Air grew thicker in my lungs with each step, and my body began to lock up.
“Be mindful of your surroundings,” Rhyas warned. He didn’t look at me, a strange coldness touching the features of his face, but his voice didn’t reflect his expression. “Be careful who you trust.”
I swallowed, turning to the monstrous wooden gates as they parted, the groan of chains rattling my bones as they wound round the wheel opening the mountain as if a beast eager to devour us whole. Rhyas guided me forward until my feet stopped inches from the threshold. I fought against him, my bare feet sliding against the stone, gravel biting into my flesh.
No. No, no, no, no.
“Don’t die on me, little beasty,” he breathed, and I twisted around to him. Hands grabbed me from behind, and I gasped.
“No! Please! Don’t let them take me!” I cried, pulling against their hold as I grasped onto the sleeve of his dusty tunic before I was ripped free of him.
A flicker of something passed over his eyes before they hardened, and his posture straightened as a male approached us. It wasn’t his golden eyes passing over me that drew my attention, but his emerald hair that framed his face in short, loose waves. Never before had I seen hair like his.
“She’s awake?” he asked, arching an emerald brow as he turned to Rhyas.
“A shifter, sir,” Rhyas said—as if that was explanation enough—as he tucked his arms behind his back, avoiding my pleading stare.
“A shifter?” the male echoed before he approached me. My skin prickled with a strange energy the closer he came, something familiar caressing my mind. The sensation was wrong, just as it had been when we’d crossed the veil. The hands holding me adjusted their grip, and I found myself held in place by two guards. They anchored me steadfastly as I tried to pull back from the strange male crouching before me.
“Immortal?” he asked as he ran a hand over the short emerald beard lining his jaw.
Rhyas nodded. “We have six immortals, as you requested. Adresta’s team brought three humans, and Cyros’ managed four fae from the bordering villages of Pelagonia.”
My breath quickened. We hadn’t been the only ones to be taken. There were other children who had been stolen from their homes. But why?
“She will be pleased to learn we captured so many immortals. Let’s see how many survive the first night. They will be her warriors once they’ve proven themselves in The Pits,” the male said, reaching out. I flinched away from his touch and froze when his fingers combed through my hair. “Nearly as silver as hers was...”
The beast growled, and I bared my teeth, my hands balling into fists.
His golden eyes almost lit up, and a smile curved his lips, showing a hint of his slightly elongated canines. He muttered under his breath, “You have bite. That’s good.”
Another guard ran toward us. “Arden, sir!”
I stiffened at the name, Rhyas’ words flitting across my mind.
You belong to Arden now.
Arden groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. “What is it?”
“We’re ready for The Proving,” the guard said.
A shiver ran up my spine as Arden turned to look back down at me, one corner of his lips kicking up into a half grin. “Excellent.”
There was something cruel in his expression, an unknown promise that left a cold sweat breaking out over my skin. “Let’s see if you can make it through the night. Prove your worth to me.”
Metal ground against metal, rattling my bones as I turned to find the gates closing, sealing me inside this horrible place, trapping me within the belly of this wretched beast. No! I needed to get out, needed to get home. I parted my lips to protest, but the two males grasping my arms shoved me forward, and I twisted, trying to see Rhyas over my shoulder as they dragged me off.
“Rhyas! Please!” I cried, our gazes briefly meeting, but he looked away from me, something akin to guilt dulling his amber eyes.
They pulled me through a doorway, and Rhyas vanished from view. “No!”
A scream reached my ears from down the hall, and my voice lodged in my throat. The coppery scent of blood filled my nose, the acidic scent of fear tainting the air.
We can’t go there. Fight them.
Another scream echoed through the tunnels as we descended a stairway lined with torches, but it was sharply silenced, leaving an eerie quiet in its wake, and I stopped breathing. Where were they taking me? What were they going to do to me when we got there?
Torchlight spilled into the opening before us as we reached the foot of the stairs.
