Page 142 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

“That’s a priceless relic.” Faolan put his hand over his mouth.

“And my mate cannot be replaced.” I pulled at the thread, undoing the twine. When I had enough, I tied it to the end of the handle of the dagger and shoved it into Faolan’s hands. “You must use this to pull us back in when I get him.”

“What?” Faolan stared at me. “It will snap.”

“It won’t. I am going to reinforce it with magic while I’m in there. The cord would slip through your fingers, but if you wind it around the knife, you will be able to keep a hold of it.”

“Keep a hold of the blade of a knife?”

“Do you have anything else?” I asked, looping the cord around my body before handing him the other end to tie with the first around the handle.

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.” I looked back at Faolan before I stepped into the sand. “If you can, use your wind. Blow as much as the sand out as you can.” I took a breath and stepped into the sand, instantly sinking to my knees.

“Please don’t do this,”Jaxus begged, the sand already over his nose. I felt his lungs burn through our connection.“You must escape or they will find you.”

“We are running out of time,”I said between sobs.“Don’t ask me not to try.”

“One of us needs to live to save Nyx.”He tried to appeal to the rational side of my brain.

“There is no world where I can exist when you don’t. I won’t suffer a fate worse than death and lose myself slowly to your end. We are both getting out of here, or neither of us is.”

FIFTY-FIVE

JAXUS

My final breath came in a small gasp half filled with sand, and then I didn’t dare try to breathe a lungful of the grains that crept up my face. I was no healer, but I couldn’t imagine a chestful would be helpful to sustaining life. Kiera’s voice brought peace to what I knew would be my final moments.

My lungs burned and my vision began to black, but I wasn’t sure if it was because my eyes closed or the lack of oxygen claimed my sight.

“Don’t leave me,”I pleaded when Kiera went silent.

“Don’t you dare let go.”Kiera’s yell echoed between my ears, giving me a tether to hold on to.

“I’m not,”I said, trying to soothe her through our connection. I didn’t want Kiera to worry. I wanted her to feel my calmness at the end, to know I made peace with our life.“You mustescape and take the cure to Nyx.”And for herself. I had to impress the urgency on her while I still could make coherent thoughts.

“Fuck you.”Kiera’s voice was strained.

“I mean it, Firefly. I love you. Please don’t waste any more time mourning this place. If you stay, you will be caught. Go with the cure.”My senses completely failed me. Darkness became my existence. Floating through the void.

Could she even hear me?

“Kiera?”Had I passed on?

“I refuse to leave you.”Warm fingers curled around my arm, jolting me from the sensory deprivation.“Help me.”

I struggled, but against what I didn’t know. I fought against grains with no notion of up or down, no way to try to reach the surface. The only grounding became Kiera’s touch.

Consciousness slipped further and further.

An idea I could no longer hold on to.

And then my head broke above the surface.

I forgot how to breathe, coughing sand but finally drawing in air. Kiera hit my sternum with her fist. Feeling began to return to my skin. My fingers constricted, reminding me of what it was to be in my body.

I shook, unable to open my eyes. I clung to her, and somehow, she dragged me from the pit. But I lost time again, waking up on my side, coughing while my body seized and convulsed.