Page 127 of Ruthless Scoundrel
It grows the sharp little digit again and taps the wall. With a resounding tinkling, the crystal shatters. Pieces scatter over the floor, forcing Jasper and I to take another step back.
The eksteinvas moves aside, and another one emerges from the wall, then another, and another. He’d locked them in a prison of their own making.
The first one comes slithering forward on its tail of liquid rock. It reaches down and picks up two of the larger crystal chunks from the ground, then approaches us.
“Stay very still,” Jasper utters.
The eksteinvas holds one of the crystals out to Jasper, and then another to me. They glow bright molten, like what I saw in the creature’s face, and then the stones turn blood red. I open my hand and it drops the shard into my palm. My hand dips. It’s heavier than I was expecting.
Jasper chokes on his words as he speaks in his native language.
The eksteinvas makes a rumbling reply, and slithers around us.
“What is it?” I whisper to Jasper as the other creatures go sliding past, making the floor wobble under our feet.
“I don’t know,” he replies. “But I don’t think it’ll hurt us.”
The stone feels warm in my hand. I clutch it tightly, absorbing that heat into myself. Suddenly, the stone glows and a tingle trickles up my arm. It feels like raw power. It’s intoxicating. I open my hand and look down at it. The magic within throbs in time with my heartbeat for a moment, then fades back to its deep red color.
“We’ll figure it out later,” I say, handing my stone to Jasper, who has pockets to spare. He tucks them both away and grabs the key ring from me.
I hold my torch high as we inspect the other hallway, but it’s empty. There definitelywassomeone or something imprisoned here within the last month, but the cells are empty now. I have to hope that whatever they were, they escaped.
We’re both beaten and broken when we crawl our way through the rubble back to the surface. The blood red of the eclipse fades into orange, and then pink, lighting up the mist around us. The god-monster is waiting for us when we emerge, but his eyes are trained on something beyond my vision.
“The ship?” I ask.
His purple eye darts down and locks on me. “Yes. It has navigated the perimeter successfully and is approaching the dock.”
Jasper sucks in a sharp breath. “When we were coming in, I heard one of the men say something about a ship following them which they seemed intent on avoiding.” He turns to the Voice. “What color are the flags?”
“White and red,” he reports.
“Wolfsheim,” I whisper.
“Let’s see who we’re dealing with,” Jasper says, throwing down his torch.
The god opens his webbed hand to us in invitation. I climb on, holding tight to the sharp nail of his smallest finger as Jasper crowds me protectively.
“Wait!” I cry up at the god. He looks down on me with what I can only assume is exasperation. “There was a book on the altar. It might have something in it.”
The Voice rumbles and takes us back to the sacrifice room. I dangle off the giant’s finger and drop to the ground with a squelch that turns my stomach. So many bodies.
No time to think about it.
I run to the altar and find the book well-singed and covered in black goop. I slam it shut and tuck it under my arm. Jasper hauls me back up into the waiting god’s palm, and he thunders away. It doesn’t take more than two strides for us to traverse the length of the massive palace and reach the pier leading to the sea.
Someone hangs off the side of the ship, their large hat indicating them as captain. “Ahoy there!” the feminine voice calls. “Please don’t smash my very expensive boat to bits!”
I laugh giddily and wave.
“She’s a friend!” I yell up at the god.
The Voice lowers us to the ground, and we step off onto the black stone. “I will go back for the wounded,” he says as he draws away.
Jasper holds my hand tightly as we hurry toward the ship. My legs tremble at the thought of rest, threatening to give out, but I keep going.
“How did you find us?” I call out to the captain as her crew prepares to dock.
