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“So we can make camp?”
I nod my approval, stepping inside the cave. The smell of musk and dirt sweeps through my nose as I drop my duffle bag on the ground. My fingers skim the rock walls, spotting the glowing mushrooms that lit our night the last time I was here. I didn’t know it then, but that was such a simpler time–even if it felt like anything but. It doesn’t take long for the nostalgia to drag me under.
“He’ll forgive you when his best friend is safe.”
“I hope.” I pluck a mushroom, lifting up to get a better look at the soft folds and velvet bloom.
“I know.”Her large head nudges against my arm in an attempt to soothe me, but once she gets a hit of the friction, she continues to use me as a scratching post.
“Then maybe you can be optimistic for the both of us–canyou stop?”Luri curves her body away as her yellow eyes scan over me from head to toe, snarling her detest and revealing a flash of teeth. “There are trees outside the cave, or a cave wall. You don’t need to knock me—”
“This is where you hid with him, isn’t it?”
I pause, my hands still posed mid motion in the air–talking with them has always been a habit of mine. My chest deflates as I grit my teeth together, finding the couch that used to grace our living space is still in the deepest corner of the cave. It’s as if not a single day has passed since. What I’d give to go back, when the only eminent problem I faced was denying what I felt for him. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why… or how I fell so hard, so quickly. It was this little unexpected venture that made me realize how much I cared. Reliving it without him present just doesn’t feel right.
“Get some sleep.” Ignoring her question seems futile. She’ll ask again–and again–until I give her the answer she’s prodding for. I simply don’t feel like being chatty today. Not when my actions and the prices they come with are adding up and weighing heavily on my chest. Right now, I need to be left alone, and to shove the emotions away inside an iron-clad box and bury them in the back of my mind.
I know Kai believes he’s doing what’s best for his people–and I get that one man in exchange for many makes sense–but I can’t accept that protecting his precious kingdom means sacrificing Finn’s life. If it had been me, Kai would’ve raised hell, and he wouldn’t stop until I was back in his armsalive. And Kai knows if he’d been the one the High King hauled off, I would’ve moved Heaven and Earth. So why doesn’t Finn deserve a rescue party? He’s his best friend. That has to amount to something.
More than that, Finn has become my best friend, and like Luri, I won’t admit defeat until I’ve tried everything I can to save them. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m losing Kai in the process… but I’d rather ask for forgiveness later. I already asked permission and got shot down, but I’d hate myself if I found out later that there was a chance I could’ve saved Finn’s life and I didn’t take it. So, here I am, winging it and trying not to die. That’s all I got.
Turning my attention to the small rock pit we made a year ago, I snap my fingers and a woodless fire roars to life in the dusty center. A flame without smoke, and the perfect party trick when you wish to remain hidden. I seal the end of the cave, just in case sleep does come for me tonight. The last thing we need are unwanted visitors.
As I settle into the couch, I look up at the fluorescent mushrooms growing along the rocky surface and hate that somehow–despite the time that’s passed–the fabric still slightly smells of him. Whiskey and sandalwood. I jolt, yelping as something sharp stabs into my chest. My eyes flick open wide as I scan for the creature who dared to mar my flesh.
“What?! What is it?” Luri shouts in my head.
“Something just fucking bit me!Mother—” My hand grips the watch on my chest, feeling something warm… smooth…wet. Tucking my chin, I examine my hands, finding the crimson shine of blood. “What the hell?”
“Must’ve been some bug. Are you okay?”Her nostrils flare and recede as she lowers her nose to me, sniffing around for the creature who did this.“I don’t smell anything too odd. There’s nothing else in this cave with us. You’re sure you were bitten?”
“Too odd?” Rolling my fingers together, I smear the blood, feeling a slow trickle of it slip down my chest, starting just below the hollow of my collar bone.
“Well, everything stinks like poison from the mushrooms. It’s hard to smell much, but I’m certain we’re alone. Winged rodents included.”She spins, swishing around her fluffy striped tail as she does, and lowering her nose to the ground of the cave to search some more.“What about your stonethinger? It has a sharpstabbystab thing when you use it, yes?”
“I threw it when we left the boundary around Hell Hold. It’s gone.” I clutch the watch in my hand, feeling something sharp rub against my finger.“Gah…Found it.” Luri sashays back toward me, stopping next to the couch while I slip the chain over my head. “Something is sticking out on the back.” Turning the gold circular piece over in my hand, I find a tiny needle-like point coming straight out of the smooth, rounded surface. “That’s weird. How could that just show up–” With a sharp inhale, one word settles into my mind. “Kai.”
“He’s trying to escape? Can he do that?”
“That man is capable of many things. I wouldn’t put it past him to try. I’ve gotta go inside. If he breaks the watch, the castle will return and he’s not ready to face Lucifer yet. The Devil needs more time to cool offat a minimum.”
“Go. I’ll watch over your body… That sounded creepier than I intended.”
“There won’t be a body to watch. I’ll get sucked inside, just like the castle–I’m assuming, anyway. But the watch will stay here. No one should be able to come into the cave, but you’ll need to protect it. If someone got a hold of—”
“I’m aware of how terrible it’d be for someone to get their filthy hands on a prison world inhabited by Hell’s next royal generation. Now go, before he pokes you again.”
Nodding in a rapid succession, I lay back on the couch, lifting the pocket watch above my head and focusing on it. Slowly at first, it begins to spin until it becomes weightless, floating effortlessly in the air. I feel the tug of magic, pulling at the cells of my being until my body disintegrates, whisking into the dial of the watch.
My mind goes dark until a speckle of light filters in. Just a point, widening until a blurry world comes into view. Part of the royal garden. Little by little, the colors become brighter and the objects around me sharper until I’m standing before a man who’s likely craving to wrap his cold, hard hands around my throat.
His dark black eyes find mine as he pants. The excursion is evident in the beads of sweat layering his smooth skin. Some sort of ancient dagger is wedged inside the boundary, seemingly hanging in midair. It must be what’s poking out of the pocket watch, but I recognize it from somewhere… I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Blackened fingers wrap around the barrel of a whiskey bottle–one from Finn’s good stash, by the looks of it. Some of the golden liquid escapes his lips as he takes a sip, and it runs in a thin stream down his jaw and throat as he kicks it back.
Seeing him like this should send terror swirling through every vein, butfuck…To me, he’s never looked hotter. I guess that makes me just as twisted as the tendrils of black ink winding up his arms, ending in ghostly serpent heads. Only right now, they’re hidden by his demon side, and lethal claws extend from his fingertips.
Suddenly, I’m torn between wanting to keep him from breaking the watch and daring to pull up a seat to enjoy the show. His eyes flicker between beast and man as the realization I am, in fact, here settles in, but a scowl still kisses his features, pinning me in place.
