Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,115

put my ear to it and listened.

Oh no. Tell me he didn’t.

My heart thundered. I twisted the door handle, but it would only move back and forth. Throwing my shoulder against the door did nothing… except wake up the guard stationed outside.

“What’s happening in there?” he asked, hesitating outside the door. I prayed it was the human, and not a Guardian keeping watch.

I made a sound like I was choking. “Help,” I whispered desperately, tiptoeing behind the door, watching as the key turned in the lock and the knob twisted. When the guard pushed it open enough to peek in, I rushed him, ramming him into the wall Aries-style.

It was the human who’d brought my food. He cried out in pain, dropping the key to cover his head, which was bleeding above his temple. Badly. He was disoriented but recovering quickly. Anger flared in his eyes.

I slammed his head into the wall again before he could hurt me and watched his knees buckle, then scooped up the key, locked the door behind me, and ran.

That was when I realized I had no clue which direction to go.

If I yelled, someone would hear and come to investigate.

Another of Kes’s cries rose from a nearby stairwell, making my hair stand on end.

The stairs were dim and murky, lit only by guttering sconces placed haphazardly along the walls, but there weren’t nearly enough of them. There was more shadow than light now that it was dark outside. I padded down the steps with a racing heart.

The walls were devoid of decoration, as empty as Taurus’s heart.

Every cry made my hair raise. Every plea made my blood boil.

I’m coming, Kes.

Aquarius suddenly appeared in front of me, startling me. He put a finger over his lips and dragged me into a nearby room.

“My brother,” I choked, pointing down the hall to the screams still pouring from somewhere on the other end. “He promised to leave them alone.”

“He promised not to hunt them, and if Kes had stayed in Aries’s territory, he wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

“Screw you,” I sneered. I didn’t care if Kes had gotten himself into this mess or not. He was here. He was hurting. And all because he came to save me.

Aquarius cracked the door and glanced nervously into the hall. “The others are all gathered here.”

“All of them?”

He nodded. “All but Aries.”

“Please tell me he’s not coming here.”

Aquarius bowed. “Very well. I will remain silent on the matter.”

“Shit.” I rubbed my temples that were now throbbing. “Will you still stand by his side?”

He cocked his golden head questioningly. “Of course. Aries is my dearest friend. He’s sometimes moody and misguided, but aren’t we all?”

“Will there be repercussions for those who stand with him?”

He shook his head. “None of us are more powerful than the rest,” he replied mechanically. “That’s our curse.”

Kes screamed again. I closed my eyes. “You have to help him.”

Aquarius shook his head. “He trespassed, knowing the consequences he’d face if Taurus caught him.”

“Please?” Tears flooded my eyes.

“The only one who can help him is you, Larken. You know what you must do.”

Aquarius disappeared as suddenly as he arrived, and I realized he was right. I was the only one who could save Kes. But I’d have to take down Taurus to do it, in a room full of Zodia who hated my guts.

I followed Kes’s voice down the hall to a large room. Taurus knew the moment I walked in. He fumed, “How did you get out of your room?”

My brother’s body was on the floor, beaten and bruised. His eyes were swollen shut. A string of thick, bloody saliva hung from his lip and stretched until it hit the stone beneath him. He was broken. “Larken, don’t…” he tried to say.

At Taurus’s right hand was Libra, her pale, scaled form drawing up to make her taller. Even her slitted eyes were colorless. She locked them onto me, her tongue flicking out to taste the scents upon the air. I hoped she tasted my anger. I wanted to rip every one of her scales off, one by one.

Then there was Gemini. I hadn’t seen her very well from the balcony that day, but now that I saw her up close, I realized that was probably a good thing. She had two heads, both glaring at me with matching sneers stretched across their mouths.

Kes coughed, blood spraying from his mouth onto the floor.

Cancer snapped her claws nervously. Click. Click. Click. She prattled anxiously back and forth across the