Ce’Olaric frowns. “Which one?”
I pause. “I only know he is called Daniel. He has pale hair.”
The guards exchange a glance before Ce’Olaric tilts his head toward the cells. “Hmm, I don’t know any humans by that name. It’s a light night. One of the ocean-risen is in for running through the street naked. There should be a handful of humans, though. Go on.”
I step past Ce’Olaric and walk into the cellblock. It smells of damp stone, iron, and piss. The walls are carved directly from the cavern rock, rough in some places, but smoothed by the passage of countless hands in others. The glow of embedded crystals provides dim, uneven lighting, casting long, fractured shadows across the narrow corridor lined with iron-barred cells.
Each cell is enclosed by a combination of metal gates and reinforced stone, designed to hold even the strongest of enduares. The air hums faintly with magic, the warding glyphs etched into the archways pulsing with the slow rhythm of a binding spell song.
Some of the cells are empty, their doors left slightly ajar, while others hold murmuring figures—one or two humans and several ocean-risen. I see the one Ce’Olaric mentioned, an ocean-risen sprawled lazily on a bench, still reeking of salt and alcohol with only a thin, short blanket covering his cock.
Fucking idiot.
I recognize most of the trouble-makers from previous visits. All ofthem are usually tucked away for minor offenses—brawls, stealing, excessive drunkenness.
I flip through my memories as I move, pulling up Daniel in my mind’s eye. Yellowish white hair, flat features. He looked like someone had stomped on his face a little too hard—and I was upset it hadn’t been me.
Scanning the rows, I frown. Daniel is nowhere to be seen.
A slow, burning unease creeps down my spine. I head back out into the reception room.
“He’s not here,” I say.
Ce’Olaric shrugs. “Someone probably came to get him during the night. I just got here an hour ago.”
“Who gave the order?” I demand.
The man next to Ce’Olaric shakes his head, and I realize I don’t know him. “Faol Scar-Eye. You’ll have to ask him.”
I look back through the doorway and stare at the empty cell, my pulse hammering.Faol told me that he had taken Daniel here, not that he’d let him free.
Gods on their stony thrones, I’m going in circles.
“Very well. Thank you,” I grind out. I turn sharply and stride back into the city streets.
I had a meeting with Teo soon.
As I head toward my home, unease curls tighter in my gut with every step. But just as I reach the residential section, I see her.
Arlet stands on her doorstep, frozen. She’s completely ready for the day, but her skin is pale in the dim morning light. Her breathing is fast—too fast.
Then I see why.
The thick, jointed limb of anaradhlumlies across her doorstep, its deep-purple blood seeping into the stone in pools. From what I see, she hasn’t touched it.
I pick up my pace.
Is she all right? I myself have been bitten by the spiders on several occasions and the venom can be deadly if not treated immediately.
I reach her side, and before I can think, I say, “What the hell are you doing?”
She jolts, body seizing like a string pulled too tight. Her gaze snaps to mine, wide and unsteady, her hands curling into her palms as if to hide something.I don’t see any signs of the venom on her face, and her coloring is better.
I frown when I notice the dots on her face are less visible.
“What are you doing here?” she demands.
“We are neighbors,” I say simply.