Page 36 of Kiss of Embers
Nothing. The block remained, its glyph unchanging.
“You’re not fit to lead,” Brader said at my side. “I’ve spoken to the Council. I told them everything. How you threw yourself at me.”
I clenched my jaw. He was a figment of my imagination. That was all.
Next, I placed an air block above the others. The glyph flared, and the block disappeared. And, suddenly, I understood why. Witchcraft was about science and precision. Every time I’d seen the ordinary elements symbolized, they went in a specific order. Earth rose out of water, air rose from the earth, and fire burned above all. If I could make all the blocks disappear, I might “win” the puzzle.
My nerves jangled as I tested my theory, moving blocks and watching them vanish. Sweat dripped into my eyes, forcing me to pause every few minutes and swipe at my brow. When the last block winked out of sight, I stepped back and waited. Alix and my mother were gone, but others would undoubtedly take their place. Sweat stung my eyes, and my heart tried to beat from my chest.
Silence stretched. Nothing happened.
My heart sank.
The ground shuddered, knocking me sideways. I managed to stay on my feet as the table sank into the ground. Behind it, a line of golden light streaked from the top of the wall of skulls to the bottom. It blazed for a second, and then the two halves of the wall swung inward, revealing a doorway. Through it, another corridor stretched into the distance.
I’d solved the first puzzle. Hope surged, and I raced forward and slipped through the doors. The corridor was more of the same: creepy skulls, femur bones, and glowing blue netherlights. I broke into a jog, my head on a swivel as I searched for the next puzzle. The corridor forked here and there, and I could only hope I chose correctly each time I followed a new twist or turn.
On one occasion, I rounded a corner and nearly collided with a long-haired fae. He cursed as he sprang backward, moving with the agility his people were known for. Dirt streaked his face, and he scowled at me as he wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Watch where you’re going, female.”
“Are you real?” I demanded, braced for him to morph into someone from my past.
The fae’s scowl deepened. “It’s a thousand degrees in these tunnels, and I’m solving puzzles when I could be binge-watchingThe Bear. Trust me, I’d give my left nut for none of this to be real right now.” He shoved past me and jogged away, his sheet of hair flowing behind him.
I encountered a few other competitors as I continued through the catacombs. A fellow werewolf gave me a terse nod. One of the female fae who’d spoken to the gym bro ignored me as she passed. Every now and then, a scream or shout drifted through the walls. I couldn’t decide if it was comforting or terrifying to know that everyone else was having the same miserable experience.
A half hour and countless corridors later, another shimmering table came into view. My gasp of relief was loud as I hurried forward. Just before I reached the table, however, it slid into the ground.
“No!” I skidded to a stop, panic rising in my throat. As the table disappeared, a giant, glowing rectangle formed on the wall in front of me. It stretched across the skulls…and then darkened to a velvety black. Slowly, twinkling pinpoints of light appeared. After a moment, a glowing white orb slid to the top quarter of the rectangle. Heat bathed my face.
It was the moon. And the rectangle was the night sky.
Something shimmered in the corner of my vision. I turned to find a miniature replica of the Big Dipper twinkling in the air beside me. Somehow, I knew exactly what I had to do.
Reaching out, I touched my fingertips to the constellation. The stars clung to my fingers like confetti as I slid them through the air and guided them to their proper position. As soon as the Dipper was in place, another constellation appeared. Then another and another, until the sky glittered with stars.
A smile pulled at my lips. The puzzle was tailor-made for me. I’d spent my whole life bending to the whims of the moon.
When light streaked vertically down the wall, I wasted no time darting into the next corridor. More twists and turns. More forks in the tunnels. The skulls grinned. The netherlights danced.
And a third table shimmered against a wall. Determination coursed through me. I’d nailed that last puzzle. Time for a repeat. I was halfway to the table when Serge’s voice rang out.
“Hear us, hear us, hear us!”
Wind whipped down the corridor. I froze as the scent of rain and soil filled the air. A rhythmic, metallic sound echoed off the bones on the walls.
Shovels.
I looked down to see grass and dead leaves under my feet. When I looked up, Alix glared at me across an open grave. He gripped his sword hilt with white-knuckled fingers.
“Your father would have never let this happen.”
Female laughter lifted the hair on my nape. Dread settled in my gut. A heartbeat later, I understood why.
The source of the laughter stepped into view, and I faced off with…me.
Not real.But the vision was like looking into a mirror. The illusion of me wore my clothes. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Damp strands clung to her neck. Her brown eyes were the same ones I’d seen reflected back at me for sixty-five years.