Page 270 of Blade of the Nightking

The cave was filling rapidly now. Water climbed past my chest, roaring with the fury of a living thing, as though the ocean itself meant to punish us for what we'd done. It was too strong for us to wade through.

Rìan paused, his gaze darting over the walls before settling on something beyond me. Before I could protest, he caught my waist and heaved me upward onto a narrow shelf of rock jutting from the cave wall. My boots slipped on the slick stone, but I caught myself with both hands, my fingers digging into ancient grooves carved by centuries of water flowing in and out of the passage. Rìan lifted himself up after me in one smooth motion, water crashing against the wall where we'd been standing only moments before.

"Move."

I already was.

Adrenaline thundered through my veins as I pressed myself against the wall and inched sideways. The ledge was barely wide enough for my foot, my stomach scraping against the unforgiving stone with every step. Jagged ridges bit into my palms each time I reached for another handhold, flaying my already torn fingertips. I focused on the next foothold, then the next. Wind raced through the passage from the cave entrance, and I fixed my gaze on the narrow slit in the rock, like a weeping wound.

The current raged beneath us, already risen to the soles of our shoes.

"Up," Rìan barked.

I reached for a higher ledge and climbed. The crown of my head brushed the ceiling, leaving me wedged between unyielding rock above and punishing sea below.

The passage opened little by little until the roar of the surf gave way to the crash of open waves.

Moonlight.

I almost sobbed at the sight of it.

The cave mouth yawned before us. Spray burst where the sea hurled itself against the rocks, scattering in silver shards like broken glass beneath the night sky. I climbed from the shelter of the cave and swung onto a narrow outcropping. Rìan emerged behind me.

For a long moment, we remained crouched there, drenched and breathing hard, neither of us willing to move.

Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the sea quieted. The waves swallowed the cave entrance whole, the fury ebbing from them as though the ocean had finally fed its hunger.

How long had we been inside? There had still been daylight when we’d entered. Now the world lay beneath a blanket of stars.

Rìan finally stood and without a word, gestured for me to keep moving.

Together we edged along the weathered cliff face until the ledge widened enough to allow a careful descent. Handhold by handhold, foothold by foothold, we climbed down toward the beach, leaving the second Gate—and another shredded piece of our bond—behind.

CHAPTER 56

With the danger behind us, all that remained was the wound in my soul and the gnawing humiliation of everything that had happened at the second well.

I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to speak to him. I didn't want him anywhere near me.

I was already striding away, sand spraying beneath my boots, when he dropped down from the rock behind me with a muted thud. I didn't look back.

"Eidra."

I kept walking, trying to put as much distance between us as I possibly could.

Three more paces. Then he seized my arm.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I wrenched against his grip, but it was like iron. It burned like iron too.

I spun on him, every breath scraping against my ribcage as I glared up into his hard, unforgiving face. Looking at him was its own kind of agony. My eyes burned, something ugly and jagged twisting in my chest. Before I could stop myself, my arm drew back and swung toward his face. He ducked the slap with infuriating ease.

Then he was on me. His hand closed around my jaw, fingers digging into my cheek as he drove me backward, slamming me against the nearest palm tree. The impact jolted through my teeth, forcing the breath from my lungs. I fought against him, but his grip only tightened, the angry bite of his fingers a welcome distraction from the festering pain inside me.

"I hate you!" The words tore free, as sharp and vicious as the blades he'd spent hours honing.

Something flickered across his face, raw and wounded. Gone so quickly I wondered if I'd imagined it, replaced with the icy disdain I knew so well.

"So what?" He leaned in until his mouth hovered only inches from mine. "Isn't that the point, Eidra?" His fingers dug deeper, pressing my molars painfully into my cheeks.