Page 17 of Vicious Is My Throne

And if the castle was overtaken, we had nowhere to go.

But right before we reached Nightcairn—close enough I made out the candles burning in the castle’s windows—the blight stopped, as if some invisible wall kept that unstoppable darkness at bay.

Tristan set us down in a puddle of water and I splashed down, Zor more or less crumpling into a heap at my feet.

“Go get them and bring them back.” I ran my hand down Tristan’s sinuous neck. “Be safe and come back quickly.” He purred again, the sound rumbling through my palm and straight into my heart, then I slung my arm around Zorander’s waist and heaved him up.

We stumbled into the hollow, empty entryway as the booms from Tristan’s wings were still echoing off the front of the castle. I watched long enough for the wyvern to clear the trees, then limped into the front hall, so empty I wondered if Lucius and Dane had abandoned this place.

“Lucius? Dane?” Zor’s feet dragged with every step, his body shaking from cold or whatever horrors lingered from Corvus’s blackness. I remembered the twisted thoughts I’d had from his corrosive magic, the dark malevolent dreams that still haunted me.

“Please, is there anyone here?” My voice rang down the dark, empty hall. “Please help us.”

“Anaria?” Dane stepped into the hall, nothing more than a shadow marked by glowing green eyes. “How did you get here? How did you get past the infestation?” His eyes dipped to Zorander and widened. “He got into the darkness, didn’t he?” Dane hurried forward to help, taking on Zorander’s weight with a groan.

“Him and Raz and Tristan. We were able to wake them up”—I didn’t say how—“but they’re half frozen and stuck in some kind of fog. We need to get Zor warm. Tristan went back for Tavion and Raz.”

Dane stumbled. “How far away are they?”

“Five miles, according to Tavion. Beside the stream that cuts across the road.”

Dane’s quiet, bitter laugh sent a shiver through me. “We’re cut off, then. Only one way out of here now. Two, if you were foolish enough to take the high trail through the passes in this weather,” Dane murmured, and that quickly, any illusion of escape fell away.

“I’ll put him in the front sitting room. Go find some wood so I can start a fire.”

I dumped my extra leathers and weapons on the kitchen counter and found wood stored near the pantry. Only a few sticks but enough to warm a small room.

“Where is Lucius?” I dumped the firewood in front of the fireplace then stacked them in the grate like Raziel had shown me, calculating how long until Tristan returned. Outside, rain lashed the windows with a fury usually reserved for a spring storm.

“Same as Zor. My brother’s been unconscious for days now. When he does wake, he’s like this.” Dane jerked his head at Zor, watching us through hazy, slitted eyes. “Groggy. Half stuck in a nightmare.”

“He got into the…infestation?” Maybe it was better Dane didn’t know the source of this right now.

“Yes. Two…no, three days ago, when the darkness first appeared. Lucius noticed something was wrong and went to patrol the forest. He never returned. I found him in the woods half frozen to death. He’d dragged himself out of the darkness, but he’d been inside those shadows for too long.”

Three days.

And the hunter had discovered the blight high in the mountains only a week ago.

There was no doubt Corvus was heading straight for Blackcastle. Only the ancient wards around Nightcairn kept the castle safe, but for how long? Would he send those horrid Night Crawlers after us if his blight failed to breach the wards?

Or Reapers? Or had he made something even worse?

I pondered this, tucking the layers of cloaks tighter around Zor as Dane lit the fire. The heat hit my face, igniting my burned, blistered cheek numbed from the cold.

“I’ll head out front and wait for Tristan.” I forced my battered, exhausted body upright. “I’ll try to find more firewood, but we might need your help getting Tristan inside.”

“Don’t worry. When you call, I’ll come running, Princess.” Dane’s lip curled up in that perpetual Montgomery sneer, but his eyes burned fiercely.

“Or should I say Your Majesty?”

This landing was a sloppy twist of legs and tail, an exhausted Tristan crashing down, his legs folding like stems of grass, body slamming against the laid stone road in front of Nightcairn with enough force to rattle the windows. Only Tavion’s iron grip on both Raziel and the wyvern’s spikes kept them both seated.

“Get Raz in the house. Dane has a fire going in the sitting room.” I could barely get the words out as I crouched beside the wyvern, his bleary eyes half-open.

“I’ll come back for you.” Tavion slid Raz off and looped his arm around his waist. “Once I get him settled in front of the fire. He’s frozen clean through.” Tavion hesitated, rain dripping from his hair, his clothing soaked.

“Go. Get him inside.” I glanced to the wide-open door. “I’ve got this.”

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