Page 18 (1/2)

Cairn’s footsteps were faster this tient

"Relieve yourself in the hall and wait by this door," he snapped at Fenrys

Aelin braced herself as those steps halted A grunt and hiss of ainst it, but kept still

They’d anchored her irons into the box itself She’d learned that the hard way

Cairn didn’t say anything as he unfastened the chains froht before he moved her to the anchors on the altar Even with her feet and hands bound, he took no chances

He didn’t today, either, despite not bothering with the gauntlets

Perhaps they’dwith her skin

Cairn yanked her upright as half a dozen guards silently appeared in the doorway Their faces held no horror at what had been done to her

She’d seen these males before On a bloodied bit of beach

"Varik," Cairn said, and one of the guards stepped forward, Fenrys now at his side by the door, the wolf as tall as a pony Varik’s sword rested against Fenrys’s throat

Cairn gripped her chains, tugging her against his chest as they walked toward the guards, the wolf "You make a move, and he dies"

Aelin didn’t tell hith to try anything, let alone run

Heaviness settled into her

She didn’t fight the black sack shoved over her head as they passed through the arched doorway Didn’t fight as they walked down that hall, though she counted the steps and turns

She didn’t care if Cairn was sh to add in a few extras to disorient her She counted the louder with each turn, the risingthe stones beneath her feet

Then open air She couldn’t see it, but it grazed da openness of the world

Run Now

The words were a distant uard’s blade remained at Fenrys’s throat That it would spill blood Maeve’s order of restraint bound Fenrys too well--along with that strange gift of his to leap between short distances, as if he weresince lost hope he’d find some way to use it, to bear them away from here She doubted he’d uard’s sword strike

Yet if she heeded that voice, if she ran, was the cost of his life worth her own?

"You’re debating it, aren’t you," Cairn hissed in her ear She could feel his s her "If the wolf’s life is a fair cost to get away" A lover’s laugh "Try it See how far you get We’ve a few nored that voice whispering to run, run, run

Step after step, they walked Her legs shook with the effort

It told her enough about how long she had been here How long she had not been able to properly move, even with the healers’away

Cairn led her up a winding staircase that had her rasping for breath, the ht air Sweet smells Flowers

Flowers still existed In this world, this hell, flowers bloomed somewhere

The water’s bellow faded behind the, soon replaced byahead Fountains Cold, s fire cast golden ripples Lanterns

The air tightened, grew still A courtyard, perhaps

Lightning pulsed down her thighs, her calves, warning her to slow, to rest

Then open air yawned again wide around her, the water oncebody, his various weapons digging into her chains, her skin The other guards’ clothes rustled as they stopped, too Fenrys’s claws clicked on stone, the sound no doubt nal her that he remained nearby

She realized why he’d feel the need to do so as a fe and old, amused and soulless, purred, "Remove the hood, Cairn"

It vanished, and Aelin needed only a few blinks to take everything in

She had been here before

Had been on this broad veranda overlooking a h the ancient stone city she knew loo the dark-haired queen lounging on a stone throne atop the dais,the air around her, a white owl perched on the back of her seat