Page 90 of The Sacred and the Tormented

The doors kept slamming behind him one at a time, the noise grating against her nerves as she pushed her body to move faster.

Those carrying the male fell behind then a cry split the air. She looked back, but Rion kept pulling her forward. Arianna’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the bodies of the prisoner and Conall’s warrior get caught in one of the cruel jaws of the iron doors.

An arm fell, severed from the body.

Conall cursed, she thought Gavin might have screamed.

Arianna’s heart beat against her ribs as terror flooded through her. Slam. Slam. Slam. The doors gave chase, as if they were a creature of their own, reaching forward to devour them all whole.

Her nails bit into Rion’s hand and they pushed. Faster. Faster. Faster.

Gavin crashed into the door at the end of the hall, desperately twisting a handle that refused to open. Conall slid to his knees beside them, summoning his magic. He drew a rune and the door swung open.

Two of his warriors followed, each sliding to a stop behind their leader. Rion kept pulling her, tugging. She could feel his panic pulsing down the bond.

Another wall slammed behind her and Arianna swore she could feel the metal slide against her hair. They just had one more to get through. She threw her magic outward, knowing it might do little good against the iron itself.

“Hurry,” Conall screamed, even as his magic joined her own.

The iron door let loose then Rion’s magic tore the stones apart, rushing to catch the wall before it fell. It slammed against his magic, pushing as if there were another force on the other side.

“Slide,” he commanded and pushed her to his front. Arianna stared at the opening that was growing smaller and smaller. She didn’t hesitate, Arianna pushed harder, then dropped to the floor, letting her body take the impact as she slid across the stones and directly under the heavy iron that was crumbling Rion’s magic bit by bit.

Rion followed right after, his foot grazing the top of her head. Conall and his warriors grabbed them as they tumbled through the door, then Gavin slammed it shut.

Silence stretched out around them, their breaths haggard and hearts pounding. Gavin collapsed to the cold floor, the area once again appearing like the dungeons down below. Her pulse roared in her ears and she gulped down air.

“How do we get back?” one of Conall’s warriors asked.

“We don’t. We move on,” Conall said. Arianna glanced up at him and the warrior who kept looking at the door as if it might reopen.

“But … what about the others?”

“They knew what they signed up for.”

“But we can’t blow this place if they’re stuck in there.”

“And what would you have us do?” Conall demanded. “Spare one life at the expense of thousands of others? If I were stuck in there, I’d expect no different.”

One life.

One life.

Arianna was doing all this for one life.

And Conall had just confirmed that one life meant absolutely nothing to him. “You came all this way to rescue Ellie, but not your own people?”

His gaze turned to her. “I came all this way to destroy everything Vairik has built. If I’m able to rescue Lady Evelyn in the process, then I’ll do it.” Conall pointed behind him. “But there’s nothing I can do for them now. We have limited time to do what needs to be done. There are dozens of people relying on me to ensure that happens. I know nothing about the mechanisms in those doors. I can’t be everywhere all at once.”

“I’ll stay behind,” his warrior offered. “I’ll open the doors.”

“Leo,” Conall sighed. “We need you for—”

“I’m not leaving them.”

A growl in the looming darkness had them all turning. They’d entered a strangely circular room with ceilings so highshe could only just glimpse the rafters above. A steep staircase rose to her left, but to her right, the room expanded, cloaked in nothing but shadow.

Her skin crawled with something thick drifting through the air. Conall cursed and before she had time to question anything, dozens of wings unfolded from the shadows.

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