Chapter 16 #2
Taran wiped grit from his face and met Noah’s eyes. “Aye. But no’ bringing them a’tall will certainly lead tae Emily’s.” He let that settle between them. “And Keir’s for sure. Perhaps all of us, if Austin decides we’re nae longer worth the bother o’ his bargain.”
Noah seized a chunk of fallen rock and hurled it away. Then another. He threw his body into the work, shoving rocks and debris aside with fury driven by the image of Skye standing beside Austin, her chin lifted, her voice steady as she bargained away her life.
“Easy, lad.” Taran’s hand closed on his shoulder. “Lettin’ yer rage take control will tire ye out before we’re halfway through, and we cannae afford tae lose ye tae exhaustion. No’ today.”
Noah rounded on him, chest heaving, dust streaking his face. “You know I cannot leave her! I will do everything in my power to get Emily, Mother, and Brody, all of you, through the portal. But I will not leave here without Skye!”
Taran held his gaze for several moments, then simply turned back to the rubble and continued to dig.
They worked for hours. Noah lost all sense of time in the grinding labor of shifting stone, clearing debris, bracing what sections they could with boulders.
The cold that had bitten at them when they first entered gave way to suffocating heat as their bodies strained in the narrow passage.
Sweat carved channels through the dust on his arms and face.
His hands bled from a dozen scrapes and cuts he barely felt.
Every few minutes, another rumble rolled through the tunnel.
Sometimes, just a tremor. Other times, a sharp crack followed by a shower of rock that forced them to flatten themselves against the walls.
Once, a section of ceiling crashed down not three feet from where Finn stood, filling the air with choking dust so thick Noah couldn’t see his own hands.
When it settled, Finn coughed and spat. “This place is droppin’ stone faster than we can clear it.” He ran a hand along a crack in the wall that hadn’t been there an hour ago. “I worry it can’t hold together much longer.”
“He’s right,” Keir added. “I—”
Another collapse cut him off, partially filling a space they’d just cleared. Taran straightened, his face caked with grime, and stared at the fresh debris. The look on his face revealed what they all felt.
“’Tis lookin’ more and more like we willnae get it cleared in time.
” He dragged a forearm across his face, smearing dust and sweat into a gray mask.
“I’ve nae idea what time it is, but we’ve been in here for hours.
It must be past nightfall by now.” He turned to Austin, who stood several paces back, shouting directions at his guards more than applying his own hands to the task. “How much further tae the portal?”
Austin shrugged, his face unreadable in the torchlight. “It’s hard to say. The portal has been known to shift from time to time.”
Noah’s hands curled into fists. The deliberate vagueness in Austin’s tone scraped against nerves already stripped raw.
Taran moved closer to Austin, his voice dropping to something low and dangerous. “The longer ye stall, the more dangerous it becomes for both ye and Skye tae be in here. And if she isnae in here wi’ us tae see the portal workin’, yer bargain is forfeit.”
A muscle flexed in Austin’s jaw. “Another fifty or sixty yards,” he finally said. “Around that next bend.”
They pressed on, fighting for every foot of ground. Noah’s muscles screamed. His lungs burned with each breath of grit-laden air. But he refused to slow down, refused to let the mountain bury Emily’s only chance.
The guards moved with obvious nervousness, glancing up at the ceiling as if expecting it to collapse at any moment.
When they rounded the bend, Noah stared at the section of tunnel wall Austin indicated as the portal. It looked exactly like everything else. Hard, rough, cold stone, portions of it slick with moisture. Nothing to suggest a doorway to another world.
“You’re a liar!” Finn’s accusation cut through the heavy air. “A backstabbin’ liar! There’s nothin’ here.”
Taran held up a hand. “But there could be.” His voice carried a thin edge of doubt.
“Mayhap it isnae quite the right time just yet.” He studied the wall.
“In the experience Paige and I had, the portal dinnae reveal itself until we were already falling through it. When it does, we must all be here and be ready.”
“All I remember is a storm,” Noah added, dredging up the fragmented memory of the night he and Emily had been torn from everything they knew. “A violent storm. And when it was over, we were in a different time. A different world.”
“Aye.” Finn nodded, some of the anger leaving his face. “It was sudden and unexpected for me as well.”
Noah turned to Austin with a sudden realization. “You know how this one works. I saw you and your men bring chests out of this tunnel just days ago. How did that happen? It wasn’t even nighttime, let alone a moonless night.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Austin snorted his impatience.
“And I don’t owe you any explanation. But if it will help move things along faster, and get Skye and me out of here any sooner, I’ll tell you.
There’s a storage cave just beyond this opening.
The limited time the portal is open obviously doesn’t allow us to haul every load through this narrow, congested tunnel, all the way into the Citadel. ”
He folded his arms, clearly ready to boast about his cleverness.
“On a moonless night, I have an entire battery of men here hours before an anticipated opening. When the portal presents itself, they move through and gather what they can or scout for targets for the next run. Sometimes it’s all we can do to get what we collect this far before it closes again. ”
He shrugged as a sly grin lifted one side of his mouth.
“Which it can do without warning. I’ve had to leave merchandise and a man or two on the other side, on occasion.
” He dragged his gaze across the group. “So, if you aren’t able to get everyone through in whatever timeframe the portal is open, that’s clearly not my fault.
My agreement with Skye was to get you here and let her see you enter.
I made no guarantees beyond that. If some of you don’t make it to the other side?
” He shrugged again, this time with a full grin.
Every nerve in Noah’s body vibrated with the need to drive his fist through the smug satisfaction on Austin’s face. But he forced himself to breathe. Forced himself to remember Skye’s hands on his cheeks, her eyes burning into his, the silent words her lips had shaped, just for him.
I love you. I will always love you.
He turned back to the wall and pressed his palms against the cold stone, willing it to open. Willing it to reveal even a whisper of the power that had ripped him from his world to this. The power to get Emily to the other side.
Nothing.
“It must be well after dark,” Noah stated. “We should get Mother and the children here right away. They must be ready when it opens.”
Another rumble vibrated the ground beneath them, and another trickle of pebbles rained from the ceiling, not far away.
“I don’t like the risk this presents to them, or to Skye,” Keir protested.
“This place is so unstable it could collapse at any time.” He looked at Noah.
“A stone coffin isn’t what I want for Skye, and I don’t think it’s what you want either.
Not for her, or your family. It’s not too late.
The Keeper thinks you’re already gone, banished.
Austin can still see to that. You can walk away from here.
Go back where you came from. Skye will still be alive and well, even if her future isn’t quite what she’d planned. ”
“And ye?” Taran pressed. “What of ye?
Keir shook his head. “I have no illusions about my fate. I betrayed The Keeper’s trust. That’s something he understandably cannot tolerate. But I will happily submit to that fate if I know Skye is alive, safe, and well.”
Another rumble underscored Keir’s words.
“No.”
“Nae,” Taran and Noah spoke at once.
“You’re asking us to willingly let Emily die,” Noah accused, his anger twisting his face. “We can’t do that. Won’t do that. This entire journey, this battle, has been for Emily. Do you think Skye would so freely toss away the sacrifice she just made for her?”
“No,” Keir said, his face a mask of sadness. “I know she would not. But I had to try. It was the only chance I had left of helping her.”
“You’ve all allowed your emotions to make you weak and pathetic,” Austin said smugly. “I’m happy to say Skye and I will be well rid of you.”
“Stop!” Taran snarled. “We’re just wastin’ precious time.
We all ken the danger this tunnel presents.
’Tisnae any point in harpin’ on it. ’Tis the chance we need.
The chance we’ve all fought for, that both Noah and Skye have sacrificed for, and we could lose it at any moment.
Let’s get everyone here and ready. After that, ye can argue all ye want, until the portal opens. ”
“If it opens,” Austin shrugged. “I said we come here on a moonless night expecting it to open. I didn’t say it always does.”
Skye pressed the damp cloth gently against Emily’s cracked lips and tried not to count the seconds between each fragile breath.
The child had not stirred for some time. Had not opened her eyes or made any sound beyond the faint, papery rasp of air entering and leaving lungs that seemed determined to surrender their purpose. The blue veins, easily seen at her temples, appeared more prominent than ever.
Paige sat on the other side of the stretcher, one hand wrapped around Emily’s fingers.
She hadn’t spoken about Austin since his rejection.
She’d simply wiped her face, straightened her shoulders, and returned to her daughter’s side with the quiet ferocity of a woman determined to avoid another loss.