“But we didn’t pass the guys?” Mathilda murmurs, her head swivels as if we had overlooked them somehow.
My necklace warms, the heat prods me forward. “They probably just haven’t found the entrance yet. Come on,” I reply, brushing past her and towards the light.
There’s something down here, something we need to see.
My pace quickens, and I’m relieved to be getting out of the darkness. It’s unnatural being underground this long, and my skin itches with the need for sunlight.
The small dot of light grows, enveloping the entire passageway. My eyes burn, and I shield them with an upraised hand as I continue on. My breathing quickens, my lungs aching for fresh air. But as I burst through the opening and into the light, my feet falter.
We haven’t found the entrance. We’ve found a cell.
Sunlight streams in through a small hole in the domed black roof and is reflected by hundreds of mirrors strategically placed around the cavernous space. Glittering black stone makes up the entire room, except for small veins of amethyst. My attention is immediately drawn to the slab of amethyst in the middle of the room and the body on top of it.
Luna.
“Is she—dead?” Mina whispers behind her hands. Fear or concern widens her eyes.
Luna lies still, but there’s slight movement I can see from where I stand. “I don’t think so. It looks like she’s breathing.”
Sure enough, there’s a slow and steady rise and fall of her chest, as if she’s deep in slumber. Her body is shrouded in a burgundy dress, the rich color violently clashing with her pale skin and hair. But there’s a color to her cheeks that I never noticed before. The flush of blood in them is another sign of life.
We walk towards her. Our footsteps are purposefully quiet to not startle her awake.
Mina’s voice breaks the silence, and I flinch. “What is she doing here?”
“There are shackles on her wrist,” Mathilda mutters, pointing at the iron manacles chaining her to the amethyst slab. “And ankles.”
A shiver wracks my body, and I cross my arms over my chest. How long was she down here? We can’t even remember the last time any of us saw her. Did she turn on them?
The deep rhythmic sound of her breathing doesn’t shift at all as we stand right beside her. Closer now, I can see a rune drawn on her brow in black. A bowl of crushed onyx-colored stones rests beside her head, as if someone had used it to write the rune and then carelessly abandoned it.
“What does that rune mean?” I ask Mathilda and Mina, gesturing to the elongated X encircled by a rounded one.
Mathilda shakes her head, the long ends of her ponytail sliding over her shoulder. But Mina’s face pales and the freckles on her nose stand out against the ivory skin.
“What does it mean, Mina?” I ask again.
“I don’t know that specific rune, but that line there,” she points to the round one, “usually means sleep.”
“So they put her in a deep sleep?” My nose scrunches in confusion. “Why would they do that?”
I walk around the amethyst looking for any clues, but find nothing. The slab looks like an altar of some kind.
“Maybe they meant to use her as a sacrifice?” Mathilda’s words have me flinching. The implications of a human sacrifice make my skin crawl.
“Do you think they would do that?” My voice quivers as my jaw clenches. Yes, they would do that.
Mathilda shrugs. “I do not know what practices they do in places like Jotnar or Sutr.”
Footsteps echo down an opening on the other side of the cavernous room. My breath whooshes from my chest as relieffloods through me. Lachlan breaches the room, flanked by Tane and Evander. Their weapons are drawn. My relief is short-lived, however, when he levels his murderous glare at me. The green of his eyes is shadowed by his scowl.
“Dinna I tell ye to stay put?” His words rumble like thunder across the large space.
My blood simultaneously heats and cools as I level him with my own look.
“I can kind of do whatever I want.” Crossing my arms over my chest, the unease of the situation vanishes as we face off.
Mina and Mathilda share a look before giggling.
