Page 148 of Kingdoms of Night

“He stepped around the corner.” Hob lifted his head and smiled. “You must have seen him.”

“I didn’t.” It hadn’t occurred to her that he would go anywhere. Had she been that focused on summoning up the plants? She swallowed. Her arm stung from the exertion, and the veins up through her chest hurt as well. This day was horrid. She hated it.

“Ah. Well, he isn’t far. Especially not with that loop you two are caught in.”

She drew back, scowling. “How do you know about that?”

Hob stood and scratched the top of his head. “I really must confess, though. What I don’t understand is why you two are resisting each other. It’s so obvious that you have feelings for him and he for you.”

“He does not love me,” she said sharply. Why was she even answering him? “And who are you to comment on any of this?”

He tilted his head, then slid the glasses away. “He doesn't love you, you say. You focus on that. Is that why you won’t tell him how you feel?”

“Shut up, you big lung cricket. How dare you!” Nothing justified this intrusiveness; was everyone here this nosy?

“Love requires vulnerability. There is no other way around it.”

“I have exposed myself for love before,” she snarled. “I will not do it again. All right? Now where is he? Feron! Feron, where are you?” She turned on him. “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing that won’t be worth it in the end. But first, tell me, Idalno. Isn’t it better to be open? To risk—”

“I’d rather be alone, so you can go boil your head with centipedes—”

Hob snapped his fingers.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

FERON

Feron held his head, wincing. The buzzing in his ears passed slowly, leaving in its wake a cold emptiness. That wretched beggar! What had he done? Where was Idalno? “Idalno?”

Silence and the scent of chilled stone greeted him. His werewolf sight had already adapted to this place, but there wasn’t much to see. Nothing more than round-cut stones and gray mortar to piece them together in a long narrow hallway with a ceiling so high he could not see its end.

He stepped forward. That single step echoed out like a dull call. Yet nothing answered. From the sound of it, the hall went on forever.

He should have known better than to trust that beggar. Everyone here was treacherous, except the wolves. And Idalno? Where was she? Was she close?

He turned around, scenting the air and searching for any indication of her presence.

His pulse quickened, his nerves prickling. Maybe she was on the other side of the wall. Maybe they were just the perfect distance apart. If so, easily solved. Puck had said the cursed loop might be as few as twenty steps, although in the labyrinth it had been much closer. The magic of the labyrinth itself? Unless Idalno was—

He stopped, clenching his hands into fists. No. She was close by. She had to be. He’d just take twenty steps or so and she’d be there. If Hob had sent him here, then Idalno must be somewhere close at hand. Nothing had been able to part them yet. He started counting the steps.

One. Two. Three.

No change in the air stirred. The echoes of his boots faded as the thudding of his heart intensified.

Four. Five. Six. Seven.

Of course he’d already walked forward a little bit. And there was no way of knowing with any accuracy just how many it would take. But this would work.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

Maybe it would be more than twenty. It probably was just the magic of the labyrinth that had forced them to be so much closer together. He quickened his pace.

“Idalno?” he called out, louder this time.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

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