Holy fuck. Those were the gods, walking the streets of their city followed by an entourage of mages.
With my head still angled down, I talked quietly, just loud enough for the guys to hear me. “Coming from behind and to our left is another god. There are at least twenty servants behind him. As they pass, we need to fall in behind one of the groups.”
I could see the slight movement as my men nodded, and we waited patiently as the gods passed with the mages trialing in their wake. We instantly stepped to the side, picking up our pace to match theirs. No one seemed to notice that we fell in, which was perfect.
My heart thudded hard and fast in my chest, and I did my best to keep my steps steady and even. As we walked, I picked up snippets of murmured conversation between the mages in front of me.
“Did you bring your offering to him?” one asked.
The other mage gave a nod. “Of course I did. He’s our god. They’re all our gods. It is my privilege and duty to give of myself for them.”
I looked slightly to my left, catching Trace’s gaze. His brows pulled together as he frowned.
This is so fucking weird. The mages voices were reverent, worshipful, and awed. They served the gods in this city, and apparently, they worshiped them too. The way they talked about their offerings and duties was almost cult-like.
Ugh. I better remember not to drink any Kool-Aid here.
The mages continued talking, but their voices grew too soft for me to hear as we made our way through the city and toward the back, where the enormous palace structure stood. That one building alone took up probably a quarter of the city.
Without warning, as we entered the grounds of the palace, the mages began to break off in different directions. They moved as if they had done this a hundred times. The four of us kept moving, not wanting to look awkward and weird or draw attention. We walked quickly through the crowds toward a large door where we could see many of the mages entering and exiting the palace.
“That must be the service door,” Merrick whispered.
We kept our pace, moving in unison straight for the service area. But as we approached, a guard stepped in front of us and put out his hand. “Symbols.”
I froze. What?
Keeping my head down, I glanced from side to side, wracking my brain for anything about symbols that I might’ve read in the books in that hidden room in the library.
Nothing.
“Show me your symbols,” the guard repeated, his becoming harder and more demanding.
Ah, fuck.
Chapter Nineteen
Panic rose up in my chest, my hands unconsciously curling into fists as I prepared to fight—my bodies instinctual reaction to danger.
“Well?” the guard demanded.
I peeked at him through my eyelashes, careful not to reveal much of my face. He looked annoyed and bored, but not suspicious. Maybe not having these “symbols,” whatever they were, hadn’t automatically labeled us as outsiders. Intruders.
Shoving down my nerves, I turned toward Trace, injecting the same annoyance I’d heard from the guard into my tone.
“Yes. Where are they?”
Trace jerked slightly, obviously surprised by my reaction.
Please, trust me, Trace. Just trust me.
I caught a flash of his bright blue eyes beneath his hood, and I saw the moment that understanding sparked.
“Oh, I, uh…” He spread his arms slightly, giving a helpless little shrug. Even his voice had shifted, becoming a nervous stammer that was so different from his usual smooth tone. “I forgot them.”
“You forgot,” I drawled. Then I heaved a sigh. “Of course you forgot. I should’ve known better than to ask you to remember anything, much less something like that.”
The guard huffed a breath that was almost a laugh, obviously somewhat entertained by watching someone he considered an underling being berated for an oversight.
Grabbing Trace’s arm, I pulled him aside, away from the service door and the guard that blocked it, still chastising him under my breath. The other two men followed close behind us, their postures tense beneath their robes.
The guard didn’t stop us or call us back, and the knots in my stomach slowly began to unwind as we moved away from him.
“Fucking hell, Snow.” I could hear the awe and gratitude in Trace’s voice. “That was some damn quick thinking.”
“You too,” I murmured, glancing up at him. “Thanks for playing along.”
“That was smart, Ari. You probably saved our lives,” Merrick added. Lachlan grunted his agreement.
We stood in a sheltered little alcove for a few moments, glancing surreptitiously around to get our bearings, trying to figure out what to do next.
Merrick cocked his head slightly, staring up at the palace from beneath his hood. “We still need to get in there somehow. But that guard is probably going to be on duty until the end of the day, so we can’t go back to the service entrance. He might’ve even alerted the other guards to keep an eye out for us. It’s good that we got away when we did. But that doesn’t solve our problem.”
Trace chewed on his full lower lip, narrowing his eyes a little. “I think the best way for us to handle this is to go back out to the city. There should be some sort of entrance or exit concealed within the city.”
Merrick wrinkled his nose. “Is this going to be one of those things where we have to wade through god shit in order to get into the castle?”
Trace just shrugged, and I groaned. As we started following the ex-rock star back out toward the city, I leaned close to whisper to Merrick, “If it is, I’ll make you a magical bubble so you don’t get any shit on you. But you have to do the same for me.”
Merrick let out a quiet laugh. “It’s a deal. Besides, it would be a dead giveaway anyway—walking through the palace smelling like a fucking septic system.”
We headed out down the paths, through a garden area and then out to the city. When we were far enough away from the palace, we slipped down one of the darker alleyways, we began to search in earnest for a way in.
Finally, Trace held up a finger, cocking his head. “Do you hear that?”
I stopped and turned to face him, my ears pricking. “What?”
“Water.”
Now that he said it, I could hear the low rushing sound.
“Yeah. What is it?”
“Water ducts, I’m hoping,” he said with a grin. “And if they aren’t completely underwater, they should have tunnels that lead toward the palace. I can’t imagine there’s anyone down there guarding the aqueducts.”
“Well, that’s better than sewage, so let’s get a move on it.” I nodded, excitement thrumming in my veins.
The four of us followed the sound of the water until we located the entrance to the water ducts, looking around and making sure no one was watching as we slipped down and into the dark area.
I sent a ball of magic ahead to light our way, and Trace led the pack. We followed the tunnels toward the palace, using our magic to help us navigate more clearly through the tunnels. They went in all directions, and we made several wrong turns, retracing our steps before latching onto the right path. I kept a mental log of every turn we took, trying to reverse it in my head so that we could make a quick escape this way if we needed to. It wouldn’t be fucking easy, but I wanted to have the option, at least.