Page 137 of Unveiled

The cavern rumbled beneath them. A crack of sickly green light split the far wall.

Adrian frowned. “Connor, that’s the anchor. One of them.”

Connor’s grip tightened. “What do we do?”

“With your help, I can shatter it.”

Connor lifted Adrian’s chin gently. “Tell me how to help you.”

“You need to anchor me.”

Connor nodded once. “Done.”

“And no matter what happens,” Adrian warned, “don’t let go.”

Connor’s voice broke. “I’d rather die.”

Adrian’s shadow twitched violently. The anchor pulsed. Adrian gasped, clutching his chest. “It’s starting.”

Connor wrapped both arms around him like iron. “I’ve got you,” he whispered fiercely. “Come on, lad. Let’s break this bastard.”

Adrian extended his hand. His shadow extended with him, long, dark, trembling. It reached the anchor, which pulsed violently.

He let out a cry of pain. Connor tightened his grip, pulling Adrian back against his chest. “I’m here, breathe.”

Adrian’s shadow dug into the anchor as if it had claws. Light exploded. Green. Violet. Gold.

The cavern shook violently. Adrian arched in Connor’s arms.

Connor pressed his forehead to Adrian’s temple. “Stay with me.” He could feel the drain on his power, the constant hum of the mark on his chest.

Adrian’s shadow twisted violently while the anchor roared, a piercing, inhuman sound. The anchor exploded in a burst of blinding white, and then it was quiet. The anchor collapsed, dissolving into nothing.

Adrian went limp. “Did we do it?”

Connor’s throat tightened with relief and pride. “Aye. We did.”

Adrian managed a faint smile before collapsing into Connor’s arms, unconscious. Connor gathered Adrian gently into his arms, lifting him effortlessly. Then he stood in the ruined cavern, eyes glowing with newfound fury.

“One down,” he murmured.

He turned toward the dark tunnels ahead.

“And if you try it again, I’ll come for the rest.”

***

Adrian

Adrian drifted in darkness. Not the cruel, swallowing dark of the Underspan.

Not the suffocating circle of light that had wrapped around his chest and dragged him screaming into the earth.

This darkness was warm. Soft. Still. It breathed. Slow and steady.

He wasn’t sure how long he floated there, seconds or hours, but eventually, through the quiet, a voice broke through.

Low. Rough. Hesitated in places Adrian had never heard before.