Roman brushes my wolf’s shoulder. “You go first. I’ll watch your backs.”
I incline my head, and we leap forward as soon as Koda begins to move.
“This way.” My brother sets off much faster than I was expecting, breaking into a steady jog through the rock tunnel ahead while the lights keep pace. The tunnel twists and turns, but Koda seems to know where he’s going as he takes each turn with confidence and doesn’t slow down.
Although the sapphire runes maintain the circle of light all the way from Koda back to Roman, the energy within the tunnel remains heavy and cold.
Colder by the second.
I flinch when a stone clatters from the ceiling high above us—seemingly dislodged by nothing at all. At least, nothing that I can see when I take my eyes off Koda’s back to glance upward.
Twenty paces along, another stone clatters down the tunnel’s wall and this time, a shadow passes briefly across it, its shape indistinct.
Beneath the clattering is a whisper.
You abandoned me.
My wolf’s footsteps falter, but I shake off my sense of foreboding and keep on running, focusing harder on Koda’s back and the steady footfalls of my pack. I tell myself I heard nothing more than a random echo within the tunnel.
Another stone clatters to the ground, this one rolling across my path. It’s gone too quickly to trip me up, but the whisper it makes as it moves startles me more than before.
You left me without a thought.
My wolf flinches.
We know that voice.
I nearly shift back into my human form, nearly call out, “Mom?”
Beside me, Malia’s wolf misses a step and I turn my head sharply from her to Taniya. They’re both growling, as if they’re trying to speak.
Another stone drops from the ceiling immediately in front of me, and this time, the little rock glints.
The light flashes across my eyes, consuming my view, and for the briefest moment, my mother stands in front of me.
Her long, raven hair falls across her shoulders, which are hunched. The fine lines around her green eyes and her mouth are darker in the shadows. She’s pale, wearing a loose, linen top and pants, both white.
Her mouth moves for the instant that I pass through her glinting image, but her voice stays with me, stabbed into my mind like a knife.
You left me here to die.
Shock drives me into my human form. My shift is brutal and sharp, leaving me tumbling naked across the tunnel. “No! Mom!”
My voice echoes around me as I hurtle beyond the sapphire light and hit the stone wall, knocking my head so hard that I drop to my knees against the wall.
“Nova! No—!” Roman’s shout cuts short as icy darkness plummets around me, bringing with it a deep silence.
The cold bites my skin and the rock wall is slimy as I try to find my feet, to look up. I push upward, my legs somehow unable to straighten, my shoulders remaining hunched, my head bowed, as if a heavy weight rests across me—the weight of my mother’s voice.
I fight it, ramming my hands against the rock wall, forcing myself to lift my head.
My heart plunges as the dark tunnel stares back at me, the barest outline of its rocky outcrops visible in the gloom.
“Roman? Malia? Taniya…?”I cast wild glances left and right, searching for my pack.
The tunnel is empty. My pack is gone.
CHAPTERTEN
