Queens of Mist and Madness (Fae Isles, #4)

by Lisette Marshall

Creon’s yellow magic flashed as we neared the open doorway, turning my clothes plush and pearlescent one last time. I faltered and grabbed his hand – one last touch, one last echo of that love I’d follow into hell and back … ‘How romantic,’ Halbert’s almost-corpse croaked. Creon swung a knife into his forehead without even looking, and the former consul of the White City went down without another sound. Next to him, Norris did not blink, continuing to stare at us with that utterly vacant expression. But behind those doors … A ripple of tinkling laughter, turning my blood to ice at the first giggle. Creon’s fingers squeezed mine so hard it hurt. Every muscle and tendon in my body was screaming at me to run, run, as far away from that cruel amusement as my feet could carry me … but Creon kept walking, and so I did too, towards that doorway I’d crossed three mornings ago with Delwin by my side. Into the boom of that thundering pulse, as if the heart of the city had come alive around us. Into the monster’s lair. Into a hall I barely even recognised.