“No.” The female closes her eyes for a moment. “A new ward has been put in place. It’s preventing us from leaving.”
Malignant laughter echoes through the hallway, giving me chills. “You didn’t really think it’d be that easy to escape, did you?”
I whirl around, trying to find Queen Maewe’s location. Wind rushes through the hallway, whipping strands of my hair around. Luna peels her lips back, showing her fangs.
“Set me down so you can fight,” Karl tells Ronan.
“This isn’t a fight you can win,” Selor chimes in.
“He’s right. You cannot defeat me!” Queen Maewe finally appears at the end of the hallway, just before vines burst from the ground to trap us—only to be sliced off by magical glowing blades before they ever reach us.
“You’re forgetting one small detail.” The female with Castiel moves forward. “You aren’t the only queen here.”
“Bold words for someone from a powerless line, Endaya,” Queen Maewe retorts.
She shakes her head. “You’ve always underestimated me. Big mistake.”
A ring of glowing daggers forms around the female.
“Come on. We have to go!” Selor urges us.
“I won’t leave my mother behind!” Castiel argues.
Holy shit. That’s the queen of Lynx, then. I can’t believe I didn’t see the resemblance right away.
“No, my son. You should go. I’ll be fine.”
Luna moves to stand next to the queen while Cheryl runs toward us. “Where to?”
“The tunnels?” Ronan asks.
Selor shakes his head. “No, it’s likely they’re compromised. If we’re ambushed there, it’s over.”
“We’re going out the front door, then,” Castiel replies. “Let’s go.”
We all follow him. I don’t know how he can simply heed to his mother’s command and leave her behind, even though she looks more than capable of facing the bitch queen alone. I know I wouldn’t leave my mother.
We run in the opposite direction of the two queens, but before we round a corner, a loudboommakes everything shake. I lose my balance and would have ended up face-first on the floor if it weren’t for Cheryl, who keeps me upright.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“What was that?” Adrian asks, looking back.
“Two powerful queens coming to blows,” Selor pipes up.
Castiel hesitates, turning back. “I can’t leave my mother.”
Selor grabs his arm. “She sent you away so Queen Maewe couldn’t use you as leverage. Don’t fuck up now, boy.”
“Selor is right. We need you more than Queen Endaya does,” Ronan adds.
Castiel clenches his jaw hard, his cheeks hollowing before he blurts out, “Fuck! Come on, then. There’s a flight of stairs up ahead. It leads to Queen Maewe’s receiving room.”
Where she tortured us. My stomach feels queasy, but I push through the dark memories. There will be a time to deal with my trauma, but it’s not now.
The giant wolves take off ahead of us before vanishing from sight.
