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“You can have the tomb.” Dante walked toward Idris, stopping just out of his reach. Every step was like walking on burning coal, pain shooting up his limbs in protest. He felt Rieka’s pain-filled gaze follow him, but he wouldn’t back down. “The pendant for Rieka.”

Idris motioned for him to drop the piece. Dante refused to acknowledge the request. On his periphery, he could see Lucien. He hadn’t entirely discounted the other being, whatever he was. He highly doubted they were on the same side. It was a gamble, but it would buy him precious time.

Dante threw the pendant into the air. Time seemed to slow. As he realized he had no way of predicting or influencing the outcome. It was up to fate. Or Lucien.

“Nooo!” Rieka shouted, the black mist disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. She limped toward Dante.

He ran toward Rieka, not waiting to see what had happened. He spun her, positioning himself to take the brunt of the fall as they hit the ground. He rolled over her, using himself as a shield. He held her as if she was the most precious gift in the world. Dust and dirt surrounded them, but at least they were back on the same ledge as Khalida and Talik.

Rieka slapped him on the chest. “I need to breathe, Delacroix.”

He barely moved, not willing to risk falling debris or an attack.

“Lucien has the pendant!” Rieka shouted.

His ears rang, and Rieka yelling at him wasn’t helping the situation. “I know. I threw it at him.”

She blinked, recognition finally dawning on her when she realized what he had done. “You picked me?”

For a moment, they were alone in the world. The vulnerability in her voice tore through him, as he was given a glimpse of Rieka beneath the armor she wore. He reached out and tugged her messy braid, the wayward curls intertwining with his fingers as he moved his head until both their foreheads were touching, their breaths intermingling. “Always, Wildfire.”

A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips. Warmth surrounded him.

“We need to stop Lucien. I don’t think he is sane.” Rieka sucked in a breath as a crack snaked around the coffin. Her eyes were large like saucers as she turned her gaze back to him.

Lucien casually glanced at the pendant he was carelessly dangling from his hand. It was as if he was daring someone to attack him. Idris took the bait, leaping from his position. A throaty roar escaped the Atlantean.

“You are not the only one with secrets.” Lucien clicked his fingers.

Idris was thrown into the wall with a loudcrack, his limp body crumbling into a heap.

Khalida moved to him and held him at sword point. Idris was not going to be a problem.

“No…” Idris’s gaze locked with Rieka’s.

She held out her arm, the glowing bracelet impossible to miss as she silently taunted him. An ominous silence replaced the echoes of the screams. Rieka stepped closer to Dante, her body brushing against his as she slipped her fingers through his.

The stone top of the coffin shattered into a thousand pieces as if it was glass.

Dante pulled Rieka back behind him, shielding her from the flying debris. A mushroom of gray smoke erupted from the coffin, coating them in dirt and dust and ash.

Rieka coughed as she rubbed her eyes. She took a step closer to the edge and looked in horror at Lucien. “What have you done?”

Lucien had opened Vandana’s tomb.

Chapter 54

Riekahadalreadyworkedout she wasn’t Alice in Wonderland. But she needed to see what was in the tomb. The ground beneath them shook, sending dust clouds to explode around them. Rieka rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the hazy glare. She steadied herself as she braced herself for another quake.

Dante held her hand tightly, his fingers locked with hers, anchoring her to reality. “We need to leave.”

“Not yet,” Rieka whispered back.

Every living creature stood transfixed by Lucien and the open coffin. As if Lucien had cast a spell over all of them.

“I need to know what is in it.” Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she tightened her grip on Dante, not quite believing his choice. In the end, finding the tomb was closure for both of them. A way to say goodbye to the ghosts of their pasts. She turned to face him, pulling at his hand. “It could hold the secret to locating the isle of Atlantis.”

“It is not worth risking your life,” Dante countered, his neon eyes unfaltering. “We need to leave before the serpopards and the wayfarers realize we are easy prey.”