I thought about shutting up but gambled on pushing a little further. “What are the markings on everyone’s faces? I see you’ve got seven, but most people only seem to have five or fewer.”
“They showcase our abilities, which are considerable. Almost all of our people are full Elementals, with additional abilities in our repertoires. I have three additional abilities, where others have only one or, indeed, none, if they are of lesser birth,” Kaya replied with surprising willingness. I’d hit a touchy subject with the marriage stuff, I supposed, and this line of questioning was easier to stomach.
Lesser birth? And who decided that? What made someone “lesser”? And lesser than what, exactly? I had never understood that way of thinking, and I doubted I ever would. But Kaya was making her point very clear—even those of supposedly “lesser birth” still had more abilities than us, for the most part. Finch was more on par, and potentially Nash, but the rest of us couldn’t match up. So it would be very difficult to fight them, if not impossible. Certainly inadvisable.
“In addition, we are all Sentients,” Kaya continued without prompting. “We do not need to speak to make our Chaos happen or to conjure spells. It all flows from our thoughts alone. I suggest you consider that before you take any foolish actions.”
Whoa… I’d have to look up Sentients in my mind palace later, but it was hard to concentrate with the prison fast approaching.
I glanced at the others to see if they were in a similar state of panic. Luke stood close by, his eyes darting as though he hoped an exit might suddenly appear. I worried about him, pretty much all the time. Which was ironic, as his emotions always contained fear. The two of us were a pair of worriers in an endless loop of mutual concern. He put all his energies into keeping me safe, and I feared that one day, that might put him in the line of fire. I didn’t ever want him to get hurt on my account.
Nash, on the other hand, was remarkably calm, albeit sullen. That wasn’t much of a surprise. It took a lot to rattle our group’s granddaddy. But the subject of his focus made me nervous for him. As we walked, his gaze rested on Erebus and Davin. I understood why. This was likely the closest he’d ever gotten to both of them without one of them trying to kill him. And he, in turn, was thinking of all the ways he could take them down, with this golden opportunity. I wasn’t a Telepath, but emotions went some way toward what someone was thinking. And right now, Nash was filled with vengeance, anger, bitterness, and a touch of hope.
But Nash was also tense, in a way that had nothing to do with Erebus and Davin and everything to do with our surroundings. I understood that. We’d just discovered an ancient, secret city inhabited by incredible, supercharged people thought to have gone extinct millennia ago. It fascinated me and frightened me in equal measure—considering we’d just arrived at their prison—which was an excellent mix to keep me on my toes.
Speaking of tense, Ryann had some odd emotions flying around, just the way she had on Eris Island. I didn’t know what was up with her, but I could make some guesses. For example, I’d be inordinately peeved if someone dragged my love interest down to an unknown realm, on a never-ending carousel of missions, not knowing if they might survive. Oh… hang on a second. I shook off any confusing notions of Luke and love interests before their barbs could really sink in. Fortunately, Kaya was there to derail my train of thought.
“Open the gates!” she called as we reached the towering prison doors. Carvings of dragons and krakens were emblazoned on the solid black doors, which seemed to have been crafted from the darkest marble available. This did nothing to ease my rampant nerves, which kicked up a notch as the gates opened with a spine-chilling screech.
The Atlantean guard forced us through the doors, and I sensed Luke’s fear growing. He put his hand on the small of my back. I was grateful for that. I needed it; otherwise, I’d have tried to run and gotten myself blasted into pieces. I was an excellent thinker, but I wasn’t much of a runner. Never had been. That was probably another reason my parents had kept me out of mainstream coven life, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself during sports. After causing a multi-child pileup during a sack race when I was six, that was the wisest thing they could’ve done.
I leaned into Luke as we entered the prison, where we were soundly pushed through a vast entrance hall with an arched ceiling that cradled a chandelier of blackened bones at the apex. It had been fashioned to look like a huge bird’s nest. The kind a mythical harpy might’ve lived in.
“I’ll get us out of this,” Luke whispered to me. I wished I could believe him, but he couldn’t sense what I did. The energy of this place had stomach-churning intensity, brimming with every kind of protective spell.
We were marched down an equally Gothic hallway with vaulted ceilings and distorted, dark light that shone through the shadowed sea-glass windows. A few moments later, the guards halted in front of a large silver door with a slotted grate in the middle. Blue-tinged Chaos slithered from Kaya’s body without her even lifting a hand. It just trickled out of her and into the lock. An example of that Sentient stuff she’d spoken about. As the magic did its work, I heard the click echo back.
One of the soldiers swung the door wide open, while the rest jabbed us in our backs. We stumbled into the room beyond. I’d barely managed to regain my balance, though Luke’s hand had shot out to steady me, when the door slammed shut behind us. As it locked, I noticed ancient runes glowing brightly all around us. They’d been engraved in every inch of the cell, which was nothing more than a massive room, with nothing in it at all. Not even a blanket or a place to… um… relieve oneself.
Kaya appeared at the central grate. “Do not attempt to escape. You will fail, and you will die. You cannot leave without my permission.”
Erebus sauntered up to the door. “Except for me.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire. We all knew he was scamming, but one look at Davin made me curious. He didn’t seem as skeptical as the rest of us, which gave me reason to pause. Did he know something we didn’t? Regardless, he looked at Erebus with narrowed eyes.
“You will stay here, if you ever want me to speak a single word to you again,” Kaya demanded. “I need time to decide what I will do with you all. Until then, I suggest you stay put if you value your lives. Erebus may be indestructible, but the rest of you are not. So it falls to you to keep Erebus in line, or your lives will all be forfeit.”
A panicked lump formed in my throat. Did Erebus even need Finch and the rest of us anymore? If not, would they really kill us if we failed to control him? Or, maybe worse, rot here for the rest of our lives?
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…
Something else felt off. I had tried to ignore it, putting it down to Ryann’s nerves, but the longer I sensed her frightening mix of emotions, the more I wondered. Deep within the core of those feelings, an uncontrollable rage had been spewing out—a volatile stream of pure fury like nothing I’d ever felt before. And alongside that, powerful touches of fear and confusion and love, with softer hints of worry, bitterness, and sadness deep beneath.
It all felt like a lot for just one person’s body.
Four
Finch