Page 84 of The Dark Mirror

Arcturus was gone. His body was there, but it was no longer in touch with his spirit.

This was his underworld. His tomb.

Terebell came up without breathing. ‘Underqueen,’ she said, over my sobs of rage and the sepulchral roar, ‘calm yourself.’ The water reflected the glow in her eyes. ‘We are too late.’

‘He was starved,’ I forced out. Errai appeared beside her. ‘She starved him, didn’t she?’

‘Yes.’

‘Fuck.’ I hit the wall. ‘He—’ My throat scalded. ‘Help me get him out of here. Help me.’

‘There is no point,’ Errai snapped. ‘He cannot wake from that state.’

‘I don’t care!’

‘You demand that we drag a dead weight past the creatures, endangering our own lives?’

‘His spirit is in there,’ I shouted at him. ‘He was your friend, your ally. You can at least give him some fucking dignity.’ I lookedbetween them, hair plastered to my face. ‘She planted him on Capri to lure and taunt us, knowing those cold spots would open around him. She used him as bait. We can’t let her keep him. I won’t leave him in the dark again.’

‘She put him here because we had no chance of saving him. We cannot wake his spirit now,’ Terebell said, but I could tell she was caving. ‘Arcturus is lost to us. He will only—’

‘Behead him, then. But don’t abandon him here.’ My voice cracked. ‘He deserves better than this.’

We drifted for a moment, lapped by the current. Terebell cast her gaze into the water.

‘We will take him,’ she said. ‘To prevent Nashira from using him against us again.’

‘Thank you.’

They went back under. I followed. When we reached the coffin, Lucida was still there, watching over Arcturus. Terebell swam past her and broke his chains with a twist of her hands – just iron this time, no red flower. Together, the four of us lifted him to the surface.

Nashira had no right to his body. She had no right to any part of him.

Between us, we pulled Arcturus out of the cave. I stayed close to his head, trying not to look at his face. I would break if I glimpsed it again.

Bloodthirsty screeches came from above. I sensed Lesath. Not just Lesath, but a swarm of Buzzers, at least twenty of them, their dreamscapes nauseating.

‘Paige,’ a voice roared.

I turned. TheErcolewas approaching.

Terebell started towing Arcturus towards the boat. Keeping a tight hold of him, I helped as best I could, only to turn at the deafening sound of Buzzers. Lesath was hightailing it down the steps, pursued by a stampede, his arm oozing ectoplasm. Before they could overwhelm him, he dived into the sea. Now all he needed was aura.

‘Paige, over here!’

Nick was reaching for me from theErcole. I took his outstretched hand and let him pull me into the fishing boat, water streaming off my wetsuit as I stumbled up the ladder.

The first enormous Buzzer reached the bottom of the steps. It clawed the waves with an elongated arm, only to recoil, hissing. One by one, the creatures fell utterly silent, white eyes staring after us. Verca and the others were just as speechless, transfixed by the sight.

The Ranthen climbed aboard and set Arcturus down. Ignoring the others, I sank to my knees beside him and covered his gloved fingers with mine, desperately searching for any sign of awareness. Tears mingled with the sweat on my face, the blood trickling from my brow.

It couldn’t be real.

He couldn’t be gone.

My hearing was muffled. I whispered his name as a darkness stole in, and I slumped on to the deck beside him, my head on his shoulder, one hand wrapped around his arm like a vice.

The last thing I saw were the stars above Capri.

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