Page 153 of The Shrouded Queen
“No,” he snarled right back, more animal than man. Keir hurled the dagger. It whistled through the air toward the qareen’s heart, but the qareen moved at the last second, and it embedded itself in the creature’s shoulder.
He let out an enraged roar as black blood dribbled out.
“Run!” Keir shouted at me before his bear form tore out of him with another roar. The qareen yanked out the dagger and let it clatter on the floor beside my head. Then he swam fast as an arrow toward Keir.
I grabbed the discarded dagger and heaved myself out of the pool—
The cord around my sternum wrenched me back, and I fell with a splash, water shooting up my nose. I broke the surface, sputtering. My chest ached from how hard the cord had pulled.
“What’s wrong with you?” Amunet shouted, eyes darting from me to the qareen, though she made no move to help Keir.
I didn’t bother answering her. The Gods-Chosen’s arrival had been a large enough distraction to ignore the pull, but now it was yanking at me with renewed vigor. Demanding. It wanted me to go through that waterfall, and it wanted me to do itnow.
Keir lunged, claws extended and teeth snapping, and ripped a chunk out of the qareen’s abdomen in a spray of black blood. Its scream rattled the ceiling. In the next blink, there weretwobears wrestling on the side of the pool. Blood—black and red—splattered the wall.
Keir needed my help. I wanted to help—
Now!that pull ordered.
I turned my back on Keir and lurched through the waterfall.
SIXTY-ONEAMUNET
My maid disappeared behind the waterfall, moving so fast she almost looked as if she’d been dragged. The moment she was gone, my power threw itself against its confines. Less like a horse champing at the bit and more like a raging bull. Stronger.
Because of her. But why?
The Kald roared as his qareen slashed at him, but I barely heard it over the static buzzing in my ears. Without stopping to think, I dove into the pool after her.
A small, cavernous room met me on the other side of the waterfall. No sounds filtered past the curtain of water. It was a sacred sort of quiet. Like when I’d stepped through Shaya’s doorway made of glittering sand.
I stepped out of the pool gingerly onto the smooth stone floor. Water trickled softly down my body, like it, too, knew to control its volume.
Stone walls rose up around me—so at odds with the solid gold of the palace. A large golden table stretched across the opposite wall, covered in a bright emerald cloth that billowed lightly in an invisible wind.
My maid stood over it, her back to me, staring down at the altar.
My power went wild. With each step closer, its flailing became mightier. Sweat gathered on my brow as I fought to keep myself in check.
Whatever was beneath the green cloth moved, rhythmically, up and down. Breathing. A body. Bound hands poked out from underneath the cloth.
“What is this?” I asked.
My maid didn’t respond. Her brown eyes were focused so resolutely on the altar, she almost looked as if she were in a trance. Then she reached out and pulled the cloth off.
It was a girl. Thesamegirl as the one beside me.
Her qareen.
Her wrists were bound tightly behind her with a thick golden rope. Her ankles were tied, too, and her nudity was covered by faintly glowing green tattoos that curved around every inch of her body, just like the ones currently adorning my maid’s forehead. They were scrawled from her toes all the way up, finally disappearing into her long, dark hair.
The qareen struggled against her restraints, bucking wildly the moment the sheet was pulled away. She tried to scream, but it was muffled against the gag in her mouth.
My power burned its brightest yet. An intangible flare, yet somehow blinding. Hesitantly, I rested my hand on the qareen’s arm.
A gust of power surged toward me so fast, I startled and yanked my hand away.
Then I laughed.
