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Light flashed, and Rune turned to see Gideon in the tunnel, headed straight for her. He had that flare in his hand, and the closer he came, the more the small cavern she stood in brightened.

Rune glanced around her, trying to think. Her spell was still intact, and since Gideon didn’t know for sure that she was in here, the spellmarks on her wrist would keep working their magic, pushing his attention away from her. Or so she hoped.

But even if itdidhold, all Gideon had to do was continue walking and he’d bump right into Rune. There was nowhere for her to go. It was too cramped to dart around him.

Unless …

She eyed the dark pool. The top of a ladder poked up a few inches above the surface, suggesting this hole had once been the entrance to the mine’s third level.

The water was murky, the color of mud. Rune couldn’t see three feet down, never mind the bottom, even with Gideon’s light growing stronger.

Pulling her hood down toward her eyes, Rune stared at the water. It would be cold. Freezing cold. Could she hold her breath long enough to stay hidden? She didn’t know. But if she didn’t want Gideon to catch her, she only had one option. And it was this one.

Reaching down, she grabbed the slippery sides of the ladder and slowly lowered herself in, gasping at the icy temperature.

She descended slowly, not wanting to make too many ripples. As she did, her eyes locked with Gideon’s—or they would have, if he could see her. He glanced right past Rune, scanning the cavern’s shadows.

Relieved, Rune let out a breath.

Ghost Walkerwas still doing its job. Convincing him she wasn’t here.

He’ll be able to see me as soon as I come up for air,she realized, glancing at the bloody marks on her wrist, knowing the water would wash them away in moments. But what other choice did she have?

Before Gideon closed the gap, Rune sucked in a lungful of air and went under, using the ladder to pull herself as far down as she dared, out of his reach and into the murky water.

She felt the spell weaken the further down she went, then fade entirely.

Rune opened her eyes and looked up, half expecting to be confronted by Gideon’s dark and deadly gaze. Instead, she saw nothing but murk, and the dim glow of his flare in the cavern above.

Rune held herself still.

The cold water slowed her pulse. Soon, her lungs pinched, wanting air. But the glow overhead didn’t recede. He was still in this cavern with her.

Her lungs burned. Rune squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold on a little longer, knowing she only had seconds until her time ran out. When it felt like her chest would burst, she opened her eyes and looked up to find only blackness. Darkness everywhere.

Gideon had taken his flare and left.

She let go of the ladder and surged upward, gasping for breath when she hit the surface.

The moment she did, two firm hands grabbed her and dragged her out.

TWENTY-THREERUNE

RUNE BUCKED AGAINST GIDEON,whose arms were locked tight around her, keeping her back pinned to his chest.

“If I didn’t want you dead,” he said, his voice low in her ear, “I’d be tempted to admire your cunning.”

Rune gritted her teeth.I’m flattered.

His flare had died. With no light, she couldn’t see a thing—but she could feel quite a lot.

He was all hard, menacing muscle. There wasn’t an inch of softness in him. With him pressed against her, Runefelttheir size difference. One of his hands wrapped easily around her bicep.

His strength, combined with his size, would beat her every time in a physical struggle. So Rune stopped struggling.

She fell still in his arms, catching her breath and trying to regroup.

He was warm as a furnace, and Rune’s body temperature was dropping rapidly. The chill of the water had seeped into her skin, and her wet clothes locked in the cold. But the heat of him staved off the worst of it.