Page 30 of Ransomed to the World
Annora landed hard, her legs buckling, and she rolled, coming to a stop when her back smacked hard against a large rock. She glanced up and found herself surrounded by nothing but pure darkness.
Dropped into a maze…Camden hadn’t been kidding!
She lifted her hand and couldn’t even see it when it was just an inch away from her face.
Fuck.
The silence was absolute, like she was shut away in a sensory deprivation chamber. She ran her hands over the cool stone beneath her, but felt nothing but gritty sand and rock. She reached out with her magic, but the opal was nowhere to be found.
It had disappeared completely.
She rose to her feet, the need to escape pounding through her veins. Even though she knew her uncle was dead, she’d swear she could feel him stalking her, hear the whisper of his deep voice describing what he planned to do next to punish her.
She spun in a circle, unable to get over the feeling she was being watched.
Her breathing became ragged, and she struggled not to allow her fears to take shape. When rocks began to rain down from the ceiling, she realized Mason had gotten too damned close. Knowing he was near eased the panic that threatened to drag her into the past.
She needed to stay focused if she wanted to lay claim to Mason.
She refused to allow her fears to destroy their chance for a future together.
And to do that, she needed to stop wasting time.
She’d spent enough time underground for her senses to quickly adjust.
She knew what she needed to do.
Blowing out a shaky breath, she resisted the temptation to call the darkness and blend into the background while she hunted for the stone, but she didn’t think it would work. Mason always seemed to see her, even when she didn’t want to be noticed. She suspected the brew he drank would only enhance that ability.
That didn’t mean she was defenseless.
She called on the dark particles, pulling it up from her bones, and nearly whimpered in relief when the darkness eased, leaving her surrounds a dark, murky blue.
And found herself in the center of a massive cavern.
Giants stood around the perimeter of the room, and she nearly fell on her ass again as she scrambled backwards. It was only then that she realized they were statues. The trolls stood to attention, nearly ten feet tall, each holding a spear or sword or even a bone-like club over their shoulder.
Furs barely covered their privates. Trolls hadn’t really changed in the past few hundred years…until you looked at their expressions. There was a ferocity to them, a craziness that warned a person not to get close. Their blank eyes blazed down at her, their horns massive…and each of them carried a black opal that shimmered in the dark, similar to the one she hunted.
They were so lifelike she wouldn’t be surprised if they came alive at any second. Knowing she didn’t have much time, Annora turned away to survey the rest of the cavern. She refrained from checking on the link between her and Mason, not sure she could bear it if he wasn’t on the other end.
As she hurried down the tunnels, two paths immediately became clear. She took a step, ready to charge down the nearest path, when she saw the tiny particles of the afterworld swirling down the opposite way, as if on an invisible current, beckoning her forward.
Going on instinct, she whirled and took off in the direction her magic indicated. She didn’t make it more than a few paces when the air around her shifted.
She didn’t have to turn around to know Mason had found her.
She charged down the path like the hounds of hell were on her heels. The last thing she wanted to do was fight with Mason. She knew she could beat him in a fight, but that meant hurting him, and she wasn’t sure she was capable of doing it.
Knowing he was gaining on her, Annora recalled Camden said the underground was a maze. She studied the different openings, then lunged toward the smallest one she could find, barely wide enough for her to fit in sideways if she sucked in her stomach.
And not a moment too soon.
Mason plowed after her, hitting the rock full force just seconds after she did. She’d swear that the walls shivered under the impact. He turned sideways, and thrust his hand in the passageway, his beautiful lavender eyes now muddied and bloodshot.
Annora couldn’t move, his fingers lightly brushing her arm as he wedged himself deeper into the tiny crack in the wall. She waited for their connection to snap into place, but all that stared back at her was pure rage. He shoved his face between the rocks, brutally scraping his skin in the process, but it was like he felt none of it.
When he couldn’t reach her, he bellowed in denial, his roar making her ears ring.
