Page 74 of Obsidian Dream

Kade appeared stoic, his dark auburn hair haphazardly slicked back.His pure black eyes, without a hint of white, glowed unnaturally in the darkness.Like a damn cat.

Annoying hunters.

Something ivory colored fell from the ceiling, torpedoing into the water and disappearing into the rising abyss.

It looked like a human femur.

“Kade, tell me you have a plan.”

Kade tilted his head but hadn’t moved from his position.His gaze was entirely focused on Khalida.“Tell Khalida that I am on your side.”

Khalida slowly lowered her swords.“Only because I have no desire to drown.”

“I’m glad that has been sorted,” Talik muttered as he looked between the two of them.“Can you get us out of here?”

Kade ducked away for a second before he threw down a thick black rope, dangling it from the closest edge of the growing crater.He tugged at it, showing them it was secure.

The rope was about five meters from where they were—it was going to require them to jump.Because of course it couldn’t be easy.

Khalida slowly stood at the edge as she strapped her swords onto her back.She closed the distance between them.“Convenient that Kade appeared when he did.”

Talik snorted as he picked up the blasters.“Would you have preferred he appeared after we had drowned?”

Khalida went to move, but he grabbed her.“You don’t have to worry about Kade,” he said.“The Anki wouldn’t be able to turn him, even if they tried.”

The ancient gods would find it extremely hard to turn anyone who already considered themselves a monster.

“You trust him.”

He strapped Blanche in and answered without hesitation.“With my life.”

“I will go first.”Khalida hesitated and then nodded.“This conversation isn’t over.”

He moved to the side, giving her as much space as he could.She took three steps back before she took off in a sprint, leaping over the water as she reached for the rope and wrapped her legs around it.She began to climb, swinging wildly, and in seconds was crawling through the hole, disappearing into the catacombs.

Khalida was safe.

He waited until the rope stopped moving.In the silence, he made the mistake of looking at the rising water.And the perfect reflection of himself.There was nothing out of the ordinary.Except for the sixth sense sending goose bumps exploding over his body as the soft sound of laughter echoed in his mind.

Ninhursag.He had hoped she had left him, or had been a vicious figment of his imagination.The voice grew stronger, and wrapped around him like a soft silk cocoon.

He looked up and ran for the rope.Grabbing it, he gritted his teeth as he slipped, the friction and the heat momentarily blinding.His blasters hit his back hard.After a second, he began the climb.

It didn’t take long for Talik to reach the top.He hurled himself through the hole and grabbed the edge, lifting himself to his feet.He wiped his chest and stared at the dirt smeared with his blood.Black and silty, there was a hint of what looked like glitter but was probably broken crystals.They were sharp enough to leave small shallow cuts that stung like a thousand paper cuts in their wake.He looked around and was almost hit with déjà vu.It felt like they were back in the main part of the catacombs—before the grenade had caused the cave-in.

The same tunnel, with oversized tombs on either side of them.It should have been impossible, but he was quickly learning that with the Anki anything was possible.He understood why the ancient Atlanteans had selected to wipe the pantheon from their collective memory and destroy any trace of their existence.

Khalida stood off to the side, half leaning against the wall, but he could feel her gaze burning into him.She had her hand on her hilt.She still didn’t trust Kade.

“You are welcome.”Kade prompted from the shadows.He took a step out toward them as he pulled up the rope.The matte black uniform absorbed what limited light there was, casting the rest of him in shadows.Like Khalida, he naturally had a ‘don’t fuck with me’ aura, but with Kade, it was underlined with a darkness that most people knew to stay away from.Talik had spent decades ignoring it and wasn’t about to stop.

Talik snorted.“Your timing is impeccable.”

Kade glanced up, looking at Khalida before he returned his attention back to him.“I didn’t think you would need help.”

Talik couldn’t work out if it was a compliment or not.

“Have you seen anything unusual?”Khalida asked.