Tribulation by Laura Hall

Author:Laura Hall [Hall, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laura Hall

14

I sat in the dark for hours, stewing over how royally I’d fucked up. Chareve had warned me multiple times to keep my mouth shut, my temper under control. But that bullshit about Connor had sent me easily over the edge. And I’d given Engström and Xavier exactly what they’d wanted.

Not that it mattered, really. Even had I been a paragon of grace and complacence, the outcome would be the same. It wasn’t me they wanted to kill, but Connor.

Everything had a price, and power exacted the largest sum. Despite the fact Connor had no dealings with the Conclave and lived on the other side of the world, they deemed him enough of a threat to seek his demise. How thrilled they must have been when it leaked that I was his compagno, the one weak spot in his armor. Engström must have shit himself with excitement when he realized Connor was gone and I was ripe for the plucking. My being Fae was merely a happy coincidence. They could destroy me and Connor both and toast their cleverness after, while the rest of the Conclave applauded the death of a dangerous enemy and mourned the necessary death of an Ancient.

While I teetered toward utter hopelessness, Sickle blinked into my cell with an explosion of light. I gasped, screwing my eyes shut too late—they watered excessively.

“Gah, turn that off.”

The light faded. I opened one eye, then the other. She was sitting a few feet away, little brown feet tucked under her.

“Why are you still here?” I asked.

“Where else would I be?”

“Oh, I don’t know, the Caribbean comes to mind.”

“Ca-ri-bee-an,” she sounded out. “Where is that?”

I sighed. “Forget it.”

She studied me for a moment. “Why are you still here?”

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Really considered the question. I’d found Sickle and the key, or unlocked the lock, or whatever my mother had alluded to. And Connor and the others needed me. So why hadn’t I tried to escape? Plasma would disintegrate the door—no matter how thick it was, it was wood. I could stun or paralyze enough vampires to find my way out.

Couldn’t I?

“You doubt yourself.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that. There might be collateral damage.”

“Co-lat-er—”

I interrupted, “I don’t know what’s above us or around us, or what damage I’d do. I can’t just summon lightning underground. There’s a city on top of us.”

“Ah.” She closed her eyes. “Mostly old buildings and unused rooms with shrouded furniture. Several men in black robes reading books near a tree. Beneath, with us, are seventy-six vampires, two magicians, and one lioness.” She looked at me, her cat eyes glimmering. “I don’t share your concerns of ‘collateral damage,’ as you say. Would you like me to take you from here?”

I shuddered. “No. Or, um, not yet. Two of the vampires and the lioness are my friends.”

“Very well.”

She smiled, small and private, like she knew exactly what I wasn’t saying—that I didn’t know if I could trust her enough to tell her my backup plan.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.