Page 180 of Eternal Surrender

Lucas edged his way further along the ledge again and peered around the corner then held up four fingers indicating the number of men. Suddenly to our right, the drawbridge came crashing down, splashing through the water and sealing off our exit.

Lucas grabbed my arm. “They’re coming this way!”

“We have to get back in.” Though even as I said those words I doubted it was the best idea.

Lucas’s eyes widened. “They’ll kill us.”

Easing myself back down into the water, I gestured frantically for Lucas to follow. He too lowered himself in, his face full of fear. I dragged him under until we were resting on the bottom of the tunnel.

Above us, torches swept the surface.

Out of the murkiness, a blur drifted behind Lucas’s back. Sensing something, Lucas turned to look behind him. A wrinkled bat-like face shot toward his, the eyes black as night, the twisted mouth gasping for air.

Lucas sprung upward, quickly reaching the surface.

Above, there came a scuffle and then yelling, as Lucas was being dragged out of the water.

I sprang out of the water, landing on the ledge⁠—

And flinched.

A silver tipped arrow was just inches from my forehead, pulled taut on a bow. The teenager holding it was dressed in a doublet emblazoned with a knight’s coat of arms.

Lucas was gone.

My throat tightened, and I swallowed my fear.

A bloodied and ravaged Paradom thrashed at the drawbridge, trying to claw his way out.

“Who are you?” I asked the teenager.

Arrogance gleamed in his eyes. Yet sweat beaded his brow. He knew we were dangerous.

“The one holding the weapon is the one who asks the questions,” he replied.

His name rippled as though out of the ether. . . Aiden Crowther.

“Paradom,” he called out, “I have one of your own here. If you don’t return to your cell, I’ll kill him.”

“How quickly can you reload?” I glanced over at Paradom.

Aiden drew back the arrow heightening its tension. “Once this lodges in your brain, you won’t much care.”

I sent a trance wave directly into Aiden’s mind, but it had no effect.

Paradom disappeared beneath the surface, leaving behind a trail of bubbles heading back into the castle.

“Who told you about this place?” Aiden asked, now directing the bow toward my heart.

A fortyish bearded monk appeared, donning black-rimmed spectacles and carrying his own bow. “Why haven’t you shot it yet?” he asked, reaching for an arrow, readying it in his bow and pulling it taut.

Aiden’s right eye twitched. “Dad, I can handle this.”

I turned my mind gift onto the monk and attempted to trance him out.

“I can feel that,” the monk said, and fired.

Chapter Forty-One