“You don’t always need a preexisting doorway to anchor a rift. The one those arrogant sorcerers opened to summon me is proof of that.”The skin at the base of my throat prickles with his anger at the thought.“But it makes it easier.”
“Sure, easier than ripping a woman from her bed on her wedding night and using her instead.”
I think it offhandedly, not really meaning it for him, but I feel his attention sharpen in my direction, like the twitching ears of a predator catching the sound of its prey. There’s a beat, then he’s behind my eyes, looking out of them onto the room.
“Well, now that you’ve wrestled your fragile digestive system under control, we can get on with finding out where we are,”he says, his tone snide.
“Next time you get pushed through the fabric between realms, I hope you throw up your breakfastandyourlunch,”I grumble back.
Still, he’s right that we need to orient ourselves. I glance up at the windows set into the left side of the room, but they’re positioned very high—too high for me to climb up and look through, instead just letting in a few shafts of sunshine.
It hits me I haven’t seen the sun for several days, but the thought slips away as Syrus’s presence shifts behind my eyes, as if he’s leaning in closer to get a better look. When I turn away from the windows, he draws back again.
“It’s obvious we won’t learn anything without leaving this room,”he says.
I examine the door nervously.“What if there are ephilium on the other side?”
“A risk I’m willing to take.”
“Sure, as long as it’smybody you’re risking.”
“You’re catching on at last. Wonderful.”
I huff out my exasperation but step forward. I’ve risked my life on battlefields more times than I can count. Opening a door shouldn’t be difficult after that. The handle turns with a squeak, and I wince, wishing it was quieter. I’m a little hopeful it will be locked, and we’ll have to turn around and go back to Infernum, but it opens.
What waits beyond is just another empty room, except this one is larger and clearly the main space of the building we’re in. There’s an external door, the sunlight shining through the cracks around the frame and the distant sounds of a street floating in from outside: theclop clopof horse hooves and buzz of people calling to each other.
I can’t see the street, however, because while there are windows in here too, they’re boarded up. The room is shadowy, lit only by the light flowing from the door I’ve just come through.
I exhale.“Okay, so there’s no one here either. Doesn’t look like this fishing expedition is going to catch much. Maybe you should just give up now and?—”
“We’re far from done.”Syrus paces impatiently in my head.“You know Pax. Go outside and find out exactly where we are.”
I move to cross to the door, only for a mental grip to halt my foot midair.
“Wait,”Syrus is suddenly alert.
“What?”I ask in a panic, pinwheeling my arms so I don’t lose my balance.
“There’s something over there.”His attention shifts toward the end of the room.
Now he’s drawn my attention to it, I can see he’s right. On the other side of the room, there’s a darker patch of the floor. I move cautiously over to it, a bitter, sulfurous scent assaulting me.
“Ugh, what is that?”
“You smell it too?”he asks as I bend and strike one of the matches Vizmodeus gave me.
“What do you mean ‘too’? You’re usingmynose right now,”I say, as if that isn’t a disturbing thought. I hold up the match, letting its light fall over the floor.
“Yes, but usually humans can’t smell it.”
I stare at the sight in front of me—a black, sprawling mark baked into the floorboards. It’s a tangled mess of shadow, like a creature covered in soot writhed around on the spot, tarnishing everything it touched.
“Can’t smell what?”I ask nervously. There’s something wicked about that mark, my gut can feel it. Syrus knows it too because his voice is unsettled when he answers.
“The smell of a dead demon.”
Chapter 14
