Page 124 of Shattered Jewel
“We know our roles,” Cav says with a sidelong glance, his way of telling me to know my place.
Even now, when one of our brothers is in trouble, the man demands to be on top. Not that I blame him, with the fresh, oozing symbol on his chest being such a brutal reminder of his position in the Court’s hierarchy.
“I’m on Elara,” Wilder reminds us, his face carved with ferocious single-mindedness. I have no doubt he’ll sniff Elara out regardless of how well she and Sasha blend in with their cloaks, and will stay on top of her until this is all finished.
What he does with her while under his supervision is another story, but one I’m willing to allow him to tell, since I’d rather Elara be wholly distracted than targeted and snatched by the Sovereigns.
“Let’s hope Sasha’s mental blueprint is correct,” Cav adds. “The Sovereigns will be in the altar room waiting for us with Axe. This is the one opening we have to access their private wing and their offices. I’ll take out any initiates guarding the wing and join you as soon as possible, Kasp.”
I nod. Cav must see something twinkling in my eye, because he adds, “Do not act until you have me as back-up. Do you understand? No matter what you see.”
My lips press into a single line. We’ve seen plenty of horrors perpetrated by the Sovereigns, particularly against Axe, but with the reforged Heart in their hands, only their demons know what they plan to do with him now.
“Understood,” I lie.
“And if we run into any chicks in chains?” Wilder asks, cocking a brow.
Cav releases a tired exhale. “We do what we promised Elara. Get them out.”
Wilder and I give a curt nod, then wordlessly separate, Wilder and Cav taking their designated paths through the manor.
I spin to the painting, tracing the familiar contours of the faded canvas and pressing the necessary panels. Then, there’s the shift I anticipate, the opposite wall separating from its confines with a soft groan and revealing the hidden corridor.
Whatever entrance the Sovereigns use to get to the altar room under the manor, it’s not this one.
And however they found the second half of the Heart, they’ve kept to themselves—but I vow to find out. I absolutely despise being one step behind.
Moving swiftly inside, I fade into the darkness as if summoning Axe’s spirit and becoming the phantom of Titan Falls’s grim past.
The dusty smell of old books greets me as I enter the forgotten Grand Library, being more careful now that I’m aware the Sovereigns could have their own hidden corridor somewhere around.
Rows of weathered bookshelves tower over me like broken teeth against the sickly pallor of flickering candlelight. Navigating through this maze of knowledge feels like slicing through layers of time, each step resonating with centuries’ worth of heritage and malevolence.
Behind one shelf, the peeling wallpaper reveals a fresco of men in crimson robes. It’s suspect enough that I pull at the corner, revealing the entire image. A woman stands at the center of three robed, masked men. It has to be none other than Sarah Anderton, her image forever captured in an eternal dance with flames. My mind conjures phantom screams, echoing her death cries through centuries of blood-stained stones.
Further on, I reach the desk where Maverick Wraithwood filmed one of his last confessions, a modern pen perched in a cobwebbed quill-holder as though Maverick intended to use it again, the dust-covered wood still holding vestiges of Maverick’s final palm prints.
Maverick is dead. There’s nothing I can do about that, but Elara’s image quickly takes his place.
I feel no guilt over how I last parted with her, naked and confused. I’m not a good man. Never will be. Elara needed to know that. But the thought of something happening to her gets me to do something I never thought I was capable of: vowing deadly violence on anyone who tries to hurt her.
God, I want to touch her all over, paint my cum all over her body while splaying her over this desk. I want to shatter her. I want to own her. Fuck, she’s mine.
I never thought I’d want to keep anything worth having.
But right now, Elara’s safety is more important than any base desire. And as much as I’m loathe to admit it, Wilder’s protection can assure that. So, I’ll swallow my pride and let him play the devil dressed as a knight.
And I need to find Axe.
It’s with a hot surge of decisiveness that I push away from the desk, my senses heightened, listening for that slight tell in the otherwise stifled air that will lead me to Axe.
I soon pick up the low hum of voices, muted and indistinguishable through the stone walls.
My pulse spikes—I’m near.
The bookshelf at the back end of the library gives way to a stone corridor carved directly into Titan Falls bedrock. The temperature drops as I follow it, my breath misting in the frigid air. All is quiet again, save for the subtle drip-drip-drip of underground water seeping through aged rock.
And then I see it.