The Pulptress Versus The Bone Queen: Blood and Bone by Andrea Judy Page B

just a moment before his pale, dirty skin faded away and he dissolved into dust that floated across the air before dissipating. All that was left behind was a fragment of skull just in front of my feet. I tucked my pistol away and wiped my hands off on my jeans.
    Jackson picked up the skull fragment, putting it into her back pocket.
    "Are you alright?" Jackson asked Aramis.
    He took a deep breath. “I’ll be alright.” He forced a smile. “Eten was a good man. Twisted in his own ways, but he didn’t deserve this. None of us did.” He let out his breath. “Come on.”
    I picked up Eten’s sword and headed down the only hallway available to us. Torches flared to life as we walked down the hallway. “Guess there’s no doubt she knows we’re coming.” I muttered.
    Aramis nodded. “Well the glowing stones really don’t do well for sneak attacks.”
    “So who was he?” Jackson asked after several moments of silence.
    Aramis sighed deeply, “He was a priest of the goddess Mene, the same goddess that the Bone Queen once worshipped. Of course, she was still Renata back then. They traveled together as a part of the same group, and I was with them for a time at the end. Ultimately, they all fell to death or to Renata’s own purpose.”
    My steps were steadier now as I walked past the few bits of remaining dust, kicking them up under foot and sending the pale yellow powder flying through the air again. Jackson hurried close behind, waving her hand in front of her face to try to keep the dust away.
    “Do you think she knew he would do that?” Jackson asked.
    “Who?” I said absently, trying to see what lay ahead down the hallway.
    “Eten. Do you think she knew he would give us the key to her?”
    Aramis answered, “I think she did. She needs us to get the last gem. Well, she needs me.”
    “So, we’re walking right into whatever trap she’s set for us,” Jackson muttered.
    “And we’ll be ready for her,” I promised.
    A door led out of one hallway and into another narrow hallway that ended in a set of stairs curling downwards. At the very bottom of the steps that curled round and round, we found a locked door.
    Jackson raised her bat and Aramis readied his daggers as I pushed the sword into the keyhole. Something mechanical whirred and clicked, bits of dust flew out of the slot around the sword before something grabbed the sword and jerked it forward into the door. The sword handle clicked into place flush against the door. I slowly gripped the handle and turned. The door swung open into a room draped with red crushed velvet.
    In the center of the room stood an altar draped with black fabric, candles burned all the way down, nearly to the point of burning themselves out. A few feathers and bones laid scattered across the table surface along with a short ceremonial knife with a blade blunted by time and wear.
    "What is this?" Jackson whispered beside me.
    I shook my head. "I think this is the end of the line." I looked around the room. Hanging on several of the walls were strange pieces of art decayed from time. The floor beneath our feet was littered with bones and each step sent the pieces of skeletons scattering across the ground beneath our feet.
    I could hear Jackson's slow, shaky in and out breaths as she followed right behind me, not faltering or hesitating.
    “Renata!” Aramis shouted.
    "Come on out, we both know it's over," I called as I brought my pistol into my hand. "I know you're in here, and the time's over for this whole cat and mouse thing. You're caught."
    "Am I the one caught or am I the one who has caught you?" Her voice echoed across the room.
    Jackson jumped, tightening her grip on her bat.
    "We're ready for you," I said, standing up straight and keeping my voice firm as I looked around the room, finally spotting the glint of light against the far back.
    The pale grey light that flickered there matched the light from the gem that the raven had stolen from me. Without waiting, I turned my