Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,48

an even larger pile of gold.

No, these weren’t dreams. For once, my ghosting magic was showing me things that were happening right now, out in the real world. My friends were trying to save me, and Conley was counting his blood money. Greedy bastard.

I got glimpses of other things too, of places I had never been before. Lyra perching on a tower of a small, crumbling mountaintop castle, her purple feathers ruffling as she squawked at the other strixes gathered around her. Leonidas shoving food and other supplies into a satchel. Then Leonidas climbing onto Lyra’s back, and the two of them sailing up, up, up into the brilliant blue autumn sky . . .

Those images faded away, and that cloak of blackness wrapped around me again. But the cloak was just an illusion, and my body soon grew as cold as the rocks around me. I didn’t mind the chill, though. It helped douse some of the hot pain throbbing through my broken bones—

Thump.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump-thump-thump.

Noises rang out, interrupting my slow spiral down toward death. I couldn’t tell if I was actually awake or just dreaming again, although some small part of me struggled to figure out what was happening. The noises almost sounded like . . .

Footsteps.

Several sets, all headed this way.

My heart lifted, but it tumbled back down just as fast, like a baby strix trying—and failing—to fly for the first time. No one was coming to rescue me. The miners were probably just returning from lunch, or whatever time it was now. Even if someone did enter the cavern, I didn’t have the strength to lift my head, much less call out for help. That cold, numb lethargy swept over me again, pulling me back down, down, down into the darkness—

A light fell on my face, snapping me fully awake. My eyes popped open, but I had to shut them against the harsh glare.

“Over here!” A familiar feminine voice assaulted my ears, further startling me. “I see her!”

Other voices rose up, although I couldn’t decipher any of the excited chatter. More lights blazed to life, illuminating my face, arms, and legs. After being in the murky gray gloom for so long, the bright white glow brought tears to my eyes. I squinted, trying to figure out what was happening, but all I could see were the lights bobbing up and down like fireflies.

“She’s blinking! She’s still alive!” the feminine voice sounded again.

“Stand back!” This time, a deep, masculine voice rose up above the others.

I frowned. That almost sounded like . . . like . . . I tried to concentrate, but the answer wouldn’t come to me.

Several seconds passed by in silence, although the lights remained bright and steady on my body. Then my fingertips started tingling, the way they always did in the presence of powerful magic. An instant later, this . . . pressure wrapped all around me, as though two giant hands were scooping up my body and slowly hoisting it—me—off the ledge.

Gentle though it was, that first, slightly jerky lift made the pain of my injuries explode in my body again, like stitches that had been ripped open with a dagger. This time, I couldn’t stop myself from screaming, although it was a weak, hoarse sound, like the keening of a wounded animal.

Those invisible hands holding me flinched, as though I had startled them. I screamed again, and again, but those hands slowly, relentlessly, ruthlessly hoisted my body higher and higher into the air.

“She’s in pain.” That feminine voice intruded on my cries. “Perhaps you should set her back down.”

“No,” the masculine voice replied. “I know she’s hurting, but this is the quickest, easiest way to get her out of there.”

Those invisible hands lifted me higher . . . and higher . . . and higher still . . .

I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, I was lying on the cavern floor, with people gathered around me.

How long has she been down here . . .

She’s a broken mess . . .

Can’t believe she survived that fall . . .

Their thoughts crashed over me, along with their curiosity, sympathy, and horror, but for once, the sensations didn’t overwhelm me. Right now, they were as insignificant as spiders skittering across my skin compared to the pain of my injuries.

My gaze flicked from one face to another. I didn’t recognize any of the people, but their helmets and coveralls marked them as miners. Panic filled me. I studied them all again,