Demon Bound: The Camelot Archive - Book One, R Nicole [top romance novels .TXT] 📗

We ducked through the opening and descended a flight of stairs. Rows of shelving reaching to the ceiling were crammed into the first room. Books and scrolls lay everywhere, covered in dust and cobwebs. Doors opened into more rooms, each filled with ancient pottery, statues, talismans, weapons, and jewels. It was a treasure trove of lost knowledge.

“It’s huge,” I whispered, my voice echoing all around us.

“There are doors and passages that cut into the hillside,” Aiden said excitedly. “And stairs going farther down.”

I slapped my palm against my forehead. “Don’t tell me you already went down.”

“All the way to the bottom.”

“You want me to go down there with you, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh.”

I groaned.

“You said you could help us find Darkness here,” he said. “Can you?”

“I guess, but—”

“Great.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me through the mysterious archive, not in the least bit concerned about magical traps and other creepy crawlies that might lurk in the dark.

The air cooled as we worked our way into the earth, passing untold treasures. Aiden had found something at the end of the archive that worried him enough that he needed me to verify its origin.

The last flight of stairs led to a long passageway and at the end, another set of doors similar to those outside. These were a little more fortified—gears and strange mechanisms were inlaid in the copper and gold façade—and when locks were on doors, it could only mean one thing. Treasure.

We stared at the door, neither of us knowing what to say, let alone do.

“That’s a problem,” Aiden stated, his voice quivering.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “It’s a door.”

“Can’t you feel it?” He pointed to the lock. “I haven’t felt that kind of power since—”

“The Twin Flames,” I finished as the same power washed over me.

“And it’s behind a locked door. Madeleine…that’s a vault.”

Then the million-dollar question was, what was inside? There must have been thousands of relics hidden in here, but the most logical explanation for the Dark’s digging had to be this. No one locked something deep underground if it wasn’t powerful and dangerous to boot.

I pressed my palm against the door. The metal was cool to the touch, but warmth ebbed from within and I snatched my hand away.

“Light,” I whispered.

“Light?” He inspected the carvings but didn’t move to touch like I had.

“Aiden, the Twin Flames turned out to be people, not swords,” I said. “What if it’s a prison?”

“A prison?” He contemplated my theory. “The Dark held Camelot for centuries…”

“What if they caught something?” My heart skipped a beat. “What if the Naturals caught something?” The only other creature we knew who held the same kind of power was the one who’d given it in the first place. “What if it’s the Lady of the Lake?”

“No,” Aiden replied. “Scarlett said she locked herself inside Avalon after the timeline changed. This can’t be her.”

I swallowed hard. “Then it’s something else.”

“Whatever it is, we have to protect this place.”

“We need Wilder,” I said. “Trent and Maisy said he hasn’t come back from the castle. Well, we’re at the castle…”

Shuffling footsteps echoed behind us and we spun. I reached for my arondight blade just as Wilder appeared inside Aiden’s halo of Light.

“Wilder, I—” I hesitated when I saw the sheen of sweat beading across his forehead.

He stumbled and leaned against the wall, his breath rattling in his lungs.

“He’s sick,” Aiden said, frozen. “The Flames shouldn’t get sick.”

“Madeleine,” Wilder rasped and I went to meet him, “can you…”

I held his hands and gasped as my newfound power reached out towards him. His Flame was dimming.

“Scarlett…” he rasped, collapsing against the wall. “I need Arondight.”

I looked to Aiden, my heartbeat speeding up. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Madeleine. Let him go.”

I snatched my hands away and Wilder slid down the wall, gasping for breath. Aiden thought I was draining his power.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It isn’t me. Aiden—”

“Stand back,” he ordered, edging himself between me and Wilder. “I can’t take that chance.”

“I’m not that powerful!” I exclaimed. “I can’t dim a Flame!”

“We don’t understand what you’ve become.” He shook his head and knelt beside Wilder, who’d fallen into incoherency. “I’m sorry, Madeleine, but I will have to lock you up after all.”

“No.” I shook my head and backed away. “I won’t go back into that cage.”

“It’s for your own safety.”

“Yours, you mean.” I jabbed a finger at the vault door. “It’s that thing that’s making him sick. Don’t you think it’s a coincidence? The Naturals lock it away, the Dark wants to dig it up, and now Wilder’s sick?”

He hesitated, glancing at the Inquisitor.

“Aiden,” I snapped, “we need to get him to Ramona.”

He blinked and rose to his feet, snapping to attention. “Help me get him up.”

Together, we lifted Wilder and began the long trek to the surface. I could sense Excalibur waning, his silver Flame dimming like a candle in the wind. Whatever was in that vault, didn’t bode well.

“Straight to the infirmary,” Aiden reminded me.

I just hoped we got there in time.

* * *

We dragged Wilder through base camp, picking up a trail of bewildered Naturals as we went. They lingered outside as we burst into the infirmary.

Ramona stared at us, her mouth falling open. “Madeleine? What—”

“He’s sick,” I interrupted, helping Aiden lay Wilder on bed. “His Flame is dimming.”

She snapped to attention and leaned over him, administering her Light. Her eyes fluttered closed as she ran her hands over his head and chest. She went so deep into his mind I wondered if she would ever come out.

“Ramona?” Aiden urged. “What’s happening to him?”

She lifted her hands and shook her head, distraught.

“Ramona?” I murmured, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Her gaze met mine, disbelief clear in her eyes. “He’s in a coma.”

“A coma? How is that possible?”

Aiden sucked in a sharp breath. “But he’s Excalibur. He can’t—”

“It’s that stupid vault!” I exclaimed, my power sparking. “And that bloody Balan, Ikakantor. I’ll kill him.”

I went for my arondight blade, but Ramona grasped my wrist.