Page 161 of Endless Anger
Aurora swallows. “Maybe someone should stay out here. Keep watch in case you need help or something.”
Muna hands the three of us a small map she printed on thin copy paper, pointing to a red circle. “We’re here now.” She drags her finger along a path inside the mountain, demonstrating where the few interior caverns are that the group may have gone to. “This gets pretty narrow, so you might want to send Asher ahead, since he’s the skinniest of you three.”
“Also the youngest,” Alistair points out. “If the three of us can’t make it through, then none of us go in. Simple as that.”
Dad rubs the back of his neck, distributing flashlights. “Alistair?—”
Holding up a hand, Alistair shakes his head. “No, Kal. I’m not puttingallour children at risk.” He looks at me, his blue eyes making my heart ache. “Wedon’t fit, you don’t go. Got it?”
I don’t reply. Like I’d get this close to Lucy and just leave her in there.
He snatches my shirt at the neck, yanking me close. “Do youunderstand?”
A glance at Dad. He just lifts an eyebrow in agreement.
I nod, then shake out of Alistair’s hold.
Dad claps me on the shoulder and turns me toward the cave entrance. He glances at Aurora and then Muna. “If we aren’t back in a few hours, call for help.”
Aurora hesitates. “Help orhelp?”
The authorities or her father.
Dad gives her a look and then pushes me forward. Alistair leads the charge, ducking down to fit inside the entrance. All of us have to bend slightly, since the cave maybe clears six feet. I bump my head more than once inside the narrow tunnel.
Without our flashlights, it’d be impossible to see anything. Dad keeps his facing backward, illuminating the path as we leave it, while Alistair focuses straight ahead.
The first cavern we come to is totally empty and only accessible if you crawl. None of us are interested, so we move on.
Unease floods my nervous system. It’s dark and cramped, and for a long time, the only thing we hear is the dripping of a lone water source somewhere farther down.
At one point, Dad clears his throat, sliding closer to me. I pretend not to feel the claustrophobia prickling against my skin.
“Why in the world didn’t you call one of us sooner? I thought your mother and I told you to let us know if things took a turn for the worse at Avernia,” he says in a low voice. “Wasn’t that your stipulation?”
“No,” I reply. “You said not to cause problems for Quincy. I didn’t.”
“I also asked you to keep Lucy and Foxe safe. I said to keep them close. You were the only one of them fully aware of the danger lurking in the shadows, Asher.”
Pausing, I spin around and shove him back a step. My neck cramps, but I ignore it as my anger reaches a peak, boiling over. “Do you think I don’t fucking know that, Dad? You think I’m having fun down here looking for the most important people in my life,hopinglike hell they weren’t killed for some stupid thing I never bothered to warn them about?”
Dad’s eyes widen.
Still, I keep on, my emotions stirring up word vomit. “I’m not a fuckingidiot, you know, and I’m notyou, so save the goddamn lecture for when we get home, all right? I do not need your help right now in feeling like a piece of shit.”
With that, I turn and push past Alistair, breaking into a light sprint to gain some distance from the two of them.
The second cavern I find is empty too, but this one we can at least walk through. It splits off into two sections, and I stare at the fork, wondering which to choose.
Footsteps scrape against the ground, approaching me. My shoulders tense, preparing for Dad to lay into me some more, but it doesn’t come.
Instead, Alistair stops beside me. “Your father said he’d catch up.”
“Okay.”
He glances between the two entrances. “Which one?”
I shrug. “Hell if I know.”
