Chapter Forty-Nine
KHALIDA
Khalida slammed her hand against the ice wall. Pain shot through her, but it was something she could ignore and use to fuel her adrenaline. “Nothing is working.”
“Hitting it over and over again won’t make it any less solid,” Kade said drolly as he continued to try to find a way through, systematically searching for any hint of an opening or weakness in the structure.
The fog had fully transformed into a thick sheet of ice, slick without any imperfections.
It was nigh impossible to try to climb without any specialized equipment, none of which they had at their disposal because ice climbing had not been on Khalida’s list of any possible scenarios when they had been preparing to go to Palatine Hill.
Not that it had stopped them from trying to climb.
Neither she nor Kade had gotten more than sixteen feet before they lost their hold.
“It makes me feel better.” She gritted her teeth and looked up. The wall seemed to be growing and was already towering over the archaeological site and the nearby buildings.
It had only been five minutes, but five minutes could feel like a lifetime.
Especially when she had no idea if Talik was alive or dead.
She glanced down at the faint outline of the consort mark, the only evidence of what used to be on her wrist, but she refused to consider the possibility that Talik was no longer alive.
He was worse than a cat with their nine lives—he wouldn’t let a damn god get in his way.
At least the Talik she knew. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, tugging a stray strand of hair back under her hat before she squeezed her hands as she tried to distract herself with calming thoughts.
Khalida wanted to know how well Ninhursag would survive if she was scattered all over the planet in small impenetrable iron containers, never to be united.
“Whatever you are thinking has calmed you down.”
“I was thinking about how I’m going to carve Ninhursag into little pieces, place them in iron-lined containers, and scatter her body parts by dropping them in the deepest part of the ocean and active volcanoes. And then we’ll see how well she heals.”
It was even more macabre when she said it out loud, but Kade was correct—something had been lifted off her shoulders as soon as the words were out. She may not like Kade, but they were both after the same thing. Finding Talik was the priority and then the artifact.
Kade blinked at her. The beginning of a smile tugged at his lips as he nodded in approval.
“We may have a problem,” Khalida said, stiffening as she looked behind her. While she and Kade had been focusing on the inner perimeter, the outer perimeter wall had extended, and what was once a good eighty feet behind them was now only fifteen feet. Without any hint of an exit.
Shit.
“It appears Ninhursag likes mazes.”
Kade grunted. “Of course she does.”
Khalida genuinely laughed. It was something Talik would say. “We need to find a way into the inner circle or we are going to be squashed.”
A bright green light lit up the sky, casting everything in a celestial glow, and then a second later it disappeared.
“Did you see that?” Khalida asked. She mentally counted all her weapons while she waited for the response.
“Yes.”
“I’m not leaving without Talik,” Khalida said in a tone that would leave no room for an argument. Not that she was expecting one.
“Neither am I.”
“I’m glad we both agree on that.” She nodded and began to copy Kade’s movement, tracing the wall, feeling for any cracks.
They were moving in the opposite direction while staying close enough that they could support each other if something decided to pay them a visit.
The wall was warmer than she had expected, the texture unnaturally smooth, but then it had been created by a god rather than nature.
Running out of patience, she grabbed her backpack and searched for the extra magazine she had packed.
Iron was fatal to Ninhursag. Maybe they could get lucky and shoot the ice?
She quickly discarded the thought, not quite ready to risk any form of ricochet.
After pulling the magazine out, she dropped the backpack to the ground before she slid the first iron coated bullet out.
She aimed the bronze point toward the ice, using it as a glorified nail, and stabbed it into the wall.
The round stuck out, its tip embedded. A small piece of ice fell to the ground.
Khalida stared at it as Kade came to stand next to her.
They watched with bated breath as a small crack slowly appeared, the perfect concentric circle continuing to grow, taking up more of the wall.
She grabbed one of the iron-coated knives and slammed it into the wall.
This time it sliced straight through, stopping at the hilt with a pleasurable crack.
A loud, visceral cry echoed through the sky. Goose bumps exploded along Khalida’s arms as the hairs on the back of her neck rose up. Every primitive instinct told her to run, but she held firm, a smile on her face. “I think we found our way in.”