed off. Shit, we hadn’t shut the door to the locked room.
“What!?” Titania snapped, her impatience already eating at her.
“This door’s open. It’s never been opened before.”
“See? Now’s the time. The book must be inside here. Can’t you hear it calling to you?” she asked Bernard. A scuffle of steps sounded out against the stone as they entered the room. I could smell the sickly scent of her lilac and rose perfume, nausea rising at the scent I now associated with torture.
We all held our breath as Cyerra continued to clutch the book to her chest. “Where is it?” Titania demanded, her words coming from directly on the other side of the wall we were facing.
“It’s got to be here,” Bernard said, confusion tinting his words.
“How’d that door get opened anyway?” Titania asked, her tone indicating she was now suspicious.
More silence greeted us, a click of heels against the stone as she paced. “There’s nothing here, Titania. What you’re feeling is probably a residual from the magic.”
“Perhaps you’re right,” her voice began to drift away, and we slowly exhaled the breaths that we had been holding, our muscles relaxing.
Deciding to wait just to be safe, we remained frozen for a good thirty minutes after the last sound of their disappearing steps. Sweat dripped from my brow and down my spine as the humidity in the tiny room increased with no breeze or air flow to ease our discomfort. Finally, I nodded at Cyerra. They should have cleared out by now. We became smoke as she whisked us out of the room. Not needing to discuss it, we made our way out of the temple with haste. We needed to get this book back to Rhowyn quickly. Whatever it was, it was tantamount that we kept it out of Titania’s clutches.
We flew from the temple and through the foliage and vines, only to run into an invisible wall. The shock of impact into the blockade had Cyerra dropping us and turning us back to solid. We landed on the ground in a heap. I groaned from the impact, pushing up to standing as quickly as possible to face the threat. I knew before I saw her that this was Titania’s doing.
“I must say, after years of trying to reach that book, I am quite pleased that all I had to do was sit back and let you retrieve it for me,” Titania cooed as she gazed at the book in Cyerra’s arms. The Raven hunched her shoulders around the object protectively.
Stepping in front of Cyerra, I drew Titania’s focus. “What do you need the book for, Titania?” She hissed at the clear disrespect. I was done calling her Your Majesty. I took in the sight of all her consorts flanking her. Each of them were powerful in their own right, but Titania was the biggest threat. She was obviously more powerful and made all of the decisions.
Instead of snapping at me like I knew she wanted, she smirked, a false smile painted on her lips. “And look who it is. Two of my favorite subjects. I have been sorely missing your company lately.” Her smile only grew as Jonathan tried to shrink in on himself, his head lowered and unable to return her gaze. It had been a mistake to bring him. He wasn’t ready to face what she’d done to him over the last two decades even though he wanted to be. I knew the feeling, but I also knew when I should bow out and run.
Right now, the odds were not in our favor, and my mind raced as I tried to find an advantage. “If we give you the book, will you let us go?”
“Why would I do that?” she asked innocently. “I could just take it, and there’s nothing you could do to stop me.”
“What’s to say we don’t just destroy it. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll know that it’ll stop you from becoming the gods that you desire to be.”
“Don’t be foolish,” she snapped, losing patience with the game we were playing. She turned to look at her consorts. Taking the chance that she had given me, I sprang forward.
I rushed her, knowing my attack would fail. I swung my sword to distract her, forcing her to focus on me and defend herself. “RUN!” I shouted at Cyerra.
She did as I had told her, turning to smoke and fleeing as Titania’s hold on her magic was diverted to deal with me. Her magic lashed out at me, slashing across my chest to leave me bleeding from a massive gash that ran from shoulder to hip.
As I fell to the ground, I saw Cyerra’s smoke form already escaping into the distance. Titania screamed, “NO!”
My head impacted the ground, my muscles not functioning properly enough to catch me, and as my vision darkened, I noticed that Jonathan had also been left behind.
Shit, Trouble would not be happy about this.