And all of this would be his again, if only he turned me over to the demons like everyone expected him to.
One of the Hounds nudged me, almost knocking me over. Okay, so I'd stopped running to stare at Adrian's once and future kingdom. It had all the extravagance of the other realms, but with one notable difference. Where were the slaves? I hadn't passed any ramshackle villages on the way, and most of the people milling around the courtyards were minions. Had-?
Something at the top of one of the towers caught my eye. This tower was lit up more than the others-that I'd noticed from the top of the hill-and it also had more open spaces, allowing for easier viewing inside.
That's why I could see the girl in the cage. Amber light surrounded her, coating her hair and body in varying shades of gold. The cage hung by a thick chain from the tower's roof, and the girl was sitting in it, her back resting against a corner. She wasn't wearing much more than I was, making me wonder how she hadn't frozen to death, until the humming noises coming from the tower clicked with the golden lights bathing her.
She was surrounded by portable heating devices. When she glanced down at the Hounds, who'd started to bay in annoyance because I'd stopped moving again, I glimpsed her face. Even though she was more than forty feet above me, my heart started to pound while my soul felt like it sucked in a breath.
Jasmine. My sister was alive and in that cage!
An avalanche of emotions rolled over me, making my eyes blur with a surge of tears. All these weeks, I'd been risking my life to save her, but an ugly, hidden part of me had thought she was already dead. Everyone else I cared for had been snatched away from me, so why should she be any different? That's why, for the space of several stunned seconds, I couldn't stop staring at Jasmine. That hopeless, jaded part of me was convinced that if I blinked or looked away, she'd disappear.
She didn't, despite my finally being brave enough to close my eyes. When I opened them and saw that she was still there, a noise tore from my throat that was part sob, part laugh. She was alive! Really, truly alive, and unhurt, from what I could see of her. If I hadn't been surrounded by minions who'd kill me the second they realized who I was, I might have giggled from the maelstrom of relief that flooded me, joining all the other feelings that seemed to compete with each other for maximum intensity.
Then something unexpected happened. My hallowed-hunting abilities kicked into gear. Maybe my sudden overload of emotions had activated them. I hadn't tried using them because the weapon couldn't be here. It was in a weak ruler's realm, and Demetrius ruled this one in Adrian's absence.
Yet the instant flare that thrummed through me wasn't relief at discovering that Jasmine was alive, though I was beyond relieved at that. It wasn't even anger over how she was displayed like a taunting trophy, and that made me damned angry. It was something completely different.
The only other time I'd felt anything similar was when I'd found hallowed ground for Adrian and me to flee to. If that had been a blip on my internal radar, this was a boom! that shook me from the inside out. Even feeling Mrs. Paulson's blood react to the demon gateway paled by comparison, and that meant one thing: something hallowed was here. Something so hallowed my entire body felt like it had multiple alarms blaring inside me, all pointing toward a single location as if it were a tracking transmitter and I was the antennae.
Shock turned into wild, inconceivable hope. Not only was Jasmine alive, she was in the same realm as the weapon that could save her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
I FOLLOWED THE Hounds inside the castle, but instead of turning down the low hallway that must've led to their version of a spa mud bath, I veered off into a corner. A baying hiss was probably one of them cursing me for not keeping up again, yet the lure of getting warm kept them from coming after me.
Good. One Hound roaming though the castle would already garner suspicion. A pack of them? I might as well write my name on my chest so everybody would know who I was.
Then again, maybe it didn't matter. I could feel the weapon yanking on my abilities, urging me to free it from its hidden location. Once I did, I wouldn't need to be afraid anymore. Instead, the demons and minions would fear.
The thought emboldened me. I left the corner, ignoring the startled looks I got as I ran through the inner courtyards. At least these food vendors sold cow, pig and poultry instead of human meat, which meant I didn't have the urge to vomit as I wove through them. Then I was past the vendor area and running for the first stone staircase I saw. The weapon was several floors above me, according to what I could feel, and its power pulsed through my emotions like a beacon.
I passed some humans on the way, so this realm did have more. In fact, they seemed to live in the castle, judging from the instant slamming of doors as they caught sight of me and hid. The ones I came across on the staircase froze in midstep, only their eyes moving as I dashed past them. Just as I'd thought, Hounds must have certain designated areas, and the main castle interior wasn't one of them.