Page 55 of Elysian

As we crossed through the parlor that led to the underground cells we had been kept in, we encountered a woman collecting her needlepoint from the settee, a panicked look on her face. She gasped and fell off the chair, using her slippered feet to drag herself away from Cassiel’s approach.

“Not her,” I blurted out. Pyria kept her eyes squeezed tight, huddling behind the couch.

Cassiel looked at me. ‘Why?’

I only touched my Sigil. It was what allowed me to read the grimoire I hugged. Cassiel grunted and jerked his head for me to follow. ‘Stay close.’

“Did you see where Vera and Branwen went?” My voice shook.

‘No, but that officer who freed me went with them.’

Knowing Damien was with them calmed my worry.

The cuffs around his ankles were still attached to chains and they clanged with his every stride. Cassiel stopped beside a cabinet. He cocked his head, then smashed his foot against the side.

It toppled over and crashed on the ground. The doors flopped open and Ida spilled out. She crawled forward, screaming. Cassiel placed his foot on hers, and her scream drowned out the loud crunch. He took the grimoire out of my hand and offered me the hilt of one of the blades.

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to bring myself to take it.

“You seemed upset when that girl was killed.” He shrugged. “I’m happy to do it.”

That girl was Hester. “No.” I snatched the pommel with a thick knot in my throat.

I turned back to a sobbing Ida who was curled over her crushed foot. Then I lifted the blade. I couldn’t stop shaking.

‘I will do it for you.’

I clenched my teeth. Hester’s deadened gaze flashed to the forefront. I plunged the blade forward. Metal met flesh until the blade stopped.

Ida’s cry cut off. Her eyes widened on me. Words bubbled behind my trembling lips. A look of resignation crossed her features.

“I should not have betrayed them.” With her whisper came blood.

“Too late for your regrets,” I choked out, pulling the blade from her sternum. It snagged against bone. Her face paled, and I tugged until it dislodged.

I flexed my hands around the hilt. Blood gushed from her chest. I should have ended it, but my stomach revolted. My shoulders curled forward. Cassiel plucked the sword from my blue-drenched hands and swung it in an effortless arc, slicing it across Ida’s throat. Blue clung to the fleshy, exposed innards.

More death, and this time I’d done it. Not out of panic.

‘We must go.’

His words pulled me out of my mind. I mechanically took the book and effigy from his large grip.

“I hear steps coming from that direction.” Cassiel snarled, swinging his head back and forth.

“Miss Ixchelca.”

I whirled to find Cassiel already had the sword pointed at the man a few paces away.

“Lord Tagon?”

I staggered against the wall, my chest heaving. So much bloodshed.

“There is a servants’ exit through here,” he offered, striding to one of the pillars lining the hall.

He reached behind the stone and seemed to be patting to search for something. Cassiel was incredibly stiff, on the verge of attacking. There was a hiss, then the sound of something giving way came at the same moment that a doorway appeared into view.

‘It could be a trap.’