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Draven was following me in, squeezing through just as the panels began to slide closed.
Inside, we stood together.
It was very dark.
“Well, fuck.” His voice echoed off the stones around us. “We’re here. Now what?”
I took a deep breath. “Now this.”
I felt for him in the dark and wrapped my hands carefully around his waist, then pressed my ear to his chest, listening until I found the steady beating of his heart.
We stood like that for I don’t know how long.
Together, in the dark.
Eventually, his arms came around me. He held me tight against him. His chin came down to rest atop my head.
“Oh, Morgan. Why do you do these things?”
“Do what?” My voice was muffled. I felt on the verge of panic. I made myself keep listening to the sound of his heart, willing myself into a calm I didn’t truly feel.
“Act as if you’re alone in this when you’re not. I’m here, my silver one. I’m always, always here.”
“I know,” I said, my voice small. “Sometimes I know that too well, I think. I know you’ll always be there. And so I... I did what I had to.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I think I understand. It would have been harder to tell me first.”
I nodded. “You would have had so many questions.”
I could almost feel him smile. “That’s true. I would have. Damn curious mind. Can you blame me?”
“I love you for it,” I said truthfully. I lifted my mouth to his.
“Even in the pitch black of this mountain, I want you here, now,” he said against my lips. “Is there a wall, do you think?” He shifted. “There’s a floor at the very least.”
“Decidedly not a good idea,” I said, suppressing a grin, my voice strained. “We need to move on.”
“On to where exactly? It’s not as if we have a map. Or a light.”
I bit my lip, then wincing a little, slid my hand into my pack and pulled out an item wrapped in velvet cloth. I gasped as the cloth brushed against my raw palm.
“The mountain knew you.” Even in the dark, I could sense him looking towards my hand. “It took your blood, then let you in.”
I nodded. “I’ve been here before. Somehow. I don’t know when.”
Carefully, I unwrapped the grail, tucked the cloth back into my pack.
Holding the chalice, I stood. Waiting for what? I wasn’t sure.
And then it happened. The cup began to glow. I held it aloft in both hands and the light intensified.
I could see Draven now, standing beside me. I could see the way we had just entered.
“Care to let me in on how that works exactly?” Draven’s tone was lighthearted, but I could sense his worry.
“I’m not sure I know the answer to that myself.”
I was... remembering things. If it could be called that. Things I had once known. Small things.
