Page 23 of The Witch Queen of Halloween (Immortals After Dark 20)

Shestopped in her tracks. “Oh, my gods, you didn’t.”

Unrepentantgrin. “Did.Willdo it all night.”

Damnit, why’d he have to be fun?Sheturned to hide her unbidden smile and peered down a hallway lined with doors.Itseemed to stretch on forever.

Growingserious, he asked, “Howmany rooms are there?”

“Overtwo hundred.”Untilshe found the cursebreaker, she’d have to investigate each one, and the clock was ticking.Sheimagined nineteen more years of visitors, corporealized now.Herfamily would try to protect her from these killers, but to what end?

Thoughher sisters must be furious with her for ditching them tonight, sometimesPoppywent off script.Ifshe survived, she would totally make it up to them, especiallyLea.

Onthe heels of that thought, she wondered what leverageRökhad garnered overDesh. . . .

Witha pouch at the ready, she opened the first door.Sheetscovered the furniture, the air stuffy.Shesensed the area, feeling nothing more than lingering magic.Shecontinued down the hall withRökat her side to repeat her process in room after room.

Openthe door . . . sense the area . . . next.

Oneroom was all purple.Onehad only a spartan cot on the bare floor.Onelooked as if it’d been set up for a séance.Anotherreeked of wolfsbane.

Rökasked her, “Stillnothing?”

“Eacharea gives off a vibe, butIcan’t puzzle out anything of interest.”

“CuriousthatIhaven’t scented a hint of the other explorers.Whatdo you know about them?”

“Twentyyears ago, six fey archers and a rage demon came here for adventure, never to be heard from again.Theirfamilies dispatched the best trackers in theLore, but no one found a trace of them.”

“MaybeIknew the demon.”Rökconsidered himself an honorary rage demon, had told her he felt even more loyalty to that demonarchy than to his own.

“You’veprobably heard of him.TrullertheVictor.”

Rökwhistled low. “Foreons, he won theLoreLympicsfor strength.I’dheard he disappeared out of the limelight.”

“Involuntarily.”Researchingthe previous explorers had almost torpedoed her resolve to come here.Whenshe’d seen a picture ofTruller, a tattooed rage demon even bigger thanRök, she’d wondered how she could succeed where that demon—backed by a contingent of fey—hadn’t.

Butthen, she had no choice.She’dcome here to safeguard her sanity.Nowshe was in a battle for her life.Poppyhadn’t tasted enough of this existence, the apple uneaten; she would fight on for her future.

Röksaid, “Ifthe explorers are withered to husks somewhere inside this castle,Iwould have scented them.”

“Maybethey fell prey to the oubliettes?”

“Ididn’t detect any trace of a rage demon in the dungeon.Nofey either.”

“Theymight have crossed through an invisible rift to another realm and gotten trapped.”Poppywas a member of an online forum dedicated to the mysteries ofRaven’sMurk, and speculation about those explorers was rampant.The“RiftHypothesis” had gotten a lot of votes.

Rökscratched his chin. “Forall we know, gateways like that could infest this place, and not many other realms are as hospitable as this one.Letme lead.”Heeased in front of her to open the next door.

Browsraised, she followed.

Gatewaysto other realms.Morevisitors.Aticking clock . . .Muchwas on the line.

Sowhy couldn’t she drag her gaze offRök’smuscular back, outlined by his well-worn shirt?Herearlier resolution to let him go was already faltering.Herbody wasn’t ready.Becauseher body was indeed a fucking idiot.

She’dalways found it humorous when imperiled movie characters got distracted by sex.Butmaybe the lurking threats explainedwhyPoppy’sattraction toRökhad reached stratospheric levels.Maybephysical danger called to mind other physical things.

Plus, he was temptation incarnate.

“Ah, witch,” he said, satisfaction in his tone. “Ican feel your eyes on me.Thechemistry between us is as undeniable as ever.”

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