by Vivian Arend
Her mouth tightened, and she swallowed hard. She was crumbling, and Marcus resisted the urge to grin.
“I’ll have you know the warehouse where we found you in was the only one that had been emptied.”
She erupted in a string of curses that made the sailor in him proud. “I knew it.”
He made a tsking sound. “Sounds like someone took advantage of you, Sexta. That being the case, perhaps you’d be willing to give me some information so I can help you exact your revenge.”
Her eyes glittered as though she was ready to spill her secrets to get back at whoever had hired her, but then, a split second later, a flicker of pain replaced her thirst for vengeance, and she turned away. “I can’t involve you in this, Marcus.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want you or anyone else I care about to get hurt.”
Her reply hit him like a fist to his gut. “So you admit that you care about me?”
She gave him a bitter laugh. “I never stopped.”
His skin prickled, driving away the warm glow that had wrapped around him moments before. “Funny, you have an odd way of showing it.”
“Don’t start with me.” The chains binding her hands behind her back snapped taut, and the stubborn lift in her chin returned. “You refused to listen to me when I told you we had no future together, and I was forced to take drastic measures to help you move on to someone who deserves you. If you had just stayed away, then I wouldn’t have had to protect my own heart by giving you up.”
His chest tightened, and his head swam from her confession. He reached out to cup her cheek, noting the way her jaw trembled. “So what you’re saying is that you have an odd way of showing you love me.”
“I never said I loved you.” Her words were sharp, but her expression softened, and she leaned her face into his hand. “You’ve always been a stubborn fool.”
“Only for you, Sexta.” He seized her moment of weakness like a general spotting a break in a fortress’s defenses. Now was the time for an assault, but when his lips met hers, he kept the kiss gentle and pleading. Battle with her required a different strategy than with his enemies. He needed to keep wearing away at her, not overwhelm her. It forced him to hold back, to rely on self-control and patience—two things that were never virtues for him—but in the end, it worked.
Sexta was kissing him back. It wasn’t like her last kiss, full of fire and passion. This one was shy and hesitant, much like the first time she’d kissed him years ago. Only now, there was a note of remorse that tore at his heart.
He waited until she finished before he spoke, his words hoarse and shaking. “I promised you once I’d never let anyone hurt you, Sexta. Please, give me this chance to prove to you that I mean what I say. Tell me what you know, and let me protect you from whoever is threatening you.”
“The only person I worry about hurting me is you.”
She was already pulling away from him, and he refused to let that happen. He curled his fingers into her hair, keeping her forehead pressed against his. “Damn it! What do I have to do to convince you that the longer you fight me, the more danger you’re in?”
She stopped fighting him, but instead of rejoicing at finally wearing her down, his heart ached all the more from the single tear that slid down her cheek.
He let his hands fall to his side and stood, calling himself a bastard the whole time. He’d crossed the line. He’d pushed her too hard, and instead of breaking her defenses, he’d broken her will. He’d just proven that he could hurt her. And he had. But he curled his hands into fists to steel his resolve and prevent himself from comforting her. It had to be done to protect the empire.
“I never saw what was in the crates,” she finally said in a voice barely above a whisper. “That was part of the agreement I made with Numicius. I was just supposed to deliver the crates to the warehouse and not ask questions.”
His pulse jumped. He’d wrenched a confession from her. “So he was the one who hired you.”
She nodded, her face still tilted to the ground.
Finally, a clue. Something he could report to Titus and use to unravel this mystery. He placed the key in the lock, but before he could turn it, she stopped him.
“Wait! There’s more.”
He rolled forward to the balls of his feet, weighing the risks of extracting more information from her with the cost to his soul. He kept his back to her so he wouldn’t have to witness any more of her tears. “What?”
“Let me go, and I’ll show you.” The hard edge returned to her words, setting his senses on high alert.
“You know I can’t take that risk.”
She snorted. “I exposed my deal with Numicius to you, putting you and my crew in danger if he ever finds out I betrayed him, and this is the way you repay me?”
He dug his fingers into his palms. Damn her for turning the tables on him like that. But then, he should’ve expected that from her. He whirled around, only noting with a slight relief that the broken Sexta he’d witnessed moments before had vanished, leaving the proud side to her that he’d come to know over the years in her place. “Why do I need to set you free?”
“Because it will be easier for me to show you what I found instead of trying to explain it.” She rattled her chains. “Unless you don’t trust me.”
“I’m not the one who tied you to a column in order to escape last time.”
“I’m not sorry I did that. I was only trying to protect you.” She scooted the chair forward. “But this time, I’ll give you my word I won’t try to escape.”
He looked down at the ring of keys in his hand, then back to her. “And why should I believe you?”
She lifted her chin. “I feel guilty about what happened here, Marcus, which means I have something at stake in finding the link between my cargo and the destruction of Shalfak. Why else would I be here?”
“Maybe to cover up your part in it.”
“Ugh!” She rocked back in her chair. The wooden legs groaned in protest, threatening to snap under her frustration. “Just give me this chance to prove to you that I’m telling the truth. Give me this chance to redeem myself.”
He found the key to her shackles and moved behind her, lowering his mouth to her ear. “Only if you agree to my conditions.”
She stilled, her muscles tense. “Which are?”
“No escaping.”
“I already gave you my word I wouldn’t do that.”
“No tricks.”
“I don’t have time for them, not when the safety of my crew is at stake.”
“And when we’re done, no running away from me.”
This time, she didn’t readily reply. “I need a term on that condition.”
At one time, he would’ve been tempted to tell her forever, but he knew better than to ask for that now. He just needed enough time to determine her part in the destruction of Shalfak. “You’re to stay by my side until we catch whoever is behind this and restore the safety of the empire.”
“And then?”
He took a deep breath, offering a small prayer to the gods this wouldn’t backfire. “Then you’re free to go as you please.”
She curled and stretched her fingers several times. “Fine, I agree to your conditions.”
He unlocked the manacles from her wrists, letting them fall to the floor with a clang. Then he helped her from the chair. “So, my dear Sexta, what are you going to show me?”
“You’ll see when we get there. But first, we’re going to need a rope, a bag of sand, and the bombs that were in my rucksack.”
“Expecting trouble?”
“Of course.” She paused at the gate of the cell and waited for him to open it. “I’m with you, aren’t I?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Half a day had passed, but the scene at the warehouse was the same as when Marcus and his men had ambushed her earlier that morning. Only this time, they didn’t have their weapons drawn at her and Djer.
A small blessing.
Sexta returned to the part of the floor that had sounded hollow and tapped her feet over the boards to find the exact spot. The same echo answered her efforts, and she reached her hand out to Marcus. “The sand, please.”
“This gets more amusing by the minute,” the man Marcus had introduced as Rufius quipped. “And I assume the rope will be next.”
“Perhaps.” She poured the sand in a circle around her and scattered it across the floor with her foot. Her heat beat faster as the sand fell through the cracks and the outline of a hatch appeared. “There,” she said, pointing to it. “That’s what I wanted to show you.”
Marcus came closer and peered at the floor. “What do you think is under it?”
“No idea, but now I know why the receiving clerk insisted we keep this area clear.” She knelt and ran her fingers along the edges, looking for a way to open it. “My gut is telling me that the secret behind what happened here lies under this floor.”
Marcus joined her, and a few seconds later, a click broke through the silence. He lifted the hatch with a grunt, revealing a dark tunnel below.
Rufius let out a low whistle. “Well, well, well. This wasn’t a wild lyger chase after all.”
A shiver coursed down her spine. She’d never cared for dark spaces, but there seemed something unusually sinister about this hole. She stood and brushed the sand from her hands. “I’ve done my part. Have fun exploring it.”
“Not so fast.” Marcus grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to her knees. “How do I know there isn’t a trap waiting for me down there?”
“And I thought we were making a genuine effort to trust each other.” Her sarcasm covered up the dry-mouthed fear that consumed her every time she gazed into the blackness below. He wouldn’t dare ask her to go down there.
“Then you should have no problem coming along with me.”
A string of curses sat poised on the tip of her tongue, but she refused to unleash them. Her fingers turned cold. “I can’t go down there.”
Djer moved behind her as though he was ready to yank her back from the opening if Marcus pushed her. He knew the reason behind her fear. After all, he’d been the one who’d saved her from the blackness when they were children.
But Marcus tightened his hold on her wrist. “You said you wanted to find out what happened here. Here’s your chance.”
She closed her eyes long enough to shove the dread into the pit of her stomach, where it churned with a nauseating fury to make her thankful she hadn’t eaten anything all day. “I can’t go down there alone.”
“Don’t worry, Sexta. I’ll be right beside you.” Marcus released her and took the rope from one of his men, tying a lantern to the end before lowering it into the abyss.
“Oh, that’s very comforting.”
The lantern hit the bottom about six cubits down, and some of her terror ebbed. It wasn’t as deep as she’d first thought, but the shadows still wavered menacingly beyond the glow of the lantern’s light.
Marcus tossed the other end of the rope to one of the soldiers in the warehouse. “Tie this to one of the pillars.” Once it was done, he tested the knots with his weight. Then he held out his hand to her. “Are you ready?”
She shook her head. She’d never be ready to explore dark holes in the ground, but she had no choice in the matter. If she wanted to redeem her part in this, she needed to follow him down there. “I’d feel better if I had my rucksack.”
Marcus nodded, and Rufius tossed him the sack. He opened it and showed her the three bombs, just as she’d left them, just before dropping it into the crypt.
She took his hand. “If we don’t come out of this alive, I’m blaming you.”
“Such trust.” But his grip never wavered as he lowered her into the hole. He followed a few seconds later and grabbed the sack of bombs. “Rufius, wait here with the men until we get back.”
“How long do you think that will be?”
Marcus untied the lantern and held it up, revealing a long tunnel. “Depends on how far this goes.”
Sexta rubbed her arms and followed him. If the gods were kind, the tunnel would only go a few hundred cubits. Perhaps it was a smuggler’s pit and nothing more. But she couldn’t ease the urgent peal of warning that grew louder with each step they took. She focused her attention on the glyphs along the walls to keep from imagining what lay beyond the darkness. “These look Alpirion.”
“Yeah, where’s Izana when you need her? She’d probably take one look at them and tell us exactly what we needed to know.”
“Djer once told me the Alpirions built elaborate cities underground.” The small talk helped ease her nerves, but it wasn’t until Marcus reached behind him for her hand that she finally knew a second of calm.
“Then maybe all this is nothing more than a path to one of those cities.” He squeezed her hand as though he could read the fear in her heart. “Don’t worry, Sexta. I promised I’d protect you and I will, so long as you don’t double-cross me again.”
Her hope that the tunnel would end soon vanished as they continued to follow it. Time faded into a mind-numbing blur, melting with the black distance behind them while she put one foot in front of the next. Her senses dulled until her foot slipped on the stone beneath her.
Marcus caught her before she fell and held her close. “I’ve got you,” he murmured against her temple.
She dug her fingers into the hard muscles around his shoulders and inhaled his scent, leaning deeper into his embrace. Something warm and soothing replaced her trepidation and quieted her pounding heart. She indulged in the fantasy that he’d always be there to catch her and protect her from the evils of the world. But when her pulse returned to normal, he was still holding her.
The fantasy was becoming all too real.
She pushed back and focused her attention on the floor. “It feels wet here.”
He nodded and lifted the lantern toward the ceiling of the tunnel, finding a small trickle that seeped in from the crack above. “If you listen carefully, you can make out the sound of running water.”
She listened for the distant roar and tried to get her bearings. “This tunnel leads to the south, doesn’t it?”
Marcus bunched his brows together before nodding. “So we must be under the river.”
“And near the edge of the barrier.” The invisible wall of magic ended between the river and the sandstone cliffs that marked the border of Alpiria. “Perhaps we should turn back.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going back until I see where this leads.” He took her hand and pulled her along.
“But what if it leads us past the safety of the barrier?”
He laughed. “Nothing gets past the barrier,” he said as though he was trying to convince himself as much as he was her.
“Care to make a wager on that?”
His silence told her far more than any reply. His steps slowed, and he handed her the lantern so his free hand could rest on the hilt of his gladius. “No more talking.”
The rush of the river gave way to a faint hum that buzzed in her ears. Her skin prickled with gooseflesh. If she had to guess, this was where the barrier stood. And yet, she and Marcus continued past it to go deeper under the cliffs.
“This is not good,” Marcus muttered.
Sexta pressed her lips together, even though part of her wanted to urge him to turn around. Instead, she closed the space between them and laced her fingers through his. She took care to make her footsteps as silent as his and sharpened her senses.
A new sound vibrated off the stone walls like the guttural hiss of a lyger. Her throat tightened, but she kept moving forward. A light gleamed from around the faraway bend, growing brighter with each step. Her stomach knotted, and s
he paused long enough to give Marcus a worried glance.
He nodded and drew his sword. Then he handed her the rucksack.
The silent message came in loud and clear. He wanted to her to have a bomb armed and ready to go when they rounded the corner in case they stumbled upon trouble. She pulled one out and gathered her magic, erecting a narrow wall between it and the detonation mechanism.
He flattened them against the wall and crept closer. The hiss had turned into a growl of foreign words she didn’t recognize. This land had once belonged to the Alpirions, but these weren’t their words.
Marcus peered around the corner and tensed.
Like a curious fool, Sexta peeked over his shoulder. Her breath caught, and a new fear paralyzed her body.
They’d stumbled upon one of the ancient Alpirion underground cities, but its current occupants were anything but human. Their gray, glistening skin stretched taut over their tall foreheads and gangly limbs. Flat black eyes dominated their faces, only adding to the sinister quality reflected in their razor-sharp teeth. Even though she’d never seen the likes of these creatures before, she’d heard enough tales to recognize them.
Barbarians.
And one was staring directly at them.
Sweat coated her palms, making her clench her fingers around the bomb to keep it from slipping from her hand. Her lungs burned with each sharp breath she dared to inhale.
The Barbarian’s cry of warning shattered the tense silence. Hundreds of eyes turned toward her and Marcus, and a tremor formed at the base of her spine.
They’d been caught.
Marcus shoved her back into the tunnel. “Set it off now.”
She released her magic into the bomb, triggering the detonation mechanism, and hurled it into the cavern of Barbarians.
Marcus grabbed her hand and they ran back toward Shalfak. The seconds ticked by in agonizing slowness, each beat of her fluttering heart seeming to last an eternity. A blast of light illuminated the tunnel first, followed by the sound of the explosion. The ground rumbled under them. Rocks and dust rained down, but Marcus managed to keep them on their feet.