The Hunter is standing, his burly arms crossed. His sword is back in its scabbard as he alternates between glaring out the iron grate and at the king’s tracker.
Once the twins are ready, I guide them around the glowing ember, warning them of its danger. Violet casts me a questioning glance, but neither of the girls push me further.
“Ready?” Gabriel asks, his eyes sweeping over the twins, then lingering on me.
I can’t help but shiver beneath the weight of his attention. The way he’s looking at me is unlike anything I’ve everexperienced. Like there are words he isn’t saying, feelings that shouldn’t exist between us but somehow do.
That strange sensation that came to life last night, thatknowingthat is beyond comprehension, stirs deep inside me.
I resolutely ignore it and nod, answering the Hunter’s question.
“Good.” Gabriel kneels, running his fingers along the edge of the grate. “Let’s get out of here.”
He loosens rusted bolts, twisting them off one at a time and gathering them in his palm. It takes several minutes, but no one speaks while he eases the grate off the wall. When we first arrived, I thought it was decently sized, but in the fading daylight, it looks smaller.
Still, I’d rather take my chances on whatever’s waiting for us on the other side rather than returning into the tunnels, or gods forbid, the palace itself.
“I’ll go first,” I offer. “That way I can help everyone else.”
And I can make sure it’s safe before the twins come through.
I kiss the girls on the cheek, giving each of them a hug. Taking one last look at the ominously glowing ember, I crouch in front of the hole.
“See you on the other side,” I say, looking over my shoulder and forcing a smile in an effort to put my sisters at ease.
Before I can change my mind, I half shimmy, half crawl out of the opening.
My shoulders brush along the edges, and I hear a rip that has my stomach sinking, but I make it to the other side relatively unscathed.
Scrambling to my feet, I brush out my dress. The hem sports a rip that’s several inches long, but it’s not like the dress was in pristine condition before. I turn in a slow circle, taking in our surroundings. We’re on the edge of a forest, surroundedby trees. If I hadn’t known we were near the capital, I never would’ve figured it out.
No one else is here, which is the important part. I exhale, scrubbing a hand over my face.
Okay.
This is good. Or at least, it’s not bad. We don’t have much of a plan yet, but things aren’t actively getting worse.
To be honest, that’s about as much as I can ask for right now.
Once I give the go-ahead, Marie comes through the opening. Violet follows closely behind, and they both make it through unscathed.
The Hunter’s up next. He gets his head through the opening, but then I realize we have a problem. My shoulders brushed the sides, but his are wider than mine. Bigger, like the rest of him.
“Ah, fuck.” Gabriel grunts, his face pinched.
He wiggles and strains, but despite putting up a valiant fight, it quickly becomes clear that this won’t work.
“He’s not going to fit,” Marie whispers to Violet, ever one for pointing out the obvious.
I frown. “Hush now. That’s not helpful, and you know it.”
“Sorry.”
I’m not sure whether Marie is apologizing to me or Gabriel, but either way, the problem is that she’s right.
At another time, the situation would’ve been comical. But right now, all I can think about is the king’s tracker and the fact that he’s coming for us.
As much as I hate Gabriel—and I do, I hate him for the way he hunted me, for the way he haunted my dreams, for the way that I can’t stop thinking about him—I cannot deny that he has helped us. Without him, my sisters and I would be lost in the tunnels or worse, caught and at the king’s mercy.
