Sevin: Lords of Satyr by Elizabeth Amber Read Free Book Online Page A

some serendipitous magic to transport us. We’ll have to get out on our own.”
    But after they’d wandered on for what felt like hours, but was surely far less, he had to admit defeat, for now anyway. The time for thoughts of escape was at an end until morning. For tonight, he needed to find a place off the main corridor, somewhere they could pass the night. A room or cul-de-sac that would afford a modicum of safety from interlopers, should there be any.
    After only a dozen or so feet, the wall ended again, this time turning through a doorway. They were in a room now. The splashing sound of water was far louder here. His hand bumped something. A chair, no, it was bigger, ornate and polished. More like a throne. He pushed Luc down to sit on it. As he did so, he realized Luc still held his wine goblet, something he hadn’t noticed before.
    “Stay here. Don’t move,” Sevin told him. On his own, he began roaming the perimeter of the room, feeling his way. There were leather trunks stacked along the walls and statues standing taller than he. There were other pieces of furniture and statuary, many of them made of fine cloth or smooth stone.
    A few more steps, and Sevin inadvertently kicked something that clanked noisily. Bending, he lifted and felt of it. An urn studded with stones, perhaps jewels. One that hummed with magic. Everything here did.
    Luc’s strained voice reached him. “Where are we?”
    “A storage place of some sort, filled with what feels to my touch like ancient treasures. Every one of them made by ElseWorld hands and tainted with the magic of that world.”
    At the back wall of the room, Sevin discovered the source of the trickling sound. An enormous fountain of some kind stood there, bubbling fresh water that sprang from some unknown source into a series of small pools incorporated into it.
    Who had brought all of this here and what it all meant must remain a mystery for the moment. Artifacts were his eldest brother’s specialty, not his. When he and Luc found their way out of here, he’d send Bastian back to investigate. If they found their way out.
    At this point, these treasures were less important than the room itself. It was surprisingly clean and well kept, its stone floor covered with rugs. The profusion of ElseWorld magic in these objects had apparently kept the chamber free of rodents, insects, dust, or mold. To find a haven of this quality in which to pass the night was a timely gift from the gods.
    For all too soon, his and Luc’s minds and bodies must become engaged in hedonistic pursuits to the exclusion of all else. Under the moon’s thrall, they would forget themselves. They would become vulnerable.
    “Luc?”
    “Mmm.”
    “Unless you can get us back to the salon soon, we’re going to have to spend the Calling night here.”
    Luc let out a harsh breath. “It’s not something I can control. Believe me, if it were, do you think I’d have brought us here?” He sounded at the end of his rope.
    Fuck. “Stay calm. I can bespell the perimeter, and we’ll be relatively safe here. We’ll make do with Shimmerskins, just like any other Calling night, so—. Wait, that’s it. Damn, why didn’t I think of it earlier? Their skin is luminescent. They can serve as living lamps to lead us out of here!”
    Concentrating, Sevin gazed into the endless darkness and focused his mind in an attempt to conjure several of the insentient females. At his silent command, the air should have begun to vibrate. Mist should have spun and glimmered, then stilled, shapeshifting. Iridescent forms should have risen from the vapor and solidified into the females who had serviced the Satyr since ancient times.
    But none of that happened.
    And when it didn’t, he was disoriented. The ability to bring forth Shimmerskins had been with him since he was eighteen and in the throes of his first Calling. To a Satyr male, losing this ability was akin to losing the ability to speak or to hear. “They’re not