Blakeshire (Insight #9)(94)

I turned and nearly slipped. The stones on the floor were loose, like something had fallen there and dislodged them. I assumed it was from the explosion this morning. What didn’t make sense was that I was almost sure ice was encasing the walls. The fog that was forming from my breath and the chills that were blanketing my skin backed that point up.

I felt like I was right where I needed to be, at least a few feet away—but something was blocking me. I didn’t care to look for any other secret passages alone, so I turned back for Aden, yelling Preston’s name as I slowly made my way back. I would halt here and there, checking to see if I could feel him.

I was sure I was losing my mind. That little boy was not even in this dimension, and he surely would not be down here in this old wing even if he was.

Right as I rounded the corner of the passage I had found, the rank smell of sulfur hit me like a brick. I lowered the torch to the water, knowing that it was painting a bull’s-eye on me. I held still against the wall, listening for anything, searching to feel anything. Nothing.

I moved forward at a staggered pace.

Out of the darkness, that odor charged toward me. I threw my energy at it, wanting to block who was behind it. I heard a body hit the opposite wall and took off in a sprint, splashing through the stream at my feet.

It wasn’t long before I ran right into a wall of man that reeked of sulfur. He had me against the wall before I could think to push him back. When I found that thought, he had such a tight hold on my tank top that the bottom half left with him.

This evil bastard was relentless. He charged me again, but before he reached me Aden appeared out of nowhere—and that dark man ran right into the blade in his hand.

“Holy shit, Aden!”

“Run!” he said to me as more and more reeking men started to emerge.

“Not leaving you,” I said as I sent a wall of energy down the path. I heard men groan and a few bodies hitting the walls, but they were still moving.

Aden turned me and pushed me down the passage. I ran, feeling him on my heels, his hand guiding me to turn when he wanted me to.

We didn’t stop until we were out of breath and the ground was dry again.

“What part of ‘wait right here’ did you not get?” he said as he struggled to find his breath.

“I saw Preston.”

“What?”

“It was him. He guided me down that hall.”

“You saw a ruse.”

I leaned forward and told my body to breathe. “They’re coming.”

“There can’t be that many. I took down three of the ones that were guarding the boat.”

“What boat?”

He looked at me, still panting as he raised his brow. “A glass boat, what’s left of it.” He pointed up. “Six floors up.”

“Guards were there?”

He nodded. “They must have known you were looking for it.” Finding his breath, he pulled my arm and pushed me to run in front of him.

“Stop,” he said a minute later. He pushed his powerful arms against the wall, and it moved. “Go in here.”

“You’re coming, too!” I argued.

He put his finger over his lips. “There is another one ahead. I’ll meet you on the other side.”

That was a lie. He knew we were at a dead end, and he was sending me through so he could stop those men from hurting me.

“Now, Maddie,” he said as his energy pushed me through the passageway. I turned to open it again, but he was holding it shut with his energy on the other side.

Nervously, I turned to see where I had emerged, knowing I was not alone simply because the stench of sulfur was gone and a deep cinnamon laced with vanilla was in the air.

The guest room was empty, but I was sure that the only way out of here would lead me right into the one place I didn’t want to be. I pulled with everything I had on that fireplace hiding my passage, willed the door with my energy, exhausted every possible way to open it.

The window was my only choice now. Right as I went to turn to go there, I found Britain behind me. Rage engulfed me when I realized that the chances of me pushing through a passage in his room were near one in a million. Those men had corralled me here. I knew they had.

“I thought I sensed you,” he said as those steel blue eyes of his rained down on me.

“I’m walking out of this room right now—and you are not going to stop me.”

He looked over me slowly. “Who hurt you?”

“Whomever you sent to chase me into this room.”

“You were chased here?” he said with a disbelieving glance.

“No, Britain. I thought for the hell of it that I would explore back tunnels of an ancient palace just to see where I would end up.”

“And fate brought you here. Again.”

“No. You sent people after me, just like you sent someone after Charlie. I was not born yesterday. You are pulling the strings. I’m over it.”

In an instant, his arms were on each side of me, blocking my way around him. “I’ve told you more than once that your life is at risk. What is it going to take to get that through your head? You and I are leaving right now.”

Before I could protest or push him back, the doors to the chambers flew open. For an instant I thought it was Aden, but the sulfur swimming in the air squashed that hope.