“Then enlighten me as to which position you’d prefer.” The rings looped through Fenn’s raised brows clinked together. “You’re squirming worse than that scorpion and you’re about six legs short.”
Serenna froze in his arms, imagining a horde of those creatures skittering above them.
Obviously feeding her terror, he continued, “There are beasts fouler than scorpions for those brave enough to venture into the belly of our fortress.” Serenna’s skin pebbled at the vulnerability, knowing nothing about this area of the world. “You wouldn’t want to find yourself alone in the dark with a vulpintera.”
Holding her breath, Serenna strained to hear anything beyond her frantic heartbeat and Fenn’s boots thudding against the stone.I can’t fathom what kind of creature could be worse.
“And what is a…vulpintera?” she asked in a hushed voice, as if not to summon one. “Do they have even more legs?”
Fenn flashed his fangs in a nasty smile. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Serenna swallowed, picturing an abomination like a giant spider.
“Lykor keeps one as apet,” Fenn said, his tone menacing. “I imagine Aiko is quite hungry since she’s missed her last few meals.”
Serenna stiffened so violently that she feared her spine would crack. She laughably clutched the front of Fenn’sleathers, as if she could locate a shred of safety in the wraith warrior.
“See, sitting still wasn’t so difficult,” Fenn said, shifting her. Serenna didn’t appreciate that glimmer in his eyes and his chuckle rumbling through her. “Since you were barely plodding along, I figured you’d prefer being catatonic cargo.”
Serenna crossed her arms, hunching like a disgruntled vulture, silently fuming at the arrangement and stubbornly refusing to be grateful for the warmth.
“So what are you? My personal jailer?” She shot a glare up at him, assuming his wraith vision caught the full effect in the dim lichens starting to carpet the walls.
“‘Nursemaid’ might be a more appropriate term.” He ducked under a cluster of hanging stalactites before ascending a narrow staircase, the steps chiseled into the stone. “I have plenty of practice, as the stars saw fit to torment me with eight sisters.” Serenna frowned, nearly incapable of imaging someone with so many piercings and weapons entertaining adolescents without frightening them. “But Lykor tasked me with finding out what else you can do with your earthen magics and if you know anything useful.”
Serenna scoffed, unsure what to do with the admission. “Doesn’t telling me defeat the purpose of you trying to covertly extract that knowledge?”
Fenn’s voice mirrored her own bewilderment. “Who said it has to be a secret?” He shrugged, her body moving in his arms with the motion. “Lykor didn’t specify.”
A flicker of uncertainty sparked and smoldered. No one offered information without a price, a motive, or her prying it out of them.Either Fenn was a brilliant manipulator or he was incredibly straightforward and she’d be wise to figure out which.
Ears perking, Serenna heard water gurgling in the distance. Glowing light crept back into her vision as the tunnel yawnedopen. She released a relieved sigh that they were about to leave the abysmal darkness—and the scorpions—behind.
At the top of the stairs, Fenn weaved through a dangling curtain of luminous vines, revealing another expansive cavern. Twisted stalactites suspended from the ceiling glistened with frosted blue and green light, casting the surroundings in an ethereal glow.
The humid air encompassed Serenna like a blanket, thawing the chill in her bones. Realizing that she was leaning into Fenn’s chest, she jerked in his arms, not letting herself relax.I’m going to fall asleep if I’m not walking.
“Put me down,” she ordered, simply to see if he would.
Like a dog following a command, Fenn lowered her to the ground with an unexpected gentleness for being a brute.
Serenna sniffed, flinging her hair over a shoulder and smoothing out her damp leathers. Drawn by an enchanting shimmer in a mound of stalagmites, she traced aqua veins similar to frozen waves in an icy sea.
Inspecting more bioluminescence as she wandered around the chamber, Serenna glanced up at her guard, who vigilantly tracked her every move. “Aesar said this place was an ancient druid capital?”
Fenn nodded, leading her toward a rushing stream. A faint layer of fog swirled above the water. “Some unexplained magics preserved this forgotten stronghold over the centuries, leaving it untouched by time.” He reached up to trail his talons across low-hanging moss.
It made sense why the elves had no knowledge of such a place if it was hidden in the Wastes. Serenna wondered how Lykor had discovered the keep, though she doubted she’d glean that tale from him. Butif Fenn was going to pluck information from her, then she could do the same.
“How many wraith wield Essence?” she asked. “Like that other warrior from the war room?”
“‘That other warrior’ is my father. You can call him Kal,” Fenn said, reaching the water’s bank. “And he’s the only one—Lykor distributed some of his abilities to him not too long ago.” He unsheathed a knife from his bandolier, kneeling by the stream.
That seems a little out of character for Lykor.But the fact that power could be returned momentarily sprouted a seed of hope before it rapidly withered.Serenna nearly laughed at the absurd thought. Lykor returning her power seemed less probable than him setting her free.
Serenna studied Fenn as he busied himself with untying the scorpion from his belt. Cyan blood spilled into the swirling water as he gutted its corpse.I knew he was going to eat that horrid creature.
“Wait.” Serenna stared at Fenn’s back, registering that he hadn’t used the elven term ‘sire.’ “Your father? You have afather?” The wraith must’ve strayed from elven customs.She couldn't blame them, considering what they’d suffered—and who’d caused it.
