His body enveloped hers as the walls pushed in tighter. They were a reach away.
“Hurry!” Kane and Erinna both cried at the mage. Sweat pooled along his brow as he concentrated.
“I thought you could see arcanum threads, Afton?” Kane growled.
“Not when they’re hidden behind the walls, Kane,” Afton spat back.
Kane pressed in closer. The walls herded them together. Erinna’s back was flattened against the stone, her cheek resting against his hard chest. Kane’s warmth consumed her, chasing away the chill in her veins.
His body was flush against hers, pinning her to the wall as the cement continued to advance. The proximity of it all was suffocating—his breath on her face, the unyielding stone at her spine. His heartbeat against her cheek.
She would be squeezed to death between a wall and a pirate.
They weren’t going to make it.
“Done!”
The door clicked open just in time, and the three slipped through as the wall crushed itself shut behind them.
Erinna’s heartpounded so loudly in her ears she worried it would set off whatever trap the room had in store. Raye flickered before her and held his finger to his lips as a reminder.
Witchlight flickered to life at their entry. She heard the intake of air next to her from Kane. Her actions were quicker than her thoughts as she wrapped one arm around him and pressed her free palm against his lips. Erinna hoped the look in her eye gave him all the information he needed. Be absolutely silent, she willed the command onto Kane as he raised an amused brow.
The room itself was unassuming. Four large columns lined the sides of the room with chests and crates along the walls. Broken wooden chairs lay in heaps on the side, and the tile had already crumbled and cracked in most places. Dust layered every inch of the place.
She peeled away from him, comfortable that he knew better than to cause more trouble. How he survived this long surprised her. He ran headfirst into everything it seemed.
Something light brushed against her feet, and she looked down at the faintest hint of arcanum.
Afton crept toward the door at the back—the only exit. Silence swallowed his footsteps. Even his page-turning made no sound. Erinna chanced a step. Nothing. Not a whisper, not a creak. The mage’s enchantment wrapped around them like a blanket. For the first time since entering, the tight coil of anxiety in her gut loosened.
She checked on Raye. The spirit gave an approving nod, then pointed at the ceiling.
Her heart stopped.
Hundreds of blades hung from the rafters above them, each one swaying gently, though no breeze stirred the air. Their entrance alone had disturbed them. From the corner of her eye, Erinna saw Kane and Afton tilt their heads back, following her gaze to the deadly swinging pendulums. The realization settled over all three of them at once.
Kane made the first move, leading the charge across the room. Erinna clenched her fists to her sides in worry and followed suit.
Even with the enchantment, their pace felt agonizingly slow.
The silence grew more disorienting the longer it lasted. Erinna could hear her heart and blood rush in her ears as they crept closer to the door.
The fire dimmed in her lamp, and Erinna’s heart jumped into her throat as Raye blinked out of existence. It was a single moment, then the spirit was back, concern etched in every feature. He wouldn’t last very long at this rate, and they had only passed one hurdle.
They finally made it across. Erinna pressed close to the door, silently pleading for safety on the other side. Afton hesitated, his gaze jumping between the knob, the keyhole, and Erinna’s face. His unspoken question hung between them—would even the smallest sound send a rain of steel upon their heads?
There was only one way to find out.
Afton lifted his hands to enchant the door—but Kane drove forward, wedging himself into the gap. He swept Erinna behind him with one hand and snapped his gaze to Afton.
Back. Up.
Before either could protest, his palms were already flat against the wood. Fire burned hot and fast as flames licked at its kindling. Heat stung her skin, and the light was near blinding as the door burned away to nothing but ash.
The three stepped through the threshold, still wary of noise until metal rods burst through the doorway, locking in place with a shuddering click. They wouldn’t be leaving the same way they came in.
“I think we passed that test,” Kane beamed like a child who had just won a game of chance.
