If Layala wasn’t having a nightmare about pale ones, she dreamt of Thane. Thane touching her and caressing her, kissing her, calling her lover, and—Layala shot her eyes open, breathing heavily. Ugh not again. The ghost of his dream lips pressed between her breasts had her cheeks burning.
Tifapine stared above her. Those chocolate curls of hers dangled on Layala’s forehead. “Whatcha dreaming about there missy? Not another nightmare, I hope. I keep having this dream that a pale one comes into the tent and eats me whole. Doesn’t even have to chew, and I’m stuck alive in his belly punching and screaming and yet no one can hear me.”
“That’s disturbing.” Layala groaned and sat up. “And I’ve told you not to hover over me while I’m sleeping. It’s creepy.”
“Every time I do you wake up. Like you can sense it.”
“So, tap my arm or something like a normal person.”
“I tried that, and you swatted my hand away. Like I was a bug. Were you dreaming about bugs?”
The last thing she was going to do was discuss her dream with Tif. A dream she had no business having. After sitting up, the previous night came flooding back to her. She straddled Thane on his throne and kissed him as if no one watched—everyone had been watching. She even confessed about Novak’s death and Thane didn’t believe it. But he wasn’t there to see the obvious signs of poison. It wasn’t a coincidence. “No, I wasn’t dreaming about bugs.” Layala tossed her blanket aside and picked up a clean pair of pants. “Have you heard any mention of anything that happened last night?”
“Oh, about you and Thane getting handsy? I wish I hadn’t missed it. It’s been the talk all morning.”
Layala tugged the maroon dress she still wore over her head and pulled on a clean top. “Great,” she murmured.
Tifapine fidgeted with the hem of her dress and rocked back and forth from heel to toe. “I also heard something last night that I think you should know.”
A tap against the tent and a, “Layala, I need to speak to you,” from Thane had her dressing faster.
She heard enough to know that whatever Tif needed to tell her would be embarrassing. “Tell me later. I need to go.”
“But,” Tif called as Layala pulled the tent flap aside. “I think it’s important. Like really important.”
“Is it life or death?” What Tif thought was important usually wasn’t and it could be a long conversation about nothing. After running her fingers through her hair, she tied it back into a high ponytail.
Tif tapped a finger against her lips. “Um, I guess you wouldn’t die but—”
“Then it can wait. I’ll see you later.” Layala stepped out into the morning sun. It was warm but the air was cool. Staring at Thane’s back as he talked to a couple soldiers compelled her heart to thud louder and harder than usual.
As if he sensed her standing there, he turned and smiled. “Good morning.” His voice was warm honey oozing through her.
“Hello.” She returned a smile and they stood in awkward silence. The soldiers looked at her differently. Each wore a mischievous smile like they had a joke they wanted to tell.
“You’re excused,” Thane said to the soldiers. They dipped their heads and wandered off.
She dreaded that he might bring up anything she’d said or done. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t wanted to do those things, but the wine certainly gave her the carelessness she wouldn’t have otherwise had. “So um,” she couldn’t find anything to say.
“So, you want to attempt to retrieve the All Seeing Stone?”
“I think we should, given the circumstances.” She couldn’t make herself meet his eyes. “I think it’s dangerous to stay bonded.” It was dangerous because she craved his touch, when she knew he wanted her more. How long could they resist?
“Because you think your magic would kill me if we have sex.”
In surprise, she finally looked at him. He came right out and said it, no hesitation. “Yes.”
A slow smile tugged at his mouth. “And you want to?”
Out of habit, she rolled her eyes and walked by him. “It doesn’t matter what I want. It’s not going to happen. It can’t ever happen.”
He fell into step at her side, brushing his hand against hers. “We’ll find the All Seeing Stone and you can ask it what you want and I’ll ask it what I want.”
Making a course correction, she headed for the horses. “And what is it that you want to know so badly?”
“If I ask the stone if your magic would kill me and it says no, then will you change your mind about breaking our bond?”
“Is that what you’re going to ask?”
“I’m asking you that.”
Tapping a finger against her lips, she pretended to contemplate it for a long time. “Hmmm, I’ll think about it.” But what she wouldn’t give to surrender, to have his warm lips all over her bare skin. She wanted him to whisper naughty things in her ear.
He chuckled. “Ever the vixen.” With a wave of his hand, he caught Aldrich and Fennan’s attention. They made their way over quickly.
“Mornin’ sire,” Fennan grasped Thane’s forearm in greeting. “What’s on the agenda today?”
Aldrich bit into his crunchy apple. “Something other than digging holes and whittling spikes I hope.”
“We’re going to get the All Seeing Stone. Pack a bag.”
Fennan and Aldrich looked at each other. Aldrich stopped chewing. “You do realize that it’s never been done before.”
“That’s because I’ve never tried.”
“Arrogant bastard today I see,” Aldrich said with a grin.
“Funny, you took the words right out of my mouth,” Layala said.
Thane gave Aldrich a light shove. “Just because she calls me that doesn’t mean you can. Get Piper, too. The tomb might be surrounded by pale ones.”
Sitting on top of a hill that overlooked the Void a few short miles away, Layala’s insides squirmed. The land was hills of ashes and rotting flora that smelled like eggs long past due. Black pools of tar bubbled, and dark mist rose off the ground, creating low visibility beyond where the Void touched Palenor. She thought there was movement somewhere in the darkness, but it was difficult to distinguish a shadow from mist.
Holding her hand over her eyebrows to shield the sun, Piper stood higher in her saddle. “I don’t see anyone near the tomb.”
“I thought it would be bigger.” Aldrich pushed his hand through his wavy hair.
“Said every girl you’ve ever slept with,” Piper said.
Layala’s hand flew to her mouth to stifle a laugh.
Aldrich shot her a glare. “Piper, darling, you can just say you want to see it. No need for the rude lies.”
Piper giggled. “Got you good with that one.”
“Shh, we need to be serious right now,” Fennan said.
The tomb was on the grassland of Palenor but fifty yards from it, the inky Void lurked. Everything in Layala told her to go back, that this was a mistake. It was much too close to the Void where if she was taken, she could be used to bring back the Black Mage… but she also needed that stone.
Fennan visibly shuddered and tilted his head side to side, cracking his neck. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“What makes this tomb hard to get into?” Layala asked, stroking Midnight’s smooth neck. The horse whinnied and tossed his head.
“It’s riddled with traps of course,” Piper said. “I heard getting the door open is the easy part. It’s inside that’s challenging.”
“Who created it?”
“No one knows,” Thane said. “The Black Mage was immune to magic attacks through one of his spells. Rhegar found the All Seeing Stone. It’s how he had the knowledge to kill the Black Mage when no one else could—I never thought about it before, but you know the old stories about how he went mad after he killed the Black Mage?”
“Yeah,” Piper said slowly. “We know the stories. It was the Black Mage’s last curse.”
“What if it was the stone that drove him mad and not the Black Mage? Maybe that is why it’s been guarded so well.”
Everyone turned to stare at Thane. Layala gulped, twisting toward the tomb. It was a square building at least twenty feet high with a silver spire at its center. Nothing else was around it for miles save for a boulder here or there.
Fennan huffed. “So, we should turn around right now then. Good talk.”
“We could ask it how to destroy the Void,” Thane said. “The sole reason our people believe Layala can do it, is because they think she’s the only mage born in the last four hundred years. We have no real idea how.”
“And who is going to ask if we can even get it? I’m certainly not losing my mind,” Aldrich said and spit off to the side.
“I will,” Thane answered.
Layala was suddenly sick to her stomach. She couldn’t see Thane go mad because of her. Maybe part of the reason he wanted it was to find a way to destroy the Void, but it wasn’t the only reason. He never tried to get the stone before. “We should go back.”
“We’re already here,” Thane kicked his horse forward and trotted down the grassy slope. Fennan cursed and followed after him.
Layala, Piper and Aldrich met them at the bottom. The rotten stink of the Void drifted on the wind; Layala tried to stifle her growing nausea with slow breaths. “Ugh, it’s horrible.”
“We need to decide who’s going in and who is standing guard,” Piper said, jumping off her horse. Everyone followed her lead.
Sunshine made his way to the tomb and ran his hand over the stone. “I’ll go in.”
“No, Fennan and I will go in. Aldrich and Piper, you stay with Laya.” Thane pressed his palm flat against the door that read: “He who enters here will die a horrible death.”
“It’s too dangerous for you to go, King.” Piper folded her arms. “I’ll go with Fennan.”
“Why am I automatically out?” Sunshine balked.
A nervous sweat warmed under Layala’s arms. “You all can read what is inscribed on the door, can’t you? No one is going in there.”
After his hand dropped from the door, Thane turned. “You want your answer?”
“Not if it’s a death sentence for any of us. Or madness.” Layala nervously looked toward the Void. “Look, we can go back to Palenor and I’ll marry you.”
“But you’ll never be intimate with me.”
Their three companions suddenly found everything but them more interesting. Layala’s cheeks burned with shame and sorrow. She didn’t want to talk about this in front of their friends. Had he already told them?
Piper looked troubled as she nibbled on her lip. Her eyes almost pleaded with Layala, silently begging her for… something.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Layala snapped.
She shook her head but turned to Thane and raised an eyebrow. Something about the exchange unnerved Layala.
“She’s just scared to go inside but wants to look brave,” Sunshine drawled. “Aren’t you, Pipe.”
“Shut up, ass.”
Ignoring everyone, Thane placed his hand on the engraved circle then whispered something inaudible. The stone popped slightly ajar with a groan and dust billowed out. With her heart thundering Layala stepped forward and grabbed Thane’s arm. “Please don’t go in there.”
“I have to.”
Have to? Why did it sound like there was more to that statement than him wanting an answer? Gripping the edge of the door, Thane pulled. The stone scraped and groaned. Thane gritted his teeth; the veins in his arms bulged with his effort to pull it open. Layala rocked from one foot to the other, holding onto her dagger’s handle. Anything could be inside waiting to devour them. When the opening was wide enough, Thane slipped inside the darkness without even glancing back. Fennan followed right after.
I can’t let them go alone. What if they need me? The mist of the Void shifted and thickened in the distance, swirling as if someone controlled its movements. But what if pale ones come? She was torn; if she went inside pale ones could attack Sunshine and Piper, and if the enemy was able to close the door Thane, Fennan, and her could be trapped in the tomb. But what was inside could be much more dangerous than even a horde of pale ones. Her mate line to Thane almost thrummed, tugging her to follow. “I’m going.” Before Piper could protest, she dashed into the tomb’s opening.
It was pitch black inside save for the light coming in behind her from the outside. She couldn’t see Thane or Fennan or anything but the faint outline of walls. The air was stale and smelled like a thousand years of dust and mold, nearly suffocatingly strong. She had the urge to cover her mouth and nose, but it wouldn’t do any good. “Thane? Fennan?” she breathed. It felt too intrusive to speak more than a whisper. A torch sparked to life ahead revealing the males standing at the far end of the tomb and at the top of a stairwell. The room they currently stood in was entirely empty.
“Go back outside,” Fennan ordered.
“You can’t give me orders, Fen. I outrank you.”
“Laya,” Thane started but she marched toward them, cutting him off with a scowl.
“I’m coming.” She’d done nearly everything Thane asked her to in the name of safety and this time she wouldn’t let him win. She pulled her sword and dagger and waited beside them. “Are we going to stand here all day?”
Thane’s worried eyes searched her face. “Stay close to me.”
Fennan took a deep breath then descended the stairs first, weapons in hand. Thane nudged Layala next, and he took up the rear. Their light footsteps barely made a sound, their shallow breaths were almost inaudible, but in this endlessly silent place it felt as if they were a pack of bumbling trolls screaming. Torches lit on their own the further they descended.
“At least we can see,” Fennan said over his shoulder.
On the last step of what could have been a hundred, Fennan stopped. Fire lit along the walls of the tunnel ahead, which also appeared empty. Each of Layala’s senses was heightened with her anxiousness. She heard Thane’s heart thumping behind her. She picked up on the smell of sweat from Fennan, and even the air tasted mustier down here. But there was also a quiet tick tick tick, coming from somewhere in that long tunnel. They knew there were traps, but they couldn’t be seen.
Fennan went to take a step and Layala grabbed his shoulder. “Wait.” She tossed the knife in her boot ahead. When it clanked on the stone ground, a massive double-edged ax swung out of the wall, slicing back and forth at a fast rhythmic pace.
Wide-eyed Fennan looked back. “That would have killed me.”
“There are bound to be more,” Thane said. He grabbed a torch from the wall and tossed it further than the knife; when it clattered, the floor dropped, crumbling into a crevice at least three feet across. “Alright, we get past the swinging ax, jump the pit and then it looks like the tunnel turns.” He pushed by them and stood before the ax, waiting and then leaped. Layala’s heart lurched when the ax swung behind him moments after. “I hate spiders.”
“Spiders?” Layala whispered.
Fennan darted past the ax, leaving her alone on the other side. You can do this, you can do this. Swing, swing, swing, the ax gave her only a second to get by. It moved so fast it was a flash of silver. One… she breathed, two, she breathed out… three! She sprang forward and felt the wind of the ax whoosh behind her.
Peering over the edge of the crevice, her skin crawled. Thousands, if not millions, of spiders covered the walls below with draping silver webs as puffy as clouds. “Oh my—they’re climbing out!” Layala exclaimed and kicked a fat brown one off her boot. She wanted to take a step back but if she did, she’d be sliced in half.
“Can you jump that far?” Thane asked, stamping a spider as big as his hand. It crunched under his boot and Layala shuddered.
Without a running start she didn’t know, but she didn’t have a choice. Fennan launched himself across, clearing it with at least several inches length behind him, but Fennan was almost an entire foot taller than her. Could she make it? The alternative was falling into the bottomless pit of spiders. A crawling sensation tickled her arm. She looked down to see a red spider inching up her skin. She squealed and batted it off. Then she slapped at the rest of her body, certain there were more.
“I’m going to throw you across.”
“What? No,” she protested even as Thane grabbed hold of her. “No, no, I can jump. I can do it. Or I could use my magic and create a bridge.”
“Oh great idea, we’re like five feet from the Void, and your magic calls to the pale ones,” Fennan bellowed. Fennan aggressively stomped his foot several times. “She won’t make it. Toss her.”
“How do you kn—” she screamed as she went flying through the air, arms waving in wild circles. When she landed on the other side, she crashed into Fennan’s solid form. Thane leapt right after her, landing at the edge but started teetering backward. Another scream caught in her throat as she and Fennan snatched him by his tunic and jerked him forward.
“Whew, that was close,” he said with a stupid grin.
Layala’s heart crashed so hard against her chest she thought it might beat right out of her skin. “I’m going to kick your ass when we get out of here.”
“I hope so.”
Fennan crept around the corner and halted. Solid wall. A dead-end… but at the top carved in the stone it read: Give me drink and I will die. Feed me and I will live.
“It’s a riddle.” Layala touched the engraving. The rough stone under her fingers was like dried sand; bits of it crumbled. “Do we just say the answer aloud?”
“We need the answer first,” Fennan said.
She dropped her hand to her side. “What needs to be fed but can’t drink?” Thane looked deep in thought when she glanced over at him.
Fennan shrugged. “Insects? They hate water.”
“They still drink,” Layala replied and turned to check the spiders. A clump of them moved her way. She slammed her hand against the wall. “They’re coming!”
Thane ran his hand around the edges. “It can’t be anything living.”
Layala grabbed a torch off the wall and jabbed the flames at the spiders. Some raised their spindly legs up in defense, others backed up. Then it hit her. “Fire. Fire!” She whirled around and yelled, “The answer is fire!” Nothing happened. It was the answer, wasn’t it? Or had she guessed wrong?
Thane snatched the torch out of her hand and held it against a small pocket in the wall. It began to move upward, scraping and popping as it did. Thane put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to his side. “I love you! You’re a genius.” He turned and tossed the torch at the spiders then with a wave of his hand a line of fire zipped from one wall to the other, keeping the spiders at bay.
Fennan slapped her palm then fist pumped.
While they celebrated all she could think about was what came out of Thane’s mouth. He just said, I love you. Somehow that made her heart ramp up even faster than it already beat.
When the wall lifted fully, the three of them stepped inside to a small room that held a rectangular sarcophagus at its center. The lid was a male elf carved in thick pale stone. Thane carefully touched it and waited. With bated breath Layala waited too, wondering if the ceiling would come down or if any more weapons would shoot out at them, but the room stayed utterly still. Seemingly satisfied nothing would happen, Thane started to push. Layala and Fennan joined him until the lid moved enough to peer in. A corpse of bones laid inside, with a ceramic vase resting under his hands.
“It must be in the jar.” Fennan reached for it then paused. “What if something happens if we pull it out?”
“Something will definitely happen,” Layala said.
“We don’t really have another choice,” Thane grabbed the vase, tearing it out of the dead elf’s grasp. He peered inside, cursed and drove his hand in the opening. When he pulled out a piece of paper, he dropped the vase, letting it shatter. “To whoever finds this. I found the stone first.”
Layala’s stomach plummeted as the words sunk in. She snatched the note out of his hand and read it herself. The writing wasn’t faded, the paper not worn. It wasn’t very old, months at most. “So, we went through all that shit for nothing,” Layala said, crumpling the note.
“We need to go!” Thane shoved her toward the wall that was now lowering. She held in a scream, running for the opening getting smaller by the moment. She dove, and slid under it on her belly. Fennan came rolling out right after but Thane—there was only a foot left. “Thane!” she shrieked. Fennan and she both grabbed the bottom, fighting to keep it open longer.
His beautiful dark head of hair showed then he skidded underneath and cleared the door inches before it was too late. Holding out her hand to him, Thane looked up and smiled. She jerked him up and then pulled him into her. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pressed her face into his chest. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
The floor began to quake, breaking and cracking the stone walls. Layala jerked back. “This place is going to come down!”
Fennan jumped over the flames, and landed with the sickening crunch of spiders. “Disgusting!”
In globs, the spiders scurried up the walls and into the cracks trying to escape. Holding her hand, Thane pulled Layala across the flames. The swinging ax fell as the stone above it crumbled. Without a word, Thane threw Layala across the crevice again. She hit the other side, slamming on her hands and knees. Fennan landed beside her and pulled her to her feet. The ground shook harder, pieces of stone crashed down on them. A chunk slammed into her shoulder. She cried out, clutching the injury.
“Come on! Move, Layala!” Fennan waved frantically ahead of her.
Thane swept an arm across her back, and they sprinted up the steps. As soon as they reached the top, the stairs caved in, and they ran for the open door to the outside. When they burst out into the fresh clean air, Layala coughed and fell to her knees, still clutching her shoulder. It throbbed and burned. The fabric of her sleeve was torn, leaving a scrape that oozed.
“Please tell me you got the stone,” Piper said, crossing her arms.
Thane scowled at her. “Someone got to it already.”
“Who?”
“They didn’t sign the note if that’s what you’re asking. I have no idea.”
Aldrich stepped around the corner of the tomb which on the outside looked perfectly untouched. “There’s movement in the Void. I can hear voices. The quaking of the ground must have given us away.” He glanced back over to the swirling mist. “We should go. There will certainly be too many for us to fight alone.” He jumped onto his horse with such ease it made Layala jealous. Meanwhile she struggled to get to her feet, but moved much faster when she heard the horrid shriek of a pale one.
