Page 13 of The Nightbound Soldier

My plan was to summon the general while safely inside the cage, where he can’t reach me. I wanted to ask him about Evie and forbid him from placing my friends under his compulsion. Which he shouldn’t have been able to do, since Evie, like me, has been bred from the finest fae stock and as such is powerful.

A notturno shouldn’t be able to manipulate a powerful fairy.

I’ve never met one who could manipulate me. And I’ve never met a male who could resist my magic either. This notturno resisted, so I must know who he is and how he’s doing it.But you know what they say about curiosity?the rational, scared-shitless part of my brain supplies.

Yup, but I must discover what he’s up to undetected. Besides, I’m no coward. I’m just a fairy walking in the dark.

Quietly. Ever so quietly, because notturnos hear as well as, if not better than us, I tiptoe down the hallway, passing several cells with prisoners inside who are indeed still sleeping. It all appears normal, until I reach an unlocked cage. I press a hand over my mouth so I don’t gasp, fear making my heart race.

This block holds ruthless creatures, dangerous males sentenced to spend their long lives down here. Some have even been transferred into the care of my family’s magical powers since the dungeons were built long ago.

The lack of iron on the bars of this open cell tells me the male inside wasn’t a fairy. I would bet my entire cruise ship line it was a notturno. Has the one they call the general been released? Has he been here all along? If so, we must return him immediately!

I keep walking and hit the end of the hall. Right or left? I look each way.

On the left are the older cell blocks with gates that swing open, and on the right are the newer blocks with sliding gates which remain closed. This tells me that the prisoners from the older cell blocks have been released.

But not all. Only some.

I venture down the left block, suppressing my magic. It feels like an itch under my skin. I want to call the males to me and put them back in their cells, but it’s risky. They could be so hungry that instead of returning to the cells, they’d want to feed on me.

Thing is, there doesn’t seem to be anyone awake and the guards have all vanished.

I’ve come all this way, and I’m not going back now. I must know what’s happening down here. If I call for help, I’ll never find out. Either the general will end me or end whatever he’s doing. And I’m certain it’s him, the same notturno I met last night.

Before I round the corner, I hear something. I stop to listen, trying to quiet my racing heart. But I can’t, so I listen past the thumping in my ears.

A shuffling of bare feet.

And humming.

Confused, I poke my head around the corner.

Guards stand facing the iron bars and away from the path the prisoners are slowly walking down, their feet shuffling, unaccustomed to movement. Some of them are skeletons dressed in tattered, ancient clothes, starved notturnos awoken from a deep slumber of who knows how many centuries. In a neat line, they’re moving toward the shadow portal emerging on the wall of a long, dead-end hallway.

Our guards, with their minds swimming inside a notturno’s compulsion, are humming one of the Br’ar songs from the lycan lands. In this version of the song, the infamous siren named Br’ar lured in a lycan Alpha, who, after spending three millennia servicing her as a lover, slew her and escaped her grip to become a legendary vampire general named Nottuza.

Wait, what?

That sounds wrong.

Lycan Br’ar songs don’t mention vampires.

He’s in my head!

I hear chuckling and turn to see the notturno from last night leaning against the bars of the cell right behind me. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out.

He presses an elegant, clawed finger over his lips and says, “Shhh, my flower, you’ll wake the hungry undead.”

7

FLEUR

The vampire I’ve been looking for stands before me dressed in last night’s clothes. Except now, dust clings to his black-on-black outfit, and his mussed hair has fallen out of its tightly combed high ponytail. An arrogant smirk and a lazy perusal of my figure tells me he expects to get away with sleeping in the dungeons, stealing prisoners, manipulating our guards, and intruding on my thoughts.

He most certainly will not.

I release my magic and instantly hear the footsteps of the vampires halt. The dungeon guards fall silent.

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