Her heart squeezed, and sorrow made her bones ache. She murmured, “Sleep.” And with precision snapped his thread of life, taking him to the afterlife with a pleasant memory his last.
A fine trembling seized her frame after the same thing happened with at least six more prisoners. They truly had no will to live, and the work it would take to draw them from the abyss would be unrelenting. But she worked, trying to find at least one soul from the one hundred and eighteen who wished to die. In their thoughts, she could find no hope. There was only pain. Terrible, endless pain. And in her heart, a rage started to brew as she hated the empire could do this to anyone. After the fifty-seventh command to sleep eternally, her trembling increased and her resolve swayed.
Immediately, a hand touched the nape of her neck, drew her close, and her back was pressed against a wall of heated muscled hardness. The reassurance was only fleeting, for a second later he was gone. She sensed the intent in him, a relentless hunger to slaughter that grew until it became his entire world.
“Please no!” she cried out to him, but then it was too late.
She felt their threads snapping as he took their lives by slicing their throats with claws. He tried to close himself off from her, the need to protect her paramount in him, and she also felt his need to offer them a clean death. For her. Her mind frantically touched those who did not die instantly, and her breath caught at the relief she felt in those who lay bleeding out at the notion death had come for them. And somehow, that awareness allowed them to call upon the good memories they wanted to take with them to the afterlife.
Shilah slowly disconnected from their minds without offering the quick and painless absolution of eternal sleep. Seconds later she belatedly realized she was clasped in Lachlan’s arms and in the shadow space. And in that shadow realm, she could feel at least three more people. Darkans. She hazily glanced over his shoulders to see her sister, Kamu, Thyon, and Raven running stealthily in the distance. As they ran through the endless corridors of the tunnels, more and more prisoners joined them, some keeping pace, others hobbling behind, determination burning the aura around them in a wash of bright blue.
Shilah shifted in his arms and peered up at Lachlan. “You can put me down now. I can keep up.”
He ignored her, moving so seamlessly it was as if he skimmed the ground above which he ran. She narrowed her eyes. “Lachlan Ravenswood—”
“You will preserve your strength for the coming battle.”
She tensed and peered down the endless corridors in which they ran. “Tell me of this battle?”
“In the corridor above, more than a thousand warriors are waiting for you. And more are filing in as we speak. They will attack in a wave with one goal in mind. To retrieve you, my princess.”
My princess.
Flaring her senses, she tried to find the auras. “I sense no one.”
His lips curved ever so slightly and the blood-thirst in his expression sent her heart into a hammer. “I can feel their anger and need to kill. The empire knows we are escaping. The weakest path of the dungeons is the cave wall ahead. I cannot feel an enchantment, but miles of compressed rocks are between us and freedom. And beyond those walls of rocks, a force will be waiting.”
“How many?” she asked softly.
“Thousands. You are a prize they do not wish to lose.”
She flinched and glanced back at the dozens of people trailing behind, their aura shining brighter with each step. Those who were stronger helped those who stumbled. Kamu had a young girl on his back, her legs hooked at his waist as he ran with her. They were in no state to battle a few, much less the thousand warriors ahead, and then to face the army waiting beyond. Her throat closed. Their escape would only be a temporary relief.
Their unique pathway opened. “There is a witch, Amirah, can you connect to her telepathically?”
She didn’t question why he chose this method to communicate, instinctively responding, “Yes. I can find her.” Shilah pressed the tip of her finger at the spot the witch had drawn the symbol. “She touched you here, and I can still sense the echoes of her aura. I only need to follow it.”
“Tell her to work on a spell that could possibly dampen the enchantment around the dungeons. I tried using the shadows to escape and could not. Though I cannot sense the enchantment something is preventing me. Tell her to dampen anything that could counter darkness. Inform the witch my vow to take her from the empire stands, and she must prepare.”
Shilah nodded, and delved into her mind, opening her psychic senses wide and pulsing with a blue halo. It was then she sensed the aura of the warriors waiting with such deadly intent. Pushing back the need to caution him to not run toward the danger, she centered her thoughts on finding the witch following the twisting white thread that glowed with powerful vitality until she located her.
She politely knocked on the witch’s mental barrier, not knowing the full range of her powers and not wanting to start a fight. The echoes of the witch’s hesitation vibrated down the thread, then the connection opened.
“This is Princess Shilah.”
A profound surge of relief filled Shilha’s mind.
“I thought he killed you.”
“No.”
“Did you actually control him?”
“No…I am his mate, and because of it, he cannot harm me. I am not sure how long his protective instincts will last for.”
Shock and fear blasted at her before the witch controlled her emotions. “It will last forever.”
Shilah’s heart jerked with such force she felt light-headed. Pushing aside that worry for if they made it out alive, she asked for the spell and explained of their escape and the Darkan’s promise he would come for her was still intact. The witch agreed, and she pulled from her mind. Lachlan placed her on the ground and removed the shadow space from around her, yet he remained within its confines.