Page 61 of Over the Emerald Valley
Slam!A boom echoed from somewhere behind them, followed by Abasi’s wicked chuckle.
Temaj knew right away that this had been the viceroy’s plan. He’d wanted Solon and Neku to follow them. Wanted to isolate them from the rest.
They were trapped with some kind of demon, and worse, no one knew where to find them.
CHAPTER21
Solon
“Neku, watch our backs.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you all right?” Solon asked while looking Temaj over.
He collapsed against his chest, shaking. “I stabbed him.”
“He deserved it.” Solon felt his back and shoulders with gentle hands. “But areyouall right?”
“So far, but I can’t say I’m enjoying our present accommodations.” Temaj sniffed. “Where are we?”
“I kept track the best I could on the way. I can retrace my steps.” He’d better be able to, or they’d be stuck in this labyrinth forever.
“That’s better than I could do. Abasi all but carried me here.”
“We saw.” Neku stepped in. “He sometimes moved so fast you both vanished.”
Solon scanned their surroundings. They were deep underground. The tunnels had been reinforced by wooden construction, but this room was built with yellowed talatat stone. Every sound made an eerie echo, including the slow drip of water from somewhere over their heads.
Plunk plunk plunk.
The enormous cavern was big enough to hold a lounge like the one found in his room. A desk cluttered with papyri sat opposite with a single chair. Not a room meant for company. Another set of stone doors like the ones they’d come barreling through barred an archway beside the desk, leading Solon to wonder what lay through them.
As far as he could tell, there was only one way in—the way they’d come, which was obscured behind a curved hallway—and whatever lay beyond those extra doors.
They must weigh a ton, and he feared without Abasi’s superhuman strength, they wouldn’t budge.
So they couldn’t kill him.Yet.
The viceroy appeared from nowhere, startling Solon. He sauntered toward them. His black eyes focused on their group—amused, anticipatory, evil.
Blood dripped from Abasi’s white tunic and splattered onto the floor. Only a few drops. Either he’d stopped bleeding already, or it had slowed to a mere trickle.
“What do you want from us?” Solon demanded, keeping himself between Abasi and Temaj. Neku stood at his side.
“Would you believe that’s only just becoming clear to me?” Abasi clasped his hands together, ringed fingers intertwined. He didn’t look like much of a threat—a fancy man with a round belly and too many decorations.
But Solon knew better. And whatever he was, demon or not, he could bleed.
Solon gripped his knife, the weight a familiar comfort in his hand, and rocked lightly on his toes. Abasi was wounded thanks to Temaj. Together, he and Neku might stand a chance.
“Calm down. There’s no need to fight what’s about to happen,” Abasi crooned. “You might like it, a man like you, duty-bound and honorable. The power I could give you. The glory.”
“There’s nothing I want from you.” Solon pointed his blade at Abasi. They stood mere feet apart.
Abasi opened his hands, palms up. A symbol of peace, but Solon wasn’t a dullard. “You might if you’d listen. And considering your other choice is certain death, I’d caution you not to be rash. Put away the knife.”
Someone might die today, but it wouldn’t be Solon or those under his protection. “Say whatever you need to say. The knife stays with me.”
