Page 35 of Court of Evil

After walking what feels like forever, we break out into a larger part of the cavern system. Unlike the fae cavern we found ourselves in, I have nothing but a bad feeling about this one.

There is nothing. The walls are smooth, as if worn by time or something else. The floor is covered in a deep, rusty sand that doesn’t match any place around here, and I feel and see nothing else, bar ten ancient stone pillars placed within the sand to form a shape, and upon the top of each is an object.

Rolling my lips in, I search for threats, but there is nothing. I move forward, first one foot and then the other, and wait. When nothing springs out or attacks us, I slowly make my way to the closest pillar, eyeing the vase that stands on top. It’s coated in thick dust, letting me know it’s been here a while. There’s a small crack down one side, intersecting, hand-painted art depicting a yawning chasm overspilling with blood and a clawed hand reaching from within. I lift my hand and gently touch the dusty surface.

Gasping, I jerk my hand away, scrubbing it on my leg.

“What is it?” Ronan asks. “This place is seriously creepy, even for a ghost.”

“These are blood relics,” I murmur as I glance around, realisation setting in. The tales I read from our manuals flood back—manuals Shamus made me read—and I realise who we are after. “Oh fuck, Shamus sent us here after the ancient blood tempest.”

Shamus didn’t want me to save them. He wanted me to tame them, the fool.

There is no taming a tempest.

There is only death.

“I thought they were all dead,” Ronan whispers, looking terrified.

“No, not dead, dormant. They were deemed too evil to control, and we just walked right into its prison and rang the fucking dinner bell,” I tell him as I glance back at them, opening my mouth to order them to retreat, but the surface under our feet shifts.

“It’s awake.”

The sand parts to create a passageway to a maze, the little tunnel carved throughout as if by magic. As I leap back to avoid it, one of the podiums starts to shake, and the blood vase topples from the tip, crashing into the sand. It splinters and cracks, and as I watch with wide-eyed fascination and horror, blood seeps from the vessel and into the maze below. It flows swiftly through the carvings in the sand, filling the maze and staining it red. Suddenly, the crust beneath our feet begins to shake, and I leap back out of the circle just as the earth rips open.

A chasm forms in the circle where I once stood, the yawning darkness leading down.

I share a look with Ronan and the fae before I look deeper in, seeing crudely carved stairs leading down into the abyss. The bloody sand slowly falls into the chasm, and an echoing groan can be heard from below.

“You know what? That doesn’t sound good. How about we head back and eat ice cream or fuck instead? That sounds a whole lot more fun than whatever creep show is waiting in the ancient hole,” Ronan mutters.

“I do like being eaten,” I joke, and they both turn to gape at me.

“Was that a joke?” Ronan actually stumbles—well, floats backwards. “I am rubbing off on you. Wait, that’s what she said. In all seriousness, do we have to go into the creepy hole?”

Grinning, I face forward and put my foot on the first step. When it doesn’t crumple, I stomp down, testing each one as I go.

“I guess that’s a yes. Why can’t we just not chase monsters into the dark for one day and maybe go to a fair or something?” I hear Ronan mutter behind us.

“For someone who has faced death, you are very scared,” the fae observes, and I glance back to see him wandering behind me, looking around without a care in the world.

“Not scared of death, just concerned a very normal amount about whatever creature needs to be trapped underground with a blood circle. In this case, you are both the weirdos,” Ronan snaps.

I share a look with the fae and shrug. “He could be right.” I look back at the steps leading down, and when I put my boot on the next one, it crumbles and falls away. I topple forward, ready to plummet, when arms wrap around me and yank me back. I hit a solid chest, and when I tip my head back, I meet the fae’s mocking gaze.

“Every time I have to save you, it will cost you,” he murmurs as he leans down and nips my ear. “Remember that, though I do think you like paying the cost, if my memory serves.”

Rolling my eyes, I shove him backwards and glance down at the two missing steps. I lean back then throw myself forward, landing at least five steps farther down. Without checking to see if they follow, I continue down the winding staircase. It gets narrower the deeper we go, until it’s only wide enough for half of one foot and I have to keep my hand on the wall to my left to keep my balance. Eventually, it gets so narrow that I sigh and stop, sick of this shit.

“This is wasting time,” I mutter. “We need to be gone before the hunters arrive. Let’s just jump down and see.”

“How do we test if it’s waiting to kill us?” the fae murmurs, peering over the edge into the dark. He doesn’t appear afraid, more like excited.

“Like this,” I reply as I kick his chest and watch as his eyes widen in shock as he falls backwards into the dark. A moment later, there is a thud and a groan. “Well? Have you been torn apart and eaten yet?”

There’s a moment of silence. “No, but you are going to be, hunter.”

“Did you really just try to kill him? I mean, I’m all on board with that plan, but let me know so we can get our stories straight,” Ronan mutters.

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