Page 12

Chapter

Twelve

A fter another half hour, we come upon a group of people. As we get closer, I realize they are passing large rocks to each other in an attempt to clear a collapsed portion of the tunnel. One of the men glances up, his face covered in dirt making him nearly unrecognizable. He squints, reaching for his weapon until his gaze settles on me.

“Ivy,” the familiar voice breathes.

Remy breaks away from the others and rushes forward, pulling me into his arms with no thought of the dirt that covers us both.

“What are you doing down here?” he demands. His attention flits to Thorne, and he stiffens, appraising the larger man with wary suspicion. “Who is this?”

I glance at Thorne to gauge his reaction, noticing how his eyes are narrowed at the spot where Remy’s hand lingers on my arm.

“Baylor sent us down here,” I tell my mentor. “He wants us to help with the search.”

“And this guy?” he presses again, shifting to stand between myself and the reaper.

“You could address me directly,” Thorne interjects, clearly not planning to help me deescalate the tension.

The soldiers halt their efforts, all of them observing our exchange with interest. I notice several familiar faces in the group, including Morwen’s brother Warrick. They each watch my companion with narrowed eyes.

“Thorne, this is Remard Durandus,” I explain, my patience running thin. “The Captain of the City Guard. Remy,” I give him a hard nudge with my elbow. He ignores me, continuing his staring contest with the reaper. “This is Lord Thorne, Death’s ambassador.”

Gasps sound off among the men as they gape at Thorne with open hostility. For all the obvious reasons, Death is no one’s favorite God. Everyone from the Fifth Isle has the unfortunate luck of being tainted by that dislike.

Proving my claims, Thorne removes his glove and shows them his tattoo, allowing the burning rose to speak for itself. Death’s sigil is well-known among all of the courts.

Remy crosses his arms over his chest. “His Majesty mentioned the alliance, but he didn’t say anything about you taking part in the investigation.”

Thorne shows no reaction to Remy’s suspicious tone. “I’m afraid I insisted.”

“We’re grateful for your aid,” The captain says, sounding completely the opposite. “Why don’t you go help clear the tunnel while I have a word with lady Iverson.”

Thorne’s gaze flashes to me briefly before returning to Remy. “Always happy to be of assistance.”

Without another word, he leaves us to join the others who are still watching him with a mix of fear and distrust.

“Back to work,” Remy orders his soldiers. “I want that tunnel clear within the hour.”

With their command given, they all return to the task at hand as Remy pulls me further away, giving us a bit more privacy. Thorne’s pale eyes track our movement as he grabs a heavy rock from the pile and tosses it aside as if it weighs nothing.

“Explain,” Remy demands, pulling my attention away from the reaper.

I fill him in as quickly as I can, leaving out a few key details, such as my theory about the sword, as well as the threats Thorne made. Remy isn’t exactly aware of my illicit activities with Della.

His usually smooth forehead wrinkles with confusion. “Why would the king agree to this?”

I shrug. “I suppose he needs the grain Killian is offering. He seemed desperate.”

That part isn’t technically a lie. He did seem desperate, just not for grain. There’s some other motive spurring his actions.

Remy jerks his chin in Thorne’s direction. “What do you make of him?”

My gaze returns to the man in question, snagging on the way his tightly corded muscles tense underneath his shirt as carries the large stones.

“Ivy.”

My face heats I drag my attention back to Remy. Clearing my throat, I meet his questioning gaze. “He’s powerful. And he’s willing to do whatever it takes to recover the sword. I think we should be wary of him until we know more.”

He nods, his expression unreadable. “I agree. Keep a close eye on him.”

Not too close , I remind myself.

Pointing to the tunnel, I ask the question that’s been on my mind since I found him. “What happened over there?”

“That one.” He points to a ginger-haired soldier at the back of the group. Even covered in grime, he appears younger than the others. His lanky arms shake with exertion each time someone hands him one of the larger rocks. The poor mortal can’t be older than nineteen.

“He worked down here with Darby,” the captain continues. “His name is Kipps.”

He pulls a folded piece of paper from his pocked and hands it to me. My eyes widen as I open the parchment to reveal a map of the tunnels. “Where did you get this?”

“Kaldar gave it to me before sending us down here.”

My lips purse. “Would have been nice if he’d given me one too instead of sending us down here blind.”

Remy rolls his eyes and taps the paper in my hands. “What do you see?”

Huffing, I push aside my annoyance and focus on the task in front of me. Using the tip of my finger to trace over the page, I track the path Thorne and I took, briefly pausing when I reach the staircase. According to the map, the staircase leads to a dead end. I’m tempted to ask Remy if he went up there, but some strange instinct has me holding my tongue. Instead, I continue scanning the map and realize all the tunnels are connected by a circular path that leads back to the first chamber we entered.

“There’s only one way in or out,” I whisper as the skin on the back of my neck prickles.

“Exactly,” Remy says, his hazel eyes watching me intensely. “And there were guards stationed at several points throughout the palace above us. Darby couldn’t have gotten out that way without anyone noticing him.”

Grell Darby could still be here.

A shiver coils up my spine. Did Baylor know that? If so, why wouldn’t he warn me? We should have been told there was a possibility we’d meet a sword wielding thief down here.

“But here’s where it gets interesting.” Remy points to the spot on the map that’s directly across from where we’re standing. “According to what this shows, there isn’t supposed to be anything there. So what is that?” He gestures the collapsed tunnel. “Funny that the only place we haven’t searched yet was conveniently left off the map and blocked by a cave-in. So, it’s possible Darby was crushed by the debris, or he could be hiding on the other side of it.”

“Or the more frightening option,” I murmur as a horrible thought occurs to me. “There could be a second exit behind that collapse that no one knows about.”

I’ve no doubt Remy established a perimeter around the city as soon as he learned the weapon had been stolen, which means that if Darby exited through the palace there’s a good chance he’s still in the Solmare. However, if there’s a second exit we don’t know about, it could release somewhere outside the city.

“Exactly.” His hard eyes meet mine, both of us understanding the weight of that implication. If Darby escaped through another portion of the tunnel, then he could be anywhere.

“What did Kipps have to say about all this?” I ask, sneaking another glance at the ginger guard.

Remy huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “He was pretty insistent that we do not try to remove the stones. He said the cave-in happened last year, and no one was in a big hurry to fix it.”

I turn my attention to the partially blocked tunnel, noting how most of the broken stones have jagged edges. Squinting through the darkness, I make out a few cracks that appear fresh. “Kipps said this happened last year?”

He nods as the two of us share a meaningful glance, both understanding what the other is thinking. The rocks haven’t settled yet, which means this cave-in was recent.

“Either Kipps is lying to protect his friend…” I trail off.

“Or he was involved,” Remy finished my thought.

“Did you know about any of this?” I gesture to our current whereabouts. The idea of Baylor being able to hide such a large secret right under our noses is terrifying. But the thought of Remy knowing and keeping it from me is somehow worse.

“No.” He shakes his head, sending a wave a relief through me. “I remember Darby from the wall, but I didn’t get to know him well before Kaldar requested him for a special assignment.” His features tighten. “I guess this was it.”

“Strange that this has been down here all this time, and we never knew.”

“Very strange,” he agrees. I can tell he wants to say more, but he’s holding himself back. Given my reaction to our dangerous conversation this morning, I can’t exactly blame him.

“Captain!” Warrick shouts, pulling our attention. “We’ve cleared the path!”

As we join the group, the soldiers begin discussing strategies for entering the tunnel. Ignoring them, I squat in front of the opening and peer through the dark hole. It’s completely black inside, like some kind of unholy void. My skin prickles at the thought of going in there. It’s narrow, only a few feet wide. The height appears tall enough for us to crawl through on our hands and knees. Glancing at a few of the soldiers, I shudder as I realize how tight it’s going to be for them.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath through my nose before releasing it from my mouth, repeating the action several times. After a few moments, my heartbeat begins to even out as I force myself to accept the inevitable. Swallowing thickly, I stand up and turn back to the group.

“I’ll go first,” I announce.

They all go silent, their expressions shocked as they glance back and forth between me and the tunnel.

“Ivy.” Remy’s hard voice makes his opinion clear. “It’s too dangerous.”

I tell myself not to take the statement personally, but I can’t stop my eyes from narrowing at his implication. “I’m the smallest person here. It’s already going to be a tight squeeze for your soldiers, and we have no idea how much worse it could become the deeper we go.” He opens his mouth to argue, but I don’t give him the chance as I continue speaking. “Out of all of us, I’m the least likely to get stuck. And I’ll have the best chance of turning around if things get bad.”

“She has a point, Captain,” Warrick offers hesitantly.

“I said no.” Remy turns his glare on his second in command.

I take a step closer, lowering my voice as I place my hand on his arm. “You know I’m right, Remy. This is the best way.”

All the guards take a step back, their gazes shifting around the cave as they avoid glancing at the two of us. If any of them spoke to their captain the way I do, they’d be severely punished. But fortunately for Remy, I’m not under his command. My attention flickers to where Thorne stands away from the others, watching the scene play out with an unreadable expression.

Dragging my gaze back to Remy, I find him tense as he studies me. After what seems like hours, his eyes drift shut for a moment, and I know I’ve won.

“Fine,” he sighs, begrudgingly conceding to my demands. “But you don’t take any unnecessary risks. If it’s too tight or gets unstable, you turn back immediately. None of this is worth your life.”

I try to hold back my grin. “I will.”

“Are we sure this is wise?” Kipps speaks up, his eyes wide as he nervously shifts back and forth.

“Is there some reason you don’t want us going that way,” I ask him pointedly as I step around Remy to get a closer look at the young mortal.

He swallows. “It’s just… This whole section might be unstable.”

My eyes narrow. “I guess we’ll find out.”

He nods, his gaze dropping to my collar. “Yes, wraith .”

Clenching my jaw, I turn back to the others. They carry on with their preparations, passing around sunstone necklaces since it would be too difficult to try to carry a lantern while crawling on our hands and knees. As their name would suggest, the crystals gather their charge from the sun. Unfortunately they only give off enough light to illuminate a few feet ahead. Still, it’s better than nothing.

As I make my way back to the entrance, Remy steps up beside me.

“Alright, I’ll go in after?—”

“I’ll go second,” Thorne announces, cutting him off as he speaks for the first time since joining the group.

Everyone goes still, watching the reaper with varying degrees of dislike.

“Excuse me?” Remy asks, his tone dangerous.

Thorne appears completely unfazed as he saunters closer. “As Death’s representative, I go second. If you’d care to argue, you’re welcome to ask your king what he thinks. But I’m afraid he’ll side with me.”

Remy balls his fists as a muscle twitches in his jaw.

“Fine,” he grounds out between clenched teeth. “We’ll do it your way.” He takes a step toward the reaper,. “But remember that I’m going to be right behind you. And if anything happens to that girl” —he points at me— “I don’t care which God you serve; you will answer to me. Understand?”

As Thorne watches the captain, a glimmer of respect flashes behind his eyes. Instead of offering another quip, he inclines his head. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Not wanting to waste any more time, I lower myself onto my hands and knees at the entrance. Dark worries attack my mind, forcing me to conjure the worst possible scenarios. What if we get stuck down here? What if it collapses and thousands of rocks crush me to death? What if?—

“Do you want me to go first?” Thorne’s soft voice startles me as he kneels by my side.

I try to scoff, but it sounds more like a whimper.

“And get stuck behind you?” The bravado in my tone rings false, but thankfully, he doesn’t call me on it. “No, thank you.”

Remy hands me one of the sunstones, and I tie it around my neck. Bracing myself for whatever comes next, I crawl into the hole and pray I come out again.

Here, in this suffocating darkness, I begin to regret every decision I’ve ever made. Each one of them somehow led me to this tunnel. The dim light of the sunstone is barely enough to see my own hands in front of me. Everything past that is a mystery. Minutes feel like hours as dust clogs my throat, and the sharp rocks cut into my knees and palms.

My only comfort is knowing that everyone else’s suffering must be far greater. If this tunnel is tight for me, I can only imagine how hard it is for of them. Thorne grunts behind me as he claws his way through the enclosed space.

“How’s it going up there?” Remy calls from behind him.

“Fine,” I croak, choking on the little bits of dirt that hang in the air.

“Wonderful,” Thorne grumbles.

My neck aches as I lift my head again, searching for any sort of progress marker in this never-ending shaft. Instead, what I find has me coming to a complete stop.

“What’s wrong?” Thorne asks, a hint of exertion in his voice.

“Up ahead.” I swallow, desperately wishing we’d thought to bring water. “It’s going to get narrower.”

“How bad?” Remy shouts.

I stare at tapered tunnel before me, trying to judge if we can squeeze through. “We’ll have to lie flat on our stomachs, and even then, it’s going to be tight.”

“Do you need to turn back?” Remy asks, worry filling his tone.

Yes.

“No,” I say instead. “But everyone needs to stay put for now. Once I’m on the other side, I’ll call back, and the rest of you can make your way one by one. We can’t risk anyone getting stuck.”

“I don’t like this,” Remy says.

“Me either,” I whisper as I lie flat on my stomach.

The light disappears completely. From this angle, there’s no way to prevent the sunstone necklace from getting trapped under my body. Tears leak from my eyes as I use my forearms to pull myself into the narrow section. My fingers dig into the stones, trying to find purchase. Each breath comes out ragged as my heart rate rises. Even for me, a person who exercises my body every day, this is a vigorous work out.

My chest tightens as I tell myself the only way out is forward, through the dark abyss. A fearful voice in the back of my mind whispers that I’m trapped. Buried underground aga?—

No.

I’m not going there.

I stow my fear, tucking it into that mental prison deep within my subconscious. But I’m sure it will soon find its way out, probably by slipping through the cracks and filtering into my dreams. I learned long ago that the horrors we hide within our minds are never destroyed—we merely save them for later. They always find their way to surface.

“You alright?” Thorne calls.

“I’m—” My voice cuts off as the dust gets caught in my throat again. It likely doesn’t help that my trachea already took a beating this morning. Breathing in these particles is only further aggravating my poor throat.

“Iverson!” he calls out again, but this time, panic creeps into his tone.

“Here!” I force the words out. “I’m almost through.”

As I push further, a strange noise begins to drown out their voices.

“I can hear something,” I tell them as I move into a slanted section, the new angle putting me at a downward incline. “I think I’m?—”

The words cut off as I slide forward, my body scraping over the rocks until I tumble through a dark hole. I hit the ground hard, landing on my back as the impact knocks the air out of me.

I guess I reached the end of the tunnel, I think to myself.

A damp smell hangs in the air, filling my nostrils with each ragged breath. Thankfully, my sunstone survived the fall. With it no longer trapped under my body, I survey my new surroundings. My neck aches as I turn my head, finding what appears to be an underground river about ten feet to my right. I must have landed on its rocky banks.

The sweat that covers my body cools as I stare at the water. In the absence of light, it appears almost black. A shiver passes through me. There’s something unsettling about the rushing current. Before I can move closer, a loud voice shouts from within the tunnel, pulling my attention back to the others. My strained muscles protest as I push myself up to my aching knees, finding the hole I fell through a few feet above me.

“I’m here!”

“Ivy!” Remy shouts over the others. “Are you alright?”

“Fine. There’s a river,” I call back lamely.

“A what?”

“Stay where you are,” Thorne orders.

I roll my eyes as I rise to my feet. Where exactly does he think I plan to go? For a swim?

“Captain,” The reaper’s muffled voice drifts through the tunnel, quieter this time. “You stay back as I go through.”

Remy begins to protest, but Thorne cuts him off.

“I don’t think this area is as stable as we hoped it would be. We need to do this one at a time. I’ll call back to you when I’m on the other side.”

Lifting my sunstone, I hold it up to the entrance in an effort to create a beacon for the others. If they see where the drop off is, hopefully they won’t take the same tumble I did.

After a few minutes, Thorne’s gloved hand reaches through the opening, followed swiftly by the rest of him. His exit is far more graceful than mine, but it still takes him several seconds to recover from the fall.

“Are you through?” Remy yells. “Is she alright?”

“Yes,” the reaper calls back, wiping the dirt from his shoulders as he stands up. “I’ve got her.”

I roll my eyes. “I told you I was fine.”

“You can go ahead and start—” Thorne’s words cut off abruptly as several rocks begin falling into the path we just exited.

Remy’s voice grows muffled. “What’s?—”

“Turn back!” Thorne shouts urgently. “Go back now! It’s collap?—”

The rest of his words are eaten up by the sound of the world breaking in half. The cave exhales a cloud of dirt into our faces as Thorne pushes me aside. He follows, landing next to me right before a large stone hits the ground exactly where we just stood, the impact breaking it in half.

I cover my head with my arms as dust and rocks land around us. Once the debris settles, I shoot up and dart back to the tunnel. Only… it’s gone. What was once a hole in the side of the wall is now completely caved in.