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Chapter 135
The roar of the crowd was deafening, as was the blast that split the air. Instantly the music ratcheted up in volume, and most began to dance.
Something dark and twinkling began to rain down on all of us, like tufts of obsidian snow. Before I could stop myself, my eyes were pulled away from the Russo’s. My jaw went a little slack, and I immediately scolded myself for not looking up when we had first stepped through.
The ceiling was domed and made entirely of glass. The blues and purples of the night sky bled together like a watercolor painting, but the stars remained bright. Attached to the metal frame that held the clear panels were cages—actual cages, suspended on thick chains. They hung at various heights, and more than one was occupied.
From what I could see, the people in the cages were women—naked women. They ran their hands over their body as they thrashed and twirled to the music, all in their cages fifty feet above the ground. That was
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Iridian Chapter 136
‘I’m on the dance floor…you led me there—well, whatever was wearing your face did.’‘Stay exactly where you are, Rachel. I’m going to find you.’ The gritty promise in his voice would’ve flooded me with relief, but I could feel the air beginning to thicken again.I shook my head, forgetting he couldn’t see it. There were too many people, all dancing and writhing as they bumped into me. Eyes too glazed to even tell I’d been standing there, let alone wonder why I was the only one not dancing. When my thoughts began to fumble and slow, panic set in.‘I can’t stay here, Dain. There’s something—there’s something wrong with the dance floor. It’s messing with my head; I have to get off.’ I said in a rush, shoving past a couple that looked on the verge of having sex as they danced.The moment I stepped off the dance floor, I could breathe
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‘Dain, I’m with the real Apollo…I made sure of it.’‘This must be a potion of some type—but then how are they vanishing so quickly? It’s rare to have a skill like that…’ His inner voice was thoughtful, and not at all concerned that the person he was with wasn’t a friend. ‘…you said something about old magic?’‘Apollo asked me if you’ve felt any. Have you? What does it even feel like?’ I asked.‘You’ve felt it before, darling. Castle Mist is full of old magic. As for this place, I haven’t felt any.’I thought back to my time in the castle, shimmering under the sun like a beacon for the entire kingdom. I had learned so much while also facing death a handful of times.Abel had succumbed to the White Bull’s melody within those very halls, and the truth about Camille had been revealed. Every brick held magic so wild that anyon
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I had my hand against the marble wall, contemplating whether I should demolish it when a little boy’s giggle echoed down the hall.It was a sound I used to find obnoxious, especially when I was knee deep in calculus homework and Zack only had his times tables to work on. Half of the time Dad would steal the sheet and sit hunched over at the kitchen table, mumbling about how math was different in his day. He’d quickly work through the problems himself, and Zack would pretend to listen while Dad explained how he got his answers. His squeaky laugh made it impossible to focus on my own work.It was a sound I never thought I’d hear again.My heart skipped a beat when I turned around and caught a glimpse of dark messy hair and a toothy smile that belonged to my little brother.He was peeking around the corner twenty feet away, only half of his face visible. Another giggle and he vanished. The fading patter of his feet made my adrenaline spike,
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“Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.” He shook his head in disappointment, but the truth was written across his twinkling eyes and malicious grin. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you, the first thing you do after murdering someone is make sure they’re actually dead.”I tried to take a step back, to put some distance in between us but my feet were glued to the kitchen mat I stood on. The logical side of me latched onto the one explanation that brought us comfort, that this was another trick and that Dain’s blood-thirsty brother was still dead.We couldn’t find his corpse…“I saw your body. I saw you dead.” I insisted, forcing my voice not to tremble. As afraid as I was of Callum and the empty look in his eyes, I was too prideful to give him the reaction he was wanting.There was no way I’d imagined it, seeing Callum’s charred and blistered corpse. His skin blackened and rough o
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I sat straight up, and my eyes snapped open as awareness zapped me like a jolt of electricity. My hands went from grasping the silky comforter to clutching my throat, which was no longer being crushed but had a soreness that reminded me all too strongly of being strangled.Several deep breaths later and I realized I wasn’t in just any bed. The onyx sheets and pillows made of pure silk and softer than anything I’d ever felt before belonged to one person alone. Even his scent lingered in the room, but the traces of it I picked up were faint and quickly fading.The illusion of Dain’s bedroom was spot on, down to the cart of crystal decanters that sat beside the balcony doors.I wasted no time and pulled myself from the bed, wrestling with the blankets for a few seconds when my feet became tangled. His bedroom door was the same, and still creaked around the halfway mark.What wasn’t the same was everything else.The pale stone t
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The only thing my eyes latched onto was the sight of Adley’s tear-stained face. That was all that mattered, not the woman across from her or the corpse at her feet. Anger burned in her eyes, but it was the person it was directed at that told me this Adley wasn’t an illusion.Alexandria was smiling from where she stood in front of a great window overlooking the sea, clearly in some unnamed room of Dain’s castle. Her head was held high as she basked in Adley’s pain, which I didn’t know the cause of until I noticed the head of flaming hair fanned out across the floor.For a moment, I thought I was seeing my mom again, which made me wonder why Adley was both crying and snarling in outrage.Only when she gasped and turned her head in my direction did I realize it was my body I was looking at.“Rachel—you’re alive!” Her hand flew up to cover her mouth.When Alexandria noticed me, she tilted h
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Cheers filled the air and the music that had been playing increased in volume. There were people dancing again, the crowd moving and churning instead of standing still. I looked at Adley and said, “…the closest door, that’s what we need to find.”Both of us looked around, which was difficult to do crouched low to the ground. Only a handful of people even noticed us, and simply glanced down disdainfully before returning to their conversations. Thankfully, most didn’t have a reason to look down.“The doors to the courtyard, they’re the closest.” Adley nodded her head in the direction of the doors. “We can hide behind their dresses until we get close enough to make a run for it.”“Sounds good to me. I’d rather save my energy for when Callum comes back.” I said darkly, refusing to wince when the image of my little brother flashed in my head.The two of us kept low and weaved in bet
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We followed the curve of the room, forcing our way past people that tried to split us up. Whether it was on purpose or because everyone here was drunk didn’t matter, not when half a second apart could allow one of us to slip away. More than once I had to use my magic to separate the crowd. A simple wave of my hand had people stumbling backwards, moved by an invisible wall that kept them away.Just when we began to draw serious attention to ourselves, I found the escort with the missing button and the corridor he stood in front of. He stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak when two men in crisp looking suits pushed through the crowd. Both had blank expressions on their face as they charged our way.Without wasting any time Adley and I made a mad dash for the corridor. At the last second, I paused before running inside and faced the two men. Thrusting my hand out with my palm flat, I let out a blast of magic that sliced through the air.It hit the fir
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