Easy, even.
Darion’s jump was not as successful.Only half of his front foot made it past the edge.His boot slipped on the rock, and his leg fell downward as his hands extended forward, grasping at thin air.
I reached out.
Our hands clasped.
I pulled with all my might.My feet slipped on the stone, and both of us headed toward the chasm.Just inches from the edge, my heel gained traction against the smallest bit of uneven rock.It wasjustenough to dig in and pull Darion back from certain death.
I landed hard on the stone, and Darion fell directly on top of me with a grunt, our bodies smashing together, legs a tangled mess.His face—his lips—were just inches from my own.I gulped.
“Thanks,” he whispered.His breath tickled my eyelashes, smelling of mint and cider.
“You’re welcome,” I said, the only thing my brain would let me say at that moment.His emerald eyes stared into mine with a ferocious intensity, but there was vulnerability there, too.I wanted nothing more than to lift my head a few inches and kiss those lips.The pull was overwhelming.
The scrape of dozens of claws on stone and loud shrieks came from the other side of the chasm.Darion rolled off me, the moment lost.It was for the best.
Side by side, we watched in horror as the rats on the opposite edge scraped and clawed to stop their momentum.A few attempted to jump the chasm, but all fell well short.And the whole time, I could still hear their chanting in my mind.
For years, everything before that horrible day at the farm had felt like a dream.There had always been a before and an after.But now those childhood memories of my father showing me the whisperhawks sharpened into focus.
Darion couldn’t hear the rats speaking, so either I was losing it or they were somehow projecting their thoughts into my mind.I wasn’t sure which option I liked better.
“That’s going to smell pretty bad in a few hours,” Darion said flatly, watching the carnage.
“Hard to imagine them smelling worse than they already do,” I replied.We shared a glance, then burst out laughing, mostly at the absurdity but also to release the tension of our narrow escape.
Darion sprang to his feet and put out a hand to help me up.
“Thank you again,” he said earnestly.“I wouldn’t have made that jump without your help.You didn’t even hesitate.”
“Thankyoufor leading me this way.You saved us both,” I said as he pulled me up.The only question lingering in my mind washowhe knew to come this way.
“You should clean up that wound,” Darion said, pointing to the streaks of red running down my arm.“Otherwise we’ll just attract them again.”
“Good idea,” I said, reaching for a vial of antiseptic that I kept on my belt.As I tended to my arm, I asked, “How did you know about this room?”
“I memorized a lot of the routes down here when I was a kid.My crush was a powerful motivator,” Darion said with a laugh.
“Impressive memory,” I said.“Especially since it was so long ago.”I didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but it seemed odd.
“Hey, notthatlong ago,” Darion laughed.“Also, this is coming from the guy who memorized the whole map.”
I shrugged.“Just my own bit of magic, I guess.I remember everything I see.”
“That’s some pretty potent magic,” Darion said.“So, Mr.Memory, which way now?”
I paused for a moment to think.
“I don’t think we can go back the way we came,” I said, watching the rats continue to fall into the chasm, though the tide had slowed considerably.“We’ll just run into the rats again.We should give this area a wide berth and make our way back to the entrance.”
Since we’d come this far already, I picked a path that led us past the tomb of Queen Amara.I could complete my next Order of Emberlight trial with Darion none the wiser.
“Lead on,” Darion said, gesturing toward the corridor.
We walked in silence as the din of the rats died down, both externally and in my head.Soon it was deathly quiet, with only the sounds of our steady breathing and our boots on stone.The silence pressed in, thick, ancient, and heavy.The corridors ahead felt like a different world.
Darion’s face flickered in the light, his brow furrowed in concentration, which only made his chiseled features more handsome.A pang of guilt hit me.
