Page 93 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Had Arianna seen her sister? Rion scented the air, pushing his body harder as he struggled to keep up. His limbs were growing heavy and weak, as if he were moving through mud and water.

Arianna’s footsteps echoed ahead. Too far. She was too far. No matter how much he tried he couldn’t catch up now.

No, what was he thinking? He had to catch up. Arianna was his mate, he couldn’t just give up.

Rion glanced behind him, but Conall and the others had gone missing. Rion scented the air again, searching for him and Gavin. He strained to listen for Arianna’s fading footfalls, but they’d gone silent.

Rion kept running and yanked his sleeve back to study the rune on his wrist. It was still there, still glowing faintly. Which meant he couldn’t be caught in a glamour unless … a chill swept through him. Unless Vairik himself had discovered them.

But Rion hadn’t felt the familiar blanket effect of Pádraigín’s magic, nor had he scented any changed.

He rounded another corner, his feet nearly sliding out from under him as he struggled to increase his speed.

The bright lights that’d surrounded him moments ago had dimmed and the shadows were far longer. Deeper. He slowed, then turned back from where he’d come only to find the stone darker there too.

Panic surged through him.

Arianna was gone. Lost in this maze of a castle with one of the most powerful Fae to ever walk the land. Rion had promised to protect her. He’d already nearly lost her once and now she was beyond his reach.

He recalled the female’s chest from one of the other rooms and the way it’d been pried wide open.

Rion’s breath came in heaving gasps. The walls closed in around him. He was trapped again. Helpless. No. No, he wasn’t. He could handle this. Rion fought the invasive thoughts, shoving them down. He could choke on them later. Right now, he just needed to find Arianna.

If he lost control now, he’d be caught. Arianna would be caught. They wouldn’t be able to rescue Ellie and everything they’d worked for would all be for nothing.

Rion forced himself to breathe. He glanced down at his weapon, focusing on the scent of blood from the creatures they’d killed earlier. He was a general, he wasn’t new to missions or their complications.

But he was still new to having something to fight for. To having people to protect. They were relying on him and if he let darkness take over, they might all fall.

Rion took another steadying breath, then began inching down the corridor again. If he was trapped in a glamour, then he’d be able to see it, he just needed to spot the shimmer Gavin had mentioned before.

Rion studied the cracks in the stones and the flickering lights that seemed to follow a pattern one minute and none the next.

The surrounding shadows moved at strange angles, stretching and lengthening as the corridor began to twist and bend in unnatural ways.

Water dripped from the cracks now, leaving a slimy texture against parts of the walls. The area almost seemed to age with each step he took, as if it’d been abandoned decades ago. But the torches were still lit, which meant someone was down here. They had to be.

A rock hit the cold stone ahead, shattering the silence as it bounced down the passageway, tripping over broken stones in its path. Rion froze, watching, waiting for whoever might have thrown it to appear.

Nothing happened for several minutes.

There was the faintest possibility that the stone had simply fallen from parts of the crumbling wall, but Rion knewbetter than to chalk anything up to circumstance, especially where Fae were involved.

Rion inched further down the corridor. The torches were becoming fewer and farther between. Darkness threatened to engulf him. The walls were closing in, ready to trap him beneath the earth once again, only this time, he wouldn’t come back out. He’d be left to starve or die of thirst. He—A roar echoed down the hall that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

Rion took off running toward the anguished sound, his feet pounding against the stone.

Another corner had Rion sliding to a stop, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

Talon knelt over a bloodied Raevina. The male reached out as if to cradle her head, then pulled back, repeating the motion as if he couldn’t quite figure out how to help her without causing further damage.

Raevina’s entire body was covered in her own blood. Deep gashes lined every inch of her skin as if one of the flying creatures had tried to claw their way through her.

And her leg …

Rion grimaced at the sight of the mangled limb and the way it’d been nearly severed in half. Her heartbeat was faint and fading.

Then Rion’s gaze stopped on the familiar particles surrounding her body. Small bits of sand and dirt that’d soaked up her blood.

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