“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted to show you this.” The hand opened. In the middle of the dark-skinned palm lay an exquisite gem. Prism shaped, the green jasper stone was mottled with red inclusions and took her breath away.
“That is more than beautiful. May I touch it?” Her finger tingled, the desire to feel the cool surface so strong, she fisted her hand.
“You may.” Holding her breath, she reached out and rested the pad of her finger on the stone, which pulsed. Instead of a cool surface, the stone was warm to her touch, surprising her. “She likes you.”
She jerked her hand away. “Excuse me?”
“Ashia likes you. She says you are unique and pure of heart.”
“The stone talks to you?”
“Duh, I’m a bloodminer...”
“Oh, sorry. Tell her thank you. I think she’s beautiful. Have you heard anything about my friend, Soliana? We were captured at the same time, and I’m worried about her. She doesn’t exactly conform when under duress.” Picking at her pants, she wished she wore one of her pretty skirts instead. She didn’t feel quite like herself dressed so oddly. A distant sound, something clanging, traveled along the corridor.
He chuckled. “That’s a very nice way to say she can be a handful, isn’t it?”
“You have no idea, but her heart is in the right place—most times. I still love her and don’t want anything bad to happen.” Her stomach growled. “How often do they feed prisoners?”
“Not often enough, evidently.” He chuckled.
“Oh, be quiet. Had I known we were going to be captured and thrown in jail, I would have eaten a large meal. As it was, I’m lucky. I’ve only been here a few hours.”
“Umm, sorry, but you’ve been here two whole days.”
“What?” She pressed her face against the rock, peering through the hole, but couldn’t see anything. “You’re telling me I have been in this prison cell for two days?” Her eyes widened. Turning, she slid down the wall, not caring what she sat on now. She felt funny...dizzy.
Pressing her fist over her heart, she closed her eyes and mentally hummed her favorite song in her head. One her brother—no, her father—sang to her when she was little and afraid, especially during loud thunderstorms. Thinking of Émilien as her father was going to take some getting used to.
Her thoughts turned to her parents. She just didn’t know what to think about their story. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about it once Freyja put her on the path to finding her aunt and uncle. Now, though, it seemed she had all the time in the world. Was she mad at Émilien? She wasn’t sure. There were so many things she didn’t know. Just how much of her life had been a lie?
13
Émilien tried to sit up straighter, but it felt like a blowtorch was incinerating his internal organs. The world surrounding him was off-kilter, which made him nauseous and dizzy. He was more grateful for Hel’s support than he liked, but right now, she was holding him upright. Literally. Mentally calming his chaotic thoughts, he held up a paw then let it drop back to the armrest.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. We found a small wolf pup in the cave. Hel put him in stasis, which is like a normal sleep but a bit stronger, so he couldn’t wake up and give away his position. We had no idea who or what was going to come through that portal.”
The glowing red faded a little from Brig’s eyes, and he turned to his brother. “Azazel didn’t trust us to get the job done. Tork, we must close the doorway, or he will recall us. Do you have the strength to help me seal it?”
Tork nodded. “I will find the strength if it means escaping our imprisonment.”
Hel stepped forward. “I, too, can help. If Azazel, or whoever it was you just mentioned, imprisoned you is also the one chasing after Émilien, then I will do whatever it takes to stop him.”
The demon brothers stared at each other a moment then both nodded. Turning to face the portal, they touched their palms together. “Lady, if you can hold our hands between yours, we should be able to permanently lock this doorway,” Brig said.
Hel moved to stand just behind them, encasing their hands between hers, and closed her eyes. Émilien wanted to tell her not to do it, but for once, he couldn’t take charge. He didn’t like the feeling it gave him. Helplessness and failure had never been in his vocabulary, so this was hard for him to handle.
The red glow surrounding the portal flared, as if they were breathing fire back into dying embers. Surprisingly, the perimeter shrunk, growing smaller by the second. In the middle, a gray circle appeared, its center wriggling with what looked like a mass of worms. The brothers’ voices grew stronger, and Hel’s face paled more than normal.
A horrible shriek pierced Émilien’s ears, pulling his attention back to the portal, which was now about the size of a small plate. The wriggling mass stopped a moment before the portal snapped shut, cutting off the high-pitched shriek.
He popped his ears, but instead of his normally excellent hearing, he only heard a strange whistling noise deep inside his head. Hel dropped her hands and stepped back, shaking her head as if she, too, had been affected like he had. The demon brothers turned to face him, seemingly unfazed by the strange shriek.
“Where is my son?” Brig demanded.
Hel hurried to the small boulder where she had hidden the pup. Scooping him up, she carried his sleeping form to his father and laid him in his cupped hands. Placing her finger on top of the pup’s head, she whispered something Émilien couldn’t hear, and Drakk woke up. Smiling up at her with an adorable toothy grin, she smiled back and pointed to Brig.
He glanced to where she pointed, and his golden eyes widened. He jumped up and, tail wagging, put his paws on his father’s chest and nuzzled his neck. “Papa, you found me!”