I watch Caz ride off on Onyx with Cerberus right on his tail, and I pray to God and to the Regals that he’ll be able to catch Decius and take him down.
Something flashes in my peripheral, and I tilt my gaze toward the castle. The lights flicker on, inside and out. The sconces outside the large front door burn brightly, as well as the torches attached to the terraces. All that darkness has now transformed to light, which must mean Decius’ energy is fading. Good.
Silvera meets me as I take a step toward the castle. I have no idea what I’ll find inside, but with Decius weakened and away from the castle, it can’t be too bad.
I snatch the Trench knife I was carrying out of my waistband and push the door open. Despite the lights being on and the heat kicking in, the place is still freezing, and ice remains all over the walls, running in jagged, ominous lines. I round the corner where the main room is, and to my surprise, the ice is melting away into dark pools on the floor. Caz’s family is still pinned to the wall, no longer in their icy cocoons; however, the dark vines still cling to them. Their bodies shift, along with a wave of moans and groans.
Killian’s eyes open first, and an instant grimace takes over his face as he looks down at his feet dangling in the air. “What’s happened?” he snaps. “Who did this?”
“Wow.” I rush toward him with a relieved sigh. “I never thought I’d be so happy to hear your voice, Killian.”
“Feel the same way about you, Willow,” he returns, and I huff a laugh. “How did you get here? Where’s Caz?” he grouses.
Juniper moans next to him, her head rolling sideways. “Love of Vakeeli, my head,” she groans, squeezing her eyes tighter. “Feels like I have a bloody hangover.”
A rush of relief sinks into me, even more when Rowan’s eyes pop open. A frown takes over him as he studies the vines wrapped around his body. “What the hell is going on here?” Rowan demands. “It’s that demon fucker, innit?”
Maeve groans, blinking several times. “Willow?” she breathes. “You’re here. Tell me he’s been defeated,” she pleads.
“I don’t know,” I whisper, then I carry my knife toward Killian.
“There’s no way you’re killing someone with that thing,” Rowan laughs. “Looks like a baby’s dick!”
“These vines, I assume, are still connected to Decius.” I saw at one of the vines wrapped around Killian’s chest, surprised when the knife cuts right through it. I slice at the rest, and he falls to the ground, landing on his knees. “It worked,” I breathed.
“Where’s Caz?” Killian asks again.
“Yeah, where’s our brother?” Rowan demands.
“He went after Decius,” I inform them. “I weakened him by stabbing him with a sword made from wood from a Trench tree. He ran off, and Caz went after him.”
“To where?” Killian asks.
“Wait…you stabbed Decius?” Juniper exclaims.
“I can’t really say. Decius ran to the left of the castle,” I offer to Killian, though Juniper’s question makes me want to shout “Hell yeah I did!”
Killian looks from me to everyone else, his face growing solemn. “He’s leading him to the Dark Cliffs.”
They stare at one another with wide, worried eyes.
“Get me out of these things!” Rowan grunts, shifting beneath the vines. “We need to help him.”
“What are the Dark Cliffs?” I ask as Killian takes the knife from me and slices at Rowan’s vines. Once Rowan is freed, he marches out of the room, only to return with a massive gun when Juniper and Maeve have been freed too.
“It’s a forbidden part of Blackwater,” Maeve explains. “People only go there to commit suicide or to cause someone else’s death and make sure a body is never found. To reach it, you have to venture through Rukane Forest, and there are rumors about that place. There’s a tale that goes way back—long before even I was born—about how a general named Rukane lost his mind during a war with Ripple Hills and led his fleet to a forest, killed them all and then himself, but not before asking a Mythic to bind his and their souls to the forest. They say now that there are shadows that come out to rob your soul just to find their way back to the mainland, but we’d never known because we’ve never dared going there.”
“I don’t understand.” My head shakes, boggled by this tale. “Why does a place like that even exist near here? And why is Blackwater Manor so close to it?”
“Caz placed Blackwater Manor next to it to prevent others from venturing to it,” Maeve responds, swiping a palm over her dress. “Many people have gone missing, and none of the monarchs could ever find the answers, so they built a steel barricade around it to keep visitors away. There’s only one point of entry…and only the Blackwater clan know where it is.”
Killian bristles by. “If Decius is leading him into that haunted place, not only will he mess with Caz’s mind, he’ll get him where he’s weakest just to take him down.”
“And Caz knew this and still went after him?” I ask.
“This is Caspian we’re talking about. He swears he’s invincible,” Maeve scoffs. “Let’s go. We have to find him.” Maeve starts to turn but gasps immediately when she passes the desk. I rush around to look with her, and my breath catches in my throat when I see what she does. I didn’t see her when I first walked in.
On the floor is Della’s crumpled body with sticky, dark blood surrounding her. She lies sideways, eyes wide open, and my stomach twists into a painful, unrelenting knot.
“He killed her?” Juniper gasps. “That monster! How could he?”
“It was bound to happen to one of us,” Maeve murmurs, and despite how strong her words are, I don’t miss the way her eyes well with tears. She lowers to a squat and reaches forward, running two fingers over Della’s eyes to close them. She saunters across the room, grabbing a quilted black blanket from the leather sofa. “We will give her a proper sendoff when we return.” Maeve stands again, facing us all. “Let’s go save our Caspian and make sure that monster never hurts us again.”
