Page 126 of The Trials of Ophelia

“Where’s Ophelia?” Jezebel’s voice rose with panic.

“And Tolek,” Cyph added.

Action exploded around us as Cyph barked orders of pairs to split into and Ric added advice of how to tell if a stretch of tunnel was structurally sound. Should have given us that advice earlier.

Everyone took off down different pathways, but I remained where I stood, watching them disappear into shadows and hoping I was wrong. Hoping she’d still emerge.

“Malakai?” Esmond asked when the others were gone and I didn’t move.

I touched each of my fingertips to my thumb, counting the fluttering movements as I tried to breathe. In and out. In and out.

“Mila isn’t here.”

I didn’t know how long had passed until Esmond and I found the source of the cave in. Every minute blurred into the next, and there was no sun or moon to judge by in the Labyrinth. It was disorienting on a normal day, but paired with the jittering nerves through my gut, it had me crawling out of my skin and snapping at the others.

There was a long stretch of tunnel deep within the Labyrinth that held a number of abandoned rooms to host travelers. From one end to the other, it likely spanned fifty feet. Now, a wall of rubble stood at the entrance.

Ricordan couldn’t say how a wreck of this magnitude would have happened. “It’s usually a small rockslide,” he’d said, stunned.

I didn’t truly care how it happened, though. Esmond, Gatrielle, Santorina, and I went to work digging out one end, but progress was slow. We had to be diligent with each rock moved, careful not to worsen the collapse.

Impatience made me frantic. My hands shook, sending a stone clattering to the ground.

“Malakai.” Santorina grabbed my shoulders, turning me toward her. “You need to calm down.”

I looked right over her head and counted the rocks stacked floor to ceiling—or what I could. The larger ones were easier to catalog. The small pebbles more volatile. Miss one tiny, seemingly-harmless enemy and watch them crumble your empire.

“How the fuck can I?” I threw back at her. “She’s in there!”

Four large chunks of rock formed the ridge of the cave in, a thin sliver of mystlight outlining them. How could I get up there? Could I climb and make a hole along the top?

“I know, Malakai, and we’re going to find her.” The sincerity in Rina’s voice convinced me to meet her eyes. “You’re throwing rocks around wildly, though, and that could make it worse. Worse for her.”

“I’m sorry,” I panted, “but I—what if she’s not okay?”

“Ophelia is going to be okay,” Rina comforted.

I stilled. “Not Ophelia! She’s with Tolek. He’ll take care of her. What about Mila?”

Santorina’s hands fell from my shoulders, head tilting to the side. “I thought…was she not with us?” Her eyes flicked side to side as she ran through the group at the meeting point and realized I was right.

Had truly no one noticed she hadn’t joined us earlier? I knew they had been traveling with their small group and were used to accounting for the six of them, but Mila was our general, and she looked out for every soldier in her army.

She searched for me when I fled that battlefield. She searched for Lyria when she was taken during the first war. Now, I would search for her.

“Mila is alone, and she’s likely trapped somewhere in this cave-in.” I only hoped she was not beneath the rubble. “She is the priority of this team.” I gestured to Esmond and Gatrielle, who nodded.

“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Santorina looked at me with some level of clarity I didn’t have the patience to dissect. “Let’s find her.”

I shoved aside the fear and turned back to the rocks, doing my best to move more slowly. I counted each pile of dirt and rubble I carted away, using the monotony to steady myself. Tried not to imagine finding bloodstained hair poking out between each rock.

She’d be fine.

But fuck, when did I begin to care so much?

It was hours later when we had enough of the rock excavated to form a hole through. Or I assumed hours had passed based on the exhaustion weighing my bones. Adrenaline kept me upright, though. Kept every movement alert and focused.

The others were likely still on the opposite end of the cave-in, continuing their search. We hadn’t ventured over there often, the only path being long and convoluted. Aside from Gatrielle leaving to get us food and refill our canteens, we’d avoided stopping at all costs.

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