“I don’t like the risk this presents to them, or to Skye,” Keir protested. “This place is so unstable it could collapse at any time.” He looked at Noah. “A stone coffin isn’t what I want for Skye, and I don’t think it’s what you want either. Not for her, or your family. It’s not too late. The Keeper thinks you’re already gone, banished. Austin can still see to that. You can walk awayfrom here. Go back where you came from. Skye will still be alive and well, even if her future isn’t quite what she’d planned.”
“And ye?” Taran pressed. “What of ye?
Keir shook his head. “I have no illusions about my fate. I betrayed The Keeper’s trust. That’s something he understandably cannot tolerate. But I will happily submit to that fate if I know Skye is alive, safe, and well.”
Another rumble underscored Keir’s words.
“No.”
“Nae,” Taran and Noah spoke at once.
“You’re asking us to willingly let Emily die,” Noah accused, his anger twisting his face. “We can’t do that.Won’tdo that. This entire journey, this battle, has been for Emily. Do you think Skye would so freely toss away the sacrifice she just made for her?”
“No,” Keir said, his face a mask of sadness. “I know she would not. But I had to try. It was the only chance I had left of helping her.”
“You’ve all allowed your emotions to make you weak and pathetic,” Austin said smugly. “I’m happy to say Skye and I will be well rid of you.”
“Stop!” Taran snarled. “We’re just wastin’ precious time. We all ken the danger this tunnel presents. ’Tisnae any point in harpin’ on it. ’Tis the chance we need. The chance we’ve all fought for, that both Noah and Skye have sacrificed for, and we could lose it at any moment. Let’s get everyone here and ready. After that, ye can argue all ye want, until the portal opens.”
“Ifit opens,” Austin shrugged. “I said we come here on a moonless nightexpectingit to open. I didn’t say it always does.”
Skye pressedthe damp cloth gently against Emily’s cracked lips and tried not to count the seconds between each fragile breath.
The child had not stirred for some time. Had not opened her eyes or made any sound beyond the faint, papery rasp of air entering and leaving lungs that seemed determined to surrender their purpose. The blue veins, easily seen at her temples, appeared more prominent than ever.
Paige sat on the other side of the stretcher, one hand wrapped around Emily’s fingers. She hadn’t spoken about Austin since his rejection. She’d simply wiped her face, straightened her shoulders, and returned to her daughter’s side with the quiet ferocity of a woman determined to avoid another loss.
Skye had not told her about the bargain. The words had risen to her lips a dozen times, but the sight of Paige’s strained face stopped her. The weight of her burdens was already too much. She would not add to it. Not when Paige needed every ounce of strength to believe Emily would survive not only the night, but whatever came after.
Brody lay next to Emily, his small body positioned protectively beside her. He looked up and began talking to her with the innocence of one child speaking to another.
“Mamma said we’re going to have a whole new life in a new place, Emily. A new house and everything. And Da already said when we get there, we can have a puppy.” He traced a careful finger along the edge of her blanket. “I’d like a spotted one. But you can choose whatever you want. I don’t mind. As long as it’s not a mean one.” He paused, studying her still face with a worried frown. “You have to get better first, though. So hurry up, all right?”
Skye pressed her knuckles to her mouth and turned away before anyone could see what Brody’s words did to her.
The candle burned lower. Outside the alcove, the single guard Austin left behind stood with his back to them, clearly bored by the assignment of watching two women and children.
“It’s taking too long,” Paige said worriedly. She glanced toward the alcove’s entrance, then back at Emily. “It’s past dark, I’m sure. If we lose this chance...”
“We won’t,” Skye said with a certainty she did not feel.
“You don’t know that.” Paige snapped, losing her composure for the space of a heartbeat. Skye watched her fight to pull it back with visible effort. “I’m sorry,” Paige whispered. “I know everyone is doing all they can. It’s just...” She looked down at Emily and her face contorted. “She’s running out of time. I can see it.”
Skye reached across the stretcher and covered Paige’s hand with her own. “Then we hold on. For as long as it takes. We hold on.”
They waited. Minutes crawled past like hours. Skye strained to hear footsteps, any sound of approach, any sign that the men had been successful. But the silence persisted, broken only by the guttering of the candle and the whispered, halting lullaby Paige sang to Emily.
When the footsteps finally came, they came in a rush.
Taran appeared in the archway first, his face streaked with grime, his clothes torn and covered in rock dust. Finn was right behind him, already moving toward the stretcher. Behind them came Noah, Austin and the guards, all filthy, clearly spent, but moving with a desperate urgency that told Skye everything about how little time remained.
“Hurry!” Taran’s voice was hoarse, stripped raw. “’Tisnae time tae bring anything. ’Tis crumbling, even as we speak.” He and Finn took their positions at either end of Emily’s stretcher, lifting her with practiced care. “Paige,” he looked at his wife withall his fear, love, and determination painted across his dirty face, “whatever ye do, dinnae let go of Brody’s hand.”
Paige seized Brody’s hand, tugging him tight to her side. “You found it then?”
“A possibility,” he replied, already moving out of the alcove.
Noah crossed to Skye and reached for her hand, revealing the raw wounds on his. In his face she saw the toll hours of brutal labor had taken, and beneath it all, the terrible war still raging behind his eyes over the promise she’d forced from him.
