Page 86 of The Crown of Nyx

“We are on the outskirts of Elysian,” he said, hands behind his back as he addressed me. “From here, we will need to travel to the borders of House of Wrath. They sit closest to the barrier between the Underworld and the Old World.”

“And from there?” Though my magic didn’t deem him untrustworthy, I still felt the rest of the team’s unease. And I understood why.

“From there, we must pass through the Rift. Shadow jumping is not an exact science. I cannot dictate where the shadows will take us once we reach the Old World. I can only ask them to take us safely into the unknown.” He brought his hands together, the clap loud and startling.

Adrian’s arm tightened around me, pulling me further into his side. At my other, Ry moved in closer. He remained a breath away, almost close enough to touch, but somehow always keeping enough distance between us that we wouldn’t meet.

Another thing I definitely did not have time to think about. Something I tucked away for another time.

The torches on the walls flared with a brighter light, giving us more to see.

And I wish they hadn’t.

There was blood on the floor. Splattered across the walls. Bile rose in my throat as I quickly looked away from the substance. I expected to smell the coppery scent, but when I breathed in, I thankfully only got the smell of honey.

Why honey, I wasn’t sure.

Elias, who stood in front of me, growled. And the male who had my back moved in closer. Hawk’s presence brought my magic to the surface, part to protect us, and in part out of need.

A need to claim him. Mate him. Make him mine.

I shoved those familiar feelings down and locked them away with everything Ry related. Two things so not important right now.

“Where have you brought us?” Elias barked, his hand straying to his belt.

Damon’s lip curled as he took in the blood. “Appears hellhounds were down here,” he muttered in disgust. Something I never thought I’d hear about again. Thedreadful beasts that introduced me to the supernatural world. Thankfully, I hadn’t run into any while here or in Avalon. Though they might have looked like dogs, they weren’t nearly as friendly. “Don’t worry about them. They won’t be a bother.”

Leave it alone, I told Elias, reaching for him calmly through the bond.It’s not worth it. We need to start moving.

He spared me a quick glance over his shoulder. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes glowed softly with the presence of his wolf. I hadn’t felt my own since the shift, but fear kept me from trying to bring her to the surface. For now, I would keep her down until I needed her again.

Elias didn’t fight me. Instead, he sighed, turning back to Damon.

Before anyone could get another word in, the shadows around us darkened, whipping up a storm. I shuddered as a tendril of shadow gently caressed my thigh, where the second deal tattoo lived on my flesh.

My breath left me as the shadows ripped us from the cavern and spat us out somewhere entirely different.

Here, the sky was blood red, and there was nothing but dead trees for as far as I could see. It was different from the landscape I’d first found. At some point, this land could have been alive. Thriving. The trees, however, were barren. Their skeletal limbs reached for nothing, their height going towards the sky before warping down on themselves. It looked like some of them were growing together, having met in the sky before winding and curling in on one another.

It was weird. Maybe kind of cool.

But very weird.

“A field of death,” Damon said, as if sensing my thoughts. I glanced away from the trees to find him leaning against one. The others were still in a tightformation around me. “Here are the souls who do not get to pass on to the Elysian Fields. I leave them for Wrath to deal with.”

“Interesting,” I muttered, trying to shift my feet. But my boots clung to the wet earth beneath me. I tore my eyes from his to stare down at the mud, but when I tried to lift my foot again, the strong scent of old blood hit me.

I really couldn’t help the gag that left my lips. Ripping my hand away from Adrian’s, I quickly covered my mouth to stop the smell from filling my lungs further. It was worse because I was accidentally tapping into Maeve and Elias’s powers. Their heightened senses were going to be the death of me.

“Alright, we need to move it along.” Maeve glanced back at me with a look of concern. “The killing fields could have been avoided, demon.”

“Like I already explained,” he replied carefully, “the shadows work on their own.”

“Well,” I cut in, voice muffled, “can the shadows just move us on? I’d like tonotlose last night’s meal.”

Damon pushed off the tree. Instead of amusement in his red eyes, there might have been real concern darkening his irises. But without a word, he let the shadows break free. They wrapped around us, curling around our group with a different energy this time.

When the shadows spat us out the third time, we weren’t in a dark cave or a field of death. There were no warped trees or bloody walls. And when I lifted my feet, they weren’t glued to the ground by old blood.

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