Page 231 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I would have seen it as an affront to my strength. In reality, I didn’t want anyone, family, friend, or foe, to see any of my struggles.
Help made me feel exposed.
Now I felt seen.
It seemed even in this lifeless, emotionless place, sentiment could still bloom.
“We’ll traverse the entire passage. Not long now,” he called out, commanding voice ricocheting through the rocks and ash. There was hope in those words. Perhaps the others didn’t hear it, but I did.
Or maybe I felt it, through our clasped hands.
For a moment, the passage felt alive, as if the sound was fighting against the shadows. But, in the end, they engulfed it as well. But for those brief moments, I heard the sighs of relief echoing behind us.
Perhaps the voices and power had coalesced toward the other end of the passage.
Ifthere was a threat andifthe fallen stars’ power protected the crater, then that would be the most logical place to concentrate–
Ryker’s hand tightened against mine a breath before his voice roared. “Out of the way!”
I didn’t have time to crouch as a hiss erupted in the silence.
He pushed me toward one of the larger gaps and I’d already wedged between the porous rocks when the molten heat blasted the passage, burning and unforgiving.
Chapter
Fifty-Two
ALLIE
The ungodly blast hit like a furnace, stinging my cheeks, even as I tried to shield them against the porous stone.
A storm of ash kicked up in the air, swallowing the entire passage.
Eyes watering, I could barely make out the flickering glimmer of the fallen torches on the ground.
Only three of them remained, the rest snuffed out.
But I couldn’t see anyone.
Couldn’t hear.
The side of my body wedged in the gap was cold, as if the icy darkness tried to seep into my bones.
My palms scraped against the unforgiving stone as I instinctively reached for my bow and arrows. But how could mortal weapons fight the heat roaring toward us?
As sudden as it had begun, the heat vanished, even as the ash still stirred, as if waiting for its sacrifice.
Jaw clenched, my palms sleek against the bow, I chanced a look in the passage.
I almost cried out when I spotted Ryker’s flickering eyes, hidden in a gap just behind me. The rest of him had melted into the shadows. My knees almost buckled with relief. Not just because I wasn’t alone, but because it washim.
He placed a finger to his lips.
Listen.
At first, it was hard to hear anything past the heartbeat roaring in my ears. But I was The Huntress and my body would not betray me now. Not again.
In the dimness, I heard the barest sound of a scrape against stone. A step. The hiss of a weapon being drawn slowly.
