Mouth parted, he hesitated. “Does he know you’re here?”
“No.”
He rubbed a hand roughly down his chin, glancing around us. “Yes, he does.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
Pheolix pulled the black cloak around his shoulders, clasping the edges together. “You came by land? By horse?”
“Yes.” I pointed. “It’s waiting just under that tree.”
He unfurled a second cloak, wrapping it around me, drawing the hood low over my eyes. Draped directly across the bridge of my nose, the fabric was something likebyssussilk, surprisingly easy to see through. “Land. Where birds could follow you.”
I blinked at him, at a sudden loss for words. “We hired decoys. I’ve made it all this way.”
Pheolix grasped my waist, lifting me off the cart and onto my feet. But he didn’t let me go. He pressed me into him as though afraid I might run. Then straightened, listening for sound.
Rain was the only thing we heard other than the guard’s quiet heartbeat.
Pheolix clicked his tongue. “It’s too easy. Come on.”
He turned back into the mines, a hand at my elbow, pulling me in front of him. I gave my horse a backwards glance over my shoulder. “It’s not too easy. I’ve been planning for months.” I reached for the torch, but he grabbed my hand. “We don’t need it. It will only draw them to us.”
Frustration at his doubt simmered in my blood, but I smothered it with cool patience. I’d wanted him out of that cell deep below, and I’d succeeded. What remained was merely a matter of making him comfortable enough to follow me the rest of the way. If he needed an alternate route through the mountain to gain that comfort, so be it.
He laced his fingers in mine.
A river of smooth heat sprang from my fingers. Something tingled under the surface of my chest, fast and fleeting. Despite our walk through the cloud of dust and dark, I bit my lip.
The echo of our feet returned, the taste of rock and dirt on my tongue. The last reach of starlight faded as we reached the full shadow of the mountain. Pheolix’s thumb slid over mine, calling my attention.
“Is there any reason you can’t run?”
“Are you asking if I’m hurt? No.”
His grip tightened. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
I glanced at him. But we’d ventured so deep, I couldn’t see a thing.
He squeezed. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Run.”
Without light to guide us, it’s hard to guess how far we ran.
The carbon in the air tasted like soot. Pheolix turned us right and left, the labyrinth of rock seemingly stamped in his memory. My knees and feet began to ache. The knife on my calf burrowed in with every stride. Oxygen felt thin again. Weak. As though I might take the deepest breath my lungs could hold and still not inhale enough.
It wasn’t until the sharp scent of petrichor tilted my attention above that I realized Pheolix had driven us up at an incline. We’d been climbing the mountain from the inside.
Rain crashed somewhere above, a sudden gust of wind whipping my hood off my head. Pheolix righted it, grasping me by the hips and lifting me to sit on the edge of a rock.
Heavy drops pelted me from the black sky.
I shuffled backwards to make room for him, aware that he’d just sent me out the back of a small hole. The thick scent of pine prickled in my nose. “Where are we?” I shouted over the rain.
Pheolix grabbed at the stone above, groaning as he towed himself up by his fingertips. “Secret entrance to Rivea.” He stood and reached for me, guiding me up into a crouch with a hand over the top of my crown. “There are six that lead out from the mines. This one comes out under a tree. Watch your head.”
