"What if the door is locked?"
“I’ll pick it,” Kage says.
"She doesn't need a key. She can just open it."
Kage's eyebrows rise as realization dawns on him. "Metal forger.” He glances at Naima. “Atruemetal forger.”
Her responding smile is small. Wary.
Another wordless exchange passes between Kage and Mal before Kage shrugs and allows Naima to take the lead. I glance back at Mal as we begin the climb and nearly collide with his face, inches from mine.
"Can you get inside people's heads?"
He stares at me for a moment. "If I say yes, will you let me into yours?"
"No."
I turn forward and freeze. The stairs aren't touching the walls.
"What?" Malachi asks.
"The stairs."
Everyone stops. The structure wobbles beneath us.
I stop breathing. "Oh gods. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods."
"Calm down." Kage's voice is steady. "We're not that high yet."
I look down. He's right. A fall from here wouldn't kill us. But if the entire structure collapses while we're on it? That's a different story.
"This is the only way in," Naima says. "What are we supposed to do, use the front door?"
"We run," Kage suggests.
"Run?" I gasp. "Have you lost your mind?"
"If we slip, we're dead. Maybe not you with your fucking shadows, but the rest of us are!" My voice cracks. "And if the whole thing crumbles? Then what?"
Naima and Kage’s eyebrows shoot up. Through the bond, I feel Malachi's surprise. My eyes widen as I register the word that just left my mouth. Not because of the curse itself. Because of how rare it is in Lunaris. Because I sound exactly like him. As if I needed another thing to process right now.
"Relax,” Kage says softly.
I growl at him. Actually growl.
His eyebrow rises. "How did you not see this when I sent the light up?"
"You were the one who sent your shadow up! How didyounot see it?"
The staircase groans. Sways. I make a sound that's embarrassingly close to a whimper.
"How many steps to the top?" Naima murmurs, tipping her head back.
I see her calculating. Measuring the distance with her eyes. Panic claws at my chest.
"Naima Stonehand, I swear to every deity that has ever existed, if you run up those stairs and we survive, I will kill you myself."
A surprised laugh bursts out of her. Kage snorts. Even Malachi huffs behind me. Before I can yell at them for laughing, warmth floods the bond. It sinks into my bones, loosening the tension in my muscles.
