I cursed, my voice echoing off the walls, and then I threw my knife across the room. It landed with a clatter that could’ve woken the dead. As I stared around the chamber, chills crept up my spine. Dim light shone from bulbs in the ceiling, illuminating the walls, which were composed of human skeletal remains—neatly stacked—as if they were bricks. While some rows were made of leg bones, the middle and topmost rows were built with skulls.
What sort of forsaken country had I come to?
Maveryck stirred, placing a hand on his forehead where blood matted his long brown hair. Anger sparked inside me as he rose onto his elbows. He’d gotten me into this mess. If he’d done his job and stolen the staff like a proper thief, we wouldn’t be in this situation. As it was, we were stuck in this awful dungeon, and the staff was gone.
It took a great deal of self-control not to slap him as he focused on me.
“Where… is the staff?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.
“Gone,” I answered as I crossed my arms, hoping he saw my displeasure. “The beast took it and disappeared. Our quest to retrieve the staff has failed.”
He exhaled a long sigh as he rubbed his forehead. “Where are we?”
“I have no idea.”
He glanced around the room, his face revealing no emotion as he stared at the human remains stacked in neat rows along the walls, and then he looked at the strange bulbs glowing overhead. “We are in Earth Kingdom, most likely,” he said. “Where is Grace?”
“Your wolf? She was on land when I last saw her. I doubt she made it through the portal.”
He sighed. “I’m sure she is fine,” he mumbled to himself.
“Are you well enough to walk?” I asked. “We’ll have to escape this place and then somehow find the staff, if that’s at all possible.”
He looked at me, his eyes dark and brooding. Maveryck was a man I did not understand. He had too many secrets and he wielded magic—in my experience, those two traits created a deadly combination. Despite being handpicked by the sky king to retrieve the lost staff, he’d proven himself to be a poor thief. He was also far too pretty to be a practical fighter—his eyes were a deep silver with flecks of amethyst, and his full, seductive lips seemed to hold back a secret. While his appearance was almost pretty, he was also entirely male, and I had no doubt he could fight if he put in the effort, which he didn’t.
Although his ears looked human, he had the appearance of elven royalty with his squared jaw and high cheekbones. His refined clothing with jewels on his cuffs and collar, coupled with his long locks of dark hair and flawless, bronzed skin, made his pretty appearance borderline gorgeous.
“I blame this on you, thief.” I thrust my finger in his chest. “If you’d performed as the professional you claim to be, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Might I remind you that I stole the staff without a single mishap? It wasn’t until we escaped the silverwitch’s castle that we were attacked. Truthfully, we’re lucky to be alive. Most who encounter a transformed goblin wraith don’t escape with their lives.”
“I fail to see how we’re lucky. We’re trapped in an unfamiliar world with no way of returning home. The staff is gone, and I have a suspicion that if we find it, we will not live long enough to return it to the sky king.”
He gave me a condescending smile. “Perhaps you will not live long enough,” he said as he stood, and without further explanation, he limped away from me and down a narrow hallway. I hesitated before following him. Navigating alone through a tomb like this would be suicide, so I reluctantly trailed him, barely keeping my temper in check.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
“To find a way out of here.”
“What then?” I asked. “Where will we go? How will we find the staff? How will we return home? Have you the magic to create portals?”
He rounded on me, his jaw clenched. “First, and listen very clearly, I’m not in the habit of answering questions—not from you or anyone else. Second, I’m not your friend, nor am I trying to help you. For the time being, we share the same goal, so I will work with you in order to bring the staff back. After that, our partnership will be dissolved. I’ve never lost an object before, and it won’t happen now. If you impede me in any way, I will aid you no more.”
“Have you forgotten who my brother is? Should you return to Faythander without me, what do you think the king will do to you?”
“I don’t care.”
“You might care when you’re rotting in the Wult dungeons.”
“I doubt he would throw me in the dungeons for leaving you. In all honesty, I believe he would reward me.”
Now he’d pushed too far. I’d had an ill feeling about this man from the moment I’d met him, and I would tolerate his superior attitude no more. I shoved him against the wall, pressing the weight of my body against him, making the stacks of skeletal remains rattle behind us.
“Enough,” I hissed. “I will not tolerate being spoken to in such a manner.”
Instead of shying away as I expected, he clamped my wrists in his hands. He used no magic, but the calculated look he gave me sent shivers down my spine. “And I,” he said, “will also not tolerate being spoken to in such a manner.”
Fear made my heart beat wildly. Who is this man? It was at that moment I realized how very little I knew about him. Where did he come from? Where did he live? Who were his kin? His gaze locked with mine, and sparks of purple danced in the gray of his irises. I knew he possessed magic, but he’d led me to believe his powers were limited. Had
