Page 20 of Wicked Warlock
“I’m already dead.” She shrugged and marched over to the door, waiting for us.
“That’s not funny, Ash.”
“I wasn’t laughing, Kylian.” She placed her hand on the door and examined the markings in the middle of it. “Besides, I’m a Knight. It’s my job to protect one of our Queens.”
They started bickering in a language I didn’t understand as Logan helped Nova and Beckett to their feet. When I glanced back toward the lava, I took a small step back. All of them were distracted and not paying attention. They thought we were safe on this stupid platform… We sure as shit were not.
“Um, guys?” I took another step back.
They all continued with their conversations, not listening to me. “GUYS!”
“What the shit?” Soto darted for the door and began shoving her little body against it. “I didn’t come from eternal wasteland to die in fire slime.”
The lava began to steadily rise up toward the edge of the platform. It rose up over the corner, and we all turned toward the door at the same time, rushing toward it. I looked for a knob but there was nothing.
“No door knob.” My voice rose with panic.
“It’s some sort of puzzle.” Ashryn’s voice was so calm, so steady. Like lava wasn’t about to be at our feet.
When I looked at the center of the door, there was a circle of sliding pieces that could move left to right or up and down. Each piece had to be moved so that another could fit in the right position. They couldn’t be pulled out, only slid around.
“Well, what the hell is it?” How were we supposed to figure out what it was if there was nothing to go by? To me, it looked like a lot of pieces of rock in all different shapes that didn’t go together at all. Ashryn slid a piece to the side that made no sense at all.
“Move.” I hadn’t been an only child with an absentee parent for so long without doing my fair share of puzzles. I stepped in front of her and started sliding the pieces around. I didn’t know why I felt like it should be a circle, but I pushed them around trying to connect the edges.
“Try this.” Kylian pushed a piece out of place, and I smacked his hand.
“Only help. Don’t mess it up.” Sweat beaded my forehead, and I felt the heat of the lava on my back.
I slid three more pieces into place and the picture started to form. “I know what it is.”
“What?” Logan’s calming power flowed over me, and I felt like I could do anything at that exact second.
“It’s Hades’ helmet.” Four more pieces slid into place, forming a perfect picture of Hades’ famed helmet. The sound of metal whirring filled the air and the latch on the door slid to the side. I shoved my shoulder into it… Nothing.
“Everyone, on the count of three.” They were all pressed up against me so closely their body heat made this little bit of ground unbearable. “One… two… three.”
We all shoved at once and the door flew open. My body tumbled forward into a blinding green light and then the door slammed behind us. I had no idea what the hell was going to happen next.
Chapter 7
Nova
“Oh, shit.” I looked up at the swirling green tornado of souls protecting a single key that stood in the middle of the room.
Their wailing cries filled the room, and I felt myself take a step back against the warm door. I could feel their pulsing energy like it was my own racing heartbeat. Their ghostly bodies stretched and pulled as they twisted with the vicious turning of the tornado. Thousands of faces held looks of loss and sadness, as though this life wasn’t what they’d bargained for.
“Nova, what is this place?” Astrid whispered and pressed up against the wall beside me. The others followed suit, and we stood in a row all pressed to the stones behind us.
“Wind of the damned.” I didn’t want to be near this place. It felt like sticky goo on my skin and caused a hard buzzing in the back of my mind that gave me a headache.
“What does that even mean?” Astrid hissed. “Are we damned?”
“No.” I sucked in a deep breath and stepped in, closer to the tornado. I held out my hand and felt their energy pass over my skin like dipping my hand in warm water. “They’re the souls with unfinished business but have been banned from roaming the earth. They have no place to go.”
“So what do we do?” Kylian leaned forward and caught my eye. “Do we walk through and grab the key? Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to find out if that thin-ass door will hold against a room full of lava.”
“Just give me a minute to think.” How did one help the dead who didn’t want to move on but were forced to move on, yet continued to try and fight their way back to the world of the living?
