Page 29 of The Crowned Queen

Loren plunged into the darkness, the screams of the shadows echoing in his ears.

Chapter

Ten

Araya felt it before she heard it.

The whole room shuddered, the tea set rattling on its tray. A fine curtain of dust fell from the ceiling, catching the aetherlight as Kai jumped up from his chair.

“What was that?” he demanded.

Araya stared at him. How was she supposed to answer that? She was just as trapped in here as he was.

Kai turned to the door, rattling the handle. “Hello! I need you to open this door and let us out now.”

“It’s warded for sound,” Araya said. “They can’t hear you.”

“They can’t just keep us locked in here.” Kai banged his fist against the door, raising his voice. “Open the door!”

Another shudder shook the floor. Araya stared out the window, gripping the sill so hard her knuckles whitened as she watched the trees bend in the sudden wind. Lightning flashed in the dark clouds overhead, the rumble of thunder coming immediately on its heels. Someone was working the weather—someone fae. Human weatherworkers didn’t get results this quickly.

Araya spun away from the window, her throat suddenly tight. He’d come. He was out there—with Jaxon and the terrible staff she’d helped him make.

“Everything will be fine,” Kai said.

Araya swallowed hard, fixing her gaze on the door. She couldn’t reach for the bond with the sor’vael rune twisting its claws into her, but it sat like a beacon in her chest, so bright and warm she couldn’t help but hope.

Keep him safe, she begged a Goddess she wasn’t sure she even believed in. A Goddess even the fae didn’t expect to answer their prayers. Let him reach me.

The door slammed open so hard it crashed into the wall with a bang, rattling the aetherlamps in their sconces. Araya’s heart leapt into her throat, hope surging for a single heartbeat before dying.

“Where the fuck are those guards?” Blood matted Jaxon’s hair to the side of his head, his dark eyes wild in a face pale from stone dust. His gaze flew to Araya, raking over her.

“I’m not sure how you expect us to know,” Kai snapped. “You locked us in⁠—”

“Half the house is gone, Kai,” Jaxon snarled. “Araya, come here.”

The command was laden with power, her feet moving before she even decided whether or not to fight it. Jaxon’s hand closed around her arm, his fingers digging into her bicep.

“You will not run,” he said, his magic sparking against hers. “We are going to walk out of this room and get in a carriage. You will not speak, or scream, or do anything to draw attention to yourself. Do you understand me?”

Araya nodded, a thousand questions no one would bother to answer bubbling on her tongue. But he’d ordered her not to speak.

“What happened out there?” Kai asked.

Jaxon pulled her forward, half-dragging her through the door.

Araya coughed, immediately choking on stone dust and smoke. Debris littered the floor, shards of wood and broken glass ground into the fine carpet. Araya made it exactly three steps before she gasped and stumbled, something sharp biting into the sole of her bare foot.

Jaxon swore, scooping her into his arms without breaking his stride. He tucked her into his chest, glancing down at her face. “Do you see what he did, Starling?”

Araya sagged in Jaxon’s arms, her voice caught in her throat. Even if he’d lifted his command for her to be silent, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to speak. Because where the ceiling should have been above them she could see dark clouds, lightning lancing between them.

“Gods,” Kai said, his voice hoarse. “What happened?”

“Some weatherworking bitch.” Jaxon stepped over a fallen beam, skirting a weak spot in the floor. “She’s probably dead now. Fell into her own sinkhole.”

Nyra. Araya closed her eyes, blinking back hot tears. She hadn’t seen the sharp-tongued weatherworker since her first days on Eluneth, but if what Jaxon said was true, Loren had lost one of his oldest friends trying to save her tonight.