Page 134 of Trials of Dusk and Dreams
“Little moth . . .” He points at the shuddering stall doors. “Meet the flames.”
A door cracks down the middle. Spindly, arachnid-like legs poke through the gap, trying to escape. They make a clicking sound.
Oh shit. Oh fuck. Oh shit. Screw waiting for the blots. We’ll be dead before that happens. Heart leaping into my throat, I pivot and run to Emrys. The clicking and shrieking follow me, louder and closer.They’re out!
I drop, skidding boots-first along the floor as Emrys descends into the hatch. Sharp bits hidden beneath the straw cut into me as I slide. I twist to my stomach, hoping to know what’s coming so I can defend myself—wrong move. Fear obliterates my logic. My momentum slows. I do nothing but stare in horror as multiple shadowy entities crawl along the walls and ceilings, their eyes glittering like cold, distant stars. Some kind of web spurts out from them, latching onto surfaces.
Strong hands grip my waist and tug. I’m dragged down the hatch, acutely aware of Emrys’s larger body behind me, his presence both a comfort and a threat. He maneuvers us, making space to reach up. With a swift, sharp motion, he slams the trapdoor shut. He murmurs something under his breath and traces arcane symbols on the hatch’s underside.
When he’s done, he turns and does something I can’t make out in the darkness behind us. A whooshing sound breaks the silence, startling me. Emrys’s tall, broad-shouldered silhouette grows darker as torches ignite along a long, endless tunnel before him.
He faces me, firelight dancing in his stark eyes. As I study him, a realization dawns. This tunnel leads somewhere he wants to keep a secret—a secret big enough to keep that he was willing to wait in a stable filled with Nightmares.
Chapter 55
Willow
Emrys stalks down the tunnel at a breakneck pace. With nowhere else to go, I follow. After a few strides, he glances over his shoulder, eyes flashing. “Why are you following me?”
“Where else am I supposed to go?” I shoot back.
He continues walking, ignoring me. After a few more paces, he rips off his jacket and hurls it at me. “Go away,” he bellows.
I dodge it, fire blazing in my veins. “There’s nowhere to go!”
Torchlight catches his eyes, making them gleam with an unhinged intensity. I step back instinctively. But then he spins and keeps walking.
“Why did you save me then?” I shout after him. “You hate me so much. Why not finish on a high after humiliating me and leave me with the Nightmares?”
He doesn’t answer.
The longer we walk, the more my fever rages. Shivers wrack my body despite every inch of me burning up. Embarrassing squeaks escape as I suffocate my urges. Sweat slicks my spine. Hot need pulses between my legs. Eventually, Emrys whirls around so fast it startles me.
“How did you do it?” he demands, voice raw. “How did you manipulate the Chimera to your will?”
“What. The. Fuck are you talking about, Emrys?”
“You made it look like me.” The word ‘me’ drips with disgust. “Like you actually desire me.”
“I didn’tmakeit do anything. You said so yourself. It takes the form of my most erotic fantasy.”
“You only fantasized about me because I left you wanting.”
I jab my finger in his face. “For the record, that wasnotokay.”
“Turning your desire against you?”
“Manipulating me,” I shout. “Humiliating me. Playing with my heart!”
He smiles bitterly. “I did warn you I liked its song.”
“Fuck you,” I choke. “Just because someone hurt you once doesn’t mean you have the excuse to pass that pain onto others.”
I storm past him, leaving him in my dust. Another queen hurt him, but I refuse to be his punching bag. I have no idea where I’m going or where this tunnel leads, but I’m walking first.
He overtakes me, muttering about losing his mind.
As we stubbornly continue alongside each other, the tension between us ebbs and flows like a tide. At times, he slows his pace, allowing me to catch up. I almost think he’s doing it to check on me. Other times, he speeds up as if trying to outrun his thoughts.
