“Then I’ll go!”
Better him than her. He couldn’t repeat his past mistakes. He’d barely survived losing Faustina; he would not survive losing Aimilia.
“You won’t fit!” Aimilia shook her head, gesturing to his broad shoulders. “And if you’re afraid me going in will destabilize it, then trying to make an opening you can fit through certainly will.”
He hated she was right. He hated that he had no choice here.
Not one he could live with anyway.
If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.
And if he didn’t let her go, she would never forgive him.
If Hypatia had Seen this, she was probably howling like a hyena.
“You’re right. But I’m going to be right here, and if anything goes wrong, I’m coming in after you.”
Aimilia started casting a vitae rope. “Then I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.”
He reached her spot and looked down into the Abyss-black hole, stomach churning. She finished her rune, vitae wrapping around her like a harness, the extra, complicated and draining step done of ensuring the vitae wouldn’t burn through the fabric of her clothes or any skin. She tossed the end to him and he took it as she set the rune, stabilizing it so it would last without her having to keep her hands involved, freeing them for other things.
The commanders around them wouldn’t be able to do the same with their shields without risking them breaking and constantly having to recast given the sheer force trying to push down and break the shield. As commanders, they weren’t trained in the finer, more precise art of using runes and vitae torepair structures, so all they could do was try to hold it up and together long enough for those who could to arrive.
Nikias took the rope, quickly casting a rune at his feet, grounding him as Aimilia backed up to the edge of the hole.
His heart leapt into his throat as she stepped back. His grip tightened on the rope as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Aimilia dropped into the darkness, the rough rocks scraping her shoulders as she went. Nikias felt the jolt of her weight pulling on the rope trying to make him stumble forward, but his runes kept him grounded.
“Lower!” Aimilia called out, and the vitae wrapped around her was the only reason he could still make out her face in the darkness. Reluctantly, he did so each time she called out the instruction until finally he couldn’t see her, just the thin tendril of vitae connecting them.
Then, finally, the heavy pull of her whole weight suspended in the air gave way, and faintly he heard her call out, “I made it!”
“Be careful!”
“I will. Any children I find will come your way, so be ready to help them climb out!”
The words were on the tip of his tongue. If something happened to her, should she know?
No. It wasn’t the right time. She still hated him. They were surrounded by commanders. She needed to focus on protecting herself and finding the children, not be distracted.
So instead of what was threatening to break out of his chest, he said, “I’ll be ready.”
Nothing would happen to her.
He would have the chance to tell her. One day, she would know just how much he loved her.
Chapter 18
AIMILIA
Aimilia gave up on her peplos shortly after finding the first three novices. All three of them were in decent shape, having been able to kill the chimeras they’d fallen in with. So she told them to follow the trail her vitae rope made to get to the exit. She’d then been forced to climbed down through a tiny hole in a rock wall, and as her peplos snagged, she cursed. Once she was through, she made quick work of slicing it at the knees. She tucked the extra fabric into her belt in case she came across anyone with an injury that would need it.
After finding and killing two chimeras, finding five more novices, she did come across a novice who needed it. She was trapped beneath a large rock, a chimera dead beside her, but she was gasping for breath. Aimilia wasted no time, quickly casting and sliding a vitae platform between the girl and the rock. Aimilia lifted the rock up and to the side before setting it down gently. She was lucky so far everything seemed stable.
Sweat poured down Aimilia’s back. Her vitae was depleting quickly. The rope connecting her to Nikias had taken a large chunk, and if it began to flicker, she’d have to pour more into it or risk being trapped and useless, unable to find her way back.
Which meant Aimilia couldn’t afford to waste any vitae. Especially not to heal any non-life-threatening wounds.
