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He slipped his hands down my neck to my shoulders where he gently squeezed them, his gaze moving to my wounded chest. “That’s not what I was talking about. Why didn’t you protect yourself? Why did you let me . . . ? You have been fighting me with that magic lasso since the day we met.”
A slight tremble ran through my body. I didn’t want to admit the truth that part of me deserved his wrath and in that moment hurting him was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Kelia,pleasefor once will you tell me how you feel?”
“Using my magic would’ve been a beacon to the darkthings. It wasn’t worth the risk.”
He glared at me as if my answer disappointed him. “Of course. My little sparrow would always weigh the options, calculated without fault.”
Placing a hand to my chest, I pressed slightly. “It’s strange. I’d assume it would hurt much more, but it’s tolerable.”
“You can thank the queen for that. She has a magical touch with herbal remedies. She dressed your wounds and probably applied one of her healing salves.”
The more I learned about Queen Merelda, the more I realized why she had reigned for so long. “We should leave now then.”
“If you two are finished chatting,” Alisha said from behind us. “We need to go to the core. Our scouts sent word that the creature has gone there.”
Alisha handed Callum a bundle of clothes and a short sword and he quickly changed into the leather armor. Strapping the sheath around his waist, his jaw ticked as he gazed at the queen who had just walked out of the medical tent. “I won’t come back without Mab.”
The queen folded her arms. “I’d expect nothing less.”
Alisha opened the portal and the shimmering oval revealed nothing but darkness.
Following Callum through the portal, we walked in silence, my stomach churning with nerves. Breathing in and out, I reminded myself that I was on a mission. One that included a young fae who was now missing. There was nothing more important than closing the Rift. Yet, the truth of Mab’s heritage sent a wave of uneasiness through me. How could the queen expect Callum to allow Mab to go with me? Had this been her plan all along?
Alisha walked alongside Callum, and I fell back, needing a bit of distance between them to make sense of this confusion I now felt. What would Callum do next?
And how did he really feel about the queen?
I knew this wasn’t the time to be sitting here pondering his ex-lover, but I couldn’t help thinking I’d been tricked, and not just me but the entire council.
Ahead, a golden light shimmered in the darkness. The narrow cavern opened up into a massive system, and one that took my breath away.
“Is that the life tree?” Carefully stepping inside and to where the level we were on curved down, I gazed at the glowing amber hued crystal.
“Part of it. It’s a root. We have areas like this around the core.” Callum held out his arm stopping me.
Alisha cursed and I held a hand to my mouth in horror.
Below us golden pools of steaming liquid surrounded what looked like a yellow crystallized tree, or part of it. Walkways of black mixed with fire colored glass created a spiderweb of golden beauty and right in the center sat the darkthing, its tale and body wrapped around a glowing ball that was too bright to see into. The darkthing seemed to be feeding on the ball of light, its body rippling with energy as it smothered the light orb, trying to engulf the brilliance in its clutches.
My power was a mutation of light magic which meant that if I could create a barrier around myself . . .
“Kelia,” Callum whispered, crouching low, grabbing me with him. “We have to be careful in here or the whole structure could collapse. What does that darkthing want with Mab?”
Alisha hovered close. “She’s in there, isn’t she?”
I nodded. “She must’ve subconsciously created a barrier around herself like I did once. Have darkthings ever ventured here before?”
“No,” Alisha replied. “There’s been no record. Creatures poisoned by them, but never one of the shadow monsters itself, and for it to come straight here . . .”
“Kelia.” Callum put a hand on my arm. “When those monsters took Mab, they moved in a hive formation. Are darkthings hive mind?”
“It’s possible. There’s been no research to prove it, but the darkthings have been more aggressive lately and these types I’ve never seen before.” I thought back to every text I’d read, everything I had learned about our enemy.
“Regardless,” Alisha interjected, “we must kill this thing quickly. The krubera are already stirred.”
Following her gaze, Callum pointed above and around us at the walls where little alcoves were carved out, some covered in a filmy yellow sheen. “Those are homes of the krubera. Mostly harmless cave ants, but they are irritable when their home is disturbed, and they have a nasty bite that can leave you paralyzed for hours.”
