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CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Ryker

While I knew it was pointless to try keeping Ellery out of this, I still didn’t like it as we stood at the edge of the trees that had taken Ellery and me into the tunnel beneath them.

I wasn’t looking forward to having the air crushed from my lungs again or having dirt shoved up my nose and down my throat, but as far as I knew, this was the only way.

We could try going through the entrance to the temple, but we couldn’t take the risk of other amsirah seeing us there.

Even if we went at night, when there was most likely no one in the building, I didn’t think we could pry up the slab in the floor.

It fit too perfectly for us to remove it from the temple side.

Besides, I wasn’t sure I could find the edges of it again, given how it had blended so seamlessly with the intricate symbols carved into the floor. I’d rather be choked by these trees again than risk exposing Ellery or the gargoyles to anyone.

I didn’t know why those statues were there, but their existence was a secret best kept to ourselves. Even if we got some answers about why they were there, it would never be a good idea for my father, or any other noble, to know of their existence beneath the temple.

“So, we walk out there and the trees drag us beneath the earth?” Scarlet asked.

“Yes, and it’s a horrible, suffocating, terrifying sensation. There is an end to it, but you’ll suffer a lot beforehand,” Ellery answered. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Scarlet glanced from Ellery to the towering trees with their intertwined branches. “Yes. I’ve been in this from the beginning with you, and I’ll see it through to the end.”

“This isn’t the end.”

“You don’t know that.”

The two friends stared at each other before Ellery sighed, clasped Scarlet’s hand, and squeezed it. “It’s not the end.”

“I’m still going with you,” Scarlet insisted.

“Okay.”

Ianto and Tucker stood to my right, while Callan was to the left of Ellery and Scarlet. Behind us, much of the encampment had gathered to see what was about to unfold.

Many had witnessed the trees consuming me before, but they were curious if it would happen again.

I had no idea if the trees would take us all down; they’d pulled down Ellery and Mouse while she was holding him before, but there were more of us now, and the trees might refuse to emerge…

or they might find a way to separate us.

“Are you sure about this, Dawn?” Fletcher asked his daughter.

I’d never heard anyone call Scarlet by her birth name. It must be a measure of how concerned he was for his daughter if he’d done so now.

Scarlet nodded. “I’m sure.”

Her mother and father didn’t look happy with this answer, but they didn’t argue with her either. I imagined it was difficult for a caring parent to watch their child grow up and move on.

My father hadn’t been overly concerned about my growing independence from him, except that I’d moved beyond his control. He wouldn’t have given a shit if the trees ate me, but anxiety etched Ruby’s and Fletcher’s faces.

“Be careful,” Ruby said.

“I’ll be with two lightning bearers,” Scarlet replied. “I’ll be fine.”

Neither of her parents looked reassured by her words, but they refrained from saying anything more.

“You be careful too,” Fletcher said to Ellery.

“I will.”

When Ruby squeezed her shoulder, Ellery smiled at her. She’d lost so much over the past couple of years, but she still had their love, and it was obvious how much that meant to her.

“We should go,” Ellery said. “I’d prefer to get this over with.”

“I’d prefer not to be dragged anywhere by trees, but I see your preference too,” Callan muttered.

The man sometimes irritated me, but my lips twitched toward a smile. He had a point.

“Let’s go then,” I said.