“So you came here?”
A nod. “I swore myself to your father, to the Wild Hunt, because I knew it was the one place my father couldn’t get me. We are bound by your father’s magic, protected by it, too, as we serve under his name. He was,” Nollix clears his throat, “more than happy to have me.”
The flame sputters out.
It doesn’t matter if my eyes are open or closed because it makes no difference anymore, everything is black. I turn toward Nollix, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders. He goes taut but eventually hugs me back. Maybe I’ll never admit it out loud, but I’m cherishing every second of this touch. I’d gone too long without it, and now I can’t get enough.
“I’m sorry about your mother,” I murmur into his neck.
“It was a long time ago.” A large hand smooths down my hair, petting me in the stillness. “I’m sorry aboutyourmother.”
Maybe I’ll get to join her in the afterlife. Maybe Jeriko will get to eat my soul like she’d wanted. Time is ticking away, taking every ounce of hope we have left with it.
We hold each other for a long while. His hand never stops its constant movement against my hair, against my back.
Somewhere far away, a door clicks shut. His hand stills.
Footsteps resound through the space. They get louder. Closer.
No light breaks through to accompany the footfalls. Nothing to tell us what comes our way. Every tap of thick rubber souls against the floor reminds me of a guard’s boot, but the pattern, the easiness of how the heel rolls to the toes with each long stride, suggests someone highborn, someone who has not been a part of an army or seen the devastation of a battlefield.
I pull away from Nollix. Holding my breath, I wait, paralyzed at the thought of all the unknown.
Two boots stop just outside our cell. Metal drags across metal, a key inserted into a lock. There’s a soft click. A groan as the door swings open.
The footsteps retreat, scurrying up the way they came. A door closes once more.
“Go,” Nollix says in a hurry. “Quick.”
I can’t get my feet under me fast enough. Both of us lunge to feel for the open door. A wave of magic tickles at my skin as we move through it and out of the hold it had on us. I open my palm. My magic leaps for a chance at use. Flame bursts between us, racing for the ceiling above. Nollix jumps back, clanging against the metal bars. Whispering my apology, I grimace and try to will the flame to lower as if I was dimming it, just as we did with the lantern.
The flame shrinks to fit snugly in my palm, giving us just enough light to watch our step as I hold my hand out.
I catch Nollix’s gaze. Any emotion he’d shown minutes ago has been locked back away deep inside of him. Something in the sternness of his expression suggests that we may never talk about the way we held each other in this cell. The moment was there, and now it’s gone.
A tense feeling pushes through my chest as I look quickly away.
My heartbeat hammers in my ears, and I wonder if I’ll ever have the guts to look him in the eye again. I try hard to force the wind to carry us away. But there is no wind to assist us. On silent footsteps, we make our way to the only door in sight. Reassured by the silence on the other side, we open it and step out into the steely hall. It’s just as dark as our cell. Iron surrounds us on all sides. We escaped our cell just to run out into an even larger prison.
Nollix walks closely by my side. Our steps are in sync as we wander down the dimly lit corridor. There are no weapons to aid us. Barely any magic.
My stomach sinks just thinking about it.
I have to find a way to sneak us out of this iron dungeon.
I’ve never been here. Everything is foreign and dark. The gloom and shadows press in on me. Small lights dot the floor, guiding our steps but not reaching high enough to help me see where we’re headed. I close my palm to smother my flame.
Nollix’s hand slips into mine. His arm is rigid each time it skims against me. The smooth and defined veins of his forearm brush against my skin. Tension is strung tight within his muscles.
I stumble, and he pulls me closer to him before I fall. Smooth panes of his chest brush against my thin shirt. His strength and warmth wash over me. Stiffly, I pull back. Another blind step is taken, and my boot hits metal. I raise my foot a little higher, realizing stairs are just in front of us. We take the steps, our attention held on the depths of the blackness. It’s so dense, it makes it hard to breathe. A sense of anxiety creeps into me from the lack of light.
My palm brushes over the cool wall, searching for some insight in the dark.
Cool steel meets my fingertips as my palm presses against what seems to be a door just in front of us.
A knob waits under my fingertips. Hesitantly, my hand wraps around the handle. Nollix squeezes my other palm, sending a jolt of reassurance through me.
I turn the handle. Harsh, white light blinds my vision. For several seconds, the two of us just stand in the doorway looking out into that light.
