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One leaps in my direction.
I hear Valerian snarl, can feel him tense, ready to destroy anything that tries to touch me.
Before he can react, I put an iron bolt into the darkling’s eye. It drops with an ear-splitting screech just as another leaps from the bushes toward Valerian—
My sword cleaves its head from its neck with an ease I find frightening—but also really fricking awesome. I cut two more down before Valerian can so much as react, dark blood flicking from my blade.
Remembering Mr. Willis’s speech, I whip my head back to face Valerian and wink. “You can have the ones I don’t kill.”
Translation—here’s my sloppy seconds. Probably not the best way to force him to accept my leadership position while also keeping his ego intact. But the look on his face—which I’m pretending is respect, not smoldering fury—is worth it. ng aside my horror, I fling open the final door to the tunnels . . . perhaps a bit too quickly. Damp air clogs my lungs as we file into the wet darkness. The sound of water trickling down the stone walls rushes over me.
Gaelic symbols are woven into the stone, their meager glow just enough to illuminate the winding, mazelike burrows.
“Do you see any darklings?” I ask Mack, who’s peering down at her GPS, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
“Not that I can tell.” She stares at the screen a moment longer before declaring, “It’s clear.”
I exhale. It’s working.
But it’s still too early to celebrate.
Adjusting the spear case strapped to my backstrap, I check my wrist-mounted crossbow one more time. “Let’s go.”
Before I can move a step, Valerian presses the flat palm of his hand against my lower back. Just for a second—long enough to remind me he’s here by my side.
A sense of purpose swells in my chest. As Guardian and Keeper, we share a different kind of bond than the one created by magic. A bond of tentative trust between two people from completely different races, born of promise and forged by blood, sweat, tears, and the singular need not to die.
Which is pretty freaking motivating right now.
For the first time since I entered the academy, I understand the deep pride some Guardians take in protecting their Fae Keepers.
Without a word, we break into a sprint. Just like we’ve been taught, Mack and I position ourselves on the outside of the group, a few meters ahead. Technically, Valerian and Asher could run ten times faster than our breakneck pace, but they keep time with us.
In a real situation, the most powerful Evermore like Valerian and Asher could create a portal to whisk us away, but most Evermore aren’t that powerful.
Especially when it comes to portals strong enough to transport more than one person.
The minutes drag by, the walls a blur of shadows and glowing symbols. Our footfalls are soft, the quiet broken only by the rush of our breathing and the occasional splash of a puddle.
All too soon, the final tunnel comes into view. A latticework of symbols lights up the other side. Eternal flames of light green magic gutter from giant torches placed on either end.
A single ladder crawls up to the streets above.
As we near the torches, Mack and I go over the map.
She taps a finger over a spot on the GPS screen. “We’re here—I think. It”—she zooms in—“looks like the tunnel will come up right at the feet of Abe himself.”
My brain, fuzzy from adrenaline and fear, conjures an image of a giant statue.
“It was easier to erect portals near places where hundreds of humans passed through,” Asher says. “The residual energy amplifies the power of the portal.”
A portal large enough to funnel thousands of fleeing Fae souls would have to be massive, and would require a butt-load of magic. I’m almost disappointed it’s no longer active. That would have been an impressive sight.
“Makes sense,” I say as I take hold of the first bar on the ladder.
As Shadow Guardian for the highest ranking Evermore in the group, it’s my job to go first. I’m not exactly thrilled about it, but at least if anything’s waiting on the other side, it will be me the darklings shred to bits, not Mack.
Valerian’s gaze snaps to my hand on the ladder. In a flash, his primal urge to protect me takes over and he’s rushing toward me.
