Page 5 of A Crown this Cold and Heavy

But gods, it hurt. And beneath the pain was a blind terror I’d never felt before.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, took a deep breath, and attempted to push the hair off my face. My hands didn’t move.

Fae iron. Claustrophobia bit at me with sharp teeth. No wonder it felt as if I were suffocating. The manacles were constructed from dark iron, the surface pitted and scarred. They were heavy enough that it was difficult to lift my hands, the chain between them short.

I scanned my surroundings. My cell was dim, lit only by a light orb floating in the corridor across from the bars encaging me.

The cell was perhaps seven footspans wide and nine footspans long, the stone floor and three of the walls cracked and damp. One corner held a bucket of water, the other an empty bucket I refused to think about. A wall of bars separated me from what seemed to be a long corridor, and the guard dressed in Eprothan colors leaning against those bars.

My heart tripped, and I took another deep breath. And then another. Slowly, I sat up, the room dancing. My gaze managed to lock on the face pressed to the bars. Clean-shaven, red hair, missing several teeth.

This wasn’t the dungeon beneath Regner’s castle. So, where was I? How long had it been since I was taken?

The guard grinned at me. I stared back at him until the smile dropped from his face.

“You don’t look like much, Hybrid Heir.”

Ignoring that, I checked the rest of my body. I had a bruised elbow, my muscles ached, and my head felt as if someone had stabbed me in the temple. But I was alive.

Where was Cavis?

The guard stepped back, already bored. Were there cells next to mine? I couldn’t hear any other prisoners, but the guard had moved to my left, out of sight. He muttered to the other man—likely the first guard I’d heard speak.

Giving in to the dizziness, I lay back on the floor.

Cavis appeared in my mind, that web covering one side of his face. The shock and horror in his eyes when he’d realized he was acting against his own free will.

Lorian, Demos, and Asinia had to be alive. I refused to even consider the alternative.

But they were expecting me to stay alive too. I wouldn’t let them down.

“I once told you thatuntil you faced up to the reality of your life, you would continue to be a victim to it. And my reality is this—I’m in love with you.”

I hadn’t said it back. I’d felt the words deep in my soul, and I hadn’t told him. If I died here, Lorian would never know how I felt.

I’m in love with you too.

* * *

The creature snorted in the distance, heading straight for the bodies. Demos had dragged them into one of the main caverns, ordering Asinia to hide and wait. Her crossbow wasn’t ideal for fighting in close quarters, but she was hidden in the cavern across from me now, crouched down and peering around the rock.

Demos cursed as he got into position. Despite his dark mood, he’d agreed my plan was strategically sound, suggesting only minimal changes.

I pulled my knife. The blade was long, light, and would let me thrust and cut as needed. It was as familiar in my hand as if it were merely an extension of my limb, and yet never had it been so important.

Every minute we spent in these fucking caverns was another minute Prisca was alone and in danger.

Demos cursed again.

I aimed a glower his way. “Perhaps you should speak a little louder. The creature might not have heard you yet.”

He let out a garbled string of insults that would have made me smirk under any other circumstances. Then he fell silent. Across the cavern, Asinia tucked herself farther around the corner, until the tip of her arrow was all I could see.

The creature let out a sudden roar. We’d managed to remember where the traps were located, and while some of them had been disarmed by Regner’s guards, there were plenty that the beast continued to stumble into. Hopefully it would be weakened by the time it reached us.

Although, from the enraged growls coming closer, that was unlikely.

Another roar, and now I could smell the sickening scent of its breath—a cross between mold and carrion. Asinia let out a choked sound and immediately fell silent.

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