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That will fraction again and again. In time. We have time now,cariad.
Did Asterion have time? Had I consigned him to death in my determination to rid myself of Birsha at last? Fresh tears rose and were ripped away by the wind as Hywel made our descent in careful starts and stops.
The ghouls are gone, withered the moment you killed Birsha. We are only cleaning up now, and the entrance to the caves is cleared.
"Conall and Laszlo?" I asked, rubbing my cheek against my shoulder to wipe away the last of the tears.
They wait below, with the others. Take heart, Evanthia. Asterion waited millenia for you. He will not have succumbed so quickly.
I bounced on Hywel's snout as we touched down and stiffened as bright cheers rose up from the gathered party of monsters. Celebration? For—
Oh.
Hywel crouched to the ground and figures rushed in, the sudden crowd's appearance making me flinch. A huge, hulking shape moved closer, but it was only Mr. Tanner, snatching Esther up in his arms. Nireas gathered Hazel too, and then I was dragged from Hywel by a dirty, blood and sweat-stained Conall.
"Oh,mo chroí, come here now. I thought I'd lose my mind," Conall breathed, squeezing me tight.
I sobbed once against his shoulder and then bit my tongue and held him just as tightly. Heat simmered and stirred the air behind us, Hywel shifting back to his smaller shape. Gold feathers beat and rustled out of the corner of my eye, and in spite of the struggle of battle, Laszlo still smelled sweet and clean as he joined our embrace.
"Our brave, beautiful mate." Laszlo pushed my hair aside, kissing the curve of my shoulder. "Are you injured?"
I shook my head. "It was…"awful, a relief, satisfying,"…easy," I admitted softly, although that wasn't quite true either. I shook my head, and Laszlo and Conall released me, each keeping an arm around my waist.
A tall, elegant figure wove through the crowd—Magdalena, gleaming like a star in the night sky, bright eyes fixed on the black cave entrance. "We need to get inside."
Esther and her own men were also gathering at the opening of the cave, torches in hand, including one that floated invisibly.
"Ezra's scouted some already," Conall told me as we marched for the entrance. "There's no sign of any of Birsha's allies, but…"
"But?" I asked.
Conall lowered his voice. "No sign of our minotaur, or the others either."
My heart froze in my chest, my tongue numb. Was this it? Had I lost Asterion, the man who'd saved me, who'd championed me and sheltered me andlovedme?
Would vengeance be worth it if Asterion was gone?I already knew the answer, and it made me queasy and cold.
Hywel looked back over his shoulder, expression stern and eyes glowing. "Birsha is gone now, along with the last of his warlocks. We'll find them, Evanthia."
I nodded, feigning his confidence, but Laszlo slid his hand across my back and linked our fingers together, squeezing once. He knew my fears too well.
We entered at the cavern pool where we'd found Excalibur, but it was still and quiet, water barely moving as we waded around the edge to another shadowy opening. The deep void of the caves knew my fears too, narrow and silent, a heavy pressure muting even our steps.
"There were enchantments that made the temple feel impenetrable, made us feel alone in the dark," Esther murmured from ahead.
"This is not Birsha's magic now, darling," Magdalena said. "This is the mountain. She's older than all of us."
My own heartbeat drummed in my ears, and the passage shrank until Laszlo and Conall had to release me, one in front and one behind. Would we all vanish into the mountain too? Would she swallow the strange creatures who had crawled into her belly while she was sleeping? Is that where Asterion and Amon and the others had disappeared to? I wondered how long I might wander in the dark, with feathers under my fingertips guiding me deeper.
And then a soft pang in my chest snapped into place,néktartugging hard and urgent.
"Oh!" I gasped, and my steps stumbled, Conall bumping into my back. "They're close. I need—Out of my way, please!"
There was hardly room to move, and I barely knew who I was squirming past, shoving out of my way, but it didn't matter. Deep in the dark, someone was dying, and I only had to follow the pleading rope ofnéktarto find them.
I chased the painful calling in my chest, breathless and weak.Let it go to him, I thought, begged. Asterion.
I tripped over stone and slid down a thin, steep hole of a passage, and behind me Hywel cried my name, telling me to slow, to wait. It was too late. I was falling, dragged along by gravity and my own strange power, scraping my arms against ragged walls, hitting my head on low rock.
