Page 51 of Land of Monsters

The overpowering possessiveness clubbed me over the head, robbing me of air and making me stumble. I didn’t get possessive. It wasn’t in my nature. Yet the thought of anyone near her boiled me alive.

A distant shout dropped me back into the moment, shoving out everything else, pushing those thoughts deep inside.

Dzsinn stayed in front of me, his weapon ready, while I held Raven, keeping tight to the narrowing wall. Noises and murmurs of people trickled to us, a chilly breeze sweeping across my face, telling me the exit was getting close.

The clopping of soles hitting stone slowed us to a crawl, my head ducking against the low ceiling, the passage ending inside a small room. Maybe once used for storage or a guard station, the space was empty, the white stone walls aged with time and history. We stood just inside the wooden doorway, peering out to the lowest part of the multi-leveled small courtyard. The taste of strange magic coated my tongue and sparked memories. I already knew what I would find.

Over fifty figures, mainly men, were packed shoulder to shoulder, marching stiffly out of the castle gate, their movements reminiscent of what I’d seen before in Verhaza. Most would soon turn feral, and almost all would end up dead. Sonya, like Istvan, had echelons of worth. These people were nothing but bodies to throw away in battle. Poor villagers she turned into the first line of defense. Some others would get the transformation, like Caden and Warwick, and some would become the monsters below.

Trepidation weaved in the back of my throat, rotting my gut. There was only one reason she’d be doing this.

“March out!” a deep, snarly voice called out into the frosty night, the man hidden from my view. My pulse accelerated, thumping in my neck, warning me of something. It sounded familiar, but my brain couldn’t place it, causing more prickles of alarm to stand my hair on end.

“They are brain dead. Basically sleepwalkers.” Dzsinn stared, watching them clomp in unison.

I studied the once-human men, probably innocent villagers, men looking for work, a way to survive. Now they were only weeks away from a brutal death.

Did they have a choice? Get sold a bill of lies? Think they were providing for their families, not realizing they had signed their lives away to the devil? By their dead eyes, they no longer cared about those families they had loved so much.

They were Sonya’s minions.

“Think we found why your spies no longer report back to you,” I whispered, feeling Raven stir more in my arms.

“No.” He shook his head, his voice tight. “Nothing should be able to break it. Unless…” His attention went back out the door. Searching.

A shout suddenly tore up from the tunnel, a cry of alarm.

“Think they found Mr. Crocodile Man,” Opie said.

“Fuck.” Panic surged through my veins when the echo of boots came up the path. It would be just a matter of seconds before we were found. We had nowhere to go, and both our exits were blocked.

Dzsinn hissed, reaching over for my wrist under Raven’s body. “Stay close to me.”

His palm wrapped around my skin, then came the tingle of magic, and our forms slipped out the door as the three guards came into view.

I waited for them to call out, to take note of our fleeting figures, but nothing came. We hugged the wall, the dark night and flickering fire torches keeping us against the stone like shadows, while only feet away, the last of the guards marched out, their robotic movements feeling unnatural. Not one looked over. Not one took note of our presence.

Dzsinn could practically vanish and appear before your eyes, like a genie in a cloud of smoke. His magic gave him the ability to be forgotten and unnoticed. In extending that to me, he labored under the weight. He breathed heavily, and a sheen of sweet veneered his skin as he fought to not only keep me undetected but Raven as well.

“Intruders in the castle!” a man barked, coming out of the tunnel way and running into the emptying courtyard. “One of thePrimulis dead!”The First.

I heard a thundering growl, like a savage dog barking, the sound hitting somewhere deep, a terror that froze me in place.

“Go,” the deep voice ordered from a walkway above us. “Find them now!”

A handful of figures descended from stairs around the yard, the night keeping them hidden, but one of them moved like a cheetah, his lean, muscular body darting down the passage before I could even see him. Others with animal qualities followed, leaving the quad silent in their wake.

We stayed still, my pulse ticking the time, my legs itchy to move. After several moments, Dzsinn let go, his head leaning out to peer up at the balcony overhead.

“He’s gone,” he muttered to me.

I surveyed the yard, recalling the map we had studied. “There is an exit through that way.” I nodded with my head, readjusting Raven in my arms. “We can escape through the forest. Opie, get in the bag.” Not waiting for either of them to respond, I crept for the door leading to the front, holding a gun under Raven’s legs, feeling the brownie crawl in the pack.

A groan broke from Raven’s lips, her forehead creasing, consciousness starting to pull her from sleep.

“Shhh,Dziubus,” I muttered into her hair, bringing her closer to my chest. “Please stay quiet.” Snow crunched under my feet as I made my way toward the exit, which took me through another chamber, a layer of defense. I ducked my head through the doorway, the thick, white stone walls ebbing the harsh chill from outside. What used to be a gift shop and museum for the thirteenth-century castle had been pilfered long ago. All the important artifacts and history were stripped for money, leaving the space empty except for creaky wooden floors, painted motifs, and bulky furniture no one could move.

I glanced over my shoulder at the genie, finding no one behind me.

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