Page 86 of Captured By the Monsters
SERA
If I thought saying goodbye was hard the first time, it had nothing on this. Even though I knew I would be seeing my parents and Gizmo again soon, I still felt like we were being ripped apart. The trauma of the past few days was catching up to me fast, and leaving behind my beloved cat while he howled in sadness nearly undid me.
My Trifecta helped me hunt down the second-in-command to the rebel leader and the previous leader’s successor. Both men were open to talks about creating a united front, planning to get rid of the caste systems and rebuild the nation together.
I’ll admit that at first I was uneasy around the leader’s successor. Although he claimed he was disgusted by his family’s legacy, I didn’t really trust anyone from that lineage, but my crystal gave me a nudge that I could trust him.
The man offered us a shuttle ride back down to Paratiisi, and although I would miss my parents and Gizmo, I was excited to get back and see how much more had changed.
Snuggling into Axton’s arms, I let my mind think over everything that had happened. Comfortable silence stretched between us, and in no time at all, we were back to the caves that led to The Below.
Instead of being afraid this time, I was excited. It helped that there were lights on the sides of this transport, so when we entered the caves, I could still see everything. This was yet another overlooked detail that could easily have helped remedy our fear when the Selected were first sent to The Below.
In retrospect, I assumed the leader did this on purpose, sending us in a shuttle with no lights into an unknown, black cave where we couldn’t see anything as we descended into—what we thought was—hell. Fear was his supreme means of control, even as he was getting rid of us.
The more I thought of it, the more it sickened me.
“Want me to really open this thing up and see how fast it can go?” Axton surprised me by teasing just as we started our descent in the shaft that led to Paratiisi.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” I murmured. “It should be a predetermined speed locked in, and besides…I prefer it nice and slow, thanks,” I deadpanned.
Rowen arched an eyebrow. “You hear that, guys? She wants to take it nice and slow.”
I made a face at him that contorted into laughter. “Don’t you dare! I’m still mad at you about that conversation with my parents!”
I wasn’t really mad, but I had been slightly mortified.
He leaned forward to tug a strand of my long, blonde hair. “You need to lighten up, my gem.”
Sticking my tongue out at him in response, I snuggled into Axton’s chest. No one said anything more, and I started to fidget in my seat in anticipation. When the cave finally spit us out into The Below, I sucked in a sharp breath at the wondrous landscape before me.
It was as if somebody had turned up the color. The world was painted in vibrant shades of purple, yellow, and orange, as well as some hues I’d never seen before. “This really is a paradise,” I whispered.
“And you’re its Queen,” Sylan added, smiling at me in wonder.
There was no other place in the entire world I would rather be Queen of.
Effortlessly, Axton pulled me into his chest firmly as he stood and walked out of the transport after Sylan and Rowen. They nodded to each other before taking off, making me squeal at their speed despite having felt it before. It always startled the hell out of me.
As we approached the castle, the doors were thrown open wide as Rumilus—not Specters—came pouring forth at the sight of me. They all got down on a bended knee to pledge their allegiance to me—their Queen.
“How do they know?” I whispered to my Trifecta.
“The crystal—it probably told them,” Rowen said.
“How?”
I wondered if he meant that the crystal talked to the Rumilus the way it “talked” to me.
“It probably started glowing brighter when we landed, alerting the Rumilus inside,” Rowen supplied. That explanation made way more sense.
The crystal wasn’t tied just to the land and to me—it was tied to all the Rumilus. The giant gemstone truly was a miracle. Walking past the newly transformed monsters, I stared in wonder at the castle. It was the same glittering black as before, but now in the sun’s light, it danced prisms off the landscape around us.
The castle doors were opened, and I marveled at all the light that now filled the inside. All the torches were brimming with bits of crystal that glowed with renewed life. It was truly lovely, and every torch I passed began to burn even brighter, picking up on my energy as I walked by.
Axton escorted me into the throne room, and I was stunned at how many Rumilus awaited us there. On the far side of the room, the dais in which the thrones sat now also housed the pulsing, glowing crystal behind them that used to be in the dungeons.
It was finally back in its home where it always deserved to be.
