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With a sudden pulse of magic, Ash sent three of the creatures flying backward. They thudded against the walls and slid to the ground. Ash kicked the wraith holding my ankles and sent it tumbling down one of the tunnels.
As I rolled to look at Ash, a strange ink-like shadow leaked from the crumbling walls, filling the poorly lit tunnel with thick darkness. Ash dove on top of me, covering me. His hands cupped my head and tucked it against his throat, but before I lost sight of the tunnel, I smiled as Ferrier leaped through the open door.
We rolled until I was up against the wall, Ash’s body protecting mine from the monsters that were now swarming the tunnels. I heard a scream, and I tried to look up, but Ash’s grip was tight. I hoped Edith had made it through the door.
“Let me go. I’ll go through.”
“They won’t let you!” he shouted between clenched teeth.
I peeked an eye open to see Edith fighting two wraiths.
“We have to help her!” I shouted into his ear.
“I can’t let you go.”
His words filled the part of me I’d kept locked away, the emptiness where I’d shoved all my hurt and anger and sadness over the years. I wanted to kiss him, but considering the circumstances, that didn’t feel right, and my cheek was still pressed against his hair.
I turned my head and stared at Edith, who’d also fallen to the tunnel floor. With one quick glance we made eye contact. In that breath, I pushed all my magic toward the wraiths clawing at her. Two of them reeled backward as if slapped, silently dissolving into the darkness, and Edith stabbed her dagger into the one directly over her. Its dripping black cloak melted onto the tunnel floor as the creature vanished. Edith glanced my way once more as the next monster leaped toward her. I felt like a horse had trampled my whole body, but I pushed a little more magic out. Silver-tinted mist swarmed around the wraith’s face, stalling it for a moment. Edith hopped up, grabbed the door handle, and dove into the light.
I shoved one hand onto Ash’s shoulder and pushed myself up. He sat up with me, pulling me into his lap as a wraith sliced a hand through the air right where my head would have been if I hadn’t moved.
I pictured an invisible barrier around us, but my mind was frayed at the edges, and the barrier wouldn’t last more than a few seconds. “They went through! Let me go now.”
Ash’s gaze lit my skin on fire, nearly causing me to forget the monsters all around. His blue magic braced my flimsy shield, and he pulled me against his chest.
The silver-blue mist didn’t budge as the monsters clawed against it, unable to pierce the now solid dome created by our mingled magic. For the moment, they were unable to reach us. Together, we could pass through the door unscathed and enter the world beyond.
Outside our little bubble, the tunnels crashed in on themselves. A massive rock thunked to the ground between us and the door.
My heart somersaulted. If I didn’t move right now, I could miss my chance and get buried down here where Ash kept his deepest secrets.
“Come with me!” I gasped, hammering a fist into his chest.
“No. You were right. I need to set the rest free.”
I stroked his fallen hair out of his face and kept my hand on his scratchy beard.
He tipped his forehead against mine. “You set me free, Vera Rivers. Now go, find your happily ever after.”
My throat clamped shut, and my tongue stuck to my mouth. A small croak was all that came out when I tried to respond. So I pressed my lips to his instead.
He was warmth and fire and home.
And for a single breath, he was mine.
Then, something large hit the door, knocking it shut and hurling us into pitch darkness once again.
Ash hopped up, bringing me to my feet with him. “Go,” he said, and kissed me once more, hard and desperate.
“I’ll wait for you, as long as it takes.”
Ash had to give this place up. But in order to do so, he had to admit that there was nothing he could do to pay for what he’d done. I couldn’t do that for him. He could never atone for what he’d done, and only when he was willing to admit that, to give up trying to outweigh his bad deeds with the good and die to his former self, could he come through and find life on the other side.
I knew it with such certainty that I wondered how he could be so blind as to miss it.
“I will come for you,” he said.
A broken, gasping laugh fell from my lips. He pressed his mouth against mine, this time with full abandon and the force of a final goodbye. My entire body lit with flames that tingled through my skin.
