Page 73 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

Lennox shifted again, moving to sit up.

I banded an arm around her waist and took one of her hands in mine as I helped her stand.

Lennox looked around. “How did you get here?”

“Yeah,” Kara and Luce echoed. “It took us a long time to find our way here, you made it here only minutes after I told Nico Lennox was hurt.”

“You told Nico I was hurt?”

“Luka made him ask about you.”

“Our connection quieted. I couldn’t hear you or sense you at all. I knew something was wrong, I had Nico confirm it. Once I knew you were hurt, I somehow made my way here.” I scrubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “I can’t explain it, but I knew where to go and before I knew it I was here.”

“Interesting.” Luciana mused as she flipped her braids over her shoulders. “Well, I guess you’re stuck with us now, vampire. Ready for another adventure?”

Luciana gestured behind her, my mouth falling open at the hole in the wall that hadn’t been there before. A smile curved up the witch heir’s face. “Because we passed the next test.”

29

LUCIANA

I stared at the opening in the stones where there once was a wall. A wall Luka had sat against holding a limp Lennox in his arms as I healed her.

But no, my eyes were not deceiving me, there was magic in these tunnels that revealed the opening.

“Whoa,” Kara breathed. “Looks like your research was correct.

The research hadn’t been detailed about the trials we’d have to face to get to the center of the labyrinth, to Astria’s chamber, but I hadn’t been anticipating a fight against the beasts to be part of it. Kara looked relieved at the opening, but I was certain this was not the end of our trials. All of the texts I found recorded there were several trials we would have to face. We found the cave and fought off the beasts, but there would likely be one more task for us to complete before we would be able to leave with the spellbook.

“We still need to be careful,” I told the group. “There will likely be more traps for us to avoid.”

“Luka and I should go first,” Lennox offered. I was ready to argue against her and by the looks of it, Luka was too. Lennox had been knocked unconscious by beasts after all, but shesummoned a ball of fire to her palm before I could say a word. “You’ll need us to light the way.”

“Fine.” I sighed, looking at Luka. “But you stay by her side.” I shifted my attention to Lennox. “You just underwent major healing, there’s no way to know if your body is back to normal yet.”

She opened her mouth to argue but closed it. “Fine,” she conceded.

Her and the vampire prince turned toward the opening, Luka’s hand resting on the small of her back as he led her through, and Kara and I followed behind.

We entered the dark chamber, the only light coming from Lennox and Luka’s flames.

“There are torches.” Kara’s voice pierced through the darkness as she approached the outer wall, brushing her fingers over the wooden handles. “Lennox, can you light them?”

Lennox shifted her fingers, but Luka stopped her with a hand on hers. She glared at him, but he gave her a soft smile. “Let me, we don’t know if you need to save your energy.”

Lennox sighed deeply, crossing her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

I rolled my eyes at the two of them, shifting my attention back to the room as Luka’s magic lit the torches lining the chamber.

The space looked eerily like a tomb. The chamber wasn’t circular like I had first thought, but more of an octagon, with the room coming into points at various junctions. Where we were standing was the highest point of the room. Steep stairs made of a deep red stone led into a bowl, where a dais sat at the center, where Astria and Hecate had conducted the ritual to return Astria to the sky, I assumed.

Drawings and words in an ancient language were painted and etched into the walls. I ran my fingers over the indentations.

“What language is this?” Lennox asked.

“It’s the ancient words of the witches,” I breathed. “Witchesused it initially after their creation to keep their stories to themselves. It died out after a hundred years or so.” I read about the ancient language many times. It was the witch’s attempt to keep their stories and spells a secret.

“Can you read it?” Kara looked over my shoulder.

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