Chapter Thirty-Eight
Analleia
This evening had beena nonstop avalanche of events that kept getting worse and worse.When the iron door clanged shut behind us, my heart stopped.Just like it had when I had nearly fallen who knows how many feet to the ground.Taking Valeris out on the ledge had been stupid, but I had been more concerned about getting away from him and back to Desmond.I hadn’t thought Valeris would actually follow me out there.
I hadn’t slipped in over three years, and although I knew it was the building’s fault and not mine, the accident unnerved me.It was a careless mistake.One that should have never happened.I should have been more observant and noticed there was an issue with the stone.My mind had been too preoccupied with the searing pain in my side from the healing wound, the screaming of my muscles as I tried to use anything but my abdominal ones to keep my balance.
Valeris had held my life in his hands.
I shivered, unable to bear the thought of where I would be right now if he hadn’t caught me, and well aware he had risked falling to his own death to save me.I’d seen the fear and strain in his face as he reached for me, the concern in his eyes as he’d stared at me as I lay atop him, clutching at his shirt.I had wondered at it, at the sincerity that seemed to hover there, but then he’d let the sarcasm rip from his mouth, and I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
I held in a grumble.
My side itched and burned, all the motion aggravating the wound.As far as I could tell, it hadn’t reopened, but it wouldn’t take much more.A sharp shot of pain came from my shoulder; I must have cut it on the jagged border of the shutters over the window.
We picked our way through the short tunnel, little more than an interlude into the next room, which was circular, the ceiling stretching upward.We must have crossed underneath the staircase and entered the center of the tower.
A blue sapphire the size of my palm lay on a table next to a folded piece of paper.
Valeris reached for the paper, but my hand shot out, stopping him.“It’s too easy.”
They had made us nearly kill ourselves to get in here and trapped us twice.
“There has to be a catch,” I said.
I examined the table.A booby trap had to be laid somewhere, providing us with another obstacle to overcome before completing the puzzle.Valeris searched the room with me.
“How much worse can it get?”His hand reached forward, snatching the jewel and paper.
“No—” I cut off, expecting the room to fall down around us.I let out an exasperated sigh when it didn’t.
“It can’t be so dangerous that half the guests die.”Valeris chuckled.
I crowded over his shoulder to read the message.“What does it say?”
“‘You’ve made your way through this whole puzzling ring, go collect your prize.Take the jewel to the king.’”
“And how are we going to do that?”
Valeris frowned, walking back down the tunnel to look at the stone he’d stepped on.“It will open again, but I’m not sure if it will be on time.”
