“Not a chance, archaeologist,” Ashley declined with a grin, already clipping into the rope. “I go first, then you. Standard order.”
Ella made a pitiful sound but didn’t argue. Ashley gave the rope a sharp tug, then disappeared smoothly down into the darkness. One by one, we followed.
Nadine went next, then Ella, still muttering excitedly aboutfirst contact with a two-and-a-half-million-year-old culture. I sent Jax and Marek down after the women, then waited while Rylan clipped in.
The moment all the women and two of my men were safely below, Rylan—being Rylan—decided to play hero. He paused at the edge, looking back at the tunnel ceiling with a cocky smirk. “Bet I can bring a few of those loose rocks down to block the tunnel behind us. Make sure nothing follows.”
My stomach dropped. “Rylan, don’t?—”
Too late.
He fired a single low-power shot into a cracked support beam. A low crack echoed, followed by the sickening groan of overstressed earth.
“Dumb ass!” I cried.
The tunnel gave a violent shudder. Dust and small stones rained down as the ceiling began to collapse behind us.
“Get down there!” I snarled, shoving Rylan hard toward the hole.
He dropped with a startled yelp. I didn’t wait, grabbed the rope, and jumped after him, half-sliding, half-falling as the tunnel roared behind me.
Rocks and dirt cascaded down in a deafening rush. I hit the chamber floor hard, rolling to absorb the impact as a thick cloud of dust exploded over us. The rope went slack above asthe tunnel entrance disappeared under tons of rubble. What followed was a shower of rocks and more dust. I felt a tug from Ashley as she moved me away from the avalanche from hell.
A human namedGeneral Martinez showed up right after the females left. It was a distraction for a little while, especially when watching Xandros and him argue over why Ashley wasn't there.
With him came a few hundred human soldiers, all in perfect uniforms. They arrived in Pandraxian shuttles and took charge of our prisoners.
Martinez mentioned something about giving the rebelssome history lessons, but I tuned most of it out. My entire focus was on my Aelyth, a few hundred feet below me. I could still feel her. I also felt her apprehension and recognized it as fear of tight spaces, something she would never admit to.
I was entertaining myself with thoughts on how I could make her pay for her insubordination when a low, muted roar rolled up from the ground like distant thunder. A cloud of dust followed, a thick, choking cloud exploding out of thenarrow manhole they’d blasted into the plateau. For one frozen heartbeat, none of us moved. Then chaos erupted.
“ELLA!” Zapharos roared, his golden aura exploded outward in a blinding flash, turning first crimson then black. He lunged toward the hole like he could tear the earth apart with his bare hands.
I didn’t move. I felt it too. A sharp, vicious spike of pain slammed into my chest, right where the golden thread connected me to Naeris. My flaw—that dark, restless thing born in the Abyss—surged violently, clawing at my ribs like it wanted to rip free. For a terrifying second, I couldn’t breathe. The bond screamed. She was hurt. Scared. Trapped.
“By the Dark Abyss,” I snarled, staggering forward.
“Drones!” Xandros bellowed. “Get more drones down there. Now!”
Pandraxian techs scrambled. New silver orbs shot into the hole. The main holovid flared to life above us, showing dust-choked footage. It was almost impossible to see anything through the swirling brown cloud.
Zapharos was still roaring Ella’s name. Dravok’s shadows had gone pitch black, lashing wildly around him. One of the drones slammed into a solid wall of fresh debris and stopped dead.
“Drek!” Xandros cursed viciously.
“We need to get that debris out of there!” Dravok yelled, already moving toward the hole.
“No,” Xandros snapped, voice sharp with command. “We can’t risk another collapse. Switching to spectral grid.”
The holovid flickered, shifting to radar overlay. Ghostly blue silhouettes appeared through layers of rock and earth.
“I see them,” Xandros announced, easing the tension slightly in us. “Seven life forms. They’re below the cave-in. Alive.”
I didn’t care about the human males. My eyes locked on the one signature I recognized through the bond, Naeris. She was moving. Angry. Then I watched her silhouette deck someone so hard he crumpled to the ground.
Rylan.
A dark, murderous growl tore out of my throat. “I’m going to kill him. Slowly.”
