Food…or another source of nourishment.
Thankfully, Rilen and Roran had satisfied that for me.
My gaze slipped down a hall to my right, and I saw a pulse of light.
A crystal.
I froze in my tracks and waited.
Another pulse of multicolored light.
Did my Breaker’s magic work here?
I watched.
Another pulse, this one beckoning me on.
My feet moved of their own accord. If this was Breaker’s magic, I had to follow.
“No.” Roran’s hand wrapped around my arm. “No, no, no, Kimber. No. We’re not going to leave the areas we’re permitted, and we are not permitted down there.”
I blinked and looked up at him. “The crystals are pulsing.”
The groan from Rilen was audible. “Kimber…”
“I’m the Breaker, right? Why wouldn’t the earth here talk to me, as well?”
“Shit,” Roran mumbled. “Kimber, leave it. Just for now. We’ll explain it to Lord Cato and Lord Xenon, and get permission to follow the crystals to—”
The light thrummed again.
Roran scrubbed a hand down his face. “Well, damn, I saw that.”
“Brother, this isn’t going to happen. I’m the impulsive one. We can’t go down there. Let’s get Lord Cato—”
The light flashed this time, a sense of haste washing over me. I started walking toward it and cut the argument off as I did.
“Here we go,” Roran grumbled.
The crystal was glowing in a low light, and I reached up to touch it. As soon as I grazed it with my fingers, a new crystal down the way pulsed.
“Well, this is going to happen whether we like it or not.” Rilen sighed. “Gaia, you have the worst timing. You couldn’t give us just a damn day to work this out?”
I only partially listened to their grumbling as I followed to the third crystal. The hum was distinct in my mind, and it was pulling me along. The fourth crystal was across from a small branching corridor, and I skittered forth to touch it.
A dark hand snapped out and grabbed my wrist.
The suddenness of the move and the intense pressure on my arm made me gasp. I jerked to see who had grabbed me so severely.
Crow.
“You’re supposed to be in your room.” Phoenix appeared from the shadows next to him. “You’re not supposed to be sneaking around this place at all, never mind at the witching hours.”
“Where did you come from?” I whispered.
“We were following you.” Crow loosened his grip. “We would have let you wander with your men if you hadn’t strayed.”
The crystals were pulling me forward, tripping madly through all the colors as they raced down the hallway.
“Please, I have to—”
“Go back to your room now,” Phoenix said.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Rilen grumbled.
Crow let go of me entirely and folded his arms, mute and stony in countenance.
Phoenix repeated, “Back to the room. Let’s go.”
“Can we take her back to our allowed space and continue the walk?” Rilen asked. “We’re all feeling a little confined.”
I took the opening when both Crow and Phoenix glanced at Rilen. I darted down the corridor, chasing the lights into ever more pervasive darkness.
“No! Damn it! Kimber!” Roran barked.
All four sets of feet followed me. It didn’t matter. I had to follow the crystals and find out what they wanted with my magic.
Just to slow the men down, I pulled a little fissure in the ceiling as I ran under it and caused a small rockfall. The debris and dust slowed them considerably, so I was able to run ahead.
“Kimber! Goddamn it!” I could hear the anger in Rilen’s voice.
I knew I shouldn’t be doing this, but the magic was calling me, and what choice did I have when it did?
I ran a little faster, using some of the speed tricks the twins had shown me, and the lights were happy to lead the way. The lights that lined the corridors were becoming fewer and farther between, but I trusted the magic knew where I was going.
A body slammed into me from the side, knocking the wind out of me and dragging me to the ground. I landed hard, and there would be bruises all up and down my left side in the morning.
“Phoenix! Don’t kill her!” Roran appeared next to us.
The guard growled down at me, clearly irked“Wasn’t going to.”
I clenched my teeth. “I have to find out—”
“Nothing!” Rilen snapped, stepping up to us. “You need to find out nothing!” He squatted down and stared at me. “What don’t you understand about this, Kimber? There is a hive of vampires who will tear you limb from limb without a second’s hesitation.”
“I’m going to lock her up,” Roran grumbled.
“I need to find where the magic is coming from.”
“Not. Without. Permission,” Rilen rumbled.
Roran leaned down and hauled me to my feet. “Kimber. The magic has to wait.”
“Do King Belshazzar and Queen Gwynnore even know why we’re here?!”
Rilen took a deep breath.
Roran stepped right into my space, close to my face. “Stop. Whining. Like a baby!”
The anger rolled off him, off all of them, and I staggered back away from the four men standing there watching me. My back hit a door just off the corridor.
A door I would have smashed into if Phoenix hadn’t knocked me off my feet. That didn’t make sense, though. That was where the magic had been leading me.
Turning, I ran my hands over the wood of the door. “This is it.”
“Oh, good. You would have nailed it with your face,” Rilen said.
“Why would it lead me to a door and let me slam into it without warning?”
“Because you haven’t adapted to the magic of this world,” Crow spat. “You’re not trained. Not here.”
“Reason number three-eighty-two why you should have just listened to us.” Roran stared at me and crossed his arms.
“Can we open these?”
“Kimber! For the love of all that’s holy!” Rilen yelled. “Humble yourself and get permission tomorrow from Lord Cato!”
“He isn’t going to let me in! I need to go in here!”
Phoenix grabbed my arm again and pulled me away. “You’re officially confined to quarters.”
“You can’t do this!”
“Just did.”
“No!” I jerked away from him. The magic wanted me inside that room.
Phoenix wasn’t expecting me to jerk quite as hard as I did. My arm slipped out of his grip, and I slammed back against the doors.
There was a bang, a crack, then a crash. I looked up and watched the ceiling tilt as the doors dropped back, and I fell backward with the doors as they crashed to the floor
The impact was awful. I was going to be a mass of bruises and sore for days. When the dust settled, I opened my eyes and coughed a few times from the lingering dirt.
The room was a massive library.
CHAPTER SIX
~ Kimber ~
INSIDE THE COMMAND center, I stated patiently, “I’m sorry—”
Lord Cato’s eyes snapped sparks of anger, effectively shutting me up. “You deliberately disobeyed the king and queen. You realize that I could order you killed?”