Page 22 of Between Wrath and Mercy

“I’m going to go downstairs, see if I can help the boys. Rest. I’ll come wake you when we know more.”

I nodded and gulped down the water. While the little sleep I got the night before had been comfortable, it hadn’t been restful, and I’d barely been eating. I’d need my strength; Elora was on her way to Folterra. I kicked off my pants and threw them on the ground. I heard a dull thud when they hit the floor, and I reached for them, digging through the pockets. Finding the conch shell, I said a silent prayer of thanks that I hadn’t accidentally broken it. I rubbed my thumb over the bumps and whorls and felt myself calm a bit. I was surprised Rainier remembered my collection, even more so that he added to it. I couldn’t help but think about how he was managing to calm me when he wasn’t even here. I placed the conch on the nightstand, crawled into the bed, and sank into my thoughts once again, a bit calmer than just a few moments ago, but still terrified, nonetheless.

After being responsible for Lucia’s death, I thought perhaps I brought this upon myself. Wouldn’t that be justice? If my own husband was partially responsible for my daughter’s—ourdaughter’s—abduction? But for him to do something to Elora still made no sense to me. He loved her, he’d always loved her and cared for her. It was the one thing about him I never doubted or resented, the one thing I had complete faith in. So, why was I now uncertain of even that?

“NO!”Theshoutdiedon my lips as I was enveloped by blackness.

I landed on my knees, hands thrown forward, and I winced as pain shot through my abdomen. I couldn’t see a thing. The ground beneath me felt damp and cool. I spread my arms wide, hoping for a wall or something to grab onto. I could hear a faint trickle of water, and the realization hit me like a slap. Tuaman Cliffs. I was inside the complex system of tunnels and caves we had spent the last week exploring, somewhere behind the cavern where Rain and I had explored each other only hours before.

I slowly stood, arms outstretched, and finally made contact with a wall. Why did he send me here? I felt a tickle on my face and reached up to wipe at it, barely touching the sliver of open skin at my hairline.

Lucia.

Though I was disoriented from my fall and inability to see, I quickly began to panic. We’d been running, the soldiers overtaking us. I had been bleeding into my eye, struggling to see as we fought our way through. She was sending bolts of white light into chests as we ran while I kicked knees and slashed across hands and necks, disarming more than injuring anyone. She had given me a shove and yelled at me.

“Keep going!” She had marched forward as she shouted, moving away from me. I stumbled and threw my arms out, reaching for her. I wasn’t going to leave her. She turned a moment before I grabbed her, and she shoved me so hard, I fell backwards. I watched as a bright light erupted out of her, and my vision went white as I lay there on the ground. Blinking, I realized the bodies of those who had been chasing after us were on the ground, unmoving. I gasped, knowing she had emptied her well of divinity with that blast of power. Black tendrils of smoke began to envelop her, vipers undulating within the clouds. Lucia let out an earth-shattering scream and fell to the ground. I clambered to my feet, running towards her, but then Rainier was behind me, grabbing me around the waist from behind and dragging me, legs flailing, before he tossed me in a rift.

He closed it.

I was alone.

I started screaming. Lucia was hurt, and I could help her. She needed me. I had to find my way out of the cave system and back to them, back to her. But I had no idea where I was. The cavern was right at the opening of the cliffs. It had been beautiful, and we had no reason to explore back further into the caves, so I had no idea where I was. I started shivering from the cold at first before it shifted into something more, and my lips turned up into a rueful smile. The blanket Rainier and I had been laying on was probably where we left it, along with the lantern and bottle of wine we’d polished off. It struck me then—the wards. We’d lowered the wards.

It was our fault.

Divine hell, it was all our fault.

I stopped moving, my heart in my throat. I had to fix this. I needed to get back.

I held my hand against my side, fabric wet with my blood, as I made my way through the caves. I walked for hours, sometimes having to crawl, as I made my way through the dark. I had been following a promising path, only for it to end in rock-fall, making the way through impassible. I let out a scream of rage and slid down onto the ground. Rain didn’t follow me, and the rift closed. I was well and truly lost, helpless. I focused my energy, reaching out for a heartbeat. Hoping against hope that Rain was nearby, searching for me.

Silence surrounded me, enveloped me, suffocated me. I leaned back against the cave wall and closed my eyes, the cool rock behind me soothing the ache in my head. I didn’t know how long I sat there before I felt the water lapping over my feet.

High tide.

I jumped to my feet, running and crawling back towards where I started.

I was stuck. I was going to die in these caves.

Iwokeupdrenchedin sweat. Being in the cellar earlier had pushed my mind to a place it rarely went, somewhere it hadn’t gone in years. Rainier had rifted me into the cave system by accident, intending to send me to the cavern we’d discovered days before. But he’d been frantic, panicked, and he missed his mark. I ran a hand over my face. I did not want to start thinking about this again. Those were some of the worst hours of my life, second only to the hours following.

The room was surprisingly full of light, and I assumed it was late afternoon. I rolled over, confused, sure that Lavenia had closed the curtains.

“Feeling any better?” Dewalt was sitting in the worn velvet armchair in front of the window with his feet propped up on the table, resting dangerously close to the pitcher. When my eyes found his dark ones, he was staring at me, seated with his hands crossed on his stomach and an uncharacteristically soft look on his face.

I sat up, pulling my blanket higher.

“A bit. Where’s Lavenia?” My tone was harsher than I meant for it to be.

“She’s with Rainier. We got some more information out of Ratshit downstairs, and they’re going to follow up. I was instructed to stay with you.”

Ratshit. The nickname was a good one. “A note would have been fine; I didn’t need you watching me like some kind of creep.” When we were kids, Dewalt was like an older brother to me, and my favorite part about that had been pestering him. He was always extremely confident—too confident—and he could be rather annoying, so it was important to knock him down a peg whenever possible. It was easy to go back into the same dynamic.

“Hey, I was reading!” He gestured to the Myriad text under his propped feet. “You snore by the way.” I snorted. A small smile was evident on Dewalt’s face, but there was worry in his eyes. Considering what I was dreaming about, I doubted I’d been relaxed enough to snore.

“What did you find out?”

Dewalt’s smile faltered. “I’ll let them explain when they get back.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “It should be soon,” he added, almost apologetically. It felt invasive, but I reached out and noticed his heart was beating faster than usual.

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