Page 70 of The Bones of the Cursed
“Who are you?” I ask.
“My name is Jensen,” says one of them. “And this is Gracin. We were two of the six soldiers taken by ghouls from the junction.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re crawling out of a well, covered in shit,” Kailu states calmly.
He laughs. “I suppose you’re right.”
“How did you get here?” I grit my teeth, losing patience.
The man lets out a breath. “Alanis.”
I take a step forward and grab him by the collar, ignoring the fact that he is covered in excrement. “What the fuck did you just say?” I growl.
The human stares at me with wide eyes, but not with fear. “Alanis found us and told us where to go. She wasn’t completely sure, but she was right. She told us to take the hallway that led downward. She guessed it went to the sewers.”
“Obviously it did,” Kailu says, voice funny with his nose pinched between two fingers.
“Obviously. Anyway, when we got down there, we noticed an opening. Jensen looked out and we saw the sea, but we knew we didn’t have the strength to swim. The sewer opened up to a pit where all the sewage from the building dropped. The only way to get across was to swim through the pit and crawl up the other side. So we did. Except we never resurfaced, we ended up in the bottom of this well with that damn dead body.”
I raise my eyebrow and release him, peering over.
Kailu joins me and hisses, “Holy shit.”
“What?” I ask, wondering what the hell he saw.
“Malakai, that is the Lost King. Paliri’s father. Look at the ring. Everyone said he went missing during the war against Iclas; no one would have guessed that this is where he ended up.”
I look again at the skeleton. Why the hell is the Lost King in this well?
“There’s another thing,” says Jensen. “Alanis asked me to give you a message. She said she is going to get Elion and bring him back.”
My head drops back as I close my eyes, the tension that has been coursing through my body since I found her gone this morning finally dissipating.
“She also said she doesn’t need a male to save her.”
I snort. Of course she did. My little firecracker.
- ALANIS -
Peeling my eyes open is more effort than it’s worth thanks to the pain throbbing in my head. I can’t move my arms or legs, though it takes only a single twitch to realize I’m chained in place.
“Alanis.”
I whip my head up at the sound of my name. “Elion.” I take him in, realizing his hair is much longer than when I last saw him. It would probably pull back into a ponytail with ease.
He shifts in his chair. That’s when I notice him grimace. I blanch at the sight of the dried blood coating his trouser leg.
“Are you all right?”
He grunts in response and turns his deep brown eyes on me. Eyes that almost look angry.
“What?” I ask.
“What the hell do you mean,what? Alanis, what the fuck are you doing here?”
I roll my eyes. “Uh, I’m saving you. Obviously. I wasn’t just leaving you for dead. A ‘thank you’ would be nice.”
He snorts, his attitude grating on my already frayed nerves. “Saving me?” he asks incredulously. “Looks to me like you just became a captive yourself.”
