“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me before we go in there?” she seethed.
Dominic stared at her blankly. His eyes traveled down her body then back up to her face. Suddenly, he lunged at her. Adara stepped back in time to dodge his attack, drawing the dagger from the sheath at her arm. Chest heaving with panic and anger, she gripped her weapon tightly.
Then her eyes caught on his hands held out in front of him. In one hand was a knife she hadn’t even seen him draw, and in the other was a strip of teal cloth. She glanced down at her tunic. The hem of her shirt was torn and ragged. Her lips parted in disbelief. She hadn’t even noticed.
“Before you say anything”—he raised his hands in surrender—“we both know you’d be lying if you said you wouldn’t enjoy me ripping your clothes off.” A taunting smirk was plastered on his face. He spun the knife once in his hand before smoothly sheathing it at his belt.
Adara’s jaw dropped open, her cheeks flushing pink. She blinked in shock, trying to clear the vivid image in her mind of him doing exactly that. Surprised but not ashamed, she replied, “Maybe, but not under these circumstances.”
He raised a brow, eyes lit with amusement. “Perhaps, when we get back to Andreilia, we can arrange for better circumstances.”
She pressed her lips together, refraining from saying something she might regret. Although she would certainly agree to that, she knew it was either a ruse to make her fall for him, or his bold words were just the fear in the face of death talking.
“What do you plan on doing with that anyway?” Adara asked, not wanting to be distracted by the thought of him doing other things to her right now. Seeing that he wasn’t actually planning on hurting her, she sheathed her dagger.
He stepped toward her, hesitantly raising the cloth to her eyes. “Do you trust me?” he asked softly.
She scoffed. “Absolutely not.” The thought of being blindfolded in there with an ancient creature that had the ability to erase people from existence alongside the King of Keys sounded like the dumbest idea possible.
He laughed. “Probably the best decision you’ll ever make . . . but I need you to. For now, at least.”
Adara stared incredulously at him, hating the way he looked at her with eyes that begged her to let him do this. Guilt twisted inside her chest at that pleading look, like a lover only trying to do what’s best to save her. How was someone so unfeeling able to conjure up such deceptive expressions? It made her want to rip out one ofhiseyes instead of the Whisperer’s.
“If you make eye contact with the Whisperer, it can see your past or future. That’s how it figures out your name and uses it to kill you.” He gestured to the blindfold between his hands with a nod of his head. “I’m only doing this to protect you.”
“And what about you?” she asked.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. One of us needs to be able to see in there, and with my knowledge of this thing, I trust myself not to look into its eyes more than I trust you not to.”
Adara bit her lip, despising how right he was. It wasn’t ideal to go in blindly trusting someone who was only keeping her alive for the power she held that he could take later. But she had to hope that it was enough to keep him from letting her die at the hands of the Whisperer.
Heaving a sigh, she finally agreed. “Fine.”
Gently, Dominic closed the distance between them. His hands rose, and with them that foreboding strip of fabric. It filled her vision, darkness spreading like night as Dominic eased it over her eyes. Her breath hitched. She didn’t know if it was from the panic setting in at the fact that she wouldn’t be able to see in thecave, or if it was from the brush of his fingers against her hair as he tied the strand around the back of her head.
“Do you even have a plan?” she asked, voice low. It was suddenly hard to breathe.
“Cut out its eye.”
Adara rolled her eyes. Typical of him to be so vague. “If I die,” she started, wishing he could see the despise burning in her eyes, “I’ll claw my way out of Helfarrow and drag you down to its depths with me where I’ll torture you for eternity.”
“And here I was thinking I was making progress on you falling in love with me.”
She didn’t need her vision to know he was giving her a taunting smirk. “Now, shut up so we can sneak in,” he said.
Chapter 13
Adarajoltedatthelight graze on her lower back, but relaxed as she realized it was only Dominic’s hand gently guiding her forward. Through the darkness, they walked, an eerie silence surrounding them. An odd smell burned her nostrils. The deeper they ventured into the cave, the stronger the stench of carrion grew. Adara scuffed her feet against the ground, feeling for anything she might trip over before taking another step. Dominic—surely irritated with her slow movements and lack of trust in him—surprisingly never pushed her onward, letting her move at her own pace.
After a few agonizingly long minutes, he tugged at the back of her tunic, stopping her in her tracks. His breath caressed her ear and she shuddered. A sheet of cold enveloped her backside as Dominic pressed her against the cave wall. Fingers trailed up her left forearm where her vambrace encircled her arm, and her breath caught in her throat. Dominic’s fingers curled around hers, pressing her dagger firmly in her palm before falling away.
“Wait here. I’m going to take a look around,” he whispered. His voice was barely audible, but that didn’t stop it from echoing around the cave.
Afraid her voice would attract the Whisperer, Adara didn’t respond. Only listened, ears straining as his footsteps left her. The world was suddenly too quiet. Like she’d been cut off from everyone and everything. Like the cell she was kept in after the Shadow Empire’s experiments, so they could monitor her without the influence of the others. So still and silent and insufferable to be left alone with her own thoughts for days on end with no one and nothing but herself and the four walls that surrounded her, which could not be penetrated, not even by sound. No one had ever heard her cries for help.
Dominic silently disappeared into the dark recesses of the cavern, but Adara felt the absence of his presence like a yawning chasm between them. One wrong step, and she’d plummet to her death.
Darkness. A deep, unending void that reeked of blood and grime. The abyss suffocated her, sucking the breath right out of her lungs. It swallowed her. Her breathing turned ragged, blood rushing through her ears, head pounding as she struggled to get enough air. A dungeon. Dark and cold. Smelling of death and blood and sweat and waste. Could she really be back?
