As soon as the dwarf demon was out, I grabbed his hand and tugged him down the dark hallway. There was one small portion of this plan that I hadn’t quite figured out, but I didn’t want Sark to know until the last minute.
Besides the warlock Jasper’s portal in and out, I still hadn’t found another exit to ground level. I figured I’d make it to the underground tunnels and wing it. Crossing my fingers, I prayed to all the gods it would work.
When we reached the front door of the fortress, Sark buckled over, clutching his knees. In his last week of captivity, his already small form had shriveled to skeletal. He glanced up after catching his breath. “Now what, my lady?”
I swung the front door open and peered into pitch black. Even with my enhanced demon sight, I couldn’t make out a thing beyond the dark earth.
“So we follow the tunnels to the surface?” he asked.
Sure, let’s try that. “Yup.” I ran back to the sitting room where Drayax’s body adorned the cold floor. I grabbed a log from beside the hearth and dipped it into the flames.
We took off at a sprint, the brilliant orange torch lighting our way. The small demon beside me matched my pace, despite my longer legs, but after a few minutes it was clear he was faltering. I doubted my cousin had been feeding the prisoners on a regular basis.
My stomach growled at my inner musings. Dammit. I should’ve grabbed some food from the banquet table.
“How much further?” Sark panted.
Good question. “Not much,” I muttered.
He slowed his pace, squinting his eyes into the darkness. “Shouldn’t we be going uphill?”
I’d been thinking the same thing myself. In fact, I had a bad feeling we were circling. The slight throbbing at my temples confirmed the thought. Crap on a stick. I forgot the healer’s pain brew. Even if I made it out of here, I’d die from this incessant headache.
“You all right?” A pair of wide eyes glanced up at me.
My fingers were pressed to my temples, and my face must have blanched from the pain. “Yeah, just get these bad headaches sometimes.”
“I’m sorry, but now’s not the time, my lady.”
“I know!” I squeezed my lids shut and those silver irises materialized in my mind’s eye. Molten steel with the intensity of a thousand storms. Who are you? I’d never find out if we couldn’t get out of here.
A swirl of energy prickled my arm. From the corner of my eye, the purple glow from my demon’s mark lit up the passageway.
“Nice tattoo.” The demon eyed my luminescent arm. “I’ve never seen one of those light up like that.”
I threw him a tight smile. If only I knew how to work this thing. Maybe I could magic us out of here like Remy did with his mystical smoke. “Darkblood Prison is in the peaks of Draeko, right?”
The little man nodded. “Getting there is no easy feat. I’ll do my best to get you there, but even I have my limitations.”
His words melted away into the background as soaring crags blotted out my vision. Endless white and limitless sky blue. I could almost feel the crisp air on my skin. Had I visited Draeko before? Had I been to the prison? Again, flickers of memories streaked across my mind, but they were so fleeting I couldn’t quite hold onto them.
Home. The word echoed through my thoughts in a deep male timbre. Yes, the dragon shifter, he’d spoken those words that night in the human world. There was more… My heart constricted as whispers sailed through the wind. What else had he said that night? A cloud of darkness draped over my memories and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t shove the impenetrable curtain back. “Blast it!” I screeched and threw my hands in the air.
A burst of brilliant blue light ignited in the darkness. My eyes snapped shut at the intensity and remained closed until a rush of wind whipped hair across my face. I snuck a peek through slitted lids, and my jaw dropped.
A freakin’ portal churned in the middle of the tunnel.
“It’s about time you found the portal, my lady.” A toothy smile stretched Sark’s thin lips.
I stared at my fingertips as if they belonged to a stranger. Did I do that? Or had I just stumbled upon Jasper’s hidden vortex?
“I was beginning to think we’d be stuck down here forever.” The glow of the whirling winds reflected across his egg-sized orbs.
I chuckled nervously. What if this was a trap? There was no way I opened a portal. I was a demon, and though I’d been practicing magic, only warlocks could open the mystical doorways. This made no sense.
I glanced a peek at the symbol on my arm, warm lavender light still spilling from the outline. “Did you do this?” I whispered.
Great, now I was talking to my tattoo.
“Well, what are you waiting for, my lady?”
I drew in a breath and stilled my nerves. This would work—it had to. Draeko, Draeko, please, drop us off in Draeko. I held out my hand to Sark and wrapped my fingers around his small palm. “Next stop, Draeko.”
An icy breeze lashed dark hair across my eyes as my boots sunk into the soft snow. My head tilted back, unbidden, and I took in the soaring peaks of Draeko. Oh my gods, I did it! The temporary delight was squashed as a bitter gust frosted my flesh. I wrapped my arms around my middle, cursing myself for not thinking to bring a coat. This frilly dress did nothing against the biting winds. Despite the continual gloom that bathed the Nether Lands, it was pretty warm most of the year. Another one of those things I just knew but wasn’t quite sure how.
I turned to my fellow escapee who looked even smaller against the sprawling backdrop of snowcapped mountains. “Now what?”
His thin lips twisted into a scowl. “Now we hike.” He pointed to the west, through the mountain range. The tunnel begins over there, weaving beneath the Marski range. It’ll be much quicker than going over.
I gulped. Even without scaling the mountain, it was far as hell especially in my inappropriate attire. Maybe I could magic myself something to wear? I hadn’t mastered any conjuring spells, but I also sure as hell had never attempted a portal. And voila.
I watched my travel companion from the corner of my eye as he bent to tie his shoes and shook the idea off. If I did have magical powers, the fewer people who knew the better. Gritting my teeth, I hugged my arms tighter around myself. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Sark straightened, pulled his collar up to his ears and we began the trudge west.
Chapter Seven
Frostbite bit at every inch of my skin as we traversed the dark tunnels. After our four-hour hike through the Marski range, I was certain I never wanted to see snow or a mountain again. My teeth chattered as I ran my frosty fingers over my frozen arms, trying to create some heat.
Sark walked a few feet in front of me, holding a torch we’d found near the tunnel entrance. Compared to the frigid air outside, the tunnel’s warmth was a godsend. “How much further?” I stammered.
“Not long now,” he called out over his shoulder.
“So how exactly does this work? We’re just going to walk right into the prison?” Now that my blood had begun to thaw, my brain started working again. I hadn’t bothered to ask my escort about the logistics of our break in. I couldn’t imagine the prison had many problems with people trying to sneak into the penitentiary.