Chapter 12 #2
My gaze settled on pliers that must have been used to extract talons and fangs. The silver tool was tarnished and darkened with the passage of time.
I exhaled loudly.
Torin stiffened next to me. Muffled voices echoed from the other end of the tunnel we were in.
“I can’t be sure, but it sounds like two men. Werewolves,” Torin said.
I looked around. “But no one else is supposed to know about this place. Other than Hayden and Mom.”
“Well, they do,” Torin said and pointed to the direction where he thought the men were. “If I heard them, they could hear us, Anna. Good thing I have the sword on me.”
He patted the back of his pants.
“No, we can’t kill them. We don’t know them. We don’t know if they’re traitors or not. But we can’t let them find us here,” I said.
Footsteps stomping on the ground echoed closer and closer, and my heart dropped to my stomach. Although Torin was ready to fight, facing these men was not an option. It was too risky for Torin to be seen here.
“We need to run and hide, Torin.”
“There are only two ways, Anna.”
We could stay on our path—the same one the men were coming from—or go through an opening in the rocks before us. It was only big enough for us to crawl on our hands and knees.
“Stay right there,” a male voice boomed from the dark end of the tunnel, and I froze.
Their shouts echoed closer.
“We either fight them, which means I’ll have to kill them, or we go through the opening in the rocks,” Torin said and looked at me, waiting for my decision.
He gave me a choice, valued my opinion, and didn’t resort to violence immediately. I appreciated that.
I knew the right way was to crawl through the tiny space in the rocks, but I couldn’t move my legs. My body trembled, and my mind transported me back to when I was fifteen and developed claustrophobia for the first time.
Layla’s friends had cornered me after school, before I could make it out of the hallways. They dragged me into an electric room with a generator, a machine that made an awful buzzing sound and took most of the space in the closet.
The kids pushed me into the dark room with no light switch and locked the door.
It was such a small space that I had to sit with my knees to my chest. I was afraid of touching the machine that made the zapping sounds.
I cried in the darkness and hyperventilated until Hayden found me there, but enough time had passed while he searched for me that I detested small, dark, and enclosed spaces to the point that I felt nauseous.
“I have claustrophobia,” I said, but my voice broke, and my body shook. “Not on airplanes. Just when the space is very small, like this one.”
Torin stepped in front of me and kissed my lips. He cupped my face with two rough hands.
“You can do it. I’ll be right before you, so I'll catch you when we’re on the other side. Okay?”
“But we don’t even know where it leads—”
The stomping of footsteps echoed closer.
“Hey, stop right there,” a different male voice called.
Torin climbed inside and reached for me. I placed my hands in his, and he pulled me in. As we crawled, I kept turning to watch the only light source and watch for the men.
My palms felt wet as if we had touched something slimy, but I shook my head and told myself that it was probably water.
“Are you okay, Anna?” Torin said in a low voice.
He kept his head low, and his shoulder scraped the small tunnel’s ceiling and sides. He couldn’t turn around to look at me.
“I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll catch you on the other side. Just keep going.”
The light behind me disappeared completely, and no light was ahead of us.
My human eyes could see nothing but darkness.
I wished for a lighter or a phone to illuminate the way.
I was so scared that I had to stop, close my eyes, and slow my breathing.
Feeling swallowed by the darkness, my heart pounded against my chest.
“I need the light,” I whispered in desperation.
Suddenly, light shadows played behind my closed eyelids, the darkness receding. Perhaps we’d come close to the other end of the opening.
I snapped my eyes open and gasped.
“Anna?” Torin was a few feet ahead of me. “What is the light from? Are you okay?”
He tried to backtrack but couldn’t do so with his large body in the tiny space. But I could see Torin ahead of me.
The golden bracelet was on fire. Small flames emanated from it around my forearm, but I wasn’t burned. I felt heat and warmth, but I wasn’t harmed. The bracelet’s magic had responded, guided by my yearning for light.
“Anna?” Torin called again, his tone filled with worry.
“I’m okay. My bracelet is on fire.”
I must have activated it with my emotions and my mind. I must have willed the bracelet for light the same way Torin willed the magic sword.
I smiled. “Keep on going. I’ll show you once we’re out of here.”
Even with the light from the flames, I still wanted to be out of here. It felt suffocating and stuffy.
I was so excited that the bracelet had activated upon my command, even if it was by accident, and I was so distracted that I crawled faster. After a moment, light from the opening on the other side illuminated the rest of our way, but the flames didn’t turn off.
Torin helped me to my feet when we were out of the small tunnel and stared at the bracelet’s fire.
“Fire is one of the elements,” he said, and I nodded.
He pulled me into his chest, and my arm with the flames got trapped between our bodies.
“Torin, you can get—”
“I won’t. See.”
He was not in pain. The flames danced around our bodies, touching each one of our chests over our clothes.
If I could only trigger the bracelet again when I faced Cordelia, I might have a chance of surviving today.
“Because I’m your mate, Anna. Your elements recognize me and wouldn’t hurt me,” he said.
“Just like your vampire recognizes me and wouldn’t hurt me, Torin.”
His sigh let me know there was more to it than that, but he wouldn’t tell me now.
The muffled voices sounded close again, and Torin grabbed my hand and started running. The flames on my bracelet disappeared soon after. We randomly turned into various dimmed tunnels, dodging holes in the ground and slowing down when the slippery path narrowed.
We dashed through an opening into a large space built with bricks. It was a large hall, with no dangerous holes in the ground, where we could evacuate everyone. As long as the people didn’t venture into the tunnels, they could wait out the fight with Cordelia here.
“We have to hurry and let Dad and the Alphas know of this place,” I said, and Torin nodded.
We slowed down to a walk. Torin still held my hand even though there was no danger any longer, and we couldn’t hear the voices or the men’s footsteps.
“This is the nice dungeon of the kingdom,” Torin said and pointed to massive metal doors to the side.
Some of the secret passages led to the dungeon.
“We have a not-so-nice dungeon on the territory, then?” I asked.
“Yes, Princess. But this place will be good as a hideout for your people.”
“Our people,” I corrected him.
Even if it meant my death, I would show our people Torin was worthy.
“I assume the men who chased us would not go close to hundreds of people in the hall, and we’ll have some warriors, too, so it’ll be safe for the people to stay here,” I said.
With Torin at my side, we ascended the worn stone steps, our shoes echoing against their hard, uneven surface. The door before us groaned in protest as we shoved it open, its rusty hinges creaking. A wash of daylight blinded me, forcing me to squint against the sun.
Before us, the streets were busy with activity. People darted around, their voices rising with urgency. Torin seemed to sense my unease, and his hand found mine in silent support.
The air had grown thick with tension, and amidst the shouting, I heard Cordelia’s name. Dad’s warriors moved with purposeful strides towards one location—the marble hall.
Were we ready for what was to come?
Because the dark witch was near.