Read Online (Skeleton Key) Princess of the Damned by Wendy Knight - Free Book Online

brow, and he saw for the first time that her eyes were brown. He'd never seen her so close before. "Friend?" she asked when he didn't blink.
    He'd gotten lost in the beauty of her gaze.
    "Landon."
    She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
    He cleared his throat and tried again. "Landon. My name is Landon."
    She smiled, so sweet it broke his heart. It was the only light in that world, but it was enough to melt the ice and chase back the shadows. "Landon."
    Kaida hissed, racing up one arm, across her shoulders, and down the other arm. He blew puffs of smoke at the darkness, like he could possibly chase away the monsters.
    "We need to get somewhere safe," Landon said. "So we can come up with a battle plan." Because clearly, winging it had worked so well already.
    She smirked, patting his unbroken hand. "There is nowhere safe, Landon. Not on this side of the mirror."
    The Isle of the Damned. It had been fittingly named.
    "If you listen, you can hear the moans of the lost, trapped here with their greatest nightmares, too afraid to go to the ball, too afraid to go to hell. If your world saw this place, spent a day here, or even an hour, they would change their paths."
    Landon nodded. It was all he could do. He had no idea how long he'd been here, but it was far too long. "Tell me the rules."
    She had been keeping steady watch around the tree—something Landon didn't dare to do. He was sure he'd seen some weird sort of serial killer/werewolf combo the last time he'd searched the darkness. But Eiress did it fearlessly. "There's no time now. We need to move. Away from the castle. I think Vlad is sending his forces."
    Away from the castle seemed the most terrifying choice possible and going farther from the mirrors seemed counterproductive, but Landon said nothing. He was finally able to see straight, the blood clotting under Eiress's bandages. His mom was going to have a conniption if he made it back out of this hell hole.
    When. When. When.
    Not if.
    Eiress helped him to his feet. Kaida curled around his shoulder, blowing hot smoke against the wounds. Cauterizing them, Landon realized belatedly. Eiress looped his arm around her neck, supporting his weight, and they started moving. It was slow progress, but at least it was progress.
    It took all his concentration, all his will, to remain upright, so there was no time to talk. Eiress, too, seemed to be focusing entirely on the area around them, although what tiny little she could do against the nightmares in the darkness, Landon had no idea.
    Very soon, though, he realized that the monsters in the night steered clear of Eiress. They, like Mary, like Vlad, even like Elizabeth, seemed to realize that Eiress was very dangerous. Landon had known there was something that protected her—not an outside force, but Eiress herself—that kept her alive. Some inner strength or—or hidden power or something.
    "Do you know where you're going?" he finally panted.
    She grinned sideways at him, shoving her bright red hair away from her face. "Not really."
    Landon was so astounded by that smile that he forgot, momentarily, how frightened and hurt he was. He'd seen her smile a thousand times, but the mirror dimmed its brightness. Here, in this place, it was enough to chase away the very shadows. "I've…seen…lost souls talk at the balls, sometimes. About a solace in the mountains. Maybe a cave or something. I'm—" she panted, caught her breath, and continued, "—I'm searching for that."
    "Can you see in this?" Landon had to ask, because he could barely see her, and she was mere inches away.
    She nodded, dark brown eyes still scanning what Landon could only assume were mountains in the distance.
    Kaida puffed, and Eiress nodded. "Yes, there. I see it, too. Can you climb, Landon? With my help?"
    He wanted to ask her if she could climb, under his weight, but she'd just carried him through the forest on her shoulders, so there was little she seemed unable to do. Instead, he saved his strength and nodded.
    The