Into the Fire (The Unseelie Court Book 4) by Gwen Rivers (free ebooks romance novels .TXT) 📗

Taj ignores me. His cat eyes are closed in concentration.

Shards of stone fall from the cavern’s ceiling, impaling several of the Draugar. They squirm, pinned in place.

“You’re going to land us right on top of them!” Freda shouts.

Just when I think that is his intention, I notice thick roots poking out from the new cracks. Like fingers gripping a windowsill, the roots widen the crevasse. Small stones fall as solid rock is infiltrated by the trees.

The shaking ends as abruptly as it began and the tree roots slither back, leaving a gap large enough for us to walk through single-file.

“After you, my Queen,” Taj says with a smile.

“I’m not a queen,” I tell him. “Not anymore.”

“Nic,” Freda begins but I hold up a hand.

“I know. The Wild Hunt answers only to the Queen of the Shadow Throne.”

“Who do you think ordered them here?” Harmony smirks.

My lips part in shock. “Don’t tell me you let Gretchen come, too.”

She shakes her head. “Of course not.”

In Harmony’s purple hand, a second flame leaps to life. “I brought her to meet with Freda and Taj in the Vanir lands.”

“She told us to do whatever it took to secure the Underground palace.” Freda nods. “She’s not you, but I like her style.”

I can’t stop smiling. Not alone. I don’t have to do this on my own.

“I need to get Addy and the others.”

“I thought you’d say that.” Freda points to a spot where the tunnel diverges. “This will bring us out above the prison.”

“You’re sure?”

She makes a derisive noise. “Who do you think you’re dealing with?”

“Then I’ll follow your orders, first of the hunt.”

Freda hands me Seelenverkäufer. “This is one reunion that’s long overdue.”

I shake my head. “It belongs to The Hunt.”

“It belongs to you, Nic.” Freda pushes the blade at me again. “Go on, take it before it gets offended.”

I accept the Soul Reaper and feel whole again with it in my hands.

“Where’s the rest of the Hunt?”

“Waiting to cross.” Freda makes a face. “We can send a ghost for them once the palace is secure.”

“Then let’s proceed.” Taj cracks his knuckles. “Soladin has waited for me long enough.”

Exactly how I feel about Aiden. “The clock is ticking. If we see any Draugar get them out, Freda. There is nothing you can do against the army of the dead.”

Freda lifts her chin. “I will do as my queen commanded.”

I open my mouth to argue then realize the futility of the gesture. “Fine, but if you die, I’m going to be really angry.”

Harmony takes the lead, her hand wielding fire directly out in front of her. Jasmine goes next, followed by Freda then Taj and I bring up the rear. We walk for what feels like days, winding up and down through the caverns in front of us.

The hole made from Taj’s tree roots widens out into an actual tunnel. There are no lights. The air is damp and chill and smells of old death.

“Quiet,” Freda hisses.

I’m about to tell her that no one said anything when I hear it. A shifting sound as though someone is moving.

“Who’s there?” I wield Seelenverkäufer out in front of me. Jasmine points one of her flaming arrows and Harmony holds out her flame-filled hand.

“You…you’re alive,” the small voice quavers.

“Who are you?” I repeat the question, not fooled by the childlike appearance. The fey make a habit of putting on an innocent façade, the better to lure the unsuspecting to their dooms.

“I know her,” Freda crouches down low, heedless of the danger. “Your brother is Alric the Spriggan, yes?”

“I’m called Rowena.” The girl has a distinctly Eastern European lilt.

“What are you doing here?” There isn’t much to recommend her hideout.

“I’m hiding from her.”

“Her?” Harmony asks.

The girl’s gaze darts around. “Underhill.”

Then it clicks. Alric’s sister was the potential heir to the Fire Throne. The one heart Underhill had left. Pharaildis would have ordered any threat to her power executed. Freda and I exchange an uneasy glance.

“How did you get down here?” Harmony asks.

“My brothers.” Her gaze goes to the floor. “They were trying to get me out. But the dead got them.”

Harmony squeezes the girl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

Tears fill Rowena’s eyes but she brushes them away. “I’ve been hiding here ever since.”

Jasmine steps forward and holds something out to the princess. “Here.”

The girl hesitates, staring at the brightly colored wrapper. “What is that?”

“Chocolate,” Jasmine says with a smile in my direction. “The best thing you could ever hope to eat.”

Rowena sniffs it delicately and then takes a tentative bite. Her eyes light up.

A pang goes through me. This is Alric’s sister. She’d been groomed to lead a court not banished to starve in the bowels of the world. I want to order Freda to take her back into the Underground palace, but that’s no safer than our route.

“Which direction do the dead come from?” I ask her.

She points with the hand not holding the half-eaten candy bar. “That way.”

I turn and spy an eerie blue light pulsing in the deepest depths of the cavern. “Stay here,” I say to Taj, Jasmine and the girl.

“Nic,” Harmony begins.

“It’s important.” I don’t know how I know, only that I do.

We move farther towards the light. The incandescence grows brighter with each step. I suck in a sharp breath when I realize what it is we’re looking at.

Underhill’s lair, the heart of the hill.

And in the water that has never seen the light of day, float bodies. Countless bodies.

Animated

I hold my breath, seeing the vacant looks in their sightless eyes. Focusing ever upwards on something they can no longer behold. Something that is the source of the light, glowing blue and gold and green which reflects off the midnight water.

“Nic,” Freda hisses in my ear. “Look.”

She points to our right. There is a sudden splash and we jerk back as two of the corpses drag another body forward. They are standing on some sort of incline. They roll the corpse down and it hits the water.