Page 32 of Claim the Light
Isaac is suddenly stiff, his lips pressing together in a grim line. “They’re gone.”
My eyebrows rise. “Dead?”
“No,” he says. “They were freed while Atrox and Dominus controlled the veil. We don’t know who did it—if it was the dragon brothers themselves or the angels—but when we came back, we discovered that the prisons were all empty.”
Beatrix appears as alarmed as I feel. “Fuck,” she whispers. “These prisons are meant to hold the worst of the worst.”
“How many escaped?” I ask, dreading the release of hundreds of monsters into the world.
Isaac sighs. “At least in that regard, we are somewhat lucky. There were only three supernaturals—all witches—and four animals still alive. All of the other prisoners had already passed away due to old age. But every escapee is extremely dangerous. Particularly the animals.”
I can’t stop my shiver this time, imagining the potential bloodshed. “The release of even one would be bad news.”
Isaac holds up his hand as if to calm me. “These supernaturals, and especially the animals, are extremely cunning. They won’t draw attention to themselves by rampaging through the city killing innocents and leaving a trail of blood by which they could be found. They know they’ll be hunted. They will try to disappear.”
He flashes me a determined smile. “But Lana already has a sense of where they are. She’ll find them.”
While also trying to deal with Tyler?
I can’t stop my worried thoughts.
All I know for certain right now is that I need to train as hard as I can so I can get out of here and help her. As fast as I can.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Isaac gives a deep exhalation and shakes himself. “For now, let’s focus on what we can control: Settling you into your temporary home.”
He turns back to the stairway. “The infirmary and living quarters are located near the top of the stairs. But this is where I must warn you: The only way to leave the staircase is to either go through one of these doors or to descend each step back to the bottom. Never step off the stairwell into the air around it, particularly at the top.”
He pauses to scan each of us as if he’s checking that he has our full attention. “This stairwell is surrounded by a dark space that exists between Earth and the heavenly realm. It’s a darkness that grew while we didn’t have an Avenging Angel. If you step into that space, you will fall into the oblivion, in which you met the keeper of dark magic.”
“This veil is connected to the oblivion within the river?” I ask, recalling that Lana said something similar earlier.
Isaac gives me a solemn nod. “Darkness attracts darkness. Once the dark space around the veil’s core grew strong enough, it formed a connection with the dark realm within which the keeper exists.”
“Is that how you found us tonight?” I ask.
A new shadow falls over Isaac’s expression. “There was a disturbance within the dark space that was so strong, it shook the staircase. We went immediately to investigate.”
“A disturbance,” I murmur, wondering what, exactly, caused it. Maybe when we were pulled into the oblivion. Maybe when I scrubbed the ash off our bodies and it accumulated on the keeper’s skin.
I might never know for sure, but whatever caused it, I’m grateful.
Isaac returns his attention to ascending the stairway, causing new doors to appear as he continues. “It’s important to understand that the veil is impenetrable. The barrier between the Avenging Angel’s territory and the living world can’t be breached. Nothing from the outside world should be able to be felt in here. Even if the dark realms are connected.”
My eyes widen. “Then… how could any disturbance out there be felt in here?”
Isaac replies. “Asper believes it has something to do with the damage that was caused when the dragon’s light was kept behind the veil. She described to me the place where she found the dragon’s light—the power from the light was burning through the veil wall. Literally.
“It’s my belief—and hers, too—that the force of its rage has interfered with the balance of light and dark in this world. There may well be other openings between realms that we have yet to discover. Openings through which any number of creatures could appear.” He gives himself a shake as we reach the midway point up the stairs. “Please step carefully and all should be well.”
As we proceed, Isaac points out the doors leading to a library, training rooms, and a food hall before he finally stops outside a door on the left that’s located closer to the top of the staircase.
“This is the infirmary,” he says. “It’s a healing environment that was denied to Asper when she was first brought here.”
He immediately opens the door and ushers us inside.
I expect to find myself in a clinical and sterile environment filled with medical beds and medicinal apparatuses like the bed I rested on when my back was burned the night I was caught in Callan’s flames.
