Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 145704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Zander’s vision is one where mortals have freedom and choice, their blood a commodity they own. But not one where the mortals rise up and scheme murder.
We’ve reached a part in the wall where the stone blocks haven’t fully parted, jutting out in a zigzag pattern. Zander turns sideways to shimmy between. “I do not recall it being this way before. But I was much younger and smaller back then.”
“It’s as if the mechanics failed here.” Gesine sends the globe floating above him. “It’s been thousands of years since the caster constructed this tunnel. Some of the logic within it could be deteriorating.”
I mimic Zander, holding my breath as I edge through. On the other side, the path bends into a cramped corner that meets a dead end. There’s barely enough room for us, our bodies nudging each other.
“I should go back …” I make to rejoin the others, to give Zander more space, but his hand lands on my hip, stalling me.
“Stay there, Gesine. There isn’t enough room.”
I tip my head and find a towering Zander peering down at me, his entrancing face only inches away, his eyes raking over my features. We haven’t been this close since he shielded me from the oncoming arrows in the boat. Before Gesine told him about how Neilina and Aoife plotted to ensnare him.
Zander shifts his attention to the wall, smoothing his hands over the stones, his palms coming away dusty. “The lever to the outside is here, somewhere.”
I’m standing still, doing nothing. I may as well help. “What does it look like?”
“Much like the other one, only smaller.”
We’re all knees and elbows, bumping into each other as we search along the walls. It’s laughable, almost, given the kinds of things we’ve done beneath sheets and candlelight.
I spot the perfectly square block behind him, at shoulder level. “Is this it?” I tap the surface with my finger.
“That is definitely it.” He shifts, reaching for it.
“Wait!”
Gesine’s sudden outburst freezes us both in place, our hands over the same stone.
“Do not trigger anything until I say so. I may not be able to construct one of these passageways, but I can keep it from closing on us, should something else in the mechanics fail. Give me a moment.”
Zorya and Abarrane echo twin curses.
The light orb dims and then vanishes, throwing us into complete darkness as Gesine focuses all her attention on her task.
The seconds drag on.
“Those morels of hers work wonders.” Zander’s soft breaths skate against my cheek, reminding me how close we are positioned. It doesn’t help that our hands are still hovering over the stone. I pull mine away in a pathetic effort to put space between us.
I feel his eyes tracing the lines of my face in the darkness. Meanwhile, I can’t see a hint of his, no matter how hard I search.
“You can still turn back. Wait with Loth in the safety of the forest.”
“I won’t learn how to survive in this world by hiding from it.”
I sense him leaning closer, a moment before he whispers in my ear, “What is causing you so much distress? Is it simply being this close to me?”
His lips so close to me stirs a shiver. “No. I don’t like not knowing what we’re heading into.”
“That’s why I told you to stay behind.”
“I’m not worried about myself.” I can move anonymously. But what if Rengard is no longer the trusted visionary Zander hopes he is?
“I see.” The tip of his nose grazes my ear, stirring my blood. “Do you regret it?”
“Regret what?”
“Everything.”
I falter on my answer. What is he asking? Do I regret going along with Sofie’s request? I was never given a choice.
Playing Princess Romeria in order to survive? Also, no flexibility in that decision.
But I know he’s not talking about either of those things.
“Do you?”
“I should.”
I revel in this brief closeness. I can almost pretend we’re still together. “That’s not an answer.”
“Isn’t it?”
The tension in our little alcove swirls, my fingers itching to reach for him. If I leaned forward, let my mouth graze his, could it fix everything that’s gone wrong between us?
“Any time now, witch,” Abarrane’s strained voice on the other side of the narrowed corridor cuts into the moment.
A beat passes, and then Gesine announces, “You may proceed.”
Zander’s body strains against mine as he pushes against the stone. Instantly and without a sound, the wall slides into itself, allowing filtered daylight through. A tall hedge obscures the opening from the city beyond, and the muted sound of voices carries.
Whatever moment passed between us is gone, back to business as usual. Zander puts his finger to his lips and leads us out. The others follow, their backs against the wall behind the shrubbery, daggers clutched.
Zander presses on a stone, and the passage slides shut again. “You cannot stroll through Bellcross with blades out. You know this.”