“I have my orders, cousin. I’m with you on this. My feelings on it don’t matter. But I’d prefer you not forget the rest of us exist and kill us in the process. You know . . . accidentally.”

Keita gave a small smile. “I’ll do my best. Oh!” she suddenly exclaimed, looking back in the direction of the fort. “We should really get everyone away from there.”

Brannie briefly closed her eyes. “You’re poisoning the air, aren’t you?”

“A little.”

With a growl, Brannie ran back toward the others as Keita yelled after her, “It won’t last or anything, but . . . you know . . . for now . . . best to err on the side of caution . . . to avoid death.”

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Lord Phalet entered the dungeons with his personal guard and assistant Harex. They didn’t rush forward, though. Not after word of his guest’s antics had reached his long, pointed ears.

But, seeing her sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, head bowed in defeat . . .

Smiling, showing all his fangs, he pointed to the human. “See, Harex? She just needed a little time to cool down and to understand how completely trapped she is.”

“Should I greet her properly, my lord?” Harex asked, his own fangs showing, his excitement at the prospect obvious.

“Please.”

Harex moved down the hall until he reached her cell. He stepped close to the bars and purred, “Hello, my la—ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Harex’s scream of anguish rang out, startling them all.

The crazed female had launched herself from the ground to the bars, reached through, and gripped Harex by the head. Then she began attempting to pull him through the bars.

Harex fought back valiantly, but every time he got one arm off his head, she used the other. When she couldn’t seem to get his rather large head between the bars, she gripped both of his ears and used her thumbs to dig into his eyes.

“Help him!” Phalet ordered. His guards actually hesitated before following his orders.

By the time they dragged Harex away, both his eyes were gone, his nostrils were torn open, and his throat nearly torn out. And the crazed female had done all that with only her hands.

Still attached to the bars, she screeched and clawed at Harex and the others. Once they were definitely no longer close, she stopped screeching, spit, lowered herself from the bars, and went back to sitting against the wall. Calm as she was before.

A panting, blind, profusely bleeding Harex was taken out of the dungeons but Phalex remained, staring at the woman he’d brought to his hellish kingdom.

He’d had humans here before. Warriors. Peasants. Even kings and queens. Some had died before they arrived, his world their fate after death; and some had fallen into a hell trap when they were still alive.