Pax looks vaguely disgusted.
Varek finally cracks a smile.
Progress.
Kael moves first, tracing his glowing fingers along the smooth grooves of the wall. His power pulses, syncing with something unseen. I watch, heart in my throat, as faint lines of energy appear—curling symbols that rise to the surface like they’re being drawn from thin air.
“Well, that’s not ominous at all,” I mutter, inching closer. “Just your casual glowing ancient glyphs reacting to blood magic and destiny. Totally normal Friday.” Because you never know, itcouldbe a Friday.
Kael flicks me a look.“Be ready.”
“Be ready for what? For it to open?”I lean in, a little too close, my shoulder brushing his arm.
Click.
“Oh, bugger.” The floor under my feet shifts with a low groan. Before I can step back, a sudden whoosh of air hits me from below—like the world just inhaled—and the ground drops.
“Sonny!” Kael roars as the platform beneath me disappears.
I fall—but only for a second. A flash of light engulfs me and Kael both. Something grabs us, maybe energy, maybe fate just being a dick again, and swoop—we’re flung sideways, slamming through a separate wall of light like it’s been waiting for two idiots in love to stumble into it.
When we land, I roll into Kael, limbs tangled and breath knocked clean out of me.
From somewhere above, I hear Varek shout, “What just happened?”
“Oh, you know,” I call back, gasping. “Just taking the scenic route through Deathtrap Alley!”
Kael groans beside me, already on one knee, scanning the chamber we’ve crash-landed into. It’s a long, narrow hall made of old stone, etched in strange script that glows dimly with every step we take.
A grinding noise sounds above us. I spin, eyes wide. The ceiling is sealing shut. “Kael?—”
“I see it.”
Too late.Boom. The ceiling wall finishes its closure with a satisfying stone-on-stone thunk. And we’re alone. Fantastic.
He glances at me, tension bleeding through our bond. “I shouldn’t have let you fall in.”
“Excuse you?” I say aloud, brushing dust off my already-daggy cloak. “I distinctly recall you being right there beside me. Pretty sure gravity had beef with both of us.”
He huffs. Possibly a laugh. Possibly exasperation.
“Varek? Pax?” I yell towards the sealed ceiling. Nothing. No response.
Great.
“This is fine,” I say to no one, turning a slow circle as the hall stretches out ahead. “Just trapped in a potentially ancient death corridor with the hottest Glowranth boyfriend in the world. What could go wrong?”
Kael touches the nearest wall, and symbols begin to light up again—responding only to him, it seems. The energy here is stronger. Buzzing. Alive.
My fingers twitch with the echo of it. “Okay,” I mutter, straightening. “I’m not saying I want to be Indiana Jones, but if a giant boulder starts rolling at us, I’m punching fate in the dick.”
Kael sends me a look over his shoulder.
I grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll still protect your beautiful face.”
He groans again. “You’re impossible.”
“But charming.”
