Lord of Embers(The Demon Queen Trials #2)(24)

Orion gave me one last look before he crossed into one of the caves, and I followed after him. Inside, the darkness had a weight, and the silence coiled around us. Wrapped in shadows, I traced my hand against a rocky wall to guide my way until Orion sparked fire in the palm of his hand. Light and shadow writhed over the sand-colored walls, flickering over floor-to-ceiling stalactites and twisted columns of rocks.

Brittle ice cracked beneath my feet. I felt on edge, a sense of unease that increased when an icy wind snuffed out the light in Orion’s hand.

Around me, lines of red light carved through the darkness, forming letters from a strange alphabet.

“This is how it begins,” said Orion. “You’ve heard the expression ‘the writing on the wall’? Divine judgement, supposedly. You have been . Here, in Purgatory, we will

w eigh ed on th e scales an d fou n d w an tin g

be forced to face what we’ve done. And for a little while, it will be hard to tell what is real from what is a vision.”

I took a long breath. “So how will I know when it’s over?”

“The writing will disappear.” His voice was starting to sound more distant now, echoing from afar. “I will see you on the other side.”

I tried to summon fire of my own. After a few moments, though I could feel the rush and spark of magic, the warmth in my palm, I still couldn’t see a thing.

Whispers echoed around me, some saying my name, others the name Mortana, drawing the name out in a mocking tone.

a

Mortaaaaaan a—

chorus of singsong whispers.

“Orion?” My voice sounded muffled, drowned in the sea of whispers.

How could whispers be so loud?

Symbols appeared around me, blood-red slashes in the darkness—a language I couldn’t read.

From behind me, an agonized scream filled the cavern.

I whirled to see a pale light illuminating a figure on the ground— someone crawling, but there was something very wrong with her. Her arms and legs were bent at strange angles, her head tucked into her chest. I hated the sight of her mangled limbs.

A demon, perhaps? Her skin looked charred, cracked— I took a step back. “Do you need help?”

But this wasn’t real, was it? Orion had warned me—all the demons did was fuck with your head. I closed my eyes, hoping the horrific image would be gone when I opened them again. The creature was still there, crawling closer to me on twisted limbs.

Warm light wavered over the cave walls once more, and a creaking noise filled the cavern.

a voice boomed.

Do you w an t to kn ow h ow you w ou ld d ie?

“Fuck, no. Do I have a choice?”

I stared at one of the walls, where a hypnotic swaying of shadows moved back and forth, back and forth—until finally, its contours became clear. A woman hung from a noose, her neck crooked at an angle, her hair hanging down, swaying under a bough.

Bright red hair, pale skin. The black dress I wore now.

Sharp terror spread through my gut.

I wasn’t in the cave anymore. I was at the bottom of Gallows Hill. A towering elm grew from a rocky ledge halfway up the hill, and I was staring up at my double dangling at the end of a rope. The tree’s gnarled boughs were outspread, jagged black lines against a gray sky.

From the foot of the hill, I watched my double’s legs twitch and jerk, feet dancing over rocks. The body swayed for hours, the branch creaking under the body’s weight. Behind my double, four more bodies hung from nooses—women with purple skin, stiff limbs.

I couldn’t move.

They were screaming that I’d sacrificed “my kin,” and I wanted to scream, too. How long would this last?

Cold winter air stung my cheeks, smelling of cedar smoke and death.

A jeering crowd stood around, screaming curses.

The bough groaned under the weight of my doppelg?nger, and her body turned toward me. I caught a glimpse of her eyes— eyes—

my

bulging wide. Her fingers stopped twitching, but her body swayed soundlessly, casting a dark shadow upon the wintry earth.

Dread carved me out.

Why did I feel like this had happened before? It happened

h ad

before. I’d been here two days, replaying it all.

My breath shallowed. Those bright red letters still gleamed around me. I knew it wasn’t real. This was a vision, except…

This

going to happen. This was my future.

w as

It had happened before, and it would happen again. We were all trapped, repeating our own tragedies.

The air left my lungs, and I desperately wanted to get out of here.

A curtain of darkness came down over me, sparing me from the horrific vision at last. It was just me in the cave, shaking. But it wasn’t over yet. Red slashes still gleamed from the cave walls. The burned woman was still here, shuffling across the cave floor.

I didn’t want to see her eyes.

But when she looked up at me, the deep blue pierced me to the core.

I felt something in my hand, cold and metallic.

“I’m so sorry,” I muttered, looking down at the set of keys in my palm, so heavy I could hardly hold them.

Guilt ripped me open. I’d done something terrible, and the keys were the evidence. The keys were like a letter branded into my cheek—M for Murderer. I didn’t want them anywhere near me.