Midnight Moon (Vampire for Hire #13)(55)

The tunnel dead-ended at another flight of stone steps, these seemingly danker and slipperier than the others. He reached back and took the queen's hand, leaving Allison and me to our own devices. I couldn't help but note the way both Rory's and the queen's fingers intertwined. Allison caught it too in the dancing torchlight. What Allison didn't catch was the way their two auras sort of blended together to form one big aura. These two were in love, and I suspected things were about to get juicy if Charlie would ever finish the damn book.

The stairs led down into another hallway, this one seemingly forgotten and narrower than the others. I noted that Sir Rory's shoulders nearly spanned the entire hallway. I might have noted this with far more curiosity than Kingsley would have appreciated.

Luckily, the narrow tunnel widened considerably, which did wonders for my claustrophobia. Many more tunnels branched this way and that, some, oddly angling down and up, at such degrees that a human would probably either tumble out of them and skid straight down.




       
         
       
        
Remember the dungeon dragon? Allie asked me, her telepathic words reaching only me.

I nearly snapped my fingers, until I remembered just how fierce the creature was that patrolled these nether regions. Indeed, upon closer inspection, I could see what very easily could have been claw marks... and burn marks. Yes, here be dragons.

Soon the main tunnel ended in a pile of boulders, and I knew, from having read the book, exactly where we were. The Cursed Dungeon. Here, the ceiling had also dropped, forcing the big knight to duck. He seemed irritable.

"This is it," said Sir Rory.

"Are you sure she is here, Lady Tam Tam?" asked the queen. She haltingly touched the closest boulder with her palm.

"Aye," I said, then, after seeing Allie's disapproving glare, I cleared my throat and said, "Yes."

"And you know this how, sorceress?" asked Rory.

"Technically," I said, jabbing a thumb at Allison, "she's closer to being a sorceress than I am-"

A low growl cut me off. I couldn't help but note that Rory's massive hands were laced with scars. I also noted the hands were opening and closing. If I had to guess, they were itching to close around my neck, or the hilt of his sword. Either way, my ass was in trouble.

Allison jumped in. "We were so told by the Creator."

"You throw the Lord's name out often, little shadow. How can we trust you?"

Little Shadow, thought Allison. I like it!

"They emerged from the wardrobe," said Queen Autumn, stepping away from the wall and dusting off her hands.

"Did they now?" asked Rory.

"They did, and you will have to trust me, my knight. They have answers. I feel it. Especially, here in this place."

I snapped my fingers. "The Good Magician Canterbury."

Rory arched an eyebrow. "You know much for a stranger."

I ignored him. Or, rather, I ignored him cautiously. I said, "The Good Magician Canterbury was found dead at the same time the princess was discovered missing." In the World of Dur, only the Good Magician Canterbury had access to the cursed dungeon.

"Perhaps he was coerced into opening the gate," said the queen, "just before he was murdered."

She was close. The good magician had, in fact, been blackmailed. After all, the Foul Wizard Xander had proof-supplied from Caleb Squire-that the good magician wasn't so good, after all. That he'd made a pact with the Dark One. A pact that gave the court magician nearly unstoppable power. I told them as much.

"He was blackmailed, then, to open the dungeon," asked Sir Rory.

"Yes," I said, although I really, really wanted to say aye. 

The knight looked at his queen. "The spell," he said simply.

I knew of the spell, of course-any reader would have known that the princess had a protection spell placed on her by the Good Magician Canterbury, who really was good, even if he had a dark past. The spell ensured she would live to a ripe old age.

"And so Xander did the next best thing-he sealed her away in the Cursed Dungeon. With a sleeping spell."

"Thus giving him access to the throne," said Sir Rory. "By God, I will have his head!"

"In due time, my knight. First..."

"Yes, of course, my queen. First, we must find the babe. But how?"

I knew from Charlie's draft of the book that the cell was called impenetrable for a reason. Access to it was only available through magical means. Last I checked, Allison was about as magical as they came. But she shook her head when she picked up my thoughts.