Annora shifted in Evelina’s periphery. “Why isn’t it?—”
Like a broken instrument coming to life, the door groaned and creaked, opening of its own accord until it was cracked enough for Evelina to push. With her knife, she cut through the thick roots still blocking their path and pushed the door to reveal the tunnels beyond. She turned around to face Annora and Aldric, a mischievous grin on her face.
“Letting me do all the hard work?” she teased to lighten the mood. She could feel their heaviness and nerves lift like a blanket being pulled off of them.
Annora placed a hand on Evelina’s shoulder with a soft grin. “You know that we’re indebted to you for this.”
Evelina waved them off, ignoring the tears welling in her eyes. “Thank me when it’s over.”
She squeezed through the small tunnel, praying to the goddess that no one other than the priestesses decided to come back here. It was unlikely anyone would know who Aldric was, but Annora would be recognized immediately, almost as quickly as Evelina.
Icy drops of water slid down the walls and pooled onto the ground, slicking their path and causing her steps to slow as she led them through the tunnels. She was careful to pause every few steps with her ears straining to find something on the path ahead, but it was empty.
They crept through the dark tunnel until Evelina was certain she was just behind the wooden altar that sat on the other side of the wall.
She stopped at a small cutout in the wall. It was boarded up, slants of light filtering through the cracks. But she knew of the loose board that would swing out far enough for someone to squeeze through. She and Lyria had found it after trying to sneak in when they were children.
They paused, straining to listen. Silence met them and they all relaxed simultaneously.
“Through here and into the ceremony room you go,” she whispered.
Annora looked to Aldric, her face unreadable in the dimly lit tunnel. “What if the Sacred won’t do it?”
Evelina pushed the board open for them. “We all know the Sacred isn’t going to question those that have the call to be mated. We’ve heard the stories of how she can sense a bond.”
With a final push in the direction of the boards, Aldric crouched down to slide through.
Before Annora followed him, she turned to Evelina, gripping her shoulders. “Promise me you’ll stay to watch so I know we aren’t alone.”
Evelina pulled her into a hug, whispering into her ear, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
The board thumped back into place after Annora made it to the other side. With the cracks so small, Evelina searched for a way to watch. She blindly reached her hand out and pressed it to the wall. Her fingers caught on the jagged stone, her fingertips becoming numb from the frosty bite of cold. She ran her hand along the wall until she found what she was looking for—a single loose stone in the center. Once she slid the stone from its resting place, she was offered a front-row seat to the ceremony.
An orange flicker danced against the opening, and she leaned in until her face was level with it. Inside the temple, she sawAnnora and Aldric, their hands clasped tightly and their eyes sparkling with delight, the hesitation gone.
Their luck resided in the fact that the Sacred didn’t question those who came to her—it wasn’t her job to. She was nothing more than a conduit for Eurydice to speak through, both an empty vessel and a temporary house for the Goddess of the Moon.
Evelina drew in a sharp breath, her solace in staying hidden within the thick stone walls. The only time she’d been in front of the Sacred was when she was given her affinities. It was the only time she’d ever spoken to the goddess directly.
Being in that room felt like a vortex. A person’s focus was on nothing but the Sacred and the goddess. Even with fae hearing, senses were dulled within the blessed walls. That was how younger fae had gotten away with spying on temple readings for so long. Even if it was a known rite of passage, no one tried to stop it from happening.
“The goddess has agreed to see you tonight,” the haunting voice of the Sacred said. Her white hair shone and the hollow blue ring on her forehead glowed brighter than the torches around the room. From where she was hidden, Evelina couldn’t see her haunting eyes, but she shivered at the thought of them.
A rock skidding across the tunnel floor caught Evelina’s attention. She froze. Her pointed ears twitched as a hushed whisper floated toward her. Someone else was here.
She stiffened against the wall and attempted to press herself into it. There was no use in trying to run, because there was nowhere else to go. That was the risk of entering the tunnels—there was one way in and one way out…and she had left the door wide open.
Twelve
Evelina
This far into the tunnel,nearly at its end, Evelina was faced with a dead end, nothing more than an abrupt stop in the path. Meaning there was no way out if someone was coming from the other side.
She braced herself for the inevitable moment she got caught red-handed.
But then a deep, familiar voice floated through the tunnel and echoed off the walls. It was Keir. “They couldn’t have gone far; the tunnel can only be so deep.”
Evelina relaxed. But who was he talking to?
