Page 50 of Lethal Souls
I run faster, noticing a wall ahead. I point the light left. There’s another tunnel. At the end is a pulsing orange light.
“Caspian?”
I look back at Korah, who’s only a few steps away from me.
“This is a trap,” she says. “She’s resting in this part of the temple.”
“I don’t care if it’s a trap. My cousin is in there. Unlike you, I don’t leave my people behind.”
I turn away, but a hand grips my shoulder. Korah whips me around. I half expect her to send me right back to Blackwater with that touch alone. “Do you think this is a game?”
“I know it’s not a game.” I shove her hand off of me. “This is real, and you should’ve told me the truth weeks ago, not now when everyone’s lives are in fucking danger.” I hustle away from her, reaching the orange light.
Korah appears yet again. This time she’s right in front of me, blocking my way in. Past her I can see where the light is coming from.
A coffin is in the center of the tomb, cloaked in blue, red, and purple vines. The edge of the coffin hums with energy, an orange light pulsing like someone’s heartbeat. I hear someone breathing heavily, like they’re sleeping.
Selah.
“Caspian, I don’t want to hurt you but I will,” Korah snaps, trying to touch me again.
I dodge her hand. “If you wanted to hurt me, you’d have done it already.” I step closer as she tips her chin. “If my blood is spilled here, she wins, and you know it.”
“Just by you being here, she already thinks she’s winning,” Korah retorts. “She feels your energy. I hear her heart beating now. It’s wild with excitement. She’s eager—ready for you to play the fool.”
“So send me back,” I counter.
Korah shakes her head and looks away. “I can’t send you back now. Not while you’re in this tomb. We’ve made it so that all power, including The Regals, is limited. It’s what keeps Selah’s power muted.”
I tip my chin. “So right now the choice is mine?”
“If you give her what she wants, you’re just as foolish as your father.”
My eyes widen briefly before a frown takes over. “I am nothing like him,” I bite back, and I want to say so much more, but another gunshot goes off.
Rowan comes running from another tunnel connected to Selah’s tomb.
He stumbles forward and lands on the ground with blood dripping from his mouth. When Korah switches her attention, I push past her to get inside. I make sure to avoid the coffin, my gun aimed at the tunnel as I near my cousin.
“What was it, Rowan? What took you?”
“There was a creature at first,” he pants. “Some monster—never seen it before. Four arms, sharp teeth, big wings. But it was killed.”
“Killed by you?”
“No. By that silver-eyed fucker,” he rasps before spitting out a glob of blood. “He took my gun.”
A spark of silver darts into the room, zipping past the coffin and aiming for Korah.
“Korah the Regal,” Vassilis snarls, appearing before her. “Always in our way.”
He attempts to stab her with a dagger, but she blocks the blow and sends him flying across the room. He slams into the wall, and it crumbles from the impact.
Vassilis springs up, and I expect him to rush for Korah again, but instead he locks eyes on the coffin. He shoves the rocky lid off with a loud grunt, and it sails across the room, shattering to pieces on the ground.
The orange light nearly blinds me as it radiates, covering every corner of the room.
I step back as Vassilis lets off a dark chuckle.