20. Escape
Igripped Corvin's hand, my heart hammering against my ribcage harder than our attackers beat on the door. "The portal in the temple is our only chance. The only chance for both of us now."
His mouth twisted. A look akin to guilt flashed in his eyes and I wondered if he blamed himself for not getting me out of here sooner.
Another heavy thud struck the door as Lishen bellowed for Corvin to open the door.
"All right," Corvin said, his voice tight. He ran to the water entrance door, traced his claw over the runes a second time, and stepped back as the door glowed. The thuds weakened, as if the door had thickened.
"Corvin, open this door, or your suffering will increase a hundredfold!" Lishen snarled.
"A very painful death awaits me if any of you catch me," Corvin called back. "I have no reason to cooperate. Let the so-called hunt start here!" He then dragged one of the cupboards in front of the door.
As he did, I dug out some oilcloth and wrapped it around Mama's little book. What else would we need? I shoved the wrapped book into my pocket and gathered up the other reagents.
"Send word to the king of the traitor's acts," Lishen bellowed, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You will suffer, Corvin."
"I thought that was a given," Corvin jeered back. He braced his hands against a second cupboard as he shoved it forward, his expression far grimmer than his tone. "There will be no more harvesting my blood, marrow, or strength." He motioned for me to remain silent.
Did he really think he could fool them into believing I wasn't here?
Well, I wasn't going to fight him on that. I'd won on the most important point. We were going to escape together.
More curses followed as Lishen and his fae attacked.
As much as I hated it, I took some of the oily, salted fish along with two waterskins. I then took the daggers off Blue Ridges' corpse. Half of my wooden spoon remained embedded in his shoulder. My stomach twisted. Guess that was the end of my spoon.
I picked up the one part that remained on the floor and wrapped it as well before sticking it in the bag.
Tagger ran between Corvin and me as Corvin stacked and shoved cupboards and wood against the water way entrance. He stooped over Blue Ridges' body and signaled for me to get to the cave exit.
The heavy thuds continued, low and pounding as the snarls and curses intensified.
We'd also need something for a distraction. I ran to the stove and seized the heavy pot of stew. Corvin put something in his pocket as he studied me quizzically. "We can't eat stew on the run."
"No, but we can make it harder for them to tell where we're going," I said.
His eyes brightened, and he smiled. "You really are my clever girl."
As prepared as we could possibly be, we ran out into the darkness of the cave, pale-blue orbs in hand. Once through, Corvin traced his claw in the runic shapes along the iron band. Light flared, and the door seemed to tighten against the wall.
"I've poured every ounce of the magic reserved in the runes into holding these doors shut," he said in a hushed voice as he turned back to me. "If they aren't through in four hours, the runes will fail then. But they'll still have to get through everything else."
"Which passage are we taking?" I asked, holding the large pot of stew by the handles.
He gestured toward the narrowest one as he set aside the pale-blue orbs. Then he grabbed hold of the nearest boulder and dragged it to the door.
As he blocked the door, I ran into the openings of the other passages and spilled out the stew in generous quantities. I didn't put it in all of them. Only three. Enough that it looked as if we had started running, had a little accident, got confused, and ran back. To avoid leaving behind evidence, I tossed the stewpot into one of the pits. It clattered and banged its way down.
Oh, it hurt to be this wasteful.
Running back, I grabbed large rocks and chunks of marble as well, shoving them in the spaces around the boulders.
The thuds and curses had dulled, but they still vibrated through the cavern walls.
"How long do we have before those claws start going off into your wrist?" I asked. Sweat already trickled down my brow.
"The king wanted me brought in alive. We've got maybe an hour before he realizes I've betrayed him. Unless he assumes Asha and her team betrayed him."
"His standard for betrayal is exceptionally low if he thinks this is betrayal," I muttered, wishing I could show this king what real betrayal looked like. I jammed another rock against the pile.
Corvin grunted as he dragged a jagged chunk of rock over. He braced it against the pile. "Yeah, well, for him, anything where we don't do precisely what he wants is betrayal."
"Are there other shifter fae like you near here?" Maybe we could find allies in this as well. I piled additional rocks on. Tagger brought his own contributions, squeaking and chirping.
Corvin shook his head. "Not close. Not after the accidents. This is one of the weaker boundaries anyway. As soon as I was old enough to hold the eel form for more than an hour, I was sent here. All the rest were sent to other boundaries for enforcement or similar tasks. The leviathans and other beasts under his control assisted in the patrols. We're on our own down here." He stepped back, his expression grim. He picked up the pale-blue orbs. "I'm getting you out of here, Mena. Whatever it takes."
"I accept that only if you go with me." The ferocity of my own feelings startled me. If anyone had told me last week that I'd feel this way for any man, I'd have laughed.
His gaze captured mine, and his expression softened. "Mena…"
Another heavy thud shuddered through the cavern.
His gaze flicked past me. Then he stiffened. He craned his head to look behind me.
I glanced back.
Oh.
An enormous crab drew closer, eyestalks bobbing, drawn by the shuddering vibrations. It didn't seem to notice us. Then it stopped at one of the puddles of stew and took a taste.
Corvin tugged at my arm and drew me down the narrowest side path.
No better sign for us to hurry. I hoped that crab stayed and ate Lishen and his fae.
"How far is the temple from here?" I asked as he guided me along. As much as I tried to keep my voice quiet, my own breaths sounded thunderous in my ears.
He ducked to avoid a column of stalactites. Some of the cave water dripped onto his shoulder. "Far enough. Watch your step."
He didn't hesitate as we plunged deeper and deeper into the caves. He was as much at ease in this space as he was in the ocean itself or as he had been on the ship.
I stumbled after him, trying to keep up as he led me through twisting passages and across narrow ledges. The pale light from the orbs cast eerie shadows that played tricks on my eyes. More than once, I nearly lost my footing on the uneven cave floor.
After what felt like an eternity of stumbling through the dark, we emerged into a massive cavern, so large I couldn't see the far side. Strange rock formations jutted up from the cave floor.
Had Lishen and his fae broken through yet?
Was it too much to hope that they would bring down a rockslide on themselves? Especially one that would trap only them.
"Is the mate bond going to make you immune to the venom in the claws?" I asked. Part of me had hoped we could get him through the portal in time, and then the magic that bound the claws to him would fall away and he wouldn't have to endure it.
"It'll probably be enough to keep it from killing me outright, but I'm still going to have to fight through and heal from it." Corvin massaged his wrist, his fingers pressing against the claws.
"And we can't, like, break the claws off?"
"If I try to break them off, they'll just stab me. I've tried many times," he said. He drew in a long, slow breath. "Taking in the venom all at once is much harder than bit by bit."
I shook my head.
The air had gone so still down here. It was stale and smelled more of minerals than anything. Places like this could go bad so fast. Sweat trickled down the neckline of my dress and the middle of my back. Nothing stirred.
He suddenly pointed to the left. "This way."
We only walked a few steps to the left when he stopped again in front of a puddle of dark water. He halted and adjusted his sleeves.
Wait.
What?
This?
"This is it?" I adjusted the bag over my shoulder, alarm flaring through me.
He gave me a sober look. "This is the start of passage that will get us to the temple. This cave system moves along most of the shallows in the North Sea."
"It's so small…"
He nodded as he crouched down. His claws grazed the still water, making it ripple. His gaze moved from the water to me. "Yeah. It's not the easiest path. Now you know why I didn't want you to have to take it with me." He sighed, his throat bobbing. "If something happens to me, you can use the runes to feel your way along."
I crouched beside him, searching for marks. If anything happened to him, I'd drag him through. We were getting through this together.
He took my hand and pressed it along the underside of the stone. My fingers slid against the grooves. They were deep, easy to feel at least.
"The runes guiding us to the temple have three lines and an arrowhead pointing in the opposite direction of the way we want to go." His expression remained solemn. "If the worst happens in there, they'll guide you out."
"Good to know. But you'll be with me." I said the last part with a hard emphasis, knowing he was implying that something was going to happen and I'd have to choose between living and saving him. "I'm not leaving you behind."
His brow remained furrowed. "We shouldn't delay." He glanced over at Tagger and snapped his fingers. "You follow close. Don't leave Mena."
Then it was my turn. His gaze held mine for a breath. I couldn't believe how intense the emotions that raged through me were. How much I wanted to be with him and near him. I put my arms around his neck and drew in a deep breath as I held the second of the pale-blue orbs.
Fear flared through me. My whole body tensed as I imagined sliding into the narrow, watery chasm.
"Try to relax if you can," he whispered, stroking my hair.
"How long will this part take?" My heart raced faster.
"It's…it's about two and a half miles. There are lots of air pockets. Remember the runes." With one more whispered word of encouragement, he then leaned forward and slid us into the dark water. It was so narrow he had to take us in headfirst.
That made it so much worse. The cold soaked around my head while my legs twitched on the stone before Corvin dragged me into the narrow passage. All the warmth leeched from my bones within seconds. The stone scraped against my back. But it also pressed against the back of my hand which was against his neck.
Oh, Creator, help!
This—this was some sort of hell.
Corvin pressed us deeper into the dark waters, moving us through this tiny passage. Though his movements were smooth, I still felt the stones move beneath us and around us.
A thousand fears pecked at my mind.
It wasn't swimming. It was crawling underwater.
What if there was something else in these waters? What if we reached a blockage? What if the air pockets weren't there?
The tunnel constricted around us. Rocks scratched over my arms and back. Then a ledge pressed against the back of my head as Corvin wriggled us through.
I hated this. I hated it!
And I couldn't breathe.
I had to hold in screams and whimpers and panic. My lungs were already burning.
His arms tightened around me, his cheek pressed to mine.
We tilted up.
Our heads broke from the surface of the water.
I gasped and gulped in the air, my heart racing. A rock scraped the back of my head.
"Easy there," Corvin said, pulling me along.
The water shallowed here, the light coming solely from the orbs we carried. We were in a stone tube.
My feet and knees pressed against the coarse black stone. Ridges of rock pressed against the top of my head.
Tagger popped up beside us, chirping and squeaking. He booped his nose against mine and then thrust his snout under my chin.
"This is…a very special kind of awful," I said, my teeth chattering. "Are they going to follow us in here? Can they?"
"It'll be tougher for them to track us. But yes. Ah!" Corvin gasped. His head slammed back against the wall with a sharp crack as his body spasmed. The orb dropped into the water.