The sound wasn’t coming from inside her head. No, it was far, far worse.

Heedless of what they faced, she twisted around and stared back toward the dungeon with growing horror. Oh God. She felt the blood drain from her face. Her shock threatened to crack her shield, and she hastily strengthened it with her will. Lara didn’t want to feel any more of the swirling evil than required. Someone had killed all the prisoners and left them to rot. She didn’t know if this world had flies, but whatever insects making the noise must be a close relation.

There had to be thousands down there feasting on the corpses.

Skye, get us out of here now, she demanded, the horror and sheer callousness of leaving the bodies there threatened to send her into madness again.

He waited until the secret panel shut behind the last Kurite. He closed his eyes, his expression one of intense concentration. He pointed at the two archers to take the lead.

With trepidation, Lara thinned the shield around her, trying to find where the thickest layer of evil permeated from within the castle. She fisted the loose skin on Chion’s neck to keep her grounded, but she couldn’t help how her head tilted up and around like a bloodhound. She was simultaneously repulsed and attracted to the black miasma above her. Her terror bubbled up, and she inhaled through her nose despite the foulness of the air.

At the top of the long, winding stairway, the people in front of her stopped. Pushing everything away except for the people directly beyond the door, she focused on the guards’ emotions. The two guards were oblivious to their presence and felt secure at their post. Either way, they were far more alert than she would expect palace guards to act. She tilted her head down toward Chion without losing the emotions of the guards. Tell everyone to wait. They’re too alert. I’ll send out a slight pulse of calm, which will make it easier for the archers to take out the two guards before they send a warning to the others down the hall. Warn them to be ready to move when I give the order.

She felt his acknowledgement, yet she didn’t hear him relay the message to the other pakas. Lara waited a few seconds for word to pass from paka to bondmate, including the two archers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Skye hold up a hand to keep Aleena and her guards from moving. Lara found a recent memory that would work against the guards. Remembering how it felt to watch movies with Skye and her father, she sent the feeling of safety outward. She knew the instant it hit the two guards.

Now, Skye.

Immediately, the two archers stepped through the door Skye pulled open. A second later, the sound of two bodies hitting the floor reached her. As the archers killed the last two guards farther away, two pakas slunk into the hall, sank their teeth into the leather straps of the Malirrans’ chest armor, and dragged the bodies to where they waited.

Aleena swept forward and crept along the edge of the hallway. When Skye motioned for her to move faster, the woman did. Despite being a Pyranni, the woman trusted Skye’s magical radar. On near silent feet, they made good time to the servant staircase almost hidden behind a recessed part of the wall. The two pakas at the back caught up with them after stashing the last two guards with the other two bodies. Before Aleena’s guards opened the door, they glanced at Skye for assurance they weren’t walking into a trap.

Skye said, Lara, I see two people behind the door.

Understanding his unspoken request, she waded through the oily sludge to sense the two Skye saw. She locked on and whispered, Yes, they are terrified, but they don’t seem aware of us. I think they’re servants. Let me calm them like I did the guards. Again, she pushed the feeling of safety out from her before thickening her shield again to protect herself. Even so, she still felt when the two frightened servants relaxed the smallest amount.

Skye leaned over and whispered to two of the guards, pointing out exactly where the two servants stood.

Eiren warned, her unease flooding the bond, We must get out of sight. We have been in this hallway too long. Our luck cannot hold out much longer.

Chion hummed in agreement, even as he kept watch.

It is spooky how empty the castle is, Lara mused. I expected the hallway to be brimming with Malirran soldi—

Their conversation was cut short when the door was shoved open and the two servants were knocked unconscious. The servants—a man and a woman—were settled into a more comfortable sitting position against the wall. Lara looked around at the stark hallway, a direct contrast to the ostentatious one they just left. Once everyone was inside, Aleena pointed in the direction they needed to go.

After walking deeper into the castle with only the sound of feet hitting stone breaking the otherwise silent corridor, Lara shivered and tightened her grip on her sword. We are definitely going the right direction. The evil, it is like a calling card—a beacon pointing the way, shouting “come and get me.” Wait, do you think this could be a trap?

Chion prowled next to her as they marched forward. A trap? We have surprise on our side. Even if the Malirran king expects us, he could not know how we would enter the castle.

Maybe not. He knows I escaped the dungeon somehow, with no one the wiser. If I were him, I’d set a trap. The castle feels… I don’t know, emptier than I thought it would.

Eiren chimed in, Pyrannis are terrified of the king and his men. Would they not stay hidden if possible?

Maybe, Lara answered, her tone echoing her doubt.

There could be a trap. There may be no trap. The Malirrans might have another reason for the empty halls. We must continue forward. My Lady, can you tell how many men the Malirran king has left?

Lara looked up as if she could see through the stone and timber to the Malirrans above. She shook her head. No, their evil is far too pervasive. Maybe once I am on the floor. Hm, interesting. And by interesting, good news for us. She checked the entire castle, her focus sweeping through each floor like a sensor of evil. Bringing Skye into their conversation, she said, Okay, our luck is still holding. All the councilors and the king are on the same floor, I think. There is a concentration of evil between three different rooms. She pointed, twirling her finger in a circle, to three spots above them. What do you see, Skye?

Skye glanced up for a long second and nodded. I see what I think are servants. They are cleaning one of the empty rooms. There are guards along the hallway in far more numbers than we’ve seen so far. Aleena is taking us to that floor. One more floor, so be ready.

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Behind her, a commotion made Lara turn her head. A muffled scream escaped before one of the Kurites knocked the servant unconscious with a well-placed knock on the head. It took two people to sit the young woman inside the room.

Lara hissed, “Gag her.”

The Kurite who had knocked her out used his knife to cut a strip off the servant’s shirt. He then shoved the material between her teeth. The other warrior took it a step further and tied her hands with a bit of rope.

Pointing to the staircase ahead, Aleena whispered, “Follow me. We are almost there.”

In a flurry of motion, surprising everyone, Skye shouldered Aleena aside and leapt up the stairs. As he reached the top, the door opened, and a dark head of hair peeked in. The Malirran’s eyes widened and his mouth opened to call an alarm, but Skye grabbed a hunk of the guard’s hair, yanked him into the servant hallway, and sliced his neck in one smooth motion.

Before Lara could finish exhaling a sigh of relief, a rising tide of alarm and adrenaline slammed into her shield. Skye held up his fist. Silence descended on the servant staircase, no one moved, no one dared to breathe. Through the closed door, the thunder of metal and feet passed above. Skye’s eyes followed the activity, and soon after, the muted sound of the city bells floated through the stone walls to Lara.

Lara stretched her senses to wade through the evil and other emotions all around her to the concentrated sludge of the Malirrans they came to kill. What looked like a black hole gave away the king’s position at the far end of the hall. One Malirran, his evil slightly more diluted than the other three moved toward them before stopping in the hallway. Skye, she said in warning.

I see him. Skye motioned to an archer and whispered instructions in the Ai’s ear. When the Kurite nodded and nocked an arrow, Skye maneuvered out of the archer’s way. The man nodded again, and Skye jerked the door open. An almost silent twang of the bowstring warned the arrow was loosed.

Lara knew the man’s arrow struck true when the Malirran’s eddies of evil popped, leaving behind a strange sense of emptiness, a brief clearing of wrongness in the emotions surrounding her. For a second, an almost too short second, everything froze.

The cords in his neck bulging, Skye yelled, “The guard isn’t alone. Attack! Attack!” He disappeared through the door, Eiren a silent presence behind him, her teeth bared in aggression.

As their small force swept up the remaining stairs and into the hall, the castle guards charged with a battle cry, their bellows reverberating against the walls, swirling to a fevered pitch. The rush of emotions slammed into Lara, and she almost vibrated off the floor from the strength of them. With Chion guarding her, she checked her forward stride and regained control of her shield.

With a hissing scream, Chion’s shoulder knocked her down. A pained cry above her made Lara twist her head, and she realized the thrown knife would have killed her. Breathless, she said, Thanks.

Chion didn’t reply; instead, he pounced on the Malirran with a viciousness that made even Lara shiver. His feline body took the man to the ground and shredded his sharp claws down the man’s torso. After a short shriek that turned into a half-moan, the guard died with blood-stained teeth and wide eyes. She lurched to her knees, blocking a blow from another guard. With the turmoil beating at her, Lara couldn’t focus her Lan’Ai ability. All she could do was use the sword in her grip.

A Tal’Ai woman dropped beside her, the warrior dead before she hit the ground. “We must end this,” Lara muttered. A crazed scream reached her over the fighting around her. Narrowing her magic, she sought it out, even as she recognized and disregarded Skye’s deadly dance several yards in front of her. Locating the demented screams and laughter, she called out, Found one, Chion.

I am here, My Lady. I will protect—

Lara whirled around, feeling Chion’s pain. A man brimming with almost as much oily corruption as the Malirran king grinned as he sliced the edge of his sword downward. The move was a blur, too quick for Lara to follow. But the spurt of blood from Chion’s neck proved his trajectory had met resistance. Chion’s roar of pain both through their bond and aloud threatened to affix her in place. She lurched forward and raised her sword, moving around Chion to attempt to attack the Malirran from the side. The man, without a scratch on him, danced backward without seeming to move, keeping them both in sight. The paka pounced, but the man’s superior speed and strength landed another cut on Chion instead.

Pleasure. Giddiness from causing pain. Excitement of the coming kill. Lara felt it all emanate from the monster. A monster in the shape of a man.

The Malirran toyed with Chion. Her Chion.

With that thought, the world slowed and stopped, and everything around her disappeared except for the Malirran, her white paka, and her. Lara studied the tableau before her. The skin on Chion’s neck looked peeled, as if someone had taken a knife and started skinning him. The man carried no wounds; he was too quick and well-trained against the Tal’Ais. In what felt like minutes passing, she managed another step forward.

When his sword glinted, somehow all her fear, all the pain coming through the bond, coalesced into a single pulse. A single pulse in sync with her scream of denial. Her shield exploded, decimated by the strength of the emotions leaving her body. Her head was thrown backward, and her chest punched forward. A silent scream stretched her mouth open, though her eyes never left her enemy. She could almost see it, invisible as her magic was.

The violence of the pulse, when it reached the Malirran, tore him apart. His eyes burst, leaving bloody craters. He coughed up blood. His nose and ears bled. Falling backward, he managed a weak, “How?”

The clatter of his sword landing on the blood-soaked stone floor ended the sound barrier her adrenaline had erected. She panicked until she collected the tatters of her shield and reformed it into a watery screen to keep out the overwhelming emotions. With her inner eye, Lara checked its entirety, testing its strength and thickness. Finally, she trusted her shield would hold. Chion’s growl drew her eyes back to the gruesome sight on the ground. She winced when her bondmate bit through the Malirran’s throat with a wet crunch. Although she was aware of the exact millisecond the Malirran died, Lara refused to take any chances. She wanted him dead. Stomping a foot down on his chest, she hacked the man’s head from his shoulders with her sword.

After she was done, she turned her attention to Chion, running her eyes up and down his head, neck, and shoulders. You okay? You took several hits.

I will heal. What did you do, My Lady?

Shrugging her shoulders made her realize how exhausted she truly felt. It was as if that single piece of magic used up the core of her energy. “I don’t know. I mean I do, but replicating what I did is probably impossible.”

Before he could respond, Skye and Eiren fought their way to them. Chion? Eiren gasped.

He assured them, I will heal. The Malirran held a well of power in which held me at a disadvantage. Magic had given him speed and strength.

As he spoke, Lara eyed the fighting. They were winning, but it wasn’t without grave casualties on their side. She said, “We must end this now.” She glanced at Skye. “I haven’t seen the king. Did you get him?”

“No,” he shook his head.

Eiren interrupted, My Lord knows where he is.

“He’s in the room at the end of the hall,” Skye said with distaste. “He’s gorging himself.”

Lara shivered. There was no need to explain further. He’d left his own men to fight without him. Perhaps the king thought his gluttony would keep him from dying at their hand.

She tuned back into the concentrated swirls of evil and found that, while Chion and she were focused on the councilman, the other two Malirrans had been killed. “Only two left,” she murmured. “The king and the screamer. Chion and I will take care of the crazy one.”

Skye cocked his head. “He’s chained to the wall for some reason.”

Lara shrugged. “Even better.” Glancing around the hallway, she warned, “Skye, be careful of the king.” She pointed down at the corpse she had beheaded. “This man almost killed Chion, and he wasn’t as powerful as Lukar.”

Skye rolled his shoulders. “I know.”

¤ ¤ ¤

Lukar tore into the sacrifice with an unhappy growl. He had tried to leave the woman tied to the rack, where she lay half alive and mewling. He had tried to join the battle as soon as he heard the guard’s body hit the ground, his senses well honed from the power the Goddess gave him. Making her disapproval known, Semnac had sent spikes of pain clawing through his brain, enough that he almost dropped to his knees. Almost as if he no longer had full control of his own body—his senses still reeling from the excruciated pain, Lukar returned to stripping the remaining meat from the body.

Usually, he enjoyed his sacrifices’ cries of pain and pleas.

But not tonight. Tonight, the body was only a means to more power.

The Kurites had to be slaughtered.