Page 198 of Scourged
“Stop fucking around, Ellis. You’re leading us in circles. Take us to Shawth. Now.”
Ellis regarded her for a moment, and then with another sneer, chuckled. He took a step closer to the corridor wall. There was a single recessed door, the wood unassuming. It looked to be nothing more than a coat closet.
“Relax, Your Majesty. We’re here.” Ellis gripped the handle and pulled, gesturing to Mariah and Andrian.
Andrian watched Mariah, her chest heaving as she slowly slid her blades back into their sheaths and straightened her stance.
She reached for him, just a slight flick of her fingers, and together they rushed past Ellis through the door.
Andrian had to blink against the sudden, blinding light.
Sunlight.
As his vision cleared, he realized they now stood outside, at the very edge of the castle gardens. The flowers were in full verdant bloom, blossoming trees dripping with yellow and purple and blood red. Risers were built around an open, central space, filled with Onita’s upper echelon: lords and ladies, wealthy merchants, anyone either born to power or with enough coin to make it for themselves.
Nearest to Mariah and Andrian was a dais adorned with six chairs, and seated in each was a man. The Royals, Lord Shawth and Lord Laurent in the center. Andrian’s dread cooled, settling into true, unadulterated fear.
Because kneeling on the dais steps below them …
Andrian’s throat went dry, his lungs constricting around his heart.
Trap.
The other six of Mariah’s Armature were there, bound and gagged. Around each of their wrists were cuffs of a familiar black and gold stone.
Deistair.Even though they had no magic of their own, they’d been cuffed with it. To keep Mariah from knowing what was happening. To keep her from being warned.
Had she felt their bonds go silent? Or had she kept them closed to avoid the distraction, until she knew they would be able to escape?
On a second platform, in the middle of that open space and on display for all to see, was Mariah’s family. Andrian knew them from Mariah’s stories. Wex, the loyal soldier, a deep cut on his face oozing dark blood. Ellan, the gentle and kind brother, his hands cuffed indeistairand his face streaked with tears.Lisabel, the wise and mysterious healer, chin still lifted defiantly despite the bruise forming on the side of her face.
Terrifying monsters—humanoid demons straight from the darkest histories of their world—held serrated claws to their exposed necks, tongues snaking past deadly maws, vicious teeth begging for a chance at death.
It was the last thing he saw before he was rushed from behind. Before moredeistairwas locked around his wrists, his shadows snuffed out.
It was the last thing he saw before he realized how badly they’d all failed.
It was the last thing he saw before Mariah’s cry of rage pierced the air, a sound far more animal than human.
Chapter 69
Mariah’s rage, her terror, was a living, breathing monster.
That beast in her soul was awake; its hot exhales tickling the back of her neck as it wrenched control from her, pushing a roar of anguish into the air.
Her Armature. Her family.
She was too late.
No wonder the bonds in her mind were so silent. She didn’t know when they’d been captured, but it must’ve been mere minutes after they’d entered the castle grounds. Mariah had kept the bonds closed, wanting to wait until escape was feasible before checking in. Not wanting to feeldistracted. She hadn’t even bothered to check on them.
What a fucking fool.
There was still one bond blazing in her mind, the only one she couldn’t close. But just as hands grabbed her from behind, it too was snuffed out, its sudden loss pulling a mangled cry from her chest. The familiar weight ofdeistaircuffs snapped around her wrists, that vile black and gold wall severing her from her magic.
But that beast … thedeistairdid not cage it. It was still free, floating and clawing and raging beneath her skin, at the back of her mind, whispering for freedom.
Not yet, Mariah whispered back. It calmed, curling around itself with angry, slitted eyes.