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17
EURIG
Eurig’s head pounded, and his breath was ragged. He’d been running hard, Norah’s horse nipping at his heels, desperate to get to Bree. As soon as Taveon had mentioned their forgotten sail around the coast of Underworld, he’d known. He would never forget the moment they’d washed up on shore, feet sinking into the sucking mud. The sad, abandoned huts. The gruesome scent. Only a handful of fae called Munlin home. Lord Worm ruled over a barren landscape, and he was glad for it.
The entire city was his. No one ever bothered him.
But after Taveon and Eurig had come ashore, they’d carried their soaked bodies, clothes dripping saltwater, through the empty streets. They’d laughed and hollered, just happy to have made it to land.
Lord Worm had risen from the shadows like a great shark, ready to snap his jaws into their flesh. He’d chased them out of Munlin before they even understood what was going on. And then they’d never looked back.
They’d barely even spoken about it since.
So, when Taveon mentioned it, he knew.
Why the hell would Bree go there?
“Slow down!” Norah’s horse struggled to keep up with Eurig’s beastly form. He slowed, just enough to give her some reprieve. That was when the sight of smoke curling on the wind snapped his attention. He slowed to a stop and stared. His enhanced vision drank in the distant sight. There, on a distant rolling hill, in the western fields of Munlin, an army camped.
Dread dropped like a lead weight in his gut.
There was only one army that could be.
The demons were here.
Norah pulled her horse up beside him and shielded her eyes, following his gaze. “Oh fuck.”
“Oh fuck is right,” he muttered.
He motioned her to jump down as he lowered himself into the tall, flowing grass. The horse would be impossible to hide, but there was little he could do about that. Norah jumped down and crouched beside him.
“Do you think this has anything to do with Bree?” she whispered.
“They can’t hear you. They might be able to see your horse, though.”
Norah nodded and then whispered something up at her horse. The white mare nickered and then lowered itself onto curled legs, hiding away in the grass. Eurig arched his brows. “Nice trick. How’d you manage that?”
“How do you manage to transform into some kind of lion beast thing?” she asked dryly.
“Touche.” Eurig smiled. “You know what? I like you. I can see why you and Bree are friends.”
He swore he could see the tension in her shoulders soften. “That’s nice. Can we focus on the massive army where Bree apparently is, though?”
Eurig frowned, rubbing his jaw. Taveon hadn’t gone into specifics about Bree’s location, of course. He couldn’t, not with Dagen listening. He’d suggested that she was here, and Eurig had taken that to mean she was inside the city.
The arrival of the army had him worried that wasn’t what Taveon had meant at all. That Bree had been captured by the demons. Taveon had said she was in danger, though he hadn’t looked all that concerned. That didn’t match up to what Eurig saw before him now.
“They must have only recently arrived,” Eurig said. “Taveon wasn’t panicked when we spoke to him, so I don't think he meant she’d been taken by that army.” His gaze moved to the muddy city. “For whatever reason, she went there.”
“Any idea why?”
He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Munlin is an abandoned mud pile. It has nothing going for it, except one thing. It has a library. She’s come looking for information. I’m guessing she was hoping to find a way to stop this army.”
“That sounds like Bree,” she said quietly. “I just have one question. Why would she be in danger at a library?”
“Lord Worm,” he answered grimly.
* * *
