Page 65 of The Bones of the Cursed

Hope to see you soon, lollipop.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve cried in my life. The last time was when my sister married the love of her life and my friendship with Kailu strained seemingly beyond repair. That was well over a decade ago now. Alanis’s letter brings tears to my eyes, though I don’t let them fall. She believes she is expendable, that if she is lost, it won’t be as painful for those who care about her.

Kailu stands on the other side of the kitchen island, watching intently.

“We need to get shit packed and horses ready,” I say and shove the note into his hand.

After he reads it, he looks up at me, eyes watery fromAlanis’s words. His mouth setting in an expression of fierce determination, one that reminds me of how we worked together in the past. We’ll prepare everything for the journey, just like we used to do growing up. My best friend, the one I haven’t seen in many years, who I thought I lost when my sister broke his heart, looks at me like he used to.

Like we are a team.

“Just like old times?” I give him a grim smile.

He smirks. “Like old times. Now, let’s go get our girl.”

We make it to the stables in record time after packing up necessities and weapons. We decided it would be best to leave the others out of this mission, unless we need backup. I gave the stable-hand a note to deliver to Siveral and another for my father. I’m just about to mount my horse when a massive pull on my chest causes me to halt abruptly.

“Mal, you all right?”

Scrabbling at the saddle I gasp for breath, as if someone punched me in the gut. Atlas shifts nervously beside me as I look to Kailu with wide eyes.

“What! Malakai, what is it?” Kailu’s voice raises in alarm.

“I don’t feel her anymore.” I can feel the tears building, creating a pressure headache behind my eyes. I look at Kailu through blurry eyes. “Kailu, I don’tfeelher. She’s gone.”

My body trembles in fear. Breathing becomes difficult, and if it weren’t for Kailu supporting my weight, I would fall to my knees. Nausea roils in my gut, this sickness one that cannot be healed with medicine.

She’s gone.

25

- ALANIS -

THROUGH THE PORTAL

My body slams onto a cold, concrete floor. It takes me a moment to gather my breath, for stars to stop swirling in my vision.

Groaning, I sit up and take in my surroundings. I’m in the center of a room with multiple passageways leading into darkness. The stone walls glisten with dampness, and the sound of dripping water echoes from one of the corridors. The most worrisome thing about this room is the piles and piles of bones littering the floor. Based on the number of skulls, my quick guess is there are at least ten bodies in here alone, leaving me feeling uneasy about what else I’m going to find.

Standing, I peer down the four passageways I could take, all of them dark and damp. The one on the left has a faint light flickering just around the bend, and the trickle of water echoes out of the one on the right. The one in the center stands eerily silent and dark. The only passage behind me slopes slightly downward, as if descending deeper underground. By the smell seeping out of that tunnel, my best guess would be it leads to the sewers of whatever building this is.

I have no clue where this portal dropped me, but one of thesepassages may lead me to my brother. I contemplate the three choices before me. I have no desire to have a run-in with any ghouls, or Iclas. The faint light at the end of the hallway on the left gives me pause. It could be a sign that the inhabitants of wherever I am are down there.

It leaves me with two options.

The middle archway is so silent that it makes me uncomfortable. The other simply boasts the sound of water. The prisoners could be down either path. Taking a deep breath, I follow the sound of dripping.

The further I walk, the colder the air becomes, so cold that my breath clouds in front of me. The hallway turns abruptly to the right and I stop, coming face to face with a large iron door. There’s no way to see what’s beyond it, not even a little window. It could be a room or it could be another passageway. I look around for something I can use to pick the lock and find absolutely nothing but smooth, damp stone.

Taking a deep breath, I try to slow my racing mind. I have an idea, though it’s not one I’m excited about. But it just may be crazy enough to work. I return to the antechamber, examining the piles of bones. Each pile looks to be an entire skeleton. One skull is clearly human, which terrifies me. A few other piles of bones are definitely Fae. Long, sharp canine teeth scatter the floor, as if they were forcibly removed from their owner’s mouth. I swallow the bile racing up my throat.

I say a quick prayer and grab one of the elongated teeth. The lock is an old one, so I twist and turn the tooth inside, feeling out the locking mechanism but I can’t seem to get it to turn over. The tooth isn’t quite long enough. I brush a strand of hair off my sweaty forehead, cursing under my breath. My daggers won’t work, either. They’re too thick to fit into the narrow lock.

And then a whispered conversation with Malakai about magical locks pops into my head. From past experience, thereis a good chance magic runs in my veins, though I still need a pattern to open the door. If Iclas created this lock, it could be anything. I run my fingers over the lock in the shape of a skull. He seems to be oddly obsessed with collecting skeletons.

Nothing.

I try the royal crest, three lines representing three swords and a circle in the center to represent the Gods.

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