Rafael went quiet, listening. I did the same, straining to hear anything beyond our own breathing and the distant echo of Constantine's footsteps.
Then I heard it. So faint I almost missed it. The guttering of flames. Torches.
"There," Rafael whispered. "Do you hear it?"
"Yeah." I turned toward the sound. "Could be a trap."
"Everything's a trap." Rafael squeezed my hand. "But if Constantine is herding us somewhere, that's probably where we need to go."
We moved toward the sound of flames, testing each step before committing our weight. The ground leveled out and became smooth stone instead of rough rock.
The sound of fire grew louder. I could smell smoke now. Old smoke, like torches that had been burning for hours.
Light appeared ahead, faint at first, but as we moved closer, it grew brighter and I could make out an archway carved into stone. Beyond it, I could see the flicker of torchlight.
"That's the center," Rafael said. "Has to be."
"Constantine will be waiting for us."
"I know."
We stood there in the darkness, just outside the circle of light. My legs were shaking from exhaustion. My ear throbbed. Rafael's breathing was labored, each inhale clearly painful.
"We're not going to win a prolonged fight," I said quietly. "We're too tired. Too hurt."
"I know that too."
"So we go in fast. Hard. We end this quickly or we don't end it at all."
Rafael turned to face me in the darkness. I couldn't see his expression, but I felt his hand come up to touch my face. His fingers traced the line of my jaw, careful around my injured ear.
"Whatever happens in there," he said, "I want you to know—"
"Don't." I pressed my forehead against his. "Don't say goodbye. We're not dying in this place."
"But if we do—"
"We won't." I kissed him hard and desperately. "Because I'm not done with you yet, Priest. I'm not done with us."
His lips curved against mine. "You realize we've been together less than a week and we're already planning our future while standing at death's door."
"We're not good at normal." I pulled back. "Ready?"
"No." He took a breath. "But let's do it anyway."
We stepped into the light together.
I blinked hard against the sudden brightness. My eyes burned as they adjusted after hours in complete darkness. I had to squint against the torchlight, but after a few moments, the central chamber came into focus.
Dozens of torches were mounted on the walls of the massive space. A whistle carried up into the dark. The chamber had to be fifty, sixty feet wide.
Constantine stood dead center, hands clasped behind his back like he was waiting for a bus. His white suit didn't have a single fucking wrinkle. Meanwhile, I was covered in stone grit and sweat and blood, and my shoulder ached from where Rafael had landed on me at the pit.
Caesar perched on Constantine's shoulder, talons punched through the fabric. The eagle's eyes locked onto us and didn't blink. A delicate chain connected Constantine's ankle to Caesar's leg.
"There you are." Constantine's smile belonged at a dinner party, not a killing ground. "I was beginning to worry you'd gotten lost."
Rafael's fingers crushed mine hard enough to hurt. Good. The pain kept me focused.
