Page 154 of Golden Queen
"You should stay here, Sera. I don't know what's going on out there."
"I can help," I said, not wanting him to go out while I was stuck there with no idea what was happening.
"I know that darling. But I would feel better if you stayed out of harm's way until you got those cuffs off."
I expected to bristle at his protectiveness, but I knew he was right. I was next to useless against anything but a human foe.
I nodded and went to find a rag to clean his face.
I hurriedly wiped at the dried blood, scrubbing it off as he watched me with an amused expression. When I was done, I handed him his coat. "Be careful," I said, pulling him down to kiss him.
He cradled the back of my head as he returned the kiss. "You know I will."
And then he was gone, and I closed and locked the door behind him.
I cleaned myself up and finished dressing, before pulling on my boots, just in case. I stood and paced the room, listening for the sound of screaming or any kind of movement from the brothel below.
Everything was deathly quiet.
I gave up waiting after an hour, deciding that even Io would not expect me to be so patient.
I grabbed my sword and crept down the stairs, hearing nothing but a large ticking clock and the creak of the stairs under my feet.
It was still a couple of hours before dawn. The taproom should not be empty in a place where people drank and whored all hours of the night.
I stepped into the abandoned room and saw a large smear of blood across the floor. It looked as though a body had been dragged through the taproom. Several bodies, I corrected, as I saw more and more trails of blood—huge, dark smears that all met the central mess leading out the open door of the brothel.
I walked to the front, my heart pounding out a rhythm in my chest. I stepped out, trying to avoid the bulk of the red as I looked for some sign of Io or the bodies that had apparently been dragged away.
There was a deep, bloody channel in the waist deep snow. Several tracks followed alongside it running off into the distance.
I trudged back into the brothel and closed the door, frustrated. I checked for anyone left inside the building, anyone who might know what happened. There was no one in the taproom, the offices, or the rooms upstairs. The entire place was deserted.
It made no sense. There was no way a commotion could have emptied the entire brothel without us hearing—unless we had been so wrapped up in each other's screams we didn't hear the ones of the dying people around us.
I hoped that was not the case as I checked the last room. It ended up being another office, so I went back to the door and stepped outside again.
The night was bright. The snow reflected the moon and starlight to unnaturally lighten the world.
I began to follow the tracks of the three mages. They led to the edge of a spruce forest. The tall trees were shrouded in heavy snow that weighed down their branches, giving them a disturbed and mangled look.
Inside the trees, the snow was less, and it was easier going. I trudged through, pushing back the pine boughs from my face.
I heard a rustle and stopped, turning. Something darted by. I pulled my sword from the scabbard slung over my shoulder.
A rabbit, I realized. It frantically zig-zagged, startled by my appearance, and then disappeared under the low branches of an enormous pine.
I relaxed my shoulders, chuckling, and started to sheath my sword.
But then I heard a hissing sound behind me. It was soft, grating, familiar.
I turned, keeping my sword out in front of me. Several dark human-shaped creatures stood, their backs against the edge of the trees. Massive, ruined wings rose behind them, looking charred and burnt.
"The blood," one hissed.
"We can smell it," another said.
"Blood opens the gate," said a third.
