CHAPTER 15
ZEPHYR
Now
“I MOVED FAST, USING THE SPACES BETWEEN BLADES TO REGAIN STRENGTH,” Davina says, jaw tight at the memory.
Watching her walk through that chamber was a nightmare.
I was constantly torn by the clenching of my teeth every time a blade swung through her, loosening only when she stepped through unharmed, and the concern that she’d actually make it, find something useful on the other side, and keep it to herself.
I’d recognized the guts it had taken to volunteer and face the swinging blades alone, but that didn’t mean I was willing to trust her at all, back then.
“It took a while, but I cleared the deadly area, then slipped through the metal slab covering the door ahead. The room inside wasn’t large, but it was packed with all sorts of stuff.
Scrolls and notebooks, gears and blueprints, a bust, and strange brass contraptions.
There was a massive white canvas covering the far wall, Sircelen’s crest etched onto one of its corners.
No piles of gold, or anything resembling King Kan’s treasure.
No trace of sap either, unfortunately, but plenty of clues, I hoped. ”
Davina straightens, and I perk up at the sudden reluctance in her posture. I know what that means instantly.
“Did you consider lying to us?” I ask without preamble.
The flicker of her eyes towards the sentient at my left is answer enough. Of course she did.
“I considered coming back saying it was a dead end. Have us leave then somehow return to take my time with what was there.” Her eyes find mine, a foreign depth to them “But then I saw you again in my mind, with your arm stretched and that cursed arrow frozen mid-air, and I knew I couldn’t do it. I owed you.”
That catches me off guard. It shouldn’t have, really, for it was her unyielding sense of justice that first sneaked through the cracks, but at the time I was only starting to see past the cold, fierce facade she portrayed. I wish it’d stayed that way.
Liar.
“And I knew there’d be more chances to outmaneuver you.”
“That sounds more like you,” I concede with a smirk.
She squints at me but doesn’t rise to the taunt.
“I phased back out and spotted the three of them working together to make progress across the blades.” Her eyes meet mine.
“You were less than halfway across, but looked determined to make it through no matter the cost. The blades that Zephyr and Kwabena couldn’t stop, Armand deformed enough for them to slip past safely.
“But I saw the strain on your faces, and wasn’t sure you were going to be able to make it. I knew I had to do something, so I looked around me, searching for a way to deactivate the trap . . . and that’s when I spotted the iron lever tucked into the corner of the platform I stood on.”