Page 145 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

Even with the glowing rock in her fist, that darkness seemed all-consuming.

Loche dragged her all the way to the opening, and she cautiously sniffed the air, expecting some sort of musty smell to rise from it. A crease formed over her brow when instead the smell of food and wood wafted through, and she glanced at Loche.

“We’re going down there, yes. It will be fun, I promise.” Loche let go of her hand, took a few steps to the right, and brushed some snow off what looked like a small boat.

As he pulled it free from the heavy snow covering it, she realized it was some kind of sled. The townsfolk in Asker would use similar ones to drag goods across the snow, and the children had versions they used to go downhill in the winter.

This one was curved at the bottom, though, and made of smooth wood that looked as if it would sail right across the snow.

Her eyes snapped between Loche and the opening.

“No.” Lessia took a step back. “You can’t mean we’re getting into that thing, going downthere.”

Her lips curled back when Loche snickered, and a warning hiss involuntarily left her throat as he took a step toward her.

Loche’s eyes rounded with innocence. “The other option is sliding down yourself, and while I’ve tried it, I can’t recommend it.”

She backed up another step, shaking her head.

Absolutely not.

The abyss before them was pitch black, and based on the other paths he’d taken her on, she didn’t expect this one to have much better upkeep.

“Darling.” Loche’s lips twitched as he tracked her retreat. “Do you trust me?”

Her eyes narrowed.

Perhaps.

But refusing this was just common sense.

Setting down the sled, Loche leaned against the wall. “We can go back to the village if you prefer, but I promise it will be worth it. There’s food, and I’ve been promised music and entertainment. And… I’d like you to meet some of my friends.”

Her eyes narrowed farther when something soft—vulnerable—flashed across his face.

As she took another step back, Loche nodded and pushed himself off the icy wall, the playful expression vanishing.

Clenching the sparkling stone hard, she eyed him as he approached, and when he reached for her hand again, she groaned, “Fine! But you’ll have to explain yourself to Merrick if I die.”

His eyes dropped to her mouth. “I’d gladly let him rip me apart if I ever cause you harm.”

The words slammed into her heart, and she fixed her gaze on the ground as she walked up to the black pit.

“What do we do?”

“I’ll show you.” Loche’s arm snaked around her waist as he guided her into the sled.

As soon as she was positioned, he sat down behind her, his legs snugly sitting outside hers in the narrow seat and his arms clasped around her.

Once they were seated, Loche pushed something on the wall, and the scream ripping from her throat echoed between the ice-covered walls as the sled angled down and accelerated deep into the hill.

She wasn’t proud of it, but she couldn’t stop screaming, feeling as if her stomach would fall out of her body until the sled finally skidded to a stop.

“Took you long enough.”

Lessia looked up, right into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

They belonged to a beautiful middle-aged woman with gray-streaked auburn hair.

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