Kiss of the Betrayer (A Bringer and the Bane Novel) (33 page)

“Leaving so soon?”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-
T
HREE

A wicked smile quirked at the corners of Sha-hera’s mouth, showing off her pointed white fangs. She cocked her head. “What do you have there?”

Jade positioned herself in front of Luc and tensed, ready for an attack. Nothing was going to stop her from getting Esmeralda’s body out of the Shadow World. “Step aside, Sha-hera.”

“I don’t think so.” She gave Jade a disgruntled look. “At least not until you answer my questions.”

The demon glided toward them. Both Jade and Luc retreated several paces. There was no other escape but through the door Sha-hera blocked.

The demon bent and snagged the chain that had shackled Luc’s ankle, holding it up. “I assume these were for you.” Her yellow gaze rested on Luc and then slid to Jade. “And this…” She kicked the band that had imprisoned Jade. “Was for you?”

Neither answered her question. Jade kept her body between Luc and the demon, ready to fight if the bitch so much as twitched a wing.

“Since we are such good friends, Jade…” She drew out the name and paced back to the door. With a dramatic pivot, Sha-hera faced them and flared her wings, completely blocking their only escape route. “I will make you a deal.”

The demon couldn’t be trusted in the simplest of matters, but they had no other choice.

“What kind of deal?” Jade asked.

Sha-hera crossed her arms over her ample chest. “You answer my questions and I will let you go.”

Jade smiled sweetly. “As simple as that? You’ll just let us pass?”

The demon held up her hand. “I swear it.”

“A Bane promise holds little weight,” Luc said.

Sha-hera lowered her hand and shrugged. “True, but really, what other choice do you have?”

“Why?”

“You have information I need and I’m willing to compromise. But decide quickly. I’m not very patient.”

It would be a waste of time to press the demon into the promise of keeping her word. She either would or wouldn’t and they would have to deal with the consequences. Jade glanced at Luc. He nodded.

She faced Sha-hera. “Ask your questions.”

“Good.” The demon straightened. “Somebody held you prisoner, yes?”

“Yes.” Jade said.

Sha-hera’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

Loyalty warred inside her. If there was a chance to escape and get Esmeralda’s body to a safe place, then she would do anything. But what if the demon Rell really did embody her sister’s soul and the limp form in Luc’s arms was a trick or an illusion? Jade swallowed her doubts and made her decision. “Icarus.”

A finely sculpted brow arched, the singsong note in the demon’s voice telling Jade she knew Icarus was not the only abductor. “And?”

“And Rell.”

“So the two of them are working together.” She glared at Jade. “Why?”

Too late Jade remembered the tattoos on her hands. She pressed her palms against her thighs and slid them around her back. The demon watched her movements, understanding slowly dawning on her face.

Sha-hera lunged forward and grabbed Jade’s arms, yanking her hands up to look at them. “How did you get these?”

Jade circled her arms, twisting to pull free. “That I will not tell you.”

“It matters not.” Sha-hera’s smile turned to a sneer. “I know how it was done, but I venture that Icarus does not, correct?”

Neither Jade nor Luc answered her.

“No, that is why he tortured you—to get information.” Her smile was one of genuine delight. “One last question.” She turned and glided away from them. “Did Icarus mention the Abyss of Souls?”

Jade gritted her teeth, sure her answer would give Sha-hera a distinct advantage. The situation between Rell and Icarus was pulling Rell deeper into the struggle. With the discovery of Esmeralda’s body, Jade knew that putting her sister in danger was the last thing she wanted.

She looked the demon squarely in the eye and lied. “No, he didn’t. What is the significance of the Abyss?”

Sha-hera waved a finger back and forth. “No, no, I am the only one who gets to ask questions.”

“At least tell me why Esmeralda’s body was frozen in ice.”

Sha-hera stepped to the side, giving them a clear path to the door. “You will have to be satisfied with an unhindered escape.” She tipped her small blue horns toward the limp form in Luc’s arms. “And your useless prize.”

No matter what the demon inferred, Jade would not believe her sister was dead. She couldn’t give up that hope. Not yet. “Then we are free to leave?”

Sha-hera held her arm out to her side, indicating the doorway.

“Just like that?” Jade said. Nothing was ever this easy with a Bane.

“I said I would keep my word.” She lowered her arm. “Go.”

“And you will not follow us?” There was a trick within the demon’s actions, but Jade couldn’t put her finger on it.

“I will not follow and Vile has forbidden all demons but me to enter these caverns, so there will be no Bane to pursue you.”

“What about Icarus?” Luc asked.

A malevolent smile crept across Sha-hera’s mouth. “Yes, he’s been a very bad demon. Won’t Vile be angry with him when he finds out that not only did Icarus violate his private realm, but also let you two escape?”

Jade’s stance relaxed a fraction. “Ah, I understand now. We escape, you tell Vile, he becomes angry with Icarus and you are once again in the king’s good graces.”

“Not as dumb as I thought.” Sha-hera leaned a shoulder against the wall. “But you’d better go before Icarus returns.” The demon’s gaze turned hard. “Or I run out of patience and claim you as my own prize and present you to Vile.”

“Why not do that anyway,” Luc asked. “Would you not still gain his favor?”

Jade turned and glared at him, but he ignored her.

“I thought about it,” Sha-hera said. “But this plan gains the same favor and thwarts Icarus.” She moved to block the doorway. “I assume you can find your way out?”

Slowly she pivoted. “And I’ll be sure to let your sister know you found her body.”

The demon’s light footfalls echoed in the passage before fading.

“Let’s go.” Jade jogged to the entrance. The passage was indeed clear.

Luc joined her at the opening, shifted Esmeralda’s body to lie over his shoulder and exited first. She followed him down the corridor. As the distance between them and Sha-hera widened, hope that they might actually escape grew.

Their course turned upward. The heat and the tang of sulfur hung in the air. They rounded a corner and Jade recognized the jutting stone at the top of the passage. It had been her boundary as a child, the marker at which she was not allowed to venture beyond.

She pointed. “We’re almost there.” As they approached the opening to the cavern, she grabbed Luc’s arm. “I’ll enter first. Wait until I signal you.” She squeezed past him. “If Rell is in there, I don’t want her to see her body—not yet, anyway.”

“Be careful.” He walked so close the toes of his boots kept kicking her heel. “Check the ledges and the ceiling.”

“I will.”

“And make sure she’s not bathing in one of the pools.” He kicked her again. “Some of the bigger boulders could hide her.”

Jade gritted her teeth and stopped. Luc barreled into her, sending her stumbling into the wall. She spun and glared at him. “I know what I’m doing.” He opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off. “Shhhtt!”

Not waiting for his unwanted response or look of disapproval, she spun, took a deep breath, and crept to the entrance of the cavern. Her heart fluttered like moths beating against the glass of a lantern, erratic and out of rhythm. A veil of wet heat lay like a blanket in front of the door. She glided slowly forward, leading with her shoulder, and stepped inside. Her eyes darted around the roof of the cavern. No dark shapes huddled in the shadows and no grating nips flared on her body. There was no indication that Rell was in the chamber.

The slow burble of bubbles in the greenish-blue pools continued to roil and the vents hissed. This cavern would forever remain unchanged, no matter if its occupants lived or died—left and returned—were happy or battled great darkness. Until some cataclysmic event transformed the face of Inness, her childhood home would stay hidden from most of the world, unaffected by time.

The large, flat rock she used to sleep on stood like a silent reminder of her past. Jade squared her shoulders. Perhaps this would be the last time she would ever set foot in this place. She smiled at the thought.

Jade motioned Luc forward. He turned sideways and ducked to enter the chamber. Not wasting any time, they skirted a ring of boulders and traversed the thin bridge of rock between two pools. The narrow crevice lay directly in front of them. Luc stopped and lowered Esmeralda’s body to cradle her.

“I don’t think I can carry her and fit through the passage. Once we make the turn, the opening narrows.”

Jade glanced down the dark passage and then walked to where he stood. She hoisted one of Esmeralda’s limp arms around her neck and settled her sister’s dead weight solidly on top of her shoulders. “Maybe if we balance her between us, we’ll be able to slide through.”

Luc gave a quick nod and draped Esmeralda’s other arm around his neck so she hung between them. “It’s worth a try.”

They sidled into the passage. At first their movements were awkward and Jade found herself repeatedly slamming into her sister like an expanding and contracting accordion. But as the light dimmed and they were forced to use their other senses, a rhythm emerged.

Sweat dripped down Jade’s temples and into her eyes. She blinked away the irritating moisture and tilted her head to wipe the side of her face on the sleeve of her sister’s gown. Their labored breathing bounced around them and was occasionally punctuated by a grunt when one of them hit a protruding rock. Jade blew a lock of hair out of her eyes, swearing Esmeralda was getting heavier with each shuffle they took.

The path turned and the opening narrowed even further. Their pace slowed considerably. Though now in complete darkness, she could hear the rasp of Luc’s leather as he maneuvered through the constricted opening. A hint of fresh air brushed her face and she inhaled, turning her head to capture every wisp.

The linen shirt she wore under her tunic stuck to her like a thin layer of wet paint on a canvas. Again a puff of cool air circled around her heated cheeks. “I think we’re getting close.”

“Let’s hope so. I don’t remember the passage being this long.” Luc said.

“That’s because we weren’t hefting another person.”

Luc grunted but didn’t reply further. They shuffled around the last corner and were enveloped in cool air. Sighs of relief escaped them. Jade stopped and leaned against the cold rock wall. Luc did the same without complaint.

An oval of gray light marked the end of the tunnel. How long had they been held captive? Tears threatened to well and her nose tingled at the sight of freedom no more than a few yards ahead. She swallowed hard, frantically blinking back her swelling emotions. The word rasped from her throat. “Light.”

He seemed to understand the importance of that single word. “A miracle.”

Even though she couldn’t make out his face, she looked at him. “Are we like Siban now? Survivors of the Shadow World? Forever scarred by the Banes’ torture?”

“No.” Luc was quiet for a few seconds. “What we’ve been through is nothing compared to the cruelty that Siban suffered, but I do understand him better, his watchful suspicion and need for solitude at times.”

“And respect him more.”

“Yes.” Silence stretched between them until Luc said, “Let’s go home.”

The warmth of happiness spread through her. “Yes, let’s go home.”

At the end of the passage, Luc repositioned Esmeralda’s body. “I think I can carry her from here. Check for Bane. I don’t feel any, but it’s difficult to tell so close to the Shadow World.”

Jade released her sister and exited the opening, blinking against the sunlight. The day looked barely changed from the time they’d entered the Shadow World. Again she wondered how long they’d been held captive.

She scanned the woods and sky. All seemed quiet and nothing appeared out of place. She motioned him forward.

“Climb to the next ledge and I’ll lower her. If you can balance her until I climb down to you, then we can work our way to the ground.”

“All right.” The dead weight would be difficult to wrestle and Jade prayed she wouldn’t tumble over the edge, but she couldn’t think of a better plan. Whatever she could do to get them safely back to the manor, she would.

Healing Luc had drained more energy than she cared to admit, but she didn’t regret doing it. Hollow dips and dark smudges under his eyes told her he still wasn’t well. There would have been little hope of escape if she had left him in his weakened condition. At least now they had a chance and the odds were looking better with each obstacle they conquered.

Poor Esmeralda. The descent was none too smooth and their handling of her even less gentle. If by some chance they were able to revive her, she would bear the aches of scrapes and bruises. Finally, Jade’s feet touched solid ground. Their descent, no matter how uncoordinated, was a success for the simple fact that neither of them had fallen to their deaths.

Luc scooped up Esmeralda and carried her into the trees, indicating Jade should follow with a roll of his head. The long furrows caused by scraping against jagged rocks burned across her torso. She pressed her hand to her side and limped behind him.

She wanted to moan—wanted to cry like a little girl. It was still a mile to the horses and their gear if the horses hadn’t wandered off. Then there was the act of riding the blasted animals.

With great strength of will she repressed the urge to whine. They’d just escaped a fate worse than death in the Shadow World. The rest of this trip would be easy in comparison and the last thing Luc needed was to hear her complaints. She might sleep for a week, but until her head hit the pillow, she would not grumble.

Luc laid Esmeralda on the ground. “I have a plan.”

“What is it?”

She liked plans.

He rolled the shoulder that had been supporting Esmeralda. “You’re not going to like it.”