Chapter 487

Nina

“Are you coming or not, little wolf?”

Luke and I shot each other an uneasy look as the man stood in front of us with his unlit lantern.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked tentatively.

The man huffed. “To the queen,” he said annoyedly. “And if you don’t hurry, we might be too late for your husband. The ritual only takes so long.”

That was all the convincing I needed. Despite Luke’s worried glance, I followed the man out the door and back into the humid air. More onlookers had gathered now, intrigued by our sudden appearance, but I hardly noticed then with my thoughts churning so dizzyingly.

I didn’t know where exactly we were going, but as long as it brought us closer to Enzo, then I would take whatever I could get.

Over the next half hour, our silent guide threaded his way easily between lush tropical foliage without glancing back or slowing to match our clumsy foreign footsteps. I stumbled over tangled roots in an attempt to keep up, my skin caked with sweat from the heat and the damp air.

“Hey, could you slow down a little?” Luke called out, his arm catching my elbow when I nearly fell over an exposed root. But the man didn’t look back.

“Keep up, little wolf,” he called out over his shoulder. “No time to waste.”

Before long, the vibrant vegetation began to thin out, the soft soil replaced by smooth, bare stone. My breath caught in my throat from the ascent we had unwittingly taken through the foliage. We had been climbing up and up for a while, but nothing seemed to show itself to us.

Luke and I paused, glancing at each other warily again. I was just wondering if this strange man was leading us on a wild goose chase when a yawning cave opening caught my eye up ahead.

The man stopped in front of the opening, tinkering with his lantern until it flickered to life. “Ready?” he asked, glancing over at us for the first time since we had gone on this strange hike.

I peered into the dark cave. “In there?” I asked, swallowing. “Seems… dangerous.”

The man huffed again; at this point, I couldn’t tell if it was an actual huff of annoyance or if it was just a cough. “I thought you wanted to find your husband.”

“I do.”

“Then follow me.”

Without another word, the man walked into the cave mouth. Luke and I stood there, unsure, before I took a deep breath and went after the man. But Luke’s hand caught my arm, his eyes wide and uncertain.

“Nina, I don’t think this is a good idea,” he whispered.

I threw my hands up into the air. Already, the man’s lantern light was fading, swaying off into the distance. “It’s either this, or let whatever ‘ritual’ he mentioned before play out,” I said. “And I’m partial to this.”

Luke let out a sigh, but didn’t protest any further. Together, hand-in-hand, we made our way into the cave with only the man’s swaying lantern to guide us.

The temperature instantly plunged. I hugged myself against the subterranean chill, disoriented by our directionless descent. Eventually, even the insects and the sound of the wind faded, leaving only our echoing shuffles.

“How long have we been down here?” Luke whispered harshly. “Feels like hours…”

I shook my head mutely before remembering he couldn’t see me. “Only a few minutes.”

Luke exhaled hard. “How much longer until we fall in a giant crevice or some kind of trap?”

I squeezed my eyes shut against the sudden onset of tears, nearly twisting an ankle on the uneven ground. “It’s not like we have any other options,” I reminded him.

Just then, the abyss mercifully brightened into the soft glow of torch flames. Now that I could see a bit better, I could make out our surroundings; we had entered smoother tunnels now, with carved walls and timber supports reinforcing the space. We must have reached some sort of underground system.

But for what purpose?

A few minutes later, my neck prickled as we emerged abruptly into a massive cavern, firelight reflecting off of what looked like polished obsidian. Far overhead, stalactites dripped onto intricate tiles spanning a dizzying distance.

This had to be an impossible buried fortress… or maybe a palace?

Suddenly, harsh unfamiliar words rang out. Masked guards crossed spears to block our path, their ax blades unwaveringly targeting our hearts. Our guide pleaded desperately in lilting phrases that I couldn’t understand.

Apparently we were on thin ice.

Luke pushed me partly behind him as the man spoke to the guards. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he was gesticulating wildly and speaking frantically, and kept pointing at my belly.

At first, the guards’ expressions remained impassive. But then, after an agonizing few moments, they finally stepped back. Our guide visibly relaxed his shoulders,motioning for us to follow him again.

But this time, he spoke in a hushed whisper: “Hurry!”

Luke and I raced to match pace with the strange man down endless obsidian passages… I gradually made out the swell of noise—raucous screams and inhuman roars that raised the hair on my nape.

“We’re close,” the man said. “Hurry, hurry!”

Before Luke and I could collect our bearings, the man broke into a run. Luke and I followed suit, sprintling recklessly around countless corners until stumbling through an archway into sudden shocking carnage.

Because there, across an arena slick with dark gore, swayed Mila in her half-open gown… hovering in front of my battered husband. My breath caught in my throat when I saw him. He was spattered in vivid crimson, silver ropes circled around his wrists and neck as he kneeled in front of her.

Nearby lay a mutilated corpse, vacant eyes eternally staring at nothing. And up above, a curious crowd looked on. An invisible icy hand clenched my chest. What had happened here?

“Mila!” our guide bellowed. Everything froze.

Mila whirled around, surprise written across her face. The surprise, upon seeing me, quickly melted into a pure and unbridled rage. Enzo’s head lifted slowly—but his once-burning eyes were empty, sending ice shooting down my spine.

What had she done to him? What was this carnage?

“How dare you interfere!” Mila spat. Emerald daggers speared us each in turn. “Guards!”

Suddenly, armored boots clinked across the floor. The man shouted something in that language again, his hands waving wildly. Mila stared at him with wide eyes, her irises blood red and her pupils stretched into lizardlike slits. She stared like that for a while.

Just as the guards were clamping their hands around mine and Luke’s wrists, the man pointed—straight at my belly.

Mila’s face fell.

In an instant, her hand raised and the guards froze. Luke shuffled closer to me, his arm looping protectively around me as his free hand began to spark with electricity. Mila just stood there, hand raised still, as her snakelike eyes darted back and forth between me and Enzo, who was still out of it.

“Very well, then,” she finally said after what felt like an impossibly long time. “I will consider it.”

With that, she lowered her hands. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding, but it seemed it was futile; the guards clamped their hands around me. I screamed, and Luke shouted obscenities, and Enzo was hauled to his feet.

The rest was a blur of screams and nails and teeth. No matter how hard I fought, the guards were too strong; and then, the arena faded. Torches lined narrow passageways, and then spiraling stairs going down…

Next thing I knew, I was being shoved into one of three cells with Luke and Enzo on either side of me. Iron slammed, and then there were voices, and then… silence.

“Enzo,” I breathed, scrambling to my feet once I had come to my senses.

“Nina. Oh my god, Nina…”

We slammed into the bars between us, reaching for each other despite the silver searing our flesh.