Page 222 of Anathema

“Then, I am selfish.”

“And Rykaia? You could watch her perish, as well?”

He snorted. “Rykaia would be first in line for my head, if I sacrificed you.”

The thought of that made me chuckle. “I look forward to seeing her again.”

“As do I.”

A horrific sound gurgled in my stomach, and I pressed my hand to my belly. “Speaking of being famished.”

“I suspect there’s stew.” He raised a brow. “If you dare.”

I’d have liked to imagine that pot only carried the remnants of one night, but given the lack of meat, I wondered how long she’d been scraping leftovers into it. “I think I saw some jars in the cupboard. I’ll see if I can scrounge a meal out of it.” I pushed up to climb off the bed, and he grabbed my arm, lifting his head off the pillow for a kiss. My stomach growled again, and I smiled against his lips. “I’ll be right back.”

“Good. I’m starving, as well.”

I left him lying there and padded toward the kitchen. Halfway to the cupboard, though, one of the floorboards seemed to shift beneath my feet. Frowning, I backed up a step, noting the quiet creak of the wooden planks, and when I stepped forward again, it shifted a second time, as if loose. I pushed up to the ball of my foot, noting a slight give. A carpet covered the board, which I peeled back. Beneath, a section of the floor seemed to have been carved out from the rest. Like a door.

From the table across from me, I swiped up the firelamp and turned it up, illuminating the irregular planks, one of which held a metal loop handle. A shadow of movement stirred in my periphery, and I glanced up to see Zevander at the threshold of the bedroom doorway. Arms over his head, he leaned into the frame, his brawny form a momentary distraction.

He nodded toward me. “What’d you find?”

“A door of some sort.”

Brow kicked up, he tipped his head. “Have we not learned to stay away from doors in the floor?”

Smiling, I looped my finger into the hole. “I’m curious. But, just in case, don’t go anywhere.”

He huffed and strode closer, looming over me as I pulled the door open on a groan of tired wood. Darkness below made it difficult to see, but as I swept the firelamp over the opening, I could just make out the presence of something there.

A body.

With a gasped breath, I jumped backward.

Zevander caught me before I tumbled onto the floor, and swiped up the firelamp from my grip, holding it over the opening. “Gods be damned …”

I scrambled forward and fell to my knees, peering down into the crawl space. My heart caught in my throat, as a needling shock crawled over me.

There, curled into herself, lay my sister.

Aleysia!