Fortunately, I felt right at home dangling off the side of a rock wall.
The rope slipped through my gloved hands as I hurtled toward the next outcropping below us, a familiar rush of glee filling my soul. A harsh wind whipped at my face, and my braided hair thumped against my aching back. Light, it felt good to be climbing again.
My boots hit an outcropping, landing me beside Kalen. I beamed up at him as Boudica darted around us on her brilliant black wings.
He chuckled. “Glad we didn’t go through the sewage tunnels?”
It was the only other secret way out of Dubnos. It would have been the easier option, but I’d gladly chosen the cliff. I had no desire to sneak up on the enemy smelling of piss. “Oh, absolutely. This is the most fun I’ve had in days.”
“And here I thought you were happiest in a library.”
“If only we could scale down the side of a cliffintoa library. Then I’d be in heaven.”
His dark gaze raked over me. “I hope you’re forgetting something. Otherwise, you wound me, love.”
Despite the fate that loomed before us, I looked up at him with such a lightness in my chest that it took my breath away. “Well, the last time I was in a library, I did more than just read.”
He practically purred in response. His need reached out to me through the bond, and I knew he could feel the same from me. It was all I could do to drag my gaze away from him and not climb his body like a tree. Now that we’d acknowledged the truth of our connection, sometimes I felt like I couldn’t think straight. The thread between us tugged so hard that I felt compelled to erase the distance between us.
But we couldn’t give in to it. Not here, not like this. Not when so many lives depended on us to find answers.
And so I let out a shuddering breath and wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. As I did, my back flared with pain.
Kalen noted my wince and frowned. “We should take a break. It’s still a long way to the bottom.”
“We don’t have time to waste. Dubnos needs us to keep moving.”
“We won’t find answers if your muscles give out. We’ll rest for twenty minutes, and then we’ll get back on the rope.”
I wanted to argue and push past the mortal pain, but I knew he was right. Just behind the outcropping was a small cave with an entrance facing north, away from the eastern border. Once inside, Kalen gathered a few stray branches and started a fire. My tired body basked in the warmth of the flames, causing me to sigh in relief.
I hadn’t noticed the cold until now. I’d been so focused on the rope and the rocks and the thrill of it all. Now that I sat still, the chill seeped into my bones. Even my breath frosted before me. The temperature had dropped significantly from when we’d left Dubnos.
Kalen handed me a canteen of water and a piece of dried meat before staring into the flames, his expression thoughtful. Boudica settled onto his shoulder. “It’s getting colder, and the mists are getting thicker.”
“I’m assuming that’s not normal.”
“It’s happened before, but only for a few weeks at a time,” he said. “Sometimes I forget the mists came from me. They’ve always felt like a living, breathing thing separate from myself, especially since I can’t control them.”
“What are you trying to say?”
For a moment, only the sound of the crackling flames filled the cave. “I’m not certain. It just all seems linked somehow. The mists, the creatures, the storm fae we faced in Itchen, my powers and yours. I don’t know what it all means, but it does mean something.”
I nodded. I’d had the same thought myself. But if anyone had an explanation for all this, it would be the humans. “Any word from Niamh?”
“Not a one.”
“Should we be worried?” Val’s face flashed in my mind’s eye, and panic threatened to weaken my resolve. The thought of her in danger terrified me. When she’d left for the mortal lands, I’d thought she’d be the safest of us all. And if anything happened to her… “It’s been a long time.”
“For all we know, the communication stones don’t work in Talaven.”
But Kalen did not sound convinced.
We spent the rest of our short break in silence, watching the dancing flames. A part of me just wanted to sink into the stones here and stay for hours, letting the heat chase away the eerie chill that lurked outside the cave. We would likely not take another break until we reached the bottom of the mountain, and then we’d be in enemy territory. There would be no more fires. No more warmth after this.
But then it was time. Kalen stood and held out his hand. I took it without a word, the grim dread in my heart reflected back at me through the bond. We walked onto the outcropping and grabbed the rope. And then we scaled down the cliff to where the enemy might be waiting for us.
Thirty-Nine
