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She nodded. “Yes. I think I’ll feel more like myself if I do.”
I looked down at her feet. Bare. In my haste to leave the room, I hadn’t grabbed any of her clothes.
“At least take my socks,” I told her. The shoes wouldn’t fit, but at least the thick socks would give her feet some protection. I sat and removed them, lifting her foot by the ankle to slide the first sock on.
Gods, I missed the feel of her. As hard as I’d tried to fight the thoughts, there were moments I wasn’t sure if I’d see her again. Feel her again. Hear or smell her again.
During that time of separation, I’d thought nonstop of a world where she didn’t exist. When I wasn’t thinking of her writhing in pain, of course.
My brows furrowed as I put the second sock on her other foot. Something burned in my sinuses and I sniffed. Suddenly, I felt Emilie’s hand cupping my face, and I leaned into it.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. So softly.
After I dropped her foot to the ground, I held her around her waist, letting my forehead rest against her stomach. My voice cracked as I spoke. “Don’t ever leave me again.”
She ran her fingers through my hair over and over again. “I don’t plan to.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ladon
I yanked the torch from the wall. The tunnels were pitch black and slick with fresh water. They were also eerily quiet. Not even the flutter of bat wings.
The mountain rumbled again, and I looked at my traveling companions. “It’s now or never, I suppose. Are you ready?”
The harpy only looked at Emilie, who straightened and gave me a curt nod. “This is our only option.”
I held her hand as we took our first few steps into the tunnel. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the overwhelming darkness. My first few steps were tentative, but then stones fell from the ceiling with another boom in the distance. We needed to move quickly.
The floor of the tunnel was uneven and rocky. Clearly, they hadn’t been used in years. They’d long been forgotten by Reyna’s people, after being sealed by her ancestor.
We came upon our first split. Two identical paths lay before us, with no indication as to which was the right one to lead us out.
Emilie squeezed my hand. “I suppose we just pick one?”
“What does your gut tell you?”
“Right feels…right. But maybe it’s too right. Maybe we should go left.”
“You’re overthinking. You’re an air wielder, Emilie.”
“Well, yes. But I can’t use my magic right now. You know that.”
“Sure. But which way feels right. Does the air not call to you? Can you not feel it in your bones? Which way does the air flow?”
“I…I’ve never tried that.”
She looked at me like I’d spoken a foreign language. But I’d always felt one with the earth. A kindred spirit that never left my side. An extension of me. I’d seen enough of her magical abilities to believe she was capable of that same intuitive sense.
“Just breathe. Close your eyes and feel.”
Emilie closed her eyes and stood tall, strikingly beautiful and radiating strength, even after being tormented and starved for weeks. Her skin glowed in the firelight and it was hard to take my eyes off her.
I watched as she inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly through her mouth. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again. “Right.”
I smiled, waving my hand in that direction. “Let’s carry on then.”
I had the sense that we were moving deeper into the mountain, but further from the inhabited areas. The sounds of explosions softened until they were nothing but a faint rumble.
