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“What—”
“Trap,” Thol ground out. Lorian held a knife to his throat, which Thol was ignoring.
I gave Lorian a warning look, and he waited until Thol released my cloak before sliding the knife back into its sheath. Thol just pointed at something low on the ground.
“What is it?” I breathed.
“A trap,” he said again, directing his light orb closer. Lorian crouched and examined it.
“He’s right.”
The intricate whirl of silver glowing on the cave wall in front of us made sense now. Unwary travelers would find their attention drawn by the sparkle, not noticing the trap at their feet until it was too late.
“How does it work?”
“It’s an incredibly thin rope, bound with magic,” Demos said, stepping up behind us. “You step into it, and it pulls on something nasty. Likely, something magical and nasty.”
“Everyone step over it. Carefully,” Lorian warned. “We’ll leave it as a little gift for anyone following us. If we have to run out this way…”
“Be careful,” Cavis advised.
One by one, they stepped over the thin rope, a sigh of relief echoing in the cavernous space. Finally, it was my turn, Lorian close behind me. I had a feeling he wanted to lift me over the rope, and I slid him a narrow-eyed stare as he crowded me.
Sucking in a breath, I lifted one foot, half expecting to trip and doom us all. Moments later, we were all on the other side of the rope, and I let out the breath I was holding.
The labyrinth wound deeper, its twisting paths and blind corners filled with more traps. Claustrophobia coiled around my chest and squeezed, until I was covered in an ice-cold sweat.
Lorian caught my hand, leaning close. “Take a deep breath. Again. Look at me.”
The others waited, and my cheeks blazed. No one said a word, but Ihatedthis weakness. Lorian’s green gaze drilled into mine. I peered up at him, slowing my breath, blocking out everything but his face. He cupped my cheek. “Better?”
I nodded. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and we kept moving. The fear came in waves, but I refused to give in to it.
Every few minutes, we encountered something new—more thin ropes at ankle height, magical glyphs that seemed saturated in dark power—Lorian and Cavis handled them together, both of them panting by the time the glyphs were nullified.
Just as we were about to step into the next passage, Lorian went still. He held up a hand, and we all froze. At his signal, the rest of us melted into the closest cave and waited. We’d agreed to this part, but I still ached to help as they lay in wait for Regner’s men. Obviously, at least some of them had survived the traps.
The screams were blood-curdling. When Regner’s men were dead, Lorian and Cavis ordered us to wait, hiding the bodies in another cave. Hopefully, when the next group was sent in after us, this first group wouldn’t be found.
We spent the night huddled in one of the smaller caverns, two of us taking watch at any time—each guarding one of the entrances. When we woke, we trudged on, until I began to lose all sense of time.
On what was likely the third day, we crossed paths with our own trail. Demos stared down at it, horrified.
“How?” he got out.
My heart sank. This place would make us all insane if we let it.
Lorian took the map, and they put their heads together, muttering quietly.
“Prisca. Can I talk to you?” Thol murmured while the others took the opportunity to eat.
“Of course.”
Lorian glanced at us, and I knew he was conscious of every move Thol made.
We stepped to the outer wall of the cavern, lowering our voices. “I want to apologize,” Thol said, shoving a hand through his curls.
“Thol…”
