Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• fifty-six •

"This looks familiar."

I couldn't help my smile at Julian's words.

I looked up at the Keep as it towered over us. It seemed to touch the sky it was so tall. "Hmm," I whispered. "It looks different when you're not plummeting to your death."

Damien snorted, knowing all too well what I meant. I told him how Julian and Kymra helped me escape the Keep without the Guards knowing. Kymra had pushed me off the balcony of my room, making me fall into the Ylee hundreds of feet below.

Julian had waited for me on a boat in the river, fished me out of the water and took me to his home in Skryen.

I wasn't even sure how much time had passed since then. It almost seemed a lifetime ago.

The night was eerily quiet. The only sound over our hushed voices was the quiet lapping of the water as the boat glided over it.

I swallowed my fear. No one would see us, I was reassured time and time again. There was no moon in the sky, so no one would see the tiny boat as it made its way to the Keep. The large ominous rocks on the shore of where the Keep rested meant that any boat that did happen to cross the magic barriers of the Keep, would immediately be crushed and it's inhabitants tossed to the frigid water.

"Luckily," Damien said before, "there's a small space we can beach on, near the West Tower. Lower fae could use it to escape if the Keep were ever under siege."

"Has it ever been used?" I had asked.

Damien shook his head and stayed quiet.

I followed his lead and quieted.

As I sat low on the boat, I looked at Julian's large, strong back.

He agreed with me on saving Mal. He saw what I saw just not as vividly. He didn't experience it as I did, for him, it was like watching a movie. He saw Tianna's story. He didn't live it like I did. He didn't have the lingering effects of feeling the soul in the stone take over as I did.

I wondered if it was because I was the one physically holding the stone while he only held my hand.

Light magic must have taken over when our hands touched, Kymra said to us.

We would save Mal. We agreed.

"But not if it means sacrificing your own safety," he told me sternly. It was as if he knew me.

Mal was innocent. She was a pawn. Just like I was with Robyn.

If I could help her...

I would do it, however, I could.

I let out a long shuddering breath as the large towers of the Keep swallowed my view.

My nerves were on edge, tingling with what would happen when we ventured to the other side of the walls of the Keep.

I looked behind me.

Damien was rowing the small boat silently, his eyes sweeping over the small shore of the Keep as we approached it. Julian crouched in the boat in front of me watchful of the Keep and the land around it. They both seemed at ease despite the fact that they were watching for guards to make sure we wouldn't get caught.

My leg bounced nervously. I had my fingers in my mouth biting at the little nail that was left on my stubby fingers. My hands were shaking, my stomach, turning.

Mehnit, all the while, sat calmly next to my feet in her cat form.

I wished I could emanate her peaceful presence.