Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(4)

“P-please, n...no,”

The woman was back, which meant that whoever was torturing her was back too. They were close, close enough to find me. Close enough for me to find them. I didn’t know why my heart was thumping so wildly. It was either the fear of discovery or excitement for the battle. I narrowed my eyes as my muscles tensed, definitely excitement. I dropped the wet wad of lace down to the stone floor and perked my ears toward where I could only assume the voice was coming from.

I took a step forward without thinking, my nerves on high alert, eager to attack. If only I could find her, I could end all this.

“I...I...w-won’t t-tell you!”

My head spun, the voice seemed to have moved from one area of the cave to another. This time, the voice echoed down a darkened hallway that led toward the dungeon. I looked at the dark cavern, my nerves mingling with fear. No way was I going down there alone. No way. For all I knew, that was exactly what they wanted. Last thing I needed was to run into someone in the dark and then accidentally collapse the cave with my magic. Yep, that would be just my luck.

Why did this voice, this woman, only seem to appear when everyone else was busy? It didn’t make sense. I needed to get Talon; we needed to find her.

“L-leave me a...alone,” her voice broke and stuttered as she once again begged for her life.

The timber of her voice was so close to that of the little girl that haunted my dreams that my heart tensed in a reflex reaction, the contents in my stomach spinning uncomfortably.

I made sure the tablecloth was out of the water and went to take off toward the sparring hall where the pull of Talon’s magic told me he would be, but my wet Chuck Taylors squeaked on the stone on the first step. I froze, waiting to see if the noise would alert whoever was down there to my presence, but the crying remained. The last thing I needed was to scare her off before I could get Talon, and we could investigate.

I began walking again, moving slowly this time until the volume of the crying had lessened enough that I figured I was out of earshot, allowing me to take off on a dead run toward the training hall.

The sounds of battle hit my ears before anything else, the grunts and explosions mixed with laughter as everyone enjoyed the spectacles of combat.

I barreled into the large hall and wove my way through the small groups of sparring Sk?íteks, each group covered by the shimmering orb of a shield. I worked my way through them, looking like a fool when I jumped at an explosion that rocked against a barrier near my head.

I smiled at the two Sk?íteks enclosed in the fighting space and made my way toward Talon.

“Hi, baby,” Talon said softly when I ran up beside him. His face dropped at the look in my eyes and the transmission of my panic that I am sure he felt through our bond.

“I heard her again. I think she is in the old dungeons.”

Talon said nothing more before dragging me behind him out of the training hall and toward the underground spring.

His feet moved quickly, his gait and cumbersome shape unable to be quiet as we bounded through one dark tunnel and another before arriving in the same large cavern I had just left, the dark entryway to the dungeons staring at us hauntingly.

“Are you sure you heard the voice from down there?” Talon asked, his voice shaking, as he looked wide-eyed into the abyss in front of us.

I could only nod. Talon was scared, that alone was enough to freak me out. I had never been down there, but Talon had, hundreds of times I was sure. The place was probably full of more haunted memories than crazy, flesh stripped skeletons. Although, I was sure there was a few of those too, there always were in dungeons.

“You’re sure?” Talon asked again, and I felt my confidence waiver.

“Of course I am not sure, Talon. Her voice echoes around like an Olympic game of Ping-Pong. She could have been a mermaid in the water for all I know.”

“Don’t be silly,” Talon said, his voice still shaking, although less than before. “Mermaids don’t exist.”

Talon took a step away from me, toward the cavern, and I could feel his magic surge as he put on a small shield. Dude, he wasn’t thinking about going in there, was he?

“Talon?” I asked from behind him, my voice catching at the petrified anger on his face. “Baby, let’s go. We can’t hear her anymore; she’s gone.”

I pulled on him, but he didn’t move. I waited, but he didn’t respond. His eyes stayed glued to the dark opening as if they had been sewn there. It was creepy watching him stare at something so intently. My heart rate began to accelerate to match Talon’s, the quick pick up triggering a warning inside of me. I didn’t know how much I could take, my heart was beating too fast, and even I was starting to feel some creepy vibe from whatever was down there.

“Talon?” My voice was weak with the heavy vibe of fear that Talon’s stare had given me.

I couldn’t do it. Like a wet dog, I shook off the anxiety that was trying to take hold of me and grabbed the sopping tablecloth from where it still lay on the stone floor by our feet. In one smooth movement, I threw it over Talon’s head, the wet fabric covering him with a loud smack.

It did the trick. He howled and pulled the cold thing off him.

“Let’s go, Talon,” I said, before he could get angry with me.

His jaw hung heavily for a moment before his brain clicked back into place, reminding him of what had happened before I hit him with a wet tablecloth. That was the problem with being married to such a big guy; sometimes their brains moved a bit too slowly.