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A flash of steel that I’d only seen once before, during the battle outside, hardened her eyes. “I’m coming with you.”
I shook my head. “You can’t. And I mean that. I need you here. We’re going to have to get back inside somehow, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to get underworld artifacts past the wards.”
That stopped her. She pursed her lips thoughtfully, then shook her head.
“No, you won’t,” she agreed. “Not unless they fail completely. All right, I’ll stay here and work on a way to bring them down just long enough for you to get the stones inside.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at her, then pulled her into a hug. “We’re going to get out of here—make it back to earth. I know we are.”
“God, I hope so.” She squeezed me tight, her grip surprisingly bone-crushing. “But just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“That you will all come back alive. Even Kai.”
“All right, fine. I won’t kill Kai.” I snorted a laugh.
“Good, because I don’t know if I could stand to share a room with you if you were one guy short. That would be like the great coffee shortage all over again, only a thousand times worse.”
We shared a chuckle, but her words left a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t want to imagine what it would do to us if somebody got killed. What it would do to me.
The bond between us would break—Cassandra had told me that. So their death wouldn’t kill me.
But all the same, I was pretty sure I’d die inside.
“All or nothing,” I said firmly. “We’ll all get back together, or we’ll die trying to save each other.”
“Do that first one, please.” She spoke into my hair, and I felt a shiver wrack her body. “I’m not a huge fan of the second.”
Her voice held all of the emotions that her words were trying to downplay. Worry. Fear. Tentative hope.
We finally released each other, and I leaned back to meet her gaze.
“I’ll do my damndest.”
Chapter Eighteen
It was absolutely breathtaking.
When we stepped out of the cave and into the ruddy sunlight, the terrifying beauty of the underworld was more than I could have imagined. Massive black peaks scraped the sky far in the distance, and a swamp stretched out far to the left. To the right, a great gnarled forest of black, blue, and dark purple trees took over the landscape. Our cave appeared to be part of a mountain range, all porous and pocked as if a volcano had exploded and its spillage had instantly frozen in a jagged wave.
“Which way?” I asked, swiveling my head from side to side.
Xero pointed at the mountains in the distance. “I’m not entirely sure, but I think those are the Devil’s Claws. The mines should be on the other side of them, but we might get lucky and find some on our side.”
“Let’s hope,” Kai said grimly. “How do we get there? Swim?”
Xero hesitated, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “The swamp is full of killers,” he said. “Tiny ones that you won’t notice until it’s too late. The forest has its own creatures. Larger, but just as deadly.”
“I’ll take the devil I can see, thanks.”
I started off in the direction of the forest, stepping carefully, as if I might tread on a landmine at any second. A moment later, I heard the guys follow. Xero caught up with me, then pulled ahead.
“Let me lead,” he said gently. “I know what to watch out for.”
“Like that miniature harpy?” I pointed over his shoulder, my heart kicking in my chest like a startled horse.
He spun around and swiped at the woman-bird, who was diving at him. He connected with her midsection and sent her flying into the swamp. Her body hit the water with a splash, and even before she was fully submerged, she was set upon by thousands of tiny silver fish. The water churned, red with blood and white with froth, as they consumed her alive. Her screeches died out after just a second, and clean white bones popped to the surface of the water a moment later.
