“Don’t like tight places, huh?”
A shadow crossed her face. “No,” she admitted, “I don’t.”
Kal tried not to stare at the woman’s bruises. She felt a stab of pity.
“It’s not far. Less than half an hour, I’d say, and most of it’s pretty easy walking.”
Cathrynne gave a taut nod. “I can manage that.”
Kal led them to the mine entrance. Boards crossed the opening, plastered with faded warning signs, but she and Durian had pulled most of them off. She ducked inside and lifted the edge of a canvas tarp. Their stash remained untouched. Two electric torches and a few extra waterskins. She handed one torch to Cathrynne and kept the other. Kal drank deeply from a skin, then offered it to Cathrynne.
“It’s clean,” Kal said.
Cathrynne drank, then passed the water to Gavriel.
Kal used the chance to turn her back and quickly check the pistol wedged in her belt. It had been under her shirt, pressed against her body, and didn’t seem any worse for the premature burial. Kal slid it back into her waistband and switched on her torch. The beam cut through the darkness, illuminating the tunnel entrance. Rusted rail tracks disappeared into the blackness. Timber supports held up the ceiling, warped with age. Cathrynne stared into the tunnel mouth, her skin ashen.
“You stay up here,” Gavriel said. “I’ll go.”
“You can’t,” Cathrynne replied. “Look what a single stone did to you.”
He frowned. “I won’t touch anything.”
“Even so, just being near so much kaldurite could kill you.” Her voice hardened. “I can do this. Wait for us here.”
Gavriel Morningstar looked like he would rather die than let her go into the mine alone. Kal wondered if anyone would ever look at her that way. It must be nice. Although judging by the cypher’s grim expression, she wasn’t thinking about that at the moment.
“You’re too big to carry if it makes you sick,” she said. “And I’m not letting you die down there.”
A muscle in his jaw feathered, his expression mutinous, but in the end he deferred to her. “If you’re not back in one hour,” he warned, “I’m coming after you.”
They shared another look that seemed to say a great deal without words. Cathrynne’s face softened. “Fair enough,” she said, turning to Kal. “Lead the way.”
Kal switched on her torch and ducked into the tunnel. The familiar mix of stone dust and rotting timber made her want to sneeze. But there was another faint smell this time, wasn’t there? A hint of burnt toast. Or something like it. Her nose wrinkled.
Durian’s braying chuckles faded as she followed the tracks into darkness.
“Who did that to you?” Kal asked as they passed a rusted-out hulk of machinery. “The bruises, I mean. If you don’t mind my asking.”
“I don’t mind,” Cathrynne replied. “It was the White Foxes. They took me captive. They thought maybe I knew where the source was. Of course, I didn’t, but they wouldn’t believe me.”
“Those people are evil,” Kal said quietly. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
“I almost wasn’t. But your bullet saved me.”
“Huh?”
“I escaped by pulling it from Kane’s chest and using the bronze casing to cast a projective spell. The surgeon left it there after you shot him.”
“Seriously?” Kal said, impressed. “I’d hoped he was dead, but . . .” She barked a dry laugh. “I’m glad it worked out for you.”
“Let’s hope he’s really dead this time.” Cathrynne was silent for a minute. “I am sorry about the forcing. It was an insane risk. But I didn’t want what they did to me to happen to you.”
Whatever it was must have been pretty bad, but Kal didn’t want to know the details. “How’d you find me?”
“Lara Lenormand remembered your description. She’s my sister.”
“Ah.” Kal frowned. “But you’re from Kirith.”
