Page 73 of All the Devils are Here

When he’d attacked her, he had merely mentioned Kha—Laurent’s connection to her. It was possible he thought we were protective of her in service of our friend and not ourselves. Did the fact that he created us mean he could sense such things?

I pushed the door open with my nose and listened, fading into my senses.

The mountain was silent. No scrapes and shuffles of movement, and there were no lingering scents telling me Prospero had been in this hallway recently.

Good.

The way downward was simple, and I kept myself silent as I approached where Prospero’s scent was strongest. We weren’t permitted to enter the Den, but I knew what the air felt like when he was inside it, and right now he wasn’t. But he was in the mountain.

I traced his scent backwards, down hallways which were deeper and closer to the heart. Almost to where I could no longer go.

The room we’d found her in last night was where he was, muttering to himself as he grabbed things off of shelves and mixed things from bottles. His eyes fell on me as soon as I peeked around the frame of the door.

“Come to spy on me, Caliban?”

I said nothing, simply staring at him. He looked like he was older. Heavier in his body, and weaker. There was more weight and gravity pressing down on his shoulders than before.

His face curled up into disdain. “Get out.” He shoved a hand toward me, and only the barest hint of air stirred around me. His magic was truly drained. If I were in my human form, I would smile.

“This is what you three have always wanted, haven’t you. To see me weak and helpless. Well I’m not. Not entirely. I still havesomemagic, Caliban. And the ability to makeMíannangry.”

Grabbing the bowl he’d been throwing ingredients into, he stalked past me and down the hallway further. Where it led down under the earth to smaller heart of power that lived here. He’d created it long ago so the island’s power was close at hand.

I followed him as far as I could, watching and waiting.

“For once,” he said, “I’m not the one tormenting you.”

It took me a second to realize he wasn’t speaking to me. From my place on the stairs I could see the fiery brightness, and Prospero in silhouette as he approached it.

“It’s her. The girl. The one they took from you last night. They stole her, just when she was about to release all your magic back to me and you.”

Cold dread gathered under my paws. He was speaking to it. I wished I could go closer, but even here the pulsing beat of power was telling me torun.

Were we wrong about the island having true consciousness? Or had he simply gone mad? Either could be true.

“She’s the reason,” Prospero said, hurling the bowl straight at the light. My eyesburnedwith the flare of light, and the sound had me scrambling away back up the stairs. It was like the sound of a thousand birds shrieking. Echoing and harmonizing in brutal chaos and pain. Magic rippled outward, and it wasn’t good.

He was provoking it.

I ran up and out the other side of the mountain, driven by pure instinct. Not to the beach, but to the cliffs which looked over it.

The one I chose fell directly into the water, tide churning as it crashed against the rocks below. I didn’t like the ocean. Trin teased me about it, but such a vast body of it made every instinct pull away.

I enjoyed smoother, smaller water. Like the small lakes on the island’s surface, and occasionally the pools like inside the mountain or our home. The ocean was too unpredictable. Especially now, as the tide was coming in and covering the rocks at the base of the cliff. The water would only get higher.

But there was a ripple going the wrong way. It was a wave rushingoutwardand not inward. Whatever the heart of the island decided to do, it had pushed its power beyond the limits of the island.

What was it trying to do?

Panic was growing in my gut, but I didn’t know why. It was as deep as knowing Meg was my mate. Restless energy snaked beneath my skin with the need to go protect my mate. She was in danger. From this island and what Prospero had done.

A growl rose in my throat, and I barely silenced it. If I could, I’d go back to the mountain and rip his throat out. I wanted to taste his blood on my tongue and feel it flow out. I wanted to feel the slackening of his heartbeat between my jaws until I knew he was dead.

At some point, it would come true.

The sun began to fade down into the ocean, but I didn’t look at the colors of the sky. Meg would like them, and I hoped to show them to her. But I didn’t take my eyes off the ocean, my eyes picking up light even as it faded. I needed to behere.

Here, to protect her, and I would obey.

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