Page 67 of The War of Wings
Chapter 26
Petra
Un-fucking-believable. Not one of them had it in them to lay a hand on me in the name of protecting the realm?
“Don’t move.” Katia’s words were spoken slowly, pulling me from my annoyance and sending a chill up my spine. Her voice was low and trembling in the pitch black. “Petra, donotmove.”
I took stock of my senses, sinking into the familiar feeling of inhabiting a bodiless form in the Darkness Beyond. I heard the familiar sound of the Occulti’s chittering and hissing. Familiar, but…
They hadn’t been here when I’d visited Katia and Rhedros before.
“He has guards here now,” Katia said slowly, each word spoken softly, almost like she was trying to make them blend into the background noise.
“Guards?” I asked as quietly as I could.
“Demons patrolling,” she answered slowly. “He knows you’ve found us here.”
I swallowed hard, wincing when one of the eerie screeches seemed to come close and then speed away. “They don’t see me?” I asked carefully.
“We don’t know,” Rhedros answered, and something inside me relaxed at the sound of his voice.
I took a steadying breath. My entire being buzzed with questions and adrenaline in a combination that made my invisible body feel taut as a bowstring.
“We found Noros,” I whispered.
I couldn’t tell amid the noises, but it sounded like Katia let out a quiet sob. “That’s wonderful,” she said finally. Maybe it was the snapping talons and skittering sounds, but it sounded like there was something souring her joyous tone. Just a little, just enough to notice. Like she had to force the words out because maybe, they weren’t completely true.
“We never wanted Malosym to find you,” Rhedros whispered.
“I’m going to free you,” I said carefully.
“No,” Rhedros breathed.
I felt like the rug had been pulled from beneath me. “No? What do you meanno?”
“It is far too dangerous for you. Do not come for us. Not anymore.” His voice was urgent, a tone of desperation beneath its rippled surface.
“I don’t understand, I thought–”
“Stay with Noros,” Katia cut in, her tone just as hurried as Rhedros’.
“Will he have answers?” I held my breath as another noise came and went, but there was no answer from either Keeper. “I’m going to get you out of–”
I was cut off by the sound of Katia’s gasp followed by Rhedros’ scream of horror. “Get off of her!” he bellowed. “Petra, get out of here!”
I was frozen, listening in horror as their screams filled the void. I wanted to move, wanted to call out, but the words stuck in my throat as I stared into the darkness. Rhedros screamed out in pain, the sound rattling through my body.
“Petra,” Cal’s muffled voice cut through the darkness.No.Not yet.
But consciousness was yanking me backward, like a wave receding back into the ocean. “I’ll get you out of here!” I roared, hoping they heard me.
???
I shot straight up, my ears ringing as I gasped for breath. The back of my head ached. It felt like parts of my mind were still making their way back over the barrier, and I fought to distinguish what I was seeing from the world I’d been in just moments ago.
As soon as my eyes opened, Cal’s palms were on my cheeks, his eyes scanning mine. “Don’t you dare do that again, Petra,” he fumed, anger in his words but fear in his gaze. “Promise me.”
“I’ll make no such promise. You better hit me next time,” I mumbled, squinting in the daylight that streamed through the window. “The Occulti are there,” I breathed, my lungs burning as I fought to even my breathing. Cal’s face slackened, his scolding put on hold until later. Miles and Tyrak were crouched at my sides, Miles’ face hardened while Tyrak’s was desperate. “They weren’t there before, and now they are. Katia and Rhedros are being guarded. Malosym knows I’ve been communicating with them. Can the Occulti kill Katia and Rhedros?”
