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Arianna didn’t ask Talon how he’d found the entrance to the underground cellar, she just followed and tried not to look too hard at the bodies of the fallen.
The battle had been brutal and even now she could hear the screams of the wounded. But they’d have to wait. There were others who needed her more.
The air chilled as they ran down the stairs and through a side door that led into what she could only call a halled dungeon. Several cells were already open and they passed Fae who were carrying those unable to walk on their own.
Gods, how many had Niall kept in captivity? Were these males and females all dangerous, or innocents like Eimear, held against their will?
It was another matter she’d have to address later. They’d keep the prisoners in irons until then.
Another flight of stairs led them lower, and the carefully constructed stone dungeon shifted to a harsh, roughly carved rock hall. Torches lined the walls, but they were spaced so far apart Arianna had to rely on the light in Raevina’s palm to see clearly.
Talon kicked open the cells as they went, and the line of guards accompanying them grabbed the prisoners and carried them topside. Most were incapacitated in one way or another, barely able to speak, let alone move.
The city shuddered again. Arianna stumbled, struggling to find something to hold onto. She gripped the iron bars and Talon caged her with his body, as if he might block any falling debris. Thankfully, none came, but Arianna knew it wouldn’t be long before the tunnels collapsed under the pressure of the rocking city.
They steadied themselves, then they were moving again, running as fast as their legs would carry them.
Her breath stalled when the area opened up into a room that would haunt Arianna’s nightmares for the rest of her life.
Braziers were lit around the circular space, but they were barely more than embers casting eerie shadows across the Fae strewn about the area. Each individual sat in measured circles with strange glowing runes painted onto the floor. Their clothes hung from almost skeletal bodies and their hair had thinned so much that there were barely more than a few strands hanging from each scalp. Old, tattered clothes, the smell of their own filth, starved beyond reason. Just like Rion. Bile rose in Arianna’s throat.
These weren’t half-breeds. They were Fae. Pure Fae, and Niall still treated them as if they were tools to be used however he wished.
Arianna’s head whipped toward the nearest one moaning in agony as he attempted to drag himself across the floor. She spotted another lying on her side, mouth open in a silent plea for help. Most were still locked in some sort of transfixed state, staring at nothing as their bodies glowed with whatever magic held them captive.
The warriors emerging from the long hall all seemed to move at once. Arianna’s heart cracked when the Fae who’d awakened attempted to crawl away in terror. She didn’t know how long they’d been here to end up in such a state. Each of them was barely alive, kept that way just so Niall could siphon their magic. What had he done with those who’d died? Did he honor their sacrifice or merely cast them aside and replace them with someone new?
The floor shifted again, falling, falling, falling. Her stomach plummeted with it, then fear tore through her when it didn’t stop.
They were too late. She was going to die right here in this room with so many others.
The city slammed to a halt again and the warriors carrying the broken Fae barely kept to their feet. Talon’s saddened gaze met her own and tears pricked her eyes as she understood.
The more they woke from their suspended state, the faster the city would fall. They couldn’t save them, not unless Rion managed to stop the city from falling altogether. Even if he slowed them down, they wouldn’t get all the injured Fae to the surface. Not in time.
“Take those who are already awake,” she commanded. Arianna approached a female who looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. She wrapped an arm beneath her thin shoulders and lifted her frail body onto her back. The female didn’t struggle. She likely didn’t have the strength. Then Arianna headed back through the tunnel, turning once to gaze upon the dozens upon dozens of Fae still suspended by that strange magic.
A silent tear slid down her face as she turned away, knowing those trapped would never see daylight again.
Chapter Ninety
Rion
The wind roared in Rion’s ears as he fell and fell and fell. The ground raced toward him with quickening speed, but it still wasn’t fast enough.
Promise me this isn’t goodbye.
Gods, he’d wanted to. He craved a long peaceful life with Arianna at his side. He wanted time to piece together everything that had been broken. But he wouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep, and right now Rion had no idea what to expect.
He was still weak from Niall’s torment. His body ached beyond reason and his stomach was twisted in knots from the food they’d eaten that morning.
But his magic wasn’t weak. Ever since his shackles had broken, Rion had struggled to rein it in. The pulse beneath his skin was a roaring beast threatening to break loose, and he’d been saving it for a moment like this. He’d really been saving it for Niall, but Arianna had managed to subdue him herself. He would let his mother finish the job.
Rion threw his magic out to slow his fall, but when his feet hit the ground, his jaw still rattled from the impact. He ignored the stinging in his legs and turned toward those locked in combat.
Two warriors against Móirín’s five on one side, and another three from Brónach locked in combat with a pair further down. They could handle those numbers without him.
Rion looked up toward the royal city still obscured by the clouds and thought of all the innocents who would die if it came crashing down.
