They were almost to him when a massive piece of the ceiling broke free and smashed to the ground in front of the tunnel. Saxon skidded to a halt and threw up his hands to protect his face as the dust and rock bursting out of the chunk sprayed outward to pelt his flesh. The debris sliced his skin until rivulets of blood ran free.
When the smoke cleared, he lowered his hands to gaze at the mound blocking their way. From above, dirt poured onto the concrete as the earth reclaimed the land stolen from it. Saxon turned away from the wreckage to search the cavern.
He couldn’t think about the fact Ronan was standing where the roof collapsed or Elyse waiting for him to return; if he did, he might lose his mind.
Spinning away, he frantically searched for some way out of this mess, but all he saw was a crumbling world and smoke. Still, there had to be something they could do. He promised Elyse he’d return, and he planned to keep that promise.
“This way!” he shouted at Declan and pointed toward the other tunnels.
The tunnels had probably collapsed where their grenades went off inside them, but they might be able to shelter in what remained of them. Sprinting toward the tunnels, he hoped he hadn’t gotten turned around and was now going in the opposite direction; if he had, they were as good as dead.
They were almost to where he believed the tunnels were when Lucien staggered out of the cloud. The dust covering him had turned him gray except for where blood spilled from an ugly gash on his temple to coat the side of his face and his clothes.
Lucien swayed and almost went down, but Saxon caught him before he hit the ground. Wrapping his arm around his waist, Saxon braced Lucien against his side while he ran forward. A growing rumble alerted him the whole thing was about to come down. Saxon lunged forward and rolled as the dome collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Chapter Forty-Six
Saxon restedhis back against the concrete as he tried to blink away the heavy layer of debris coating his lashes. Lifting his hands, he attempted to wipe it away, but it did little good as every part of him was caked with dust. Every breath felt like someone was jabbing him with a needle as he inhaled the polluted air, and his broken ribs protested the movement.
The trickle of dirt raining down from somewhere on his left alerted him the earth was still reclaiming the dome, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Declan?” he asked.
“Here,” Declan muttered, and something scraped as he shifted.
“Where are we?”
“I think we made it to one of the tunnels.”
“I have a light,” Lucien said.
He shifted against Saxon’s side, and then the dim beam of a flashlight turned on. It did little to pierce the haze clogging the air, but it revealed a wall of debris only feet away from him. The trickle of dirt was coming from the top of the mound, and then, it stopped, effectively sealing them off from what was once the dome.
Lucien swung the light in the other direction, but it only revealed a few feet in front of them. Saxon placed his hand against the wall and groaned when he shoved himself to his feet. Elyse’s blood had made him stronger, but every one of his battered muscles and broken bones protested the movement.
He held his hand out to Lucien. “Can I see the light?”
Lucien gave it to him, and Saxon made his way down the tunnel to where the center of it collapsed from the grenade. An arm and leg poked out from under the wreckage, but he was certain there were plenty more dead under there.
Grasping some of the rocks, Saxon pulled himself onto the pile. Stones kicked out from under his hands and feet as he climbed to the top. The rubble didn’t go all the way to the top of the tunnel, and a couple of feet of space separated the ceiling and mound.
Turning the light off, Saxon slid it into his pocket to keep it safe and pushed rocks out of his way as he pulled himself through the gap. Rocks clattered and bounced off each other as he wiggled his way to the other side; if there was anyone over there, they knew he was coming, but he couldn’t do anything about the noise.
When he finally broke free of the small tunnel, he pulled himself out and slid down the other side. Removing the flashlight, he turned it on and shone it around the shaft. The air on this side was a little clearer but not much. However, he could see more of the empty tunnel leading deeper into the Savage’s nest. After all the noise of the collapse, the silence filling the tunnel was unnatural.
Climbing back up the pile, he went back through the gap and returned to the others. He found Declan waiting for him at the bottom of the rubble while Lucien leaned against the wall a few feet away.
“We can get through to the rest of the tunnel,” he told them. “I didn’t see anything over there, but who knows how many Savages could be over there.”
“Let’s go,” Lucien said.
Declan rested his hand on Lucien’s arm when he started toward the mound of debris. “Are you up for this?”
Lucien scowled at him. “What are we going to do, stay here and wait for the others to rescue us? I’m no damsel in distress.”
“You would be pretty ugly in a dress,” Declan said. “And no, the others probably think we’re dead.”
He didn’t say what Saxon knew they were all thinking—was Ronan dead?
