Page 43 of Jeweler to the Blessed (Champions of Chaos #1)

“What’s wrong with you?” Hart asked Gregory.

“Don’t mind him,” Tamara said. “It’s just nerves. He will know if you disregard an order, and the consequences from the royal family will be more than severe.”

Her threat was once again noted, but I wasn’t sure that explained Gregory’s …

condition. Sweat dripped from his brow, even though we were deep underground where the air was cool against my skin.

Gregory opened his mouth, but a bright blue glow stole over Tamara’s ring before he could speak.

“You’ll be alright, Gregory. I have full faith in you. ”

His shoulders fell, relaxing instantly under the influence of the adamas.

Tamara patted Gregory on the shoulder before returning up the path. “I’ll see you all in a few hours.”

Hart and I shared a look. The need for calming magic was beyond suspicious, but I wasn’t sure anything could prevent me from going through that door. When I shrugged, he secured my blindfold and his own.

Gregory unlocked the door. It sounded difficult to move. Gregory’s panic returned in the form of heavy breaths as he pulled the door open just enough for us to enter.

“Turn left,” he said. “The cavern is a circle. Stay on the outside.”

My immediate question was, what’s in the middle? But I knew better than to ask.

Hart followed closely. I don’t know how he tracked me, but I could feel his presence in my space even without sight and touch.

I’d just been thinking about how cold the depths of the mines were, but as the door clanged shut, the temperature skyrocketed. This room was an inferno comparatively. I guessed I shouldn’t be surprised—the adamas stone was always warm to me.

Without delay, I removed my gloves and set my hands against the wall. It was warmer than the tunnels leading down here, but it didn’t hold the heat of adamas. I took slow steps, spreading my hands to feel as much of the wall as possible.

I reached higher, not meeting a ceiling of any kind.

“Hart, can you reach up? How tall is the room?”

He must have done what I asked. “It must be taller than me.”

The low rumble of his voice echoed through the room, making me wonder how big the space was. We had hours before we had to return, but I was fascinated by what this room held. It felt like the key to what made me different. What was in here that only I could handle?

I kept searching up and down the wall, as I walked in the circle Gregory had set me.

His whimpers were getting farther away with every step.

He must not be following. I probably should be more worried.

The foreman had to calm him to send him with us.

She must be a powerful Blessed to wield the magic.

Whatever he could see, and I couldn’t, was not for the faint of heart.

But I was not afraid.

Wind blew hot against my neck. It made me wonder at how close Hart was. I swatted behind me, halting when I felt the seams of his uniform.

His laugh was low. “Not that I’m upset, but this hardly seems the time or place, Chaos.”

When he finished the sentence, his breath was hot against my ear. The movement told me he hadn’t been close enough to breathe on my neck before. There must be an air current unique to this room.

I swatted him again. “I was just checking something.”

“Check away,” he replied.

I was sure that smirk was firmly in place on the uncovered part of his face. As I pulled my hand back to return it to the wall, it bumped into something.

Gregory whimpered loudly.

Whatever I hit was toward the middle of the room.

Were there stalagmites in here? It was jagged like the slowly piling rock formations.

But something about it was … slippery. It reminded me of the snakes I used to chase on the edge of the Oldwood before we started waiting at the gate.

And it was hot … like the adamas—but different.

The heat flooded me, and something deep within flared to life. Whatever it was, this heat fanned that single ember buried deep in my chest.

I wanted more.

Even as wonder overcame me, an equal part of anger bubbled alongside it. Something—someone—was trapped in here, making the adamas. I needed to find them.

“Hart,” I said. “Feel this.”

I reached for him again, grabbing his hand.

Heat bloomed, reminding me I didn’t have my glove on—I’d touched his bare skin.

He knew he couldn’t take from me, but his hand …

spasmed when we made contact. I loosened my grip, wondering if I made him uncomfortable.

He intertwined our fingers with a sigh, letting me do what I originally wanted.

I brought his hand to where mine had been.

Whatever moment our touch drew from him was forgotten.

“Fucking Chaos,” he hissed.

That one was definitely a curse.

He pushed me behind him. “Get back against the wall.”

Gregory whined again. It sounded even more like a cry than the previous sounds.

My hand hit the wall. Hart knocked me into a new section in his attempt to shield me. A familiar warmth flooded me.

This was the newest adamas deposit. I was sure of it. “I found it.”

“ You found me, too, Emberline. ”

The voice was in my head. The same voice from the Oldwood. The one who needed me.

“Hart,” I hissed.

He still pressed me against the wall. His body shielded me from whatever threat he deemed to be in the center of the room. I didn’t know what to say or how to communicate the voice I heard. Gregory was still somewhere, so I couldn’t speak plainly.

“I’m busy right now, Chaos.”

What did that mean?

“Diiidd yyou ffffind it?” Gregory stammered.

I pointed. “Yes. It’s here.”

“Could you move aside?” He’d done something to calm himself. Or maybe Hart had taken care of whatever threat they both seemed to believe existed.

Hart allowed us a shuffle to the right. His body was still firmly between me and whatever lurked within the cavern.

Steel clashed against stone. Gregory must have brought a pickaxe. He struck again. I did need more of the gem, but I heard more than enough rubble fall to the ground. He repeated the motion.

“Gregory, I think you have enough.”

He took another swing, and more debris fell to the cavern floor. “The prince said to send you back with twice what you need. He has another project for you.”

I swallowed, uncomfortable with that information. What more could the prince want? He should be entirely focused on the Selection.

Gregory stooped to pick up the pieces. I’m sure he dropped them into the cloth bag he’d carried over his shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

Hart didn’t need to be told twice. “Put your gloves on.”

I did, and before I could protest, he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him, returning to the cavern entrance. His breaths didn’t slow until we were on the other side of the locked door with our blindfolds off.