After they returned to the enclave, Sophia was chomping at the bit to leave. She insisted on a plan of attack so that they could get out of the mountain and return as soon as they were prepared to take care of the girl in the crystal coffin. Something else bothered her, and he had a feeling it was the ever-declining health of Edric and Ezekiel. Andreas knew she blamed herself for it, and he was sure she wouldn’t hear of it otherwise. Instead, he offered to go on a scout to find a way into the castle.

Torra almost begged to join him. He figured she still felt guilty with how things went down when they first came across Lady Naomi, but he insisted he would work quicker on his own. She nodded and said, “There are a few ways to get into the castle. You might find the side closest to the mountain worth pursuing.”

“Anything more specific?” he asked.

She shook her head. “You’ll know it when you see it. There’s a boulder.”

Following the directions Torra gave, he went to the side that faced the mountain. There was enough of a space to walk through and archer windows lined the top wall of the castle. He found the boulder she referred to, but nothing that hinted at a way inside. Looking around and finding he was alone, he shifted to his wraith form. He felt weighted down still but was able to fly to the top of the wall and peek into the archer window. He was shocked to find it empty. Lady Naomi must have grown cocky in her power to leave her vulnerable areas unguarded throughout the castle. But there could be traps in place of guards.

From this view, he caught sight of the boulder and saw that there was an iron grate behind it. He floated back to the ground and shifted back into his human form. Returning to the boulder, he found that it was movable. The grate hung on hinges and seemed to lead into the belly of the castle.

“So that’s what she meant?” he asked himself.

Since they needed a way to get to the sewers, this was the best option they had.

Satisfied, he started on his way back, and then he sensed the vexsnare near again. He kicked himself for using his wraith form, knowing the creature would be able to track him much easier, but he also needed a way into the castle, and that was the only way he had access to it that would accomplish the goal.

Man, they needed to hurry up and get the hell out of there. Hiding in the bushes, and controlling his breathing so that he wasn’t detected, the vexsnare prowled not too far from him, sniffing around and muttering to himself.

“Finish dinner from thirteen years ago…”

Finish?

A pinch formed in the center of his forehead at that one. Something didn’t seem right. He thought the vexsnare had been after him all this time. Sure, it mentioned someone else the last time he came uncomfortably close to him and Sophia, but it hadn’t made much sense.

“Ah, little Sophia… all grown up and delicious. Come to finish what we began…”

Foreboding settled in his gut. Those words held a haunting history. If it was Sophia that he was after as well, then that meant that they were bound to cross the creature sooner rather than later. And there would be no escape without a fight.

But more than that was his knowledge of Sophia’s past clicking into place and making more sense. She was found in the mountain. And it took massive trauma and agony to break someone’s soul. If this was the creature that had come after her all those years ago, it was possible that it wasn’t able to finish the job and what the creature had done was enough to break her.

That had to be it. It made too much sense for it to be otherwise.

He struggled with the decision on whether or not to tell her. He was overcome with the need to protect her and didn’t know enough about contritums to feel comfortable to tell her. He didn’t want to shatter what was left of the soul she had and undo all the progress she had made.

For now, he would keep his realization to himself. At least, until he knew without a doubt, telling her wouldn’t irreparably damage her.

Keeping as far away from the vexsnare as he could, he continued on his way back to his woman. Though he wished he could return to his wraith form, he knew the vexsnare would hone in on him. He missed being able to use his form and the power it gave him, but he couldn’t risk shifting again while so close to the vexsnare. A move like that would lead it directly to the enclave and put everyone at risk. Especially Sophia, and the two men he had come to know as brothers.