Page 30 of Bound In Inked Flame (Of Crows and Thorns Saga #1)

30

Nelle

I t wasn’t that easy slipping away from Graysen. Especially when he kept crowding me up against the wall in the carriages when they grew thick with passengers, making sure no one could touch me.

He had no idea what I was up to.

Just a silly girl. A ride on a subway. A childish fantasy fulfilled.

Except the subway was above the catacombs that lay buried and forgotten by the world.

All it took was a moment of distraction to move between carriages, grab hold of Sage, and then swift.

It was easy to find the maintenance service door in the tunnels with the fizzing, dim light overhead and the steps leading down, down, down. Finding the ancient door that opened up to the catacombs was even easier. However, what was hard was pushing that door open and stepping into absolute darkness.

My fear of the dark almost paralyzed me. Almost.

But I’d come prepared.

I couldn’t cloak myself in a pitch-black blanket, not since I was seven years old. Flicking on the flashlight I’d brought, I had a backup hooked around my wrist. With the string of fairy lights wound about my neck and shoulders, I glowed otherworldly in the musty tunnels.

And yet, illuminated within the light, I still struggled for breath, my hands trembling too.

I can do this, I can do this, I can do this—

Pushing aside the panic, placing one foot in front of the other—that’s all I needed to do. Just concentrate on moving forward.

Sage was alert. His fur hackled and his tail snapped straight. He padded silently behind me as I fiddled with my adamere beads, drawing courage from my mantra— My roots are deep, my strength is stone, my breath the wind. I bow to none. I had to do this. This was the only chance I’d ever get.

If I’d gone with Danne to Ascendria, he’d have filled my day with tourist attractions. Not at all what I wanted to revel in.

And yet, without Graysen even knowing it, he’d given me exactly what I needed.

Something I had planned for many years.

A chance to meet a monster.