Shadow Queen by B.R. Nicholson Read Free Book Online Page B

but not enough so as to break her façade.
    “Save the lecture for another day,” Astrid
said through a forced grin. “I have business to attend to.” The
still iron grate had lingered on her mind since entering the villa.
It was due time to put her mind at ease.
    Astrid sauntered over the grate and peered
inside. The beast sat against the stone wall as if he were one with
its frosty texture.
    “You’re not seriously thinking about going
down there?” Ethen sprang to his feet, knocking over the muddied
stool.
    Astrid ignored him, her mind set on the task
at hand. She laced her fingers through the grate and yanked it
free. The iron squealed on its hinges, sending shivers down her
spine. A silver rope sat coiled on a spindle near the top. Astrid
cranked the spindle enough to expose enough of the rope ladder to
reach the bottom of the oubliette.
    “Wait here,” she said to Ethen without taking
her eyes off the Phooka. Though she could feel his heated glare at
her back, he remained silent.
    Astrid slipped inside and onto the ladder.
She took one last look at Ethen. His wild sandy blond hair hung
over his stormy green eyes. He was doing his best to contain his
anger, much like he had always done, even as a child. It pained her
that she was always the cause of his hidden rage.
    Astrid ducked her head inside, out of sight.
Rung by rung, she descended further into the gaping darkness.
    She reached the bottom within moments. She
sucked her breath hard in through her clenched teeth as her eyes
struggled to adjust to the shadow. Her steady hands slid her
hunting knives from their hilts in one fluid motion.
    “ So you’ve come to slay the
beast?”
    Though the Phooka spoke, he did not stir.
Astrid could see the glint of a chain around his neck. Its presence
settled her fluttering heart but not enough to lower her guard.
    “It depends,” she said, keeping her voice
level. “Is this beast in need of slaying?”
    The Phooka croaked a raspy laugh. Astrid’s
eyes could now pick out the mottled blindfold beneath his yellowed
horns. Black fur, matted and bloodied, covered him from head to
hoof. Yellow teeth flashed their jagged edges as he bellowed with
dusty laughter.
    “ Elves always think they’re so clever,
that they’re above everyone, even monsters like me. But let me tell
you this, little girl,” the Phooka’s voice dimmed to a rattling
whisper. “ Your kind are the worst monsters of all.” His hand
ripped the blindfold from his brow, revealing eyes of pure darkness
rimmed with Hellfire. The blaze burned bright around the darkness,
creeping across the Phooka’s flesh. “ You’ve run out of places to
hide. He’s coming for you, girl!” The fire burned deep within
his skull and sparked into his chest. He howled, sending Astrid
crashing to her knees. “ HE IS COMING!”
     
     
    ***
     
     
    Luthen roared from his restless meditation,
bolting from his perch at the open window. Pain seared into his
skull while images of a young girl burned in his mind. The howls
twisted into laughter when he finally recognized her frightened
face.
    Anya sat upright and rigid. Her face was
blank as fresh snow, almost as if being shaken from her unconscious
state was a common occurrence. How he loved her predictability.
    “Oh, silly lamb,” he said, speaking to the
wide-eyed face in his head. “This is only the beginning of your
nightmares.”
    Luthen shook her face from his head. Her
presence still lingered, bringing a smile to his lips. “Anya, my
darling, we have work to do,” he said, running his hands through
his thick raven hair. She nodded and slipped from the bed, her
footsteps a hush of silk from her flowing nightgown. “I’m afraid we
have one last stop to make in Lythia.”
     
     
    ***
     
     
    A gnarled, old woman crouched on her hands
and knees, scrubbing the white stone until it gleamed like
moonlight. She caught a glimmer of her reflection and shrunk away.
Her heart faltered at the sight of the stranger’s