Onyx Eclipse (The Raven Queen's Harem 5)

Chapter

Clinton

I feel rather than hear the shifting of rock against stone. I spin, looking down the passage behind me. It’s pitch black and I know instinctively that Morgan is no longer behind me. Neither is Bunny.

“Morgan?” I call. The only response is the echo of my voice.

I feel along the walls, searching for a hidden alcove or exit. The floor is clear. She didn’t drop a thing along the way. I want to blame Bunny but I know that it’s greater than him. Morgan has been calm and controlled since she saved us from the dungeons. She’s changed since we’ve been gone.

Footsteps and heavy breathing meet me from the opposite direction. Dylan holds a torch and pushes it in my direction.

“She’s gone,” I confess. “Right from behind me.”

“And Bunny?” Sam asks.

“Gone too.”

Dylan’s face clouds over and he kicks the wall, sending rocks flying. Damien begins examining the passage. When he finds nothing, he returns and says, “What did she say to you before you got in the tunnel? I saw her whisper something.”

Three faces wait eagerly for my answer. I think back—it hadn’t meant that much to me, I was too pissed about Bunny. Too worried about her.

“She said we needed to find—build--an army.”

“Those were her last words?” Dylan asks.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Fuck,” he mutters, running his hand through his hair.

“You think she’s gone,” Sam says. It’s not a question. “She took off.”

“She left me at home. Taking Anita with her—locking up Marcus in her cell. She’s been different. Losing you all changed her. Her relationship with Hildi has been tense, and Hildi’s partner, Andi, is sick. She feels responsible about more than just the virus. I have no doubt she think she can fix this on her own.”

“If she can do it on her own, then why does she need us to gather an army?” I ask. “Why would she take Bunny and send us back home?”

Dylan’s eyes shine in the torchlight, his cheeks hollow and sharp. “Because she knows she’s going to lose.”

Chapter

Morgan

“You knew all along it would come to this.”

“I suspected as much,” Bunny admits. “But it’s never what I wanted.”

“That’s why you did what you did, you took everyone and locked me out. You didn’t want me to come here, but the Queen wanted something and you thought you’d give her Anita.”

“I needed you weak. Dylan, compromised.” His eyes are on the stone floor when he says, “I won’t let her destroy you.”

“You tried your hardest—just in other ways.”

He’s silent.

“Why didn’t you come to me? Tell me? W

hy did you think trickery was best?” I ask, watching him closely.

“Would you have listened? Taken the time away from the others?” The muscle in his jaw tics. I feel the bitterness rolling off him in waves.