Page 171 of Tale of the Heart Queen

“We meet back here in half an hour,” Nadir says. “If you find her, bring her here immediately and wait for the rest of us.”

We share a look around the circle before everyone nods and then turns towards their respective tunnels. My brother and I look at one another.

“Tris,” I say before he grabs my shoulders.

“We will find her, Lor. I swear it. We didn’t come this far to lose her now.”

I nod as more tears fill my eyes.

Then everyone breaks off as Nadir takes my hand, and we plunge into the darkness of our tunnel with the ice hounds trailing behind us. The walls feel like they’re closing in on me, and I inhale panicked breaths. If anything happens to her, I will destroy this entire mountain and everyone who’s responsible for laying a single hand on her.

Using Aurora magic, we light our path through the twisting tunnel until we emerge at another cavern that splits into two directions.

“Which one?” I ask. We both pause. The silence is crushing, weighing us down like a blanket made of iron. My ears pop from the absence of sound, and I work my jaw at the uncomfortable sensation.

“I don’t want to split up,” I say, squeezing his hand tighter.

“We aren’t,” he says.

“Let’s try the left one first before we double back.”

Angling towards the opening, we enter yet another dark tunnel as it winds us further into the mountain. My breath starts to tighten as it grows narrower. I wish Bronte were here with her magic, but I can’t lose control of myself. Willow needs me.

But as we continue walking, I’m starting to get worried we might become lost down here forever.

“Maybe we should try the other one,” Nadir finally says. The sound of his voice is so loud that it makes me jump.

“Maybe,” I say, peering into the darkness. I wish there was something to indicate if we’re on the right track. And then I hear it—a scream, echoing so softly far, far in the distance.

“Did you hear that?” I ask, but I’m already running.

“Willow,” I gasp. “Willow!”

I pick up my pace, my skirt twisting around my ankles. The shoes I’m wearing are useless, so I kick them off, ignoring the stabbing in my feet and their stinging slaps against the stone. Morana and Khione let out soft yips as they follow ahead, guiding my path.

“Willow!” I come to another branch and stop, checking over my shoulder for Nadir.

“Nadir?” I call up, but the tunnel remains empty.

Cold dread trickles through my chest, turning my toes and fingers numb. He must have just fallen behind.

“Nadir?” I call again. “Where are you?” My voice sounds even more hollow. The silence more dense. The hairs on my neck rise in apprehension.

When he still doesn’t appear, I head back up the tunnel. Maybe he hurt himself, and I ran away from him like a jerk. Please let that be it.

“Nadir!” I call, winding up the pathway with the ice hounds trotting on my heels. The tightness in my chest eases when I finally see him standing in the middle of the tunnel, violet light filtering around his frame, obscuring his face in shadows. “Nadir, what are you doing?”

Morana and Khione start barking furiously as I trip up the path before a beam of emerald light falls over his face.

But it isn’t Nadir.

The Aurora King stares down at me, his glittering eyes as dark as midnight pools.

A breath wheezes out of my chest as I grind to a stop.

“Rion,” I whisper. “Where is he?”

He tips his head and arches a brow. A silent, weighted exchange passes between us. We are two opposing sides, pushing and pulling over the years. He tried to break me, but I survived, and now, only one of us will come out of this alive.