"Keep up or get left behind," I call over my shoulder, not bothering to slow my pace. "Consider it motivation to avoid becoming part of the décor."
The ragtag group of the Lycan King's misfits follow in shocked silence. The reinforced steel doors sealing off this prison from the outside world are still on the ground from when I broke through them earlier.
And from the moment we walk into this hellscape, we're greeted with the scent—which hasn't dissipated, despite the fresh air I've introduced to this place.
Ragged edges of magic still spark against my skin like static electricity, the desperate, dying throes of glyphs barely holding on.
"Don't touch the walls," I add, watching Evan trail his fingers dangerously close to a partially destroyed binding sigil. "Unless you want to spend the next decade convinced you're a teacup."
There's no possible way for a basic defense glyph to create such mental havoc, but he has no idea.
The young man yanks his hand back, his face paling under the weak emergency lights. He's been jumpy since we entered the tunnel system, looking over his shoulder every few steps like he expects something to grab him from behind. Not entirely irrational, given the circumstances, but amusing to watch.
The nervous wizard follows closely behind him, his fingers digging into his arms, which are crossed across his chest as if to hold his racing heartbeat in. He looks like he's going to pass out any second, and his eyes dart all over the place behind ridiculous copper-wire spectacles. The poor thing is practically vibrating with anxiety.
He's still a baby. Barely able to manipulate mana. Too much exposure to the blood arcana in this space might burn out what little talent he has.
Oh, well. It isn't my problem.
Would be a shame, though.
Wolf-Eye is ill-at-ease, but you'd never guess it if you weren't paying attention. He moves with focused precision, not distracted by things like blood-smeared magical sigils, but his shoulders are locked tight. His nostrils flare constantly, filtering through the smells of this place.
He knows this place is strange, but he's not going to pester me with questions.
Rowan leads from slightly behind me. He's seen ugliness before—it's etched into every line of his body. The tension in his body speaks the language of resigned obligation. Not surprising, for someone who's taken on the duties of a Guardian to this place.
With every step I take, the air changes. Thickens.
And suddenly, the scent hits us like walking face-first into a wall. My jaw tingles with the sudden urge to vomit, but I swallow it back.
The others struggle. Evan recoils violently. Wolf-Eye freezes mid-stride. The baby wizard? He doesn't make it, doubling over to retch violently on the floor.
Rowan pats his back with a stoic expression; the tension of his entire body already tells me what I know. He's smelled it all before.
When Jasper—Jasper?—finally straightens, his face is flushed with embarrassment, a thin line of saliva still connecting him to the puddle of vomit on his shoes.
"You'll want to burn those shoes," I tell him flatly. "And maybe your soul."
He laughs, but the sound is hollow.
The stench is too strong. Rot and blood and something else—something ancient and cloying, sticking to the back of your throat so you can taste it every time you swallow. It's the scent of decay, but not just physical decomposition. It's magic rotting from the inside out.
Fucking sanguimancers.
"What is this place?" Wolf-Eye finally breaks his silence, voice tight with disgust as we move forward once again.
"Exactly what I told you. A sanguimancer's playground." I step over a dark stain on the floor. "Selene liked to collect living batteries. The longer they suffered, the more power she could extract."
"And the cages? What are they? How much farther?" Evan asks, still keeping his distance from the walls.
"They're feeding pens. They aren't far."
No one asks me to elaborate. The description is enough.
It's only then that I notice the silence.
Complete, absolute silence.
No breathing from the trapped shifters. No whispers of movement. No signs of life at all.
My heartbeat quickens against my will. A cold, creeping dread crawls up my spine—a sensation I haven't felt in centuries. I've lived too long to fear most things, but this silence speaks a language I understand all too well.
This isn't peace. This is aftermath.
"Here." I pin him with a flat stare, and he shuts his mouth instantly.
Rowan doesn't listen; he keeps moving forward. Wolf-Eye hesitates only for a step, before following behind.
Evan and the wizard stay where I tell them to.
It doesn't take us long to make it through the tunnels into a more widened space, lined with cages.
Cages once full of bodies, of people who acted more dead than alive.
Now they're just dead.
Bodies are everywhere—sprawled across the ground, slumped against open cage doors, limbs twisted at impossible angles. The scene reveals a massacre, not an escape. Some poor souls died where they'd been imprisoned, others made it only steps toward freedom before being cut down.
My eyes catch on a tiny form crumpled near the wall—the toddler who had reached for me with innocent desperation. Now those little hands are still, face frozen in terror, eyes empty. Something ancient and terrible stirs inside me.
The rage builds with each heartbeat, pulsing through my veins like lava. I can feel it vibrating through my body, making the very ground beneath us tremble. The arcana in the air responds, humming with discordant energy as my control slips.
My teeth clench so hard my jaw aches, fangs growing and pressing against my lips as I struggle to contain what's building inside me—a fury older than the last breath of the Aztecs. Older than the bones of Constantinople, rotting beneath new kings.
The weight of my choice is like a terrible, self-loathing boulder rolled onto my chest. I could have stayed. Should have stayed. Instead, I'd shrugged off the responsibility of these lives, decided to hand them off to Asher's care—and forgotten them.
If I'd remembered in time…
If I'd only taken the effort…
But now I'm staring at the consequence of that decision.