Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer

Chapter Thirty-Five

Ella

“The dungeon?” Sara came to a halt, and I stopped beside her.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Rami, but I’d already had one of the Fallen turn on me. “I thought we were escaping.”

Rami craned his neck around to look at us, pausing his hurried pace when he noticed that we’d stopped dead in our tracks. “The dungeon is my best chance to get you out unnoticed. There’s a hidden tunnel that leads to a secret cove.”

Sara and I exchange a glance, then she shrugged. “I’ll take my chances with him and the dungeon over gross demons any day.”

I nodded my agreement, and we resumed following Rami through the castle, the corridors narrowing as we descended farther down into the ancient building. The air became cooler and damper, yellow light dancing across the walls from sconces attached to the rough stone. He waved us down a wide staircase with a high, arched ceiling, but before we reached double doors leading into a spacious hall, he ducked through a smaller doorway to the side.

Instantly, we were cocooned in darkness, and I tightened my grip on my best friend’s hand. Although this wasn’t the entrance I’d used to enter the dungeons earlier, the scent of mildew and salt water was unmistakable. As my eyes slowly began to adjust to the dark, the sound of low moaning made my arms prick with goose bumps.

“Who is that?” Sara whispered.

I didn’t answer her, even though I suspected it was Dan. She might not remember him shooting her, but she remembered him betraying us and attempting to shoot me. Still, I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about him being held in a subterranean prison that looked like it could have housed the Count of Monte Cristo.

“Hold the rail,” Rami said, his low voice a rumble in the dark. “There’s light at the end of the stairs.”

I let Sara go in front of me, glancing behind me a final time as we left the confines of the castle proper and descended into the dungeon. My grip on the cold, metal railing was firm, and I slid my hand down it as we moved a step at a time. Even though the stairs weren’t lit, my eyes started to make out the smooth surface of the walls as we wound our way down, the stone black with age and grime.

When we reached the bottom step, we were welcomed to the dank space by a faint glow. An oil lamp hung at the far end of the low-ceilinged corridor that stretched away from us, illuminating the cells that were on either side. From the flickering gold light, it was clear that the cells were empty, the rusting, peeling bars guarding nothing but filthy floors and roughhewn benches shoved against walls.

Sara nudged me. “You don’t see this every day, and I’ve seen a lot of New York real estate.”

Rami twisted to face us, putting a finger to his lips. I didn’t know why he was so concerned with us making noise. Aside from the moaning and the occasional drip of water, the dungeons gave off serious abandoned vibe. Even so, we followed Rami down the corridor, turning and continuing down another identical one, each lined with cell after cell fronted by thick bars. I put a hand over my nose to keep from inhaling the scent of sweat and excrement, trying not to think about who might have occupied the cells in the past, and what had happened to them. You had to do something pretty bad to be punished by angels who’d fallen from grace themselves or be pretty bad.

“It’s down there,” he said in a hushed voice, as we rounded a final corner.

My heart raced. I was more than ready to leave the dungeons, even if that did mean going through a secret tunnel, which I was guessing was just as dark and dank as the dungeons themselves.

A grunt ahead of us made Rami’s hurried steps falter, and he raised his gun as a pair of demons emerged from the shadows.

“We do not have time for this,” he muttered, firing off a shot that echoed loudly.

One of the demons dropped, and Sara and I both flinched, instinctively putting our hands over our ears. The other rushed Rami, who fired again. This demon was faster, though, feinting to one side so the bullet whizzed by him and plowing into Rami with a force that made the fallen angel stumble.

The two hit the ground, while Sara and I jumped aside. The gun flew from Rami’s hands and skittered across the floor, disappearing into a cell and the dark shadows within it.

“Crap!” Sara dodged the writhing men. “What do we do?”

I glanced at my hands. Would it work again? I’d emanated some sort of energy through my hands twice now, but both times without trying. Could I do it at will?

I extended my hands in front of me, focusing on creating light, or energy, or something, but nothing happened. I tried to get closer to the grappling demon and fallen angel. Maybe I had to touch them? I managed to get a hand on the demon’s shoulder, but nothing happened except their bodies crashed into my legs.

Hopping away, I looked around for some kind of weapon. If I couldn’t use my strange energy juju, maybe there was something lying around I could use to hit the demon. I scanned the corridor, my gaze raking the floor. There was nothing but smooth stone.

“We have to do something,” Sara cried, as the demon slammed his head into Rami’s and the fallen angel let out a pained groan.

With a yell, Sara hauled off and kicked the demon in the back. Even though her kick probably didn’t do any damage, it did draw the demon’s attention from Rami, which Rami used to full advantage. Rolling on top of the demon, he punched him, but the demon arched his back and bucked Rami off him, then leapt to his feet. Rami jumped up just as quickly, crouching in an attack position as he faced off across from the panting demon.

“Don’t move.”

We all swung our heads toward the raw voice that came from inside one of the cells. I’d almost forgotten that there was someone being held in the dungeons, and that the moans had stopped once we’d gotten closer to them. In the chaos of the fight, I’d almost forgotten about the fallen angel I’d heard talking to Dom earlier, the one who’d tried to kill me.

Dan stepped from the shadows. His usually handsome face was ragged, scruff dusky on his cheeks and his eyes hollowed out. He held Rami’s gun in his outstretched, mangled hands, with both the demon and fallen angel in his sights.