Page 84 of Celestial Bodies

Anjular fell to the ground, releasing heaving breaths. When she looked up again, her eyes were that beautiful mix of azure and silver. She smiled brightly through her exhaustion. “Julen! You did it! Release the others, please!”

Anjular saw the massive stone Julen held up and quickly used her power to place it back into the ceiling and seal it.

Julen raised his hands and clenched his fists, and four more orbs arose, two in each hand. They raced across the room, each latching onto a monster, and broke the spell against the creatures.

One by one, they collapsed onto the floor. When the monsters raised their heads, their eyes were no longer black.

“Well, I’ll be damned. The human did it.” Iacuora shook her head with wonder.

The relief that washed over Julen felt like a warm hug. As Dacias approached, Julen threw himself at his boy, kissing him wildly, before whispering, “You came for me.”

Dacias looked into Julen’s eyes. “Nothing could keep me from you. I love you, Julen.”

They kissed again, and then Julen looked at Souzie and Klorin. “You came…”

Souzie shook her head. “Of course we did! Let’s hug and kiss later. We need to get your fucker of a father.”

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Chapter 39

Dacias

All Dacias wanted to do was cradle Julen in his arms, but Souzie made the very valid point thatsomebodyhad to kill Haligran.

“Where did he go? Did anyone see?” Dacias asked.

“Hush.” Anjular closed her eyes. When she reopened them, they glowed silver, then slowly returned to normal. “He fled up there.” She motioned toward a staircase that led to an observational area. “There’s a secret passage. Let’s move.”

They rushed up the stairs and saw a door. Anjular went to open it. Locked. She gripped the handle, emitting a glowing silver sheen that covered the handle intently, and it shattered.

Damn, she’s powerful.

Dacias held Julen’s hand as they entered a dark corridor that smelled of dampness and decay.

Torches on the wall lit the way, but they were few and far between. Dacias looked back to ensure they weren’t being followed and nearly had a stroke at the vision of the four terrifying monsters trailing behind them.

His face must have shown his fear because the snake woman hissed, and her tongue slithered out. “See something,human?”

What next?

He faced forward again. At least these creatures could help if they were attacked. Still, the cramped space had awful visibility, and they didn’t know what lay ahead. Anyone could ambush them at any moment. Dacias didn’t like it one bit.

A flight of stairs going down met them at the end of the corridor. They descended and reached the bottom, which opened up to a crypt. They continued moving and began passing barred cells, each containing a prisoner. Julen stopped. “We should try and free them. Perhaps we can—”

Before Julen could finish, the people in the cells made pained croaking sounds. It sounded like the prisoners were moaning and choking on fluid at the same time. The haunting garbling noises made Dacias’s blood run cold.

The group looked around as the prisoners continued making their grotesque noises.

Suddenly, Souzie called out, “Father!”

She rushed to a cell, reaching between the bars, but jolted back and gasped when he stepped into the light.

The man’s black eyes stared at Souzie, and an inky slime dripped from his mouth. Her father looked at Souzie with no awareness of who she was, baring his oil-covered teeth like a rabid animal.

“What’s happened to him?” Souzie screamed.

Her teeth began to chatter as her father’s terrifying moaning intensified. Soon, all the inmates drew closer to the bars. They each had black eyes, released long, sorrowful moans, and drooled the black liquid.

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