Page 122 of The Sacred and the Tormented

The clicking behind her didn’t cease. It grew closer and closer and Arianna swore she could feel their hot breath against the back of her neck.

She covered the floor ahead in a thin sheet of ice then dropped down to slide around the next corner right as one of the beasts dove for her. It collided hard with the wall and one of its claws cut the bottom part of Arianna’s leg. She cursed from the pain but forced her body to keep moving.

Arianna peered behind her to find more colliding with the first, stopping them all momentarily as they clamored over one another to rise again.

Her magic pulsed beneath her skin, the creature within her rising as if it’d been holding itself back, for what, Arianna didn’t know.

She spun and let the magic burst from her very bones. It coated the hallway in seconds, then crawled over the beasts, freezing them into a heap of solid masses that didn’t move again. Arianna collapsed, breathing hard as she stared at them. At least a dozen. Gods, what was Vairik breeding down here? Had they previously been Fae or were these the dark creatures she’d been warned about as a child?

A burning sensation pulled her focus down to her leg and Arianna twisted it to examine her calf. Blood poured from the wound. She grimaced, then dipped her fingers into the crimson liquid and drew one of the runes Sive had beaten into her brain.

It glowed, then part of the skin stitched itself together. It did nothing for the pain, but at least it wasn’t bleeding as much as it had been.

Crack.

The sound sent a chilling wave of dread through her.

Crack.

It echoed against the walls. Arianna stood, watching in horror as spider web cracks spread from one end of the frozen Dark Fae to the other.

A chunk fell off, revealing the largest one’s mouth. It snarled, then its front leg exploded from the frozen mass.

How? She’d never—another piece of ice broke off, then Arianna turned and sprinted down the hall. Maybe she’d find a narrow staircase somewhere that they couldn’t follow her through. She’d seen enough small doors and nearly hidden steps to tell her the castle was littered with them.

But the walls were solid here, as if the creator had only intended there to be one way in or out.

A roar echoed from down the hall and Arianna turned to find the large creature bounding toward her. Her magic swelled and rose before darting out to encase the creature again.

The resounding silence was short lived as the ice began cracking again.

Arianna stepped back. Everything that’d ever been hit with her magic had been frozen inside and out. Were these creatures impervious to magic entirely or just hers?

She didn’t have time to think as the others slid around the corner.

Arianna took off running again, throwing spear after spear of ice in her wake. It was only now that she realized they weren’t hitting.

She sprinted around another corner and nearly cried at the sight of light flooding the end of the tunnel. She couldescape. As soon as she entered the room ahead, she’d find another door, hopefully one more narrow where they couldn’t follow.

Arianna sprinted faster, her heart and lungs burning. She could feel the pull just ahead. She was close. So, so close.

Arianna glanced behind and gritted her teeth. She summoned her magic to her fingertips and with one big pull, Arianna spun and let her magic burst from the center of her body.

It rose from the floor and ceiling, one part of a wall rising up while the other raced down until the two collided, thickening as it spread back to the wall, then inward again.

She knew it wouldn’t hold. It didn’t matter. She just needed enough time to make it down the hall.

Arianna kept her magic flowing, growing the wall thicker and thicker until the first body slammed against it.

Just a little further.

In seconds, she emerged from the dark passageway and shielded her eyes against the offending light. She squinted up toward a balcony, right where her magic had led her.

And stared straight into the eyes of the High Lord of Pádraigín.

Chapter Forty-One

Arianna

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