Page 184 of Taken By Shadows

The flagstone scraped rock on rock as Kaed lifted it to reveal a hidden set of stairs that tunnelled deep into the belly of the earth.

Water dripped somewhere and algae seams painted the walls as we descended. The unnatural combination of ancient dust and fetid water clogged my nostrils, and I held my arm over my nose.

“These are the tombs for the unfaithful,” Kaed said as he ignited a dark orb of fae light. It glowed like black water under moonlight in his palm as we moved through the narrow stone-carved hallways. There were no windows down here at all, so Kaed’s light was the only source. “Those who failed to please the gods—or their masters—were thrown into the cells until they embraced the gods again.” His voice held a timbre that wrought a shudder from my spine. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to scare me or warn me.

How was something so dark lurking beneath the tranquil gardens above?

“What happened to them if they embraced the gods?” I thought of the souls lost in the dark down here.

Kaed’s fae light guttered in his palm, and we were plunged into darkness.

The air tasted dry in my mouth, and a weight settled into my bones.

Barren air. The same as was in the room the Cage stood in.

“They died,” Kaed said to me in the darkness. Taking me by the hand, he led me through the pitch-black tunnels. “No one ever left these halls once they entered them. Their magic was syphoned and their life with it.”

My bones chilled. Huxley had drained me to the point of near death. I had no magic to buffet against the onslaught, so his magic had drained my life force when it had nothing else to take instead.

There should be a well of magic to pull from, but my own magic is hitting a wall. Huxley’s words rang in my head. I’d have managed if I’d been more like Kaed.

“Are you ready?” Kaed paused for my nod before he pushed a stone door aside. How was he able to move that with the barren air all around us?

Firelight flickered from within, bathing us in orange light.

The room was carved from bedrock. No windows, no bars. The cell was born of the ground it lived within. Even the cot that held Huxley’s limp and bloody form was carved from the stone.

Celeste gripped the torch, knuckles white. She didn’t kneel at her son’s bedside. She didn’t even seem to care that he was there. Her face was set in stone, and her hair was pinned in a tight knot.

“Is he awake?” Kaed’s eyes locked onto the oozing near-corpse form of Huxley, his tone without remorse.

“He’s in and out. His arm bones aren’t fully healed.” There was no life, no hint of sorrow on Celeste’s tongue.

“You left them broken?” I gaped.

Celeste cut me a look that could have sliced my skin open. “My son dishonoured me. He traded his worth when he tried to take you for himself."

Kaed grimaced in the dancing light of the torches. He had taken me for himself. But it felt different. And I couldn’t explain why.

“Huxley made a deal with Eryk,” I choked out into the wavering candescence. Remembering how they’d just wanted to use me for something tightened my throat.

Kaed and Celeste looked at me for more. Celeste had left by the time I’d explained last night.

“Eryk said he wanted a seat on the council and that Huxley would help him do that. And … there’s someone else.” The shrouded figure Eryk spoke of hadn’t been named. Eryk hadn’t seemed afraid exactly. Perhaps, wary. But whoever their silent partner in this larger plan was, they were the ones pulling the strings to incite Kaed to violence.

“Eryk can’t be a council member. There are only twelve seats,” Celeste said.

“My theory,” I started slowly, “based on what Eryk and Huxley said, is that they were hoping to create a vacancy in the council and Eryk would fill that space …” I held Celeste’s gaze.

I had no proof, but killing or removing Celeste to take her seat didn’t seem over the top after what had transpired last night.

“And taking you from me?” Kaed nearly vibrated as he spoke.

I put a hand on his arm.

“Whoever is behind all of this, they thought that by taking me …” I slowed. Kaed’s rage rippled under his muscles. “Would provoke you to a violence that would allow the city to declare war on Hayden. I think Huxley was just a piece in the game. He wanted me enough to play his role without too many questions.” I shuddered at the times he’d found me alone in the library.

Celeste’s face was anguished. “With what army?” Celeste asked. “The Vivernan forces would be crushed by Hayden’s.”