28. Gwyneira

28

GWYNEIRA

“ Y ou’re not serious,” Lars said, putting words to the alarm on the faces of my men. Even Casimir appeared dumbstruck—though in his case, a strangely simmering rage seemed to be the reason why.

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I was too stunned by what the scholar had said. It was insane. We couldn’t be the whole hope of the world. That was what a crazy person would believe.

“I understand why you might be hesitant to return,” Ignatius said.

I sincerely doubted that.

“But if the gateway demons speak the truth—and I cannot see why they would lie about this—then as the Nine, you will need the help of the magic within Erenelle to protect this world. The prophecies are clear. You must?—”

“Is the gateway finished yet?” the duke called impatiently from over a dozen yards away.

My jaw clenched against the urge to snarl. That man cared nothing for what his scholar just risked, only that he hurried along like a servant running late.

Not to mention the ten-ton boulder of nonsense the man had just dropped on us.

Ignatius ignored the duke, but he cast a wary look at the man’s henchmen. Though they’d stayed back while the spell was activating, now several of the bullying giants were inching closer to the gateway like children urging one another to jump into a pond.

“Unless you wish to die horribly,” the elderly scholar called, “I recommend patience until we can remove the Aneiran devices from your wrists.”

The henchmen retreated.

Ignatius turned back to us, lowering his voice. “We can discuss these issues more once we pass the Erenlian Wall. But please, I beg you, come with us. You will need the power of Erenelle for what is coming.”

Giving a final insistent look at us all, he strode toward the duke. “Yes, we should be ready shortly.”

“Well, uh…” Clay blinked. “ That was cryptic and insane. Anybody else planning to head anywhere but Erenelle once we get out of this place?”

Ozias grunted in agreement.

“Casimir,” I asked softly, “are you okay?”

His attention flicked to me, his expression still tight with what definitely looked like rage. “Are you ?”

I hesitated, and before I could answer, he made an irritated noise, seemingly aimed at himself. “Apologies. I am fine.” He paused. “ Hungry ,” he added in a lower voice. “But fine.”

I nodded, trying for a reassuring smile that didn’t flash too much of my fangs.

But gods, hungry barely covered it. Every last bit of my energy had been taken by that spell.

“ If Ignatius is correct about where the gateway lets out,” Byron said like the words were being dragged from him, “then when we emerge, we will be trapped between the Wall of Erenelle and hundreds of miles of potentially hostile Aneiran territory in any other direction.”

Niko nodded. “It’s too risky to run. All of… whatever that was… aside, we really do need to stop the queen. If there is even a chance something in Erenelle could help us do that and keep—” he twitched his head toward me ever so slightly. “—safe, then we need to take it, right?”

Scowls crossed Ozias and Roan’s faces, but Clay just shook his head. “No. Hell no. We do not need to be trusting these fucking?—”

“Niko’s right,” Dex cut in, looking vaguely ill. “Byron too.”

Clay gaped at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me. These are the same bastards who tried to kill you. Oz and the pair of us too. Deter Ensid would sell out a baby if it gave him a scrap of greater power. And now the scholar who wasn’t fond of dwarves thinks we’re the saviors of the world?” He shook his head incredulously. “The last thing we need is to walk our happy asses back into their fucked-up nation and bring Gwyn?—”

Lars slapped a hand over his brother’s mouth with a frantic look.

Clay blanched. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled behind Lars’s palm.

“The last thing we need is to panic,” Dex replied firmly. “Right now we have limited supplies, no backup, and no way out. Once we get through the gateway, only one of those issues is solved, but not the others.” He sighed. “I’m not saying we need to believe what Ignatius said, but if stopping inside the border of Erenelle helps us address our problems, we need to do it. At least briefly ,” he stressed when Ozias started to growl in protest. “But we stay alert, and we never let down our guard, got it?”

Ozias looked away, but Lars and the others nodded.

I did the same, and Dex gave me a pained look. “If I had a way to keep you out of danger…” His mouth tightened as he left the rest unsaid.

“Your Highness,” Duke Ensid called imperiously. “What of our bargain?”

“Pound of gold to whoever stabs that fucker,” Clay muttered when Lars uncovered his mouth.

Casimir said nothing, striding toward the duke and the other giants.

I fidgeted nervously as I followed him—and then cursed myself silently for the slip of self-control. I couldn’t show tension. Not with that tyrant watching us.

But gods, I could see the problems with this plan. Going to Erenelle aside, if the duke went through the gateway first, he could destroy it before we had a chance to cross.

And then we’d be trapped. Again.

“I would see my people unbound immediately,” the duke said without preamble, extending his wrist when Casimir came closer.

“Of course,” my vampire agreed, but he didn’t move, his eyes twitching to Dex and the others.

“I will remain with our Zeniryan friends until they are ready to cross,” Ignatius announced suddenly. “For the good of Erenelle.”

The duke turned a surprised and indignant look on the scholar. Ignatius met his eyes flatly.

Relief tangled with worry inside me. From what I could tell, the duke needed Ignatius. Desperation coupled with the duke’s supercilious attitude and abuse of authority should have long ago pushed these people to riot. But Ignatius’s respected position and calming influence had helped mitigate those pressures and gave validity to Duke Ensid’s contemptible “rulership.”

The man would be an absolute fool to risk losing Ignatius, not until he had the crown firmly on his head—which meant he probably wasn’t going to destroy the gateway and trap us here if the scholar stayed until everyone else was free.

“Our people would be better served by you crossing first,” the duke countered. “In case anything endangers the other end of the gateway. We wouldn’t want it to destabilize and leave anyone behind, after all.”

I bit back a growl as my vampire side wanted to lash out. That was very nearly a confirmation of what I’d feared he would try.

Ignatius made a mild noise of disagreement. “Surely your younger companions are far more suited to ensuring the gateway’s security than me.”

Duke Ensid’s brow arched. “Are you disrespecting my orders, scholar?”

“I would never disrespect the throne,” Ignatius replied.

The duke’s eyes narrowed. He could hear the distinction Ignatius made just as clearly as I could.

Ignatius smiled. “I simply wish to make certain that our relations with Zenirya remain as you would wish them.”

The duke was silent for a moment. To insist would be to imply that he didn’t want relations to go well, which would be a mistake considering his magic was still bound and he needed Casimir to release him—which meant Ignatius had backed him into a corner.

Gods, I’d never realized how like politicians the scholars were.

“Indeed,” the duke said. “Erenelle values all advantageous partnerships.” He extended his wrist to Casimir. “Shall we get on with it, then?”

Casimir gave a slight sideways nod that communicated both agreement and the fact he was only consenting because he chose to do so. It was a movement I’d seen my father use numerous times with impetuous lords and rulers of other kingdoms.

A tight feeling took up residence around my heart. Casimir was born to be a king. Trained too, of course, but some things couldn’t be taught. They were character and temperament—something the duke could only fake.

When this was over, would he come back with me to Aneira? Or would he return to Zenirya, where there were only empty halls and a forest of ghosts?

Wrapping his hand around the manacle, Casimir whispered those words under his breath again, same as he had for Ignatius. The spell moved faster this time—or perhaps he’d simply figured out what steps worked best—and soon, the lock clicked and the metal band fell to the floor.

Tension mounted among my men as we braced for what the duke might do.

A shudder ran through him. “My loyal supporters next.” He nodded at his henchmen.

Casimir’s brow twitched up, but he didn’t say a word. Reaching over, he freed the duke’s men.

But I could see the tiny shivers running through my vampire. The increasing way his hand shook with every metal band he grasped.

He truly was starving. I was too, but he was pushing himself too hard to continue using magic like this.

All while surrounded by giants who could make the pain of starvation go away.

Tension quivered through me as I walked over to him, ignoring the questioning and alarmed sounds from my men. “Here.” I put a hand to Casimir’s arm. “Let me.”

“No.”

“I can help?—”

“Not needed.”

Gods, what had gotten into him? First Byron with the gateway, now me.

Still trapped in stone, Norbert called out. “What’s wrong with your king, girlie?”

A short growl slipped from Casimir, and the giant he was freeing recoiled with alarm.

This was madness. He was losing control of himself. And yes, so was I, but surely we could trade off helping? I knew removing those manacles hurt like hell. The force and magic it’d taken for me to rip one of these off Niko’s arm had been excruciating. But that didn’t mean I’d leave Casimir to bear this alone.

Barely holding back my own growl, I stalked over to a waiting giant. The giant gave me a wary look as I extended my palm, waiting for the woman to allow me to grasp her metal band. She towered over me by several feet, so large she made me look like a doll. But still she looked afraid as her eyes darted from me to Casimir.

“Pri—” Casimir bit off his protest with a frustrated noise.

I ignored him. “I won’t hurt you,” I told the woman.

Anxiety drove her to pause a moment longer, but finally eagerness to be free overrode her concerns. She extended her wrist.

Pain stabbed my hand like needles the moment I placed my hand on the metal. The surface was cold, but it burned like acid. With every second, the agony grew stronger, until it was all I could do not to scream.

Gods, how was Casimir enduring this over and over?

Gritting my teeth, I fought to force magic into the band. I’d been panicking when I freed Niko. Driven by pure terror that I would lose him. But vaguely, I recalled twisting the energy coming from me a certain way. Tearing it into the lock just… like…

Click.

The pain drained as the metal band fell. I lowered my hand, my body shaking, while the woman stared at me in wonder.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

Before I could respond, hands took my shoulders, pulling me aside. “That was not necessary,” Casimir growled.

“Neither is you bearing all the burden of doing this your?—”

“Do you understand what it does to your men to see you in pain?” he hissed in a tone like I’d never heard from him. It was low. Furious.

Desperate.

I stared at him. His gaze held a feral hunger, and his attention twitched toward the side of my throat every few seconds before jerking away.

My eyes shot to Dex and the others. Ozias was shuddering so hard, it was all he could do not to shift. Roan’s teeth were bared, his skin taking on the decidedly gray hue of the demon. Clay, Lars, and Niko looked sick, while Dex’s hands were white-knuckled fists.

And Byron was so pale, his red hair looked like blood on his head. Short, sharp breaths made his chest rise and fall with jolts like he was about to suffocate.

Oh gods.

“Go,” Casimir ground out. His furious tone softened ever so slightly. “Please.”

Nodding, I hurried back to the others. Dex’s hand took mine the moment I came close, yanking me back into the thick of their group. Ozias grabbed me away from him, his hands shaking, and he didn’t let go. Without a word, Dex nodded and turned away, putting himself between me and the duke’s line of sight.

Like a bodyguard.

Peeking past my men, I cursed silently at the curious, considering look in the duke’s eyes.

“Is your woman well, Your Highness?” the man asked with blatantly feigned concern.

Clay muttered insults under his breath.

“Your people need my concentration, Duke Ensid,” Casimir replied tightly. “Not my conversation.”

The duke’s brow rose, but he didn’t appear remotely offended. More like amused, and the sight sent quivers of rage through me. Gods, what I wouldn’t give to just fix this.

But then, that was the vampire side of me talking.

I might agree with it, though.

“ Stay. Put ,” Ozias growled like he’d read my mind.

Eternity passed until the last metal band hit the ground. With more self-control than I could fathom, Casimir drew himself up and walked calmly back to us. “Now,” he said to the duke, “for your part of our arrangement.”

The duke’s lip curled, coming dangerously close to a smirk. “Indeed.” He twitched his head at one of his men, never taking his eyes from us. “Go. See what the other end is like and then return with a report.”

Nodding fast, the man strode toward the wall. Like a rock dropped into a pond, the darkness rippled and swallowed him, stilling a moment later as if nothing had happened at all.

Clay whistled low. “Creepy.”

A noise of agreement came from Lars.

I couldn’t take my eyes away from the darkness. Whatever lived in that space was invisible, but I still swore it was watching us.

“So, uh,” Clay continued. “How long do we wait? If he doesn’t make it, I mean?”

Norbert scoffed. “Worried, runt?”

“Please. That’s big talk from a guy whose foot is trapped in a rock.”

The giant snarled at Clay, jerking his leg in an attempt to break it free.

“If the boy has any intelligence at all,” the duke said, “he will return shortly. We have only to wait a few more?—”

The darkness rippled. The man stumbled back into the cavern. “It worked,” he gasped. “It’s… Gods, it’s beautiful.”

Like he’d unleashed the floodgates, the other giants rushed forward, clamoring to leave.

“One at a time! One at a time!” Ignatius called. “Please! We must be careful not to?—”

Duke Ensid and his henchmen strode through without a backward glance.

The darkness rippled so hard as it swallowed them that it seemed like ink about to splash over the cavern walls. A quiver ran through the stones beneath my feet, and my gut twisted like a rope was tugging on my insides.

And my magic.

I stumbled while giants cried out and retreated from the gateway.

“That damned fool!” Ignatius cried.

A growling sound came from the darkness. The sense that something was watching us grew stronger.

“Um…” Clay pushed me behind him as he backed away. “You’re sure those demon things aren’t related to the Voidborn, right?”

I doubled over, the pull on my insides growing stronger. The growl felt like it was all around me. Like the darkness was reaching out invisibly to surround us all.

“Please,” I whispered, not even sure what kind of creature I was begging, only that certain death was in that power.

There was a reason these creatures were called gateway demons.

“Please.” My head shook. “Please don’t…”

The darkness paused. I barely dared to move.

“Mirror, mirror,” a deep and angry voice growled. “ Broken now it lies…” A hungry, cruel chuckle carried from the darkness. “ Doomed are the Nine who shatter the skies.”

My lips parted with breathless shock. “What?”

“ Well…” I swore something in the darkness grinned. “Maybe.”

Confusion made me falter. Maybe? What did that?—

“ Cross, little doomed one. She’s coming.”

The tugging sensation vanished like a rope had snapped. I lurched backward.

Clay caught me. “Are you okay? No, stupid question. But you were talking to yourself and?—”

I looked up at him, baffled. Talking to myself? “Didn’t you hear that?”

Wary glances passed between the others. Clay’s head shook. “Hear what?”

My eyes darted over the cavern. Up ahead, the darkness had stabilized again, becoming as still as a black pool.

And my men weren’t the only ones staring at me.

I wetted my lips, trying to regroup. I had no idea what just happened or if that voice in the darkness was trustworthy.

But everything in me swore I knew who she was.

“We need to go,” I said. “Now.”