Page 85

“Thank the Sisters,” Magnus grumbled from behind, startling him. “I was starting to think we were walking in circles.”

Brand’s head whipped around so fast, he nearly tripped. “Where did you come from?”

They gathered in front of the small opening, hardly wider than a standard doorway and tapering up into a fracture that faded into the stone above.

“Lunara found us and…pointed the way.” Mag shuddered. “Creepy place.”

Something about that rang false, but Brand couldn’t put his finger on it. He searched his memory for when she might have done that, finding nothing. She hadn’t left his sight. “That doesn’t⁠—”

“Do you sense anything, witchling?”

Alright. That was definitely intentional.

What the fuck are they hiding?

“Still no,” Lunara answered, cranking her neck side to side and digging a hand into her lower back.

Fern stepped up to the hole and raised a hand, feeling the air. “Can you see that?”

A ripple and the appendage disappeared. The Fae yanked her arm back with a shriek, sighing with obvious relief when she found it still attached to her body.

Magnus laughed. “Didn’t know you had it in you to be scared.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Fern snarled. “I was pissed it would fucking dare.”

“Aye.” His brother winked at her. “That makes more sense.”

The Fae gaped at him, confusion and disgust competing for room on her face.

Lunara sighed. “If you two are done?” She gestured at the hole and the cavern behind them. “I think this was done by a Nachthellian. I recognize the essence beneath it. The spell work would’ve been a rudimentary undertaking for many in the Elder Tier, similar to the moving portraits in Starkeep—just bend the light, add in a dash of deception, and you can make things look and feel however you want. The magic is old, though. Dried up.”

“Explain,” Brand demanded.

She arched a brow at him. “If I had to guess, I’d say it used to be far grander in scale. Something detailed that might’ve taken up the whole cavern to cause confusion or make it look nice. I don’t know. Like I said before, it was probably a defense mechanism, but it’s fading. What we just experienced was its remnants.”

“Why, though?” Brand asked. “What was it hiding?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be guessing, would I?”

The vitriol in her tone surprised him. For all he had his own issues with her, Lunara was mostly just…there, quietly hovering on the periphery. When she wasn’t trying to melt the very bones from his body, that was.

Magnus whistled low. “Maybe we all take a moment and then decide what to do, aye?”

Lunara’s lids slid closed and that was when Brand noticed the purple smudges under her eyes. The sickly cast of her skin. A crack formed in the center of his chest at the sight, like he…actually cared about her.

No. No, no. Can’t think about her. Have to stay neutral. Calm. In control.

Fern squeezed her shoulder. “Do you⁠—”

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Lunara straightened and shook herself. “We’ll just have to find out the old fashioned way.”

A step and she was gone.

“Fucking bird brained—” Fern growled. “That’s it. I’m gonna blimmin’ kill her my⁠—”

Lunara’s head popped back through. “It’s safe.”

Brand didn’t hesitate when she disappeared again, heart in his throat as his feet moved with a mind of their own. He passed through the film of magic and into⁠—