Page 131 of Reaper's Quest

I reached for a torch. Began to lift.

“Never going to happen,” Aldine said, louder than necessary.

I paused and tightened my focus on him. Had he raised his voice because he saw the torch move and guessed what I was up to?

“If my charge has managed to free himself,” Aldine continued, and the bastard’s back stiffened. “He willgoto those powers and make sure they come down on you with everything they have. There will be no moresacrifices. Only consequences…for you.”

Unsure of my next move, my hand hovered in the air beside the torch.

“Is that so?” the jailer taunted.

Aldine cleared his throat. “He will. He willgoimmediately, without hesitation.”

Receiving Aldine’s message loud and clear, I pulled my hand away from the torch. He wanted me to leave the dungeon and do so now. But how could I leave him, knowing the horrors the bastard in his presence could create?

The jailer spun and took in the entirety of the visible space. “Where is he?”

“I have no idea,” Aldine replied. “That is what I have been telling you. Asking of you.”

In a swift move that my tired eyes struggled to follow,the jailer grabbed Aldine in a stranglehold and pressed a dagger to his throat.

“I’m no fool, Liam. You were passing him a message.” His gaze darted left, then right. “Where is he hiding?”

At the tip of the blade, a bead of blood bloomed on Aldine’s skin.

“Not here.” Aldine grabbed the blade, the jailer’s hand upon the handle.

A thin line of blood trickled down Aldine’s wrist.

The dagger jerked back and forth in a battle of strength. Slowly, the blade pulled away from Aldine’s throat. An impressive show of strength on his part.

“I am sorry this happened to you because of me. It should havebeenme. But you will not win this time,” Aldine said between gritted teeth.

“Who said anything about winning?” The bastard pressed his weight onto the top of the hilt. “This is not a game or a competition. And I am not the one for whom the sacrifices are made.”

The bastard yanked the blade forward, the angle shifting. Aldine smiled, an expression of resignation and acceptance all at once.

Pain sparked in my chest like the gods poked me with a pitchfork. Several times.

“I shall not be used in any form to capture the lad.” With one sharp, swift tug, Aldine pulled the blade into the side of his own rib cage, burying it deep in his flesh and bones.

My eyes popped wide as my hand flew over my mouth, holding back the holler trapped in my throat. Everything inside of my head raged, roared, as my blood boiled. My backpressed against the wall, I slid to my butt and stared. Stared at the impossible.

This didn’t happen. This couldn’t have happened. Aldine did not just give his life for me.

The jailer released his hold and stared at Aldine intensely.

My mentor gasped and crumpled to the ground.

Why? Why would he do such a thing?

I shook my head, my jaw so rigid I thought it might crack.

“You surprise me, Liam. I didn’t think you had it in you.” The bastard kicked Aldine in the side, rolling him onto his back.

Aldine gasped and gasped and then fell silent.

From somewhere down the long, dark tunnel on my left, footfalls rushed toward us.