Page 85 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Someone walked by the alley and peered down, but she didn’t make eye contact. They moved on.

Blood strummed through her ears, pounding in her veins. Her companions had moved before she’d even given it a thought. It just proved she was in over her head.

Act without hesitation, Talon had always told her.Move before the enemy knows what you plan to do.

Rion and Talon had done that. Arianna clenched her fists. She’d commit the lesson to memory.

The two emerged a moment later, their eyes scanning the area. “We have to get to rendezvous point. Now,” Talon declared.

Arianna nodded. She couldn’t ask questions here, not without risking someone overhearing. It was a miracle no one had seen them just now.

The males pulled their hoods back up and kept moving, their pace faster than before.

More guards patrolled the area closer to the main wall, but thankfully, that wasn’t their destination. When they’d originally made plans, Arianna had wondered if they might be able to enter hidden inside a caravan. Arianna watched the guards station at the gate open every crate. Another dropped tohis knees in the mud, scanning the underside. Conall had been right in advising against it.

Talon marched away from the main part of the city, toward the open ocean in the distance. Homes were replaced with storehouses and foot traffic ceased to exist, as if this section were somehow cursed and the people strove to avoid it.

Rion kept peering down at her, but he didn’t risk voicing his thoughts nor sending anything down the bond. Death still wasn’t something she was accustomed to, but she recognized its necessity now. She just prayed the gods had mercy on their souls should they deserve it.

Talon paused when he reached the final building at the end of the walkway. The cobblestone path ended here, replaced by sharp rocks and sand. Several boulder sized stones lined a hillside that separated the city from the roaring ocean just below. The water sprayed up, coating the rocks so they appeared nearly black against the already dark water.

The ever-moving wind carried the ocean spray toward her, mixing salt with the rain. It’s roaring power called to her, beckoning her toward the icy depths. Or maybe that was the siren’s magic, trying to lure her in for their next meal. No wonder the citizens avoided this place.

Talon pressed his body against the edge of the wall and crept forward. They followed suit, waiting. Her heart began pounding again, wondering if they’d come this far just for everything to fall apart, but seconds later Pádraigín’s magic settled over them again. A female poked her head out from around the other side and nodded, giving them the go-ahead.

Arianna crept forward to see exactly what they’d be running into.

Just a short distance ahead, a gushing passage of water moved with each crest of a wave. It rose and fell, pushing water through the channel at incredible speeds. She grimaced,knowing that once they dove in, they’d have to keep themselves hidden underneath. If they drifted too close to the surface, they’d risk discovery. If they moved too close to the bottom, they’d scrape themselves on the jagged rocks below.

Arianna leaned her head back against the wall as they waited. She was responsible for keeping herself and Rion steady. Talon would propel them through, but they had to wait until they were fully submerged before summoning their magic. If they scented a little, the guards would just assume it was the work of the sirens. If they scented a lot their mission would end before it even began.

Arianna had asked Conall what would happen if the Sirens caught them. The male’s face had gone deadly serious and he’d uttered three words that had chilled her to the bone.

Ensure they don’t.

Talon made a hand gesture then they were running. Arianna sprinted after him with Rion on her heels. Her heart thundered in her chest. Their feet hit the ground too hard, too loud. Then Talon was plunging in and she followed after him.

The cold water shocked her system and Arianna spun through the current, nearly losing her breath. She reached for Rion, using several tendrils of magic to pull his body close. Their hands clasped, then she eased the raging water around their bodies, holding them steady. Talon’s magic had them rushing through the channel seconds later.

Arianna dared to open her eyes in the foul liquid and found Rion squinting, his face pained as they moved at a rapid pace. Her lungs cried out and her body balked against the cold.

A ringing echoed through her ears, then her body, as if pulsing through the water itself. It moved in a rhythmic fashion, like a hammer coming down on an anvil. She squeezed Rion’s hand and he squeezed back.

Just a little further, she told herself. A little more and they’d be safe.

Time ticked. A slow painful thing. Then, just as fast as their plunge, they resurfaced.

Arianna gasped for breath and Rion did the same beside her. Talon had already pulled himself up and out of the water, his gaze scanning the rocky incline that led to a small opening in the wall.

Sconces lit the area, each burning bright as if they’d just been lit. She waded through the water, bile rising in her throat from the stench drifting up from the surface. With the bend in the channel, the pocket of water here was calmer, pulled away from the rapid current still gushing through the tunnel behind them.

A white thing bobbed on the surface beside the back wall and it took Arianna one horrifying moment to realize exactly what it was.

She pulled Rion toward the rocky incline and he helped her out before she wrung the liquid from their clothes and discarded it back into the cesspool at their feet. The smell remained. Arianna half wondered it their enemies would flee from that alone. She certainly might.

Rion studied the crudely formed entrance that seemed to resemble an arch. She couldn’t be sure if flooding waters had caused irreparable damage or if whoever had originally built it couldn’t be bothered to finish the task.

Everything dripped with sea water and sludge. Barnacles and mollusks gripped the grimy edges lined with dark lichen. A clear dark line marked where the tide would roll in, effectively covering everything they stood upon.

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