Page 113 of A Darkness So Sweet

She kissed him, sweet and slow and everything he had missed. She wasalivein his hands and a missing piece of his soul slotted back into place.

Foreheads pressed together, he breathed her in before saying, “There’s no way out.”

“The wall behind you is breakable, according to Bjorn.”

Gunnar burst into motion at the words. The other trolls were quick to follow suit, slamming their shoulders against the brand new brick and mortar thatmovedwith every heave. Damn it, Bjorn had been right.

And then the troll himself was right there, his massive bulk taking up nearly the entire space between the two walls, and in his arms was the other woman who had jumped. One of her legs was at a terrible angle, but she was still alive.

The wall crumbled. That easily. They’d missed it, although there were countless walls that looked identical to this one all throughout the labyrinth.

Bjorn handed the woman over to Gunnar and then stood there with his hands flexing. “Give me a weapon.”

“Come with us,” Ragnar said.

“Someone has to give you enough time to run. The passages are small and your people are injured. Give me a weapon.”

It didn’t feel right to just leave Bjorn with a weapon and expect him to do all of this for them. He was meant to come with them. He was one of the trolls they had lost and now they were supposed to just... abandon him?

“No,” Ragnar said. “You’re coming with us.”

Bjorn strode right up to him, that awkward gait reminding Ragnar of all of his faults until the massive horned troll stopped right in front of him and pressed their foreheads together. Maia was pressed between them, safer than she’d ever been before. “You will go with your troll wife and you will keep her safe. I am broken and bloody, brother. I have been for a very long time. But your troll wife reminded me that I still have some honor left. Let me do this for you. Let me go.”

Ragnar heaved out an angry breath. Because he knew there was nothing he could do.

At the sound of more humans approaching, this time with clanking armor and the sound of swords being drawn, he backed away with Maia in his arms.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Be safe,” Maia added. “We’re coming back for you.”

He could see Bjorn didn’t believe that. His old friend, or perhaps the man he no longer knew, turned toward the sound of chaos that approached them and let out a roar of rage.

Ragnar gathered Maia in his arms, turned, and plunged into the darkness with the sound of battle ringing in his ears.

ChapterForty-Five

MAIA

Maia clung to her husband, pressing her face against his neck as they ran at a speed that turned the world into a blur. It was eerie to run like this. Because the moment they escaped the castle and came out on the fields beyond, she had a sense of déjà vu.

It was the same direction he’d carried her after their wedding, so different and yet so similar. She’d been terrified then, too. Staring over his shoulder at the castle as it faded into the distance. Back then, she had been scared of what waited for her after they hit the trees. Now, she was terrified of what might follow them there.

A wall of soldiers ran after them. The sunlight caught on their armor, blinding her as it reflected into her eyes. She still stared at them, though. She wanted to watch and make sure they didn’t get too close.

Once the trees hid them from the sight of all the humans, the trolls shouted directions. She couldn’t make out what they were saying. It was hard to pick out any words in the black tongue, even though she’d heard it many times now. With all that had happened in these past weeks, there hadn’t been time for anyone to teach her their language.

Ragnar held her a little closer when he felt her shiver. Or maybe he just needed to feel that she was alive, just like she needed to feel him. Her hands continued to wander over him, like she couldn’t believe he was the one holding her. Not yet. Not when she knew there was still a chance they might not make it out of this.

But soon enough, they were plunging into the mountain. The cold air blasted her back, only for it to be covered by his warm hands as he protected her from the icy chill. He never once let her go. Not on the entire run, and not as they fled the humans. Not even when they were finally in the light of the wisps with the forests surrounding them. He just kept her plastered against his heart.

Eventually, they slowed. Gunnar walked up next to them with Rose in his arms, murmuring a quiet word to her when the other woman seemed to flinch at the sights.

“It’s different,” he was saying. “I know it’s different. But you’ve survived worse than this.”

“So that’s the troll she was talking about,” Maia murmured against Ragnar’s neck as she watched his brother disappear with Rose in his arms.

“Hm?”

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