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We start moving again and turn into a room full of empty cells. Cells so old the bars are rotting from within, and the stench of blood and death still fills the air.
“Do you know where we are? Maybe we took a wrong turn?” I glance around, trying to figure out where we ended up.
“It’s one of the many prison cells that are located underneath the palace. This one seems to be one of the older ones.” He walks down to the end of the room and glances around as if double-checking it is empty before turning back to me. Scanning my face for something, he nods when he seems to find it, a determined expression now on his face.
“Maybe we can help each other? The palace is endless in size. Too large to search individually. I can help you with whatever you’re searching for, and you can help me with mine.”
I look at him closely and try to sense anything off before revealing what I am searching for. Still not sensing any deceit or anything malicious, I decide to reveal it.
“Do you know a way to come and go from the palace? Some hidden entrance the guards leave unguarded or unused?”
Oryn frowns. “I?—”
Chains rattle as movement comes from within the small cell beside us. Moving a step back, I notice strange silver symbols carved into the ground around the cell, swirling and slithering up and along the bars.
Oryn gasps as he reaches out to touch it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A man with wavy shoulder-length dark brown hair and striking blue eyes steps from the shadows. One of his ears is pierced with a small blue gem that matches the color of his eyes. But it is the energy around him that draws most of my attention. It feels different and otherworldly.
Goose bumps break out across my skin as he glances from me to Oryn.
“Who are you?” Oryn asks but heeds his warning and pulls his hand back from the bars.
That is when I feel it.Him. His power. It reaches out, searching, his eyes landing on mine as a wide smile spreads across his lips.
“Whatare you?” I ask, and his smile grows wicked.
“Veles. And I’m what you call a Fae.”
CHAPTER 12
Fae.
Fae are myths. Immortal legends that I thought no longer existed. How is it that one now stands before me?
“Well, technically I’m half,” Veles says with a twisted smile. One that does not put me at ease.
“You can’t be Fae,” Oryn says, sharing a look with me. “They don’t exist.”
“And yet here I am,” he says.
Oryn frowns, gesturing toward the silver symbols. “What are these symbols?”
“Fae enchantments,” Veles reveals.
It’s as if something snaps inside Oryn on hearing Veles’ words. He takes a step toward the cell without thought. “What do they do? Do all Fae use these? Are there more of you?”
“Oryn?” I give him a questioning look.
He fists his shaking hands. “The silver.” He tilts his head toward it. “It looks like the residue left behind.”
Oryn’s previous theory could be right if Veles is what he says he is. And if that is the case, it means that the Fae might bebehind this. Immortal beings we thought were long extinct could be the culprits behind the missing women.
“Do you really think the yearly competition was the guard’s idea to find more precious guards?” Veles asks with a smug expression. One that hides a glint of knowing.
“What do you mean? What else is there to find?” I ask.
Veles sighs, giving us both a look full of pity. “There is so much you don’t know. So many things I could tell you.”
