Treachery Queen (The Callistra Chronicles #1)

TWENTY-SEVEN

"How did you get here before we did? You went in the other direction!" Pasiphae held up a hand immediately. "You know what, forget I asked."

Lauha frowned into empty space, but then promptly focused. "I smell sylphs."

"You— what?"

Pasiphae squinted into the dark. The dilapidated dining hall—the main area of the floor—was only a few steps away, lit by a single, warm bulb. A wisp of something moved.

The outline of a sylph materialised.

"What are they doing in here?" Pasiphae whispered, trying to make herself smaller to avoid being seen.

"I don't know," Lauha whispered, "but there are more coming from the other direction too."

Meanwhile, Naeyrs was digging around the fabric at her waistline, retrieving something in her loose pants. The object reflected a line of light as she found it and presented it to Pasiphae.

"My dagger!" Pasiphae exclaimed. Relief and resentment battled within her. She pointed a finger at Naeyrs as she snatched it. "I knew you took it."

"Yeah, yeah," the girl replied flippantly. "I'm giving it back now."

Pasiphae ran a finger along the blade lovingly.

"Listen to me," Naeyrs said hurriedly. "I'm estimating three guards blocking the entranceway from the sub-floor to the first. You need to deal with those. From then on, you find the room where the sylphs are coming from by magic. It feels clustered and smoky."

"What?" Pasiphae demanded. "I thought you were taking me there."

"Change of plans," Naeyrs hissed. "The sylphs can literally eat me. Like—" She mimed chomping her teeth.

Pasiphae grimaced.

"We're going to resume our covers," Naeyrs continued. "We'll find you again when you're ready."

"We're going to need more weapons too," Lauha added absently. She was staring down the passageway like she had every intention to fight the oncoming sylphs.

"But I can't find the room on my own—" Pasiphae protested.

It was a lost cause. Panic filled Naeyrs' eyes as a noise skittered at the end of the hallway, and she yanked at Lauha to get into the room.

As Pasiphae looked around to make sure she was still in the clear, they shut the door.

Pasiphae was left alone in the hallway, accompanied by the sound of a leaking water valve.

"Wait!" she hissed, banging her fist on the door before she could think about the racket it made. "You're telling me to do this with a single dagger? Are you kidding me?"

The sylphs heard her.

"I— arghh!" She broke into a frustrated scream, which then morphed into horrified as two sylphs came charging after her. Pasiphae sprinted off, mentally cursing the jinni and the banshee.

She braved a glance over her shoulder. The sylphs were gaining.

In an attempt to slow their process, she picked up the chair and threw it back, but she shouldn't have bothered: it passed through the sylphs like they weren't even there.

Pasiphae was panting within seconds. She pressed her cloak up against her face, the smell of the sylphs worsening with the closer they got.

The stairs to the first floor came into view, and Pasiphae charged up, taking three at a time. A cold breath brushed her neck.