Page 71 of Treasured

The moonstone was in the middle of an icy cavern. Our prize was encased in a column of pure translucent ice. The vibrant light illuminated each individual layer of ice. It was like looking into a deep, clear-water pool. There were stones embedded in the ice, each as large as a person. They were colorful and…

I cried out.

They weren’t stones.

This wasn’t just a passage.

It was a graveyard.

Now that I realized what I was looking at, I could make out frozen faces looking back at me from the ice. Mouths open wide, eyes bulging, fangs gleaming.

People caught in their death throes, forever frozen.

“Oh gods,” I whispered, stumbling back a step. “What are… In the ice… it’s…”

I spun in a circle. Dozens of bodies were entombed in the walls. Death was everywhere in this place.

Bile rose in my throat, and I whimpered.

“They’re long dead,” Sebastian said grimly, tucking my head against his tunic. It was a kind gesture, but it was too late for that. The sight was already seared in my mind. “The Forgotten Passage has a history of making people disappear. Stories speak of humans and vampires walking into this place and getting lost, never to be seen again.”

“I think it’s safe to say we found them.” Shivers ran up and down my spine in a continuous circuit. “Can we get out of here? This place is creepy.”

I would be more than happy never to visit another icy graveyard in my life.

Sebastian nodded. “Absolutely. Once we get the moonstone, we can leave. You’ll Sunwalk, and then we’ll return to the abbey.”

It was a simple plan, but it calmed me. Having steps to work through always made me feel better.

“Alright.” I nodded. “We can do that.”

Short and simple, this plan was to the point. I couldn’t think further than that. If I spent too much time thinking about our end goals—waking up Marius, breaking Sebastian’s bond with the queen, determining exactly how the harbinger, Sunwalker, and the Wielder of Shadows worked, figuring out soul sharing, and killing the queen—I would become overwhelmed to the point of being unable to function. Small steps were feasible and often easier to deal with.

Inhaling, I squared my shoulders. The sooner we got this over with, the better. Ignoring the bodies in the wall, I tightened my grip on my shadow dagger and approached the central column. The weapon was a heavy, comforting presence in my hand. I wasn’t great with the blade, having never been trained to use anything remotely close to this, but for the first time, I was beginning to understand why people armed themselves willingly.

There was a certain sense of security in knowing I could defend myself if necessary with more than just my vampiric body. I liked the idea of holding my own against someone if needed. People were always trying to kill me. It was rather exhausting.

The closer I got to the moonstone, the thicker the air became. Breathing became increasingly difficult, and then, the air rippled. My skin tingled, and magic crawled over us. It was like crossing the queen’s wards, but different. My mother-in-law’s magic was dark, throbbing, and intrusive. Sebastian’s magic was also dark and held a warning of power to it, but it never made my skin crawl.

This ancient magic was neither of those things. It made my shadows pulse with warning.

“Do you feel that, Sebastian?” I wasn’t sure why I was whispering—it wasn’t like the bodies encased in ice could hear us—but it felt appropriate.

He grunted a “yes.” He took my elbow and drew me near, lowering his voice. “We need to be careful. The moonstone could have several protections around it.”

Keeping one hand on the satchel, I circled the column slowly. The air was as thick as molasses here, and magic bore down on me. Every single step took more effort than the last. If I’d still been mortal, I was fairly certain I wouldn’t have been able to move at all.

Reaching out, I touched the ice.

The scarlet light flashed, pulsing like a beating heart.

I withdrew my hand immediately. “Is that supposed to happen?”

“I don’t know.” Sebastian’s hand landed on my hip, and he tugged me against him. “This magic isn’t natural. Let me do it.”

For once, I did not argue. Something about this cave—probably the bodies encased in ice—made me want to turn tail and leave as fast as I could.

Forming a dagger out of his shadows, Sebastian pressed it against the ice. He held the hilt tightly, using his fist as a hammer as he slowly chipped into the column. My heart pounded, and I gripped my dagger as he worked.

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