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25
Halwen
I'd never flown so fast in my life. What if Harvey reached the house first, and Cronus caught him? What if Cronuskilledhim?
Kai ran as fast as his legs would carry him below, pushed along by a swarm of snakes that made the air tremble around me. Magic shuddered over my feathers as I pumped my wings harder, flying until I could barely breathe.
Emlyn's strident cry made my heart jolt. I might have had wings, but I wasn't avian enough to decipher his cawing. My heart thrummed faster. I couldn’t tell if it was a noise of distress, so I angled my wings to carry me closer to him. The vicious wind cut tears from my eyes; I had to blink rapidly to see what he was showing me: the house from above. Our one-day home.
My chest pulled tight, but I exchanged a glance with my eagle mate and swooped towards the ground. If Wane was inside, we couldn’t afford to hesitate.
Em had my back; I wasn't alone. It made me brave enough to touch down on the ground and stumble towards the house on wobbly legs.
Holy fuck, something had blasted the front door apart, leaving only shards of wood.
"Harvey," Emlyn said, landing beside me and shifting fluidly back to his demon form. I would have chided him for leaving himself vulnerable, but I didn’t know how a giant bird would fly through a house, even one as big as this.
"Harvey," I agreed, and swallowed my dread, forcing myself to cross the threshold even if I was so scared I wanted to throw up.
"Wait!"Kai yelled behind us, his voice distant but loud enough to reach us. I turned, my stomach roiling, and found him racing down the long path towards us. "Wait for me, my rose," he panted, skidding to a stop beside us, grabbing me and Em for stability. "Fuck. I hate running. Is he in there?"
I didn't know if he meant Harvey or Wane, so I just turned back to the house and walked into the foyer, drawing my knives with a soft ring of metal. I was distantly aware of Wynvail's panic as he raced to catch up with us. Was he scared the titan would be here? He wasn't the only one.
Cronus's awareness had covered the Labyrinth like a shroud, but he was a titan, and there was no limit to his power. I bet he could be in two places at once, terrorising a hundred different mazes at once. Who's to say we were his only victims?
Wood crunched under my boots as I crossed the foyer, the empty silence making hairs rise on the back of my neck. Where was Cronus? Where were his followers? The people Wynvail spoke about filling this house were certainly gone and … Wane wasn't here, was he?
A small sound escaped before I could trap it, and Kai pressed closer, his hand on my back. My shoulders dropped, wings dragging across the floor, and I swallowed the lump in my throat so I could tell them Wane wasn’t here—
I staggered, clutching my chest when fear cut through it sharper than anything I'd felt in—in a hundred years. Clearer even than Wynvail's emotions.
My knees weakened but I took off running through the dusty house, not questioning where my feet fell, just chasing that knife of fear carving into my chest. He was close. He washere.He had to be; his panic filled up my whole chest, swallowing my own emotions until my heart beat even faster, my breaths whistling through my teeth as whines.
Kai and Em hurried after me as I ran unsteadily deeper into the house, my head spinning and hope sharp enough to cut me apart.
Please…
I didn't baulk when the bond led me to an open door, a dark staircase looming beyond it. If the door was open, Harvey had come this way; it was the right direction. Gods, Wane was really here…
I snapped my wings tight to my back and took the steps two at a time, leaping off the last four and running again the second the vibrations of impact left my legs.
"Wane?" I yelled so loudly my voice cracked, sprinting as fast as I could.
This place stank of blood and piss and suffering, abuse and mistreatment thick in the air. I could barely breathe; I choked back a sob and ran faster.
The corridor went on for miles, so dark it was an eternal night. Only our footsteps echoed back to us, the oppressive silence eating into my hope. But fear rose in my chest, thorny and so strong I gasped. He was here, really here. And I was going to eviscerate whoever had made him afraid.
We ran for long, endless minutes, until exertion whipped my lungs and gripped my side.
"Harvey,"Kai panted, keeping pace with me.
I scanned the dark tunnel, a gasp punched from my lungs when I spotted Harvey slumped on the ground at the end of the dark corridor, his black fur barely discernible from the gloom of the corridor. White light cut the darkness behind us, making me jump as the tunnel’s ugliness was thrown into stark relief, but I didn't stop. It was just Wynvail; he was family, he was safe.
I ran faster, out of breath and so shaky it was a wonder I didn't collapse to the floor.
Harvey turned his giant head at the sound of my voice, and a pitiful whine flared his nostrils, slowing my pace. No. Was Wane—he couldn't be dead—I could feel him—
But what if I was deluding myself? What if I'd finally gone insane?
