I peer around his arm, the walls so close on each side of us that I can’t make out much. The only thing I can see is that it gets very dark up ahead, and any light provided by the sky is about to be completely blocked.
I grab his arm with both hands and stand on my tippy-toes so I can whisper in his ear. “Should we turn around?”
“What happened to always going with your first choice?” he drawls.
My gaze keeps flitting back to the dark tunnel ahead of us. I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong.
I shake my head and angrily whisper, “Maybe we make an exception just this one time!”
“No, I think we stick with the original plan.” He speaks in a calm tone, not a trace of self-doubt to be found. “I think you were right when you said we shouldn’t second-guess our gut feeling. That may be very well what keeps us alive in here.”
Let’s hope so.
I admire that he can be authoritative yet also listen to my suggestions. Hopefully, that very same attribute doesn’t bite us in the ass. I lower my heels back down and take my place behindhim. “Oh, one more thing. How are we going to see in there?” I whisper-shout.
He glances over his shoulder, pressing his index finger to his mouth, indicating I should probably lower my voice. “We’re not. We’ll have to go by touch.”
A sardonic chuckle slips free. It just gets better and better.
A part of me was scared he was going to say that. I grab the back of his shirt with one hand and pat my thigh to make sure my dagger is still in place with the other.
It takes us mere seconds to be fully submerged in darkness.
I hold Finnley’s shirt in my hand with a death grip. He’s not getting away from me. I’m following so closely that I’ve stepped on the back of his heels numerous times, but he hasn’t said one word about it.
This kind of darkness is absolute. My eyes are fully adjusted at this point, and I still can’t see anything. I can’t even make out Finnley’s form in front of me. It would be damn near impossible to find each other if we got separated.
The thought makes me want to jump out of my skin.
He reaches back and grabs the hand not tangled up in his shirt, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Neither one of us talks. It feels detrimental to our survival to make unnecessary noise when we can’t even see what’s coming at us.
Honestly, though, maybe this is it. Perhaps we just have to work our way through unfavorable circumstances when they rob us of each of our senses. That wouldn’t be so bad. Especially with Finnley by my side.
His presence is the only thing making this bearable.
We continue through the passageway at a slow and steady pace. It feels like it goes on forever, but we’ve probably only been walking through it for a couple of minutes.
After a while, the path beneath our feet begins to curve upward, and eventually, small beams of light shine ahead. Thelight is subdued as the sun is completely blocked out by dark clouds, as usual, but it’s enough that we have to shield our eyes with the back of our hands as we emerge.
We come to another fork in the path to choose from. This time, we have three arches to pick from. Each one is identical, but with more ruins decorating the rims. The only difference is that one lets a bit more light through than the other two.
I blow out a breath and glance over at Finnley. His curls are messy and sticking up in different directions like he’s been running a hand through them.
“Does any certain one call out to you?” he asks without taking his eyes off the archways.
Not even a little. In fact, they all scream at me not to enter. To tuck tail and run back the way we came. “Nope, and if we’re playing this fair, it’s your turn to pick.”
Nodding like he’s come to a decision, he finally looks at me. He bites his bottom lip like he’s nervous to say his choice. “Rock, paper, scissors, it is,” he suggests in a rushed tone. He’s now fully facing me and holding a fist in the flat palm of his other hand.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Absolutely not,” I respond.
“Worth a shot.” He sighs, running a hand down his face. “Okay, let’s go with this one,” he counters, looking toward the archway that has some light coming through. “I don’t know about you, but I’m over not being able to see shit.”
“Agreed.”
We step through the arch, and I move up to walk beside him as the pathway is much larger than the one we just came through.
