Page 129 of Wraithwound

Lena blushed, and this time she couldn’t hide in the darkness. And she didn’t want to. Cross took her filthy hand in his and placed it over his heart. She felt the steady beat there.

“You know my heart, Alina, and I know yours. Remember that.”

After one last look, he released her hand, drew his sword, and started towards the tower.

Chapter

Seventy-Three

Ashort, dirt path led them to moss-covered, crumbling stone steps. The stairway led up through an ogival arch and continued to wind upward beyond sight. Wild ferns grew unhindered along the sides like silent sentinels intent on observing any movement beyond that of the feeble wind. On the left side, just past the arch, a mangled tree leaned out of a gaping hole in the fortifying wall that kept the earth from swallowing the desolate passageway. Cross paused to examine the narrow steps before sheathing his sword and opting for a dagger instead.

Lena peered up the stairway past him.

“The moss looks different. Normal, even, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to take,” she said, striking one of the steps partway up the staircase with a small rock she’d found. They watched in silence as the stone clinked its way back down and landed at their feet.

“I’ll go first,” Cross said, testing the first step.

He didn’t look back as he moved up, noting where the stone was solid and where it had disintegrated from disuse. After several steps, he turned and extended his hand but kept his gaze on their surroundings. They slowly made their way up, staying vigilant for any signs of danger, but none came.

They climbed the final few steps and exited the passageway onto a flat stone surface. Lena’s mouth fell open as she took in the rectangular open-air temple set on a podium. Evenly spaced ogival arches lined the perimeter, with one grand arch at the center indicating the main entrance.

“Was the onyx stone temple an illusion?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but something about this feels wrong,” Cross murmured, scanning the area.

Lena couldn’t help but agree. The air surrounding the temple felt dead although there was a lingering scent there too, both familiar and off putting.

Cross hesitated before he held his hand out to Lena. As they walked toward the grand archway, she took in the details of the temple, the ancient stone dull like chalk and similar to the crumbling trail behind them. She couldn’t shake the feeling of unease as they took the steps to the grand archway and paused just before the threshold.

“Wait. I just. I don’t—” she said pulling her hand from his.

“What is it?” Cross asked.

“I—never mind,” she said.

“No. Don’t do that. If you have a gut feeling about something, don’t ignore it,” he said.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but this can’t be the entrance. It feels . . . too obvious.”

Cross nodded slowly.

“Let’s look around,” he said, examining the arches more closely.

They walked around the elevated podium, looking up at the arches until one such arch caught Lena’s attention. The moment she approached, a whirring sound broke through the silence. In one fluid move, Cross wrapped his muscled arm around Lena’s waist and tucked her behind him, but there was no apparent threat.

He let her go and stepped aside, pointing to a spinning orb inside the frame of the structure. She examined it for a moment, catching a glimpse of an object at the center of the orb that ducked back into the stone every second or so.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted.

She reached out to touch it when Cross snatched her hand in his before she could. A flit of annoyance echoed in her mind.

“Your blood, human, and not just a prick,” Runa hissed in her mind.

Lena’s eyes widened as she saw the spinning orb for what it was: a tiny blade entombed in rock. When she looked closer, she saw five spots on the circumference of the small chamber that held the spinning orb. A spot for each of her fingers, indicating that she needed to place her hand over the spinning blade.

“Why?” Lena asked.