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Arkan held a hand out to both of us, as if now was the perfect time to hold hands and enter prayer.
Not a bad idea, though. I took Arkan's hand and murmured, "Dear whatever gods aren't too busy to listen, please end Eidolon's life and bring X back to me. I'll be extra good, promise."
Taj tugged a lock of my hair, earning a scowl. "Stop stalling. Close your eyes."
"Or what?" I challenged.
"Or you'll be sick when I transport us through my shadows," Arkan responded, cool enough that it sent a shiver down my spine.
"No vomit, please and thank you," I said, and snapped my eyes shut. "I've had enough body fluids on me today; I don't need to throw up, too."
I elbowed Taj hard when he snorted—and then yelped when the world sucked me sideways.1
"I hate thissssss,"I screamed as wind ripped out strands of my hair, pulled on my clothes, and fought to unlink my fingers from Arkan's. He held on tighter, not letting me go until I tumbled out the other side of the wind tunnel with an embarrassing sound. I smacked directly into his chest, hard enough to jostle my brain.2
My knife fell out of my hand; the shadows ate it. Bastards.
"Are we there?" I gasped, my eyes still shut.
"We’re here," Arkan confirmed.
A tremor went through my bond—with Taj, I realised, and threw my eyes open to give him a panicked look.
"What is it?" Ark demanded before I could, sensing his distress through the circle bond.
"The good news is we're definitely in Herallan," Taj breathed, glancing above us. "The bad news is the window we just jumped through isn't there."
I followed his stare up the tall, black castle behind us—and my heart sank to my feet. It didn't have a single window; it was a sheer wall of black stone.
"How the hell do we get out?" I demanded.
Taj shrugged. "Looks like we don't."
14
"Perfect," I snarled, storming down a sandstone road like a Chihuahua on the loose. "Just fucking perfect!"
"We'll find a way, princess," Arkan tried to reassure me, following in a cloud of shadows, only his hand flesh and blood as it reached out to squeeze my arm.
"So we find the sceptre and then what?" I demanded, glaring at the beautiful stone buildings around us. It was more like a fantasy city than anything I'd seen in Hell so far, like Tolkein had built it. Or maybe Lewis Carol built it to piss Tolkein off. "We can't get it to Eidolon in exchange for X.Ifhe's even still alive."
"Don't say that!" Taj growled behind us, deep and vicious.
I rolled my eyes. "That bastard tortured me when I was a kid, Taj. He cut wounds all over me and forced me to train as I bled so I'd know how to fight through the pain. He threw me to the floor over and over until my shoulder tore out the socket, so he could teach me how to pop it back in by myself. He—"
A stony hand slammed over my mouth, silencing more stories, and when I glared up at Taj, only agony filled his brown eyes. I went from anger to feeling like shit in less than a second.
"No more," he rasped.
When his hand dropped, I bit my lip. I kept being surprised by new things about this body; I accidentally sliced my lip with too-sharp teeth. Taj darted forward and licked off the blood, something protective and raw in the bond between us.
"So you understand," I breathed. "No one could survive that. And we're stuck here, anyway. And—where's Arkan?"
I spun, searching the tall buildings, the domed spires, the stone bridges linking some of the tallest towers, scanning their silvery windows for snipers1or someone lying in wait with bow and arrows.
"I can't see him," I breathed, panic mounting. "Taj, where—"
When I turned back to Taj, there was no one there. I squeaked, an involuntary sound of panic.
