Page 34 of Rage of the Fallen

Brody looked at me, torn between his duty as a teammate and his instincts as a leader. “Three minutes,” he finally offered, ignoring Damon’s outraged look. “You get three minutes in there. After that, we’re coming in whether you like it or not.”

I slipped through the opening, the cool air from the hidden chamber washing over my skin. The glowing strands shimmered behind me. Then, with a sound like a whispered note, they snapped back together. The barrier sealed itself, its blue lightpulsing once before settling into an impenetrable wall between me and my team.

The darkness ahead seemed to reach for me, thick and absolute, swallowing everything but the faint glow of the magical barrier. I took another step forward and felt the blackness close around me like velvet until even the light from the strands became a distant blur.

“Sawyer,” Damon yelled. He ran toward me, but the minute he hit the strands, he bounced back and slammed into Brody. They tumbled to the floor.

I looked past them and through the window. From outside, Rage, Justice, and Maci stared with eagerness in their eyes as if they knew what I would find. Maci’s human form couldn’t hide the predatory gleam in her gaze, a shadow dragon’s hunger wrapped in pale skin. They watched like vultures anticipating a feast, and I wondered if I was walking right into their trap.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The power was even stronger now. It pulled on me like an urgent child wanting to lead me someplace.

Damon climbed off Brody, then rushed to the entrance. “Sawyer, wait, damn it!”

I called out from the darkness. “No, Damon. You need to stay there. The barrier won’t let you in.”

Lisa put her hand on his arm. “You can’t help her, Damon. She’s the chosen one and has to do this alone.”

“What if she can’t?”

She smiled at him. “She will. You have to have faith.”

“Faith is hard to come by these days.” He squinted, peering into the darkness.

Brody stepped up beside him, his stance steady and determined. “She’ll make it. Your sister’s the strongest person I know, Damon. Sometimes, the hardest thing is standing back and letting someone fight their own battle.”

There was no sense arguing with my brother. He never wanted me to be in danger and had always been protective. I turned away and allowed the strange pull to lead me forward.

The darkness was like a living thing, heavy and thick. Each step forward felt both wrong and right. Wrong to leave my teambehind, but right in a way I couldn’t explain. The pull tugged at something deep in my chest as if invisible threads were woven through my being.

Damon’s voice grew fainter until I could barely hear him. The blue glow of the barrier seemed like a distant star, dimming with each step. My heart hammered, and I clenched my fists to stop my hands from shaking. The air grew colder, older somehow, carrying the weight of centuries.

I heard soft singing, and my heart stuttered. Every instinct screamed that following a voice in the dark was exactly the kind of thing that got hunters killed. But this didn’t feel malevolent. The song wrapped around me like a familiar embrace, sweet and sad at the same time.

“Who are you?” My voice sounded small in the vast darkness.

The answer came in a melody that made my soul ache. “You already know.”

Somehow, I did. The same way I’d known how to play those magical strands, the same way I’d always known music was more than notes on a page. The harp wasn’t merely calling to me. It was singing to something inside me that had been waiting my whole life to answer.

Justice’s face flashed through my mind. If music could soothe the savage beast, maybe it could save him from Rage. Maybe that was why the harp called to me so urgently.

The deeper I ventured into the chamber, the thicker the darkness became until a soft golden light suddenly bloomed before me. My breath caught in my throat as it illuminated Queen Charlotte’s harp, tucked away in the farthest corner. It was massive, nearly as tall as me, its golden frame ornately carved with symbols that danced and shifted in the glow. Ancient power hummed through its strings, vibrating in the air, but my heart sank.

I didn’t have the spell to shrink it. It was on Damon’s phone. Even if I could play it, how could I possibly move it out of here?

The voice changed, becoming deeper, older. “The harp’s power can banish Rage back to hell. But first, you must play the song that will break his hold on your Justice.”

My hand trembled near the strings. In the harp’s golden glow, I saw Justice as he used to be. Laughing, human, mine. Then, the image twisted, showing him now, corrupted by Rage’s darkness, hunting me. He would follow us when we left the castle’s protection, and when he did…

“If I play this, it can save him?” Behind me, I heard Damon calling my name, his voice muffled by the barrier.

The harp’s strings vibrated with power, a chord that seemed to shake the air. “The song must be played at the right moment, when he is closest to you. When his rage is strongest.” The voice paused meaningfully. “When he attempts to end your life.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” the musical voice whispered, closer now. “You understand why I chose you.”

I reached out, my fingers trembling inches from the frame. Though I was hidden in the depths of the chamber, I could sense Justice outside the castle, could almost feel the battle between him and Rage burning inside him.

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