I started to ‘feel’ around for memories – as unpracticed as I was, there were clear images that sifted like sand through Jenus’s mind. I saw a pool of black tar, thick and gooey, Queen Trina reclining back in it like she was taking a luxurious bubble-bath. The image was disturbing. I could also sense Jenus’s lust for her in that moment and it made my own stomach heave.
“Enough,” Tejus muttered.
Thank God.
I nodded, gently extricating my mind from Jenus’s.
“You’re a vile creature,” he sniveled on the floor. “Foul like your lover! No different from the queen you killed in cold blood—no different from a common murderer!”
I rolled my eyes at Tejus. I’d heard enough of Jenus and his whining. Whatever dark energy I’d just taken from Jenus made me feel powerful and strong—no longer haunted by the small shreds of guilt at ending Queen Trina’s life, no longer feeling an ounce of pity for my meal.
“Let’s go,” Tejus announced, holding out his hand. I took it gratefully, loving the feel of his skin against mine. I felt lust twisting and turning in my stomach, just as overwhelming as my hunger had been a few moments ago. Tejus smiled down at me, his eyes alight. I guessed he sensed what I was feeling.
We met the guards again at the top of the stairs, and they traipsed back down to maintain their watch. When we were back out in the light of the main corridor, Tejus turned to me.
“Hazel, you need to be careful—I should have thought about this before, but taking…dark energy, like I sense Jenus’s is right now, can have an effect.” Tejus spoke softly, his arms snaking around my waist and pulling me toward him.
“I know,” I replied honestly, looking up at him. “I can feel it. Maybe I should go easy on him, maybe use some of the other sentries like before—as long as they don’t mind?” I asked, referring to the time that I’d syphoned off the accommodating minister by the walls of Hellswan.
“I think that would be a good idea.”
“I also saw something… a memory, while I was syphoning. It was him and Queen Trina, sitting in some pool of tar-like liquid. It was powerful, whatever it was…and disturbing. I think you need to do the same. Maybe you can get more out of him than I can?” I hoped so. I didn’t want to have to delve into Jenus’s mind again. It was sick and twisted, but on the other hand, I didn’t really like the thought of Tejus doing it either.
“Perhaps we were right then,” he mused. “It sounds like – predictably – Jenus may have been drawn to whatever power was feeding Queen Trina. I’ll take another look.”
“You’re dark enough already.” I laughed. “It’s a lot less dangerous for me to do it.”
“We can argue about this later,” he said, bringing his lips down to meet mine. The warmth of his lips sent shivers running up and down my spine.
“Do we have a room, or are we camping?” I asked softly, breaking away. His pupils were dilated, making his eyes almost completely black as he looked down at me.
“We have a room. You don’t think I’d let my future wife sleep on the floor, do you?”
I felt heat rising to my cheeks at his words.
My future wife.
The idea made my head spin.
Rose
The sunset was fading from the distance, casting even more darkness over the strange land. Now the gray piles of stones looked like hunched bodies, and we could see more clearly the small trickles of flame that were still burning down in the lower levels of the castle.
“I just can’t bear waiting here like this. If we know the children aren’t here, what are we waiting for?” Claudia’s high-pitched tone came from the other side of the rubble pile I was perched on.
“I think it’s better to be cautious,” a softer, more musical voice replied. Claudia had obviously taken Sherus’s sister, Lidera, hostage.
“In this instance, I don’t,” Claudia replied stoutly. “The moment I get my hands on Ruby’s kidnappers I’m going to tear them limb from limb—rip the skin from their faces—”
“Claudia.”
I interrupted before the hot-headed vamp could traumatize the fae any further. I jumped swiftly over the pile, landing a few feet from Claudia. Her expression was furious.
“Don’t tell me that you don’t want to do the same, Rose—I’m just telling it like it is. We’re all thinking the same thing.”
“I know that, but maybe keep a lid on it until we find them? You’re just going to make everyone more anxious than they already are,” I argued.
“Try thinking about the bigger picture. It’s not just your children who are in danger here,” added Lidera, unhelpfully. Claudia hissed at her, and I groaned inwardly. I needed to keep Claudia occupied or we’d never get any peace. In the distance, I could see Yuri walking with Erik, overturning rubble in the hunt for clues as to what creatures might inhabit this dimension.