“And wouldn’t it be such a shame if I died,” I deadpanned.
“Indeed,” he replied, his eyes sparkling. “Wouldn’t want us to all die just when life is starting to get interesting.”
Goddess, he was infuriating. I mean, sure, there was this weird bond between us, linking our lives, and they had the theory that if I died, they would die as well, but did he have to make this about him? “Why are you here?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “And where’s Kade?”
Darian’s expression sobered then, the smile falling from his face and his features hardening. “Kade, Locke, and Ash are preoccupied with another matter.”
A strange feeling that couldn’t possibly have been worry slithered through me, but I kept the emotion from showing on my face. I tried to tell myself I was only worried for Kade, but I knew it was a lie. The idea that Asher and Locke were involved as well bothered me. I thought of Asher, the bulky demon with short violet horns and a violet forked tail, and Locke, the vampire with eyes as dark as night. I could tell from Darian’s face that whatever they were doing, it wasn’t something to be taken lightly. I wanted to ask him for more information, but I kept my lips pressed together.
As quickly as it had appeared, the concern left Darian’s eyes, and his lips molded back into a smile. He lifted to stand and shook off the water from his fingers. “But that’s enough about them. You’ve been sleeping in there for a good hour, and I trust you’re feeling more like yourself. Day has broken over the city, and it’s my turn to try to get you to change. Once you’re dressed, we’ll be on our way.”
Minuteslater,Darianledme from the rooms and up a tunnel that wound higher into the mountain. My hour-long soak hadn’t done much to ease my aching muscles, but it was enough that I was able to walk at a reasonable pace.
“Where are you taking me?” I eventually asked, mostly just to break the silence between us.
“You shall see” was his only response, and I didn’t push the matter. First, because knowing wouldn’t change anything, and second, because I was so exhausted I was too busy focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.
It wasn’t long after when Darian slowed to stop beside a long stretch of bare wall. Blue torches flickered close by, revealing nothing out of the ordinary, and I pivoted toward the siren to find he was staring at the wall with a look of concentration on his face.All righty, then.
“If you’re lost, we can just go back to the rooms,” I suggested hopefully. I’d become accustomed to sleeping during the day, and after my training session with Kade, I needed some serious shut-eye.
When Darian ignored me, I was about to open my mouth and repeat myself when the wall began to shift. I blinked in surprise as the rock appeared to melt away until it revealed a thin iron door with a large symbol of a tree carved into the center.Whoa.
In hindsight, I should have guessed there was a secret door. I’d seen doors disappear into the walls when the monsters had put me through my earlier trials, but it was still a bewildering sight.
Reaching out toward the door, I ran my fingers along the cool iron. “How did you do that?” I’d wanted to know from the first moment I’d seen one of the doors disappear nights ago.
Darian lifted his chin and gave me a smug smile before peering back at the door. “When the fae queen cursed our king, she unleashed her magic into the very bones of this mountain. It’s believed she intended to only curse the king, but somehow her curse and her power spread far beyond. All those in Katakin were cursed, yes, but they were also given a small portion of her magic. Remnants of her power also remain within the mountain itself and the land beyond. Combining the magic within us with the power that seeped into the land, all monsters are able to perform small acts such as creating blue fire and, to a small extent, reshaping the mountain.”
I thought of when I’d glimpsed the monster city beyond the mountain and the rivers of blue winding between the houses. “The water?”
He nodded, somehow understanding what I was asking. “The rivers have glowed blue ever since they were touched by the queen’s magic. The concentration of the magic in the water does little to affect us, but it is spectacular to look at.”
I wanted to question Darian more, but he pushed the iron door open and gestured for me to walk through the doorway. When I stepped forward and peered into the space beyond, my jaw almost hit the floor. I had assumed he was taking me to another cavern that only held more rocks and sand, but as I moved past him, I was utterly speechless.
Darian hadn’t taken me to some sparse cavern where I would be chased by a wolf or crushed by a stone ceiling; instead, it was a freaking paradise. Rather than the blue fire torches and dim lighting I’d become accustomed to, sunlight streamed from an open section high above, bathing the area in natural light. I stared in awe at the blanket of grass that covered the floor and the thick vines which climbed up the sides of the small cavern, twisting over colored crystals that jutted from the walls and creeping over lush layers of moss and lichen. Flowers shaped like bells and blossoms spread across the glistening green, sprouting between cracks in the walls and from tufts of greenery on the ground.
In the back half of the cavern, a small lake sparkled an iridescent blue, the surface dotted with lily pads and the sides crowded with reeds and long grasses. Glowing blue water rushed down the far wall, splashing onto algae-covered rocks in the lake, and droplets of water misted the air, making it pleasantly cool. I breathed in deeply, taking in the scents of vegetation, soil, and the sweet fragrance of flowers.
“It’s breathtaking,” I whispered, still struggling to believe what I was seeing. The space was toobeautiful to be in a mountain of monsters.
Pulling off my boots, I left them near the door and stepped further into the cavern. The grass was soft as it brushed against my ankles, and I ran my fingertips over the furry leaves of ferns and the soft petals of dewy flowers.
“What is this place?” I asked in wonder as I stopped before the lake, finally turning to peer back at Darian.
He had followed behind me, and his lips were curved upward as he watched me with interest, like he intended to savor my reaction to everything I saw.
“Do you like it?” he asked, and the hint of uncertainty in his tone made me think this wasn’t a place many had seen.
“It’s incredible,” I admitted with a smile, turning back to the lake. “How is this even here?”
“You’d be amazed at the secrets this mountain holds,” he answered cryptically, then added, “A friend made this haven for me.”
I frowned. “A friend?” As far as I knew, neither Kade, Locke, or Asher had indicated that they had a way with plants, so I knew he had to be talking about someone else. I turned back toward him and sucked in a breath when I found he was only an arm’s length away. The bond between us urged me to get closer to him, but I fought against it and forced myself to remember why he had brought me there. It wasn’t just so I could enjoy the view.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “How will this get me to turn into a monster?”
His only response was to give me a sensual smile, and then he was pulling his shirt over his head.What the—?He dropped it to the ground near his feet, and then his fingers trailed to the front of his silky pants.
