Page 42 of Storm of Fury
“Long story,” Tormund muttered over Bryn’s shoulder. “And not enough time to tell it. We have to break you out of here before someone finds those guards.”
A rumble groaned through the walls.
It had been happening for some time now, though this was the first shiver that made the ground beneath her heels vibrate.
Marduk looked up as though sensing something they couldn’t. “The Earth is angry,” he murmured. “I can feel the Fire swirling in her belly as though she longs to belch it.”
Drekicould sense the elements in a way other preternaturals couldn’t.
“Sounds like it’s well and truly time to get out of here.” Haakon hauled the pack from his back and dragged a thin rope from it. “Can you climb?”
Marduk snorted as Haakon tossed the rope into the pit. “The day I need such mortal help is the day they sing my spirits into the wind.”
“Oh, he’s definitely related to King Rurik,” Tormund muttered.
Marduk took two steps and launched himself at the sheer walls of the pit. Finding a tiny crevice in the rockwork, he hauled himself up, shoulders straining.
“If you could have climbed that,” Tormund said as Marduk hauled himself over the lip, “then why the hell were you sitting down there, waiting to be rescued like some damsel?”
“Damsel?” Bryn’s head snapped up. “Do you think women sit around waiting to be rescued?”
“Poor choice of words.”
She scowled at Tormund.
Marduk looked back into the pit. “Because its closer toher. I can sense her through the rock walls and communicate with her through the bars, and I think she very desperately needed me to be close to her last night.”
Bryn exchanged a glance with Tormund. “Her?”
Tormund grinned as if he’d noticed her gaze sliding over the half-naked prince. “Taken,” he mouthed back.
She rolled her eyes.
“Besides”—Marduk strode toward the cell door—“the lock is warded against my kind. I cannot even touch the iron of the door without searing off my flesh. So there was no point trying to wrench it open. And I could hear the three of you arguing through the mountain. I was curious as to why a trio of foolish mortals would dare enter Zorja Ravenspire’s territories.”
Another groan echoed through the stone walls. She could hear gravel shivering down rock walls as the earth shifted again. “As lovely as it is to finally meet you, my prince, is there any chance we can get out of here before these mountains collapse on our head?”
“An excellent suggestion,” Haakon said grimly, gesturing her to lead. “Is there any chance you can shift forms and carry us out of here, my prince?”
“I can,” Marduk replied, “but I’m not going anywhere. I can’t leave. Not whilst my sister is trapped inside these cells.”
“Your sister?” Haakon demanded sharply.
“Not Árdís.” Marduk turned back into the darkness. “My other sister, Ishtar.”
Tormund met Haakon’s eyes. “I’m beginning to wonder if your wife has fully explained her family tree. I thought there was only the three of them?”
“Thereareonly three of them.”
“Long story,” the prince called. “I’ll tell you on the way. Bring your magical key, my lady love. We’re going to rescue the princess.”
The tunnel walls were shaking.
“We have no time!” Haakon snapped.
“I’m not going anywhere without her,” Marduk shot back, vanishing into the darkness.
Bryn shrugged at Tormund. “Unless you want to climb a few thousand stairs with an unconsciousdrekiprince thrown over our shoulders, we don’t have much of a choice.”
