Page 77 of Ruby Red Sky

It felt like he was holding something back but before I could ask, he said, “Let’s go.”

We reached the doors and paused, Lukas’s hand hovering over the wooden paneling. “He’s not in here. Neither is she.”

“’She’?” I repeated the word. He gestured at the entrance and the way opened before us.

A couple of servants hurried across the floor on the far side, paying us no mind and darting up a narrow staircase. Black iron chandeliers swung overhead, with their short, stubby candlesticks flickering. The ceiling was high and arched, with black iron beams and bowers. Across from us was a short staircase leading to a wide hallway. From where I stood, it looked like there was a quartz formation on the ceiling over there.

When we made it halfway across the floor, Lukas stopped. “Downstairs. He’s not here, but I’ll find him.”

He strode to the upper level with me hurrying behind him. A few people gave us curious glances, and one even paled. Soon, we were descending a staircase, with sconces that lit themselves as we passed.

Lukas was stuck entirely in his head and walking too fast for me to keep up without jogging. At one point, his arm swung out to stop me from tumbling.

“What are we doing?” I asked as he pushed the door at the bottom open.

“When I woke, this is where I was summoned.”

The room was large, constructed of rock and carved marble, with what I could only assume was an altar on the far end. There was a water feature, or maybe it was a natural stream, I wasn’t sure, circling the ceremonial stand.

“Why were you sleeping, anyway?”

His steps had slowed, and he paused next to an ornate, marble chair set across from the altar. “This is also where I met Kiam.”

While I continued to examine the room, I stated, “You really should try and smooth things over with him.”

“I killed the man who summoned me. Eternity is a long time without adequate rest.”

Not exactly an answer, but it made sense. I didn’t like being disturbed while I slept either, and eternity was a long time. “Are you going to go back to sleep?”

He turned his head and gazed down at me, his sharp green eyes freezing me in place. “If I do, I will take you with me.”

My heart thumped against my ribs. How the heck would he do that?

Lukas disappeared and reappeared beside a door tucked into a corner. He opened it, waved his hand, and then it shut with a resounding bang.

“Go to the altar,” he ordered.

There was a short walkway over the water, and I peered down at the liquid, as crystal clear as any that I’d seen around here. To the left, there was a gaping hole in the wall. It looked like the entrance to a cave, circled by roughhewn rock with a taper at the top.

When I reached the altar, what felt like a breeze wafted over my limbs. It wasn’t a physical stirring, my hair and my clothes remained perfectly still, but I felt movement regardless. Instinctually, my gaze dragged back to the cave-like entrance just to see Lukas standing there with his arms stretched out at his sides, palms turned up.

The urge to yell for him welled up within me, but I kept my mouth shut. Whatever was going on here, I sensed he wouldn’t be taking kindly to being disturbed. The air did begin to actually move, and with it, came echoing shrieks.

The sounds whizzed past my ears, faint before they pierced my eardrums and then fading when they slid by me. The noise made me fall to my knees with my hands clutching my ears. The screams echoed all around me, rising in decibels before turning to whispers, over and over.

Chills crawled up and down my arms and spine, and I squeezed my eyes shut, as if that would help all of this disappear. Something soft fluttered against the side of my face, and against my better judgement, I opened one eye.

A sickly looking face hovered, with greasy stringy hair dangling forward. Whatever it was, its tattered robes touched my arm, and I batted at it, trying to get it to go away. It was revolting to look at, yellowing and translucent, visibly missing very important bits of flesh that made it seem impossible to exist or be alive.

The being reached for me, its bony finger angling for me as if it would stroke my cheek with a loving caress. Before it could touch my skin, Lukas was there.

He seized it, and I scrambled backward, blocked by the altar. The man felt different. That is, the air around him crackled with static electricity, leaving a buzz in the air. The whites of his eyes were blotted again, making him seem alien. He opened his mouth, exposing dripping fangs.

The creature sucked into his open mouth and all I could do was stare. He shuddered and wiped his hand down over his lips, his gaze shuttering, and his legs bending. His eyes nearly rolled back in his head, and he shook his shoulders, with a look of sheer ecstasy covering his face.

The entire sight was so foreign, so other and out of place, that I had no idea what to do. Should I scream? Run? Call for help?

He ate an entire person. He did it as calmly as if he had drunk a bottle of water. And then he was so blissed out he reminded me of... Why was he bringing up these feelings in me right now? Everything was screwing with my head.