by Alex Mara
Just in time, I thought.
Blaze and I exchanged a brief look. The transport was what we'd heard come barreling through the tunnel during our long, long underground journey.
It made sense: the engineers needed to access the docks needed quickly and easily, and they couldn't spend days wandering through the tunnels.
I turned back to her, gratitude filling my chest. "Thank you. For everything."
"Just because you were my favorite student back in the day doesn't mean I'm doing this purely out of goodwill. Don't forget about us," Leila said. "We need your help. Both of you."
From behind me, Blaze's voice: "We won’t. We’ll come back for you."
When she moved off, Aiden came forward. He cleared his throat as he gestured for me to step into the cart. "Lady first."
I followed his lead, and then the three of us—Blaze, Aiden, and me—stood shoulder-to-shoulder while Elder Leila activated the gearshift. She raised a hand as we lowered into the depths beneath Beacon, and soon she was out of sight and we were encompassed by the cavern.
When we touched the floor with a clank, Aiden opened the cart's door and led us straight to the transport, a small open four-seater. "Tires," I said, running my fingers over one of the rubber wheels. "And it still has tread. What does it run on?"
"Battery power," Aiden said, patting the battery one of the engineers had likely fitted to the front of the small vehicle. He slipped into the driver's seat, and I motioned for Blaze to take shotgun.
When I climbed into the back, I couldn't see past the two pairs of massive shoulders. Aiden started up the transport, a small headlight came on, and we soon shot off down the tunnel toward generator 5.
The transport's wheels echoed around us in the tight tunnel, resounding over the ground, and my hair blew back from my face as we drove in silence.
And as promised, we arrived within an hour. Aiden parked the transport, its headlight illuminating a ladder leading up to the dock above us.
"Generator 5," he said, stepping out. "Last stop."
Blaze and I climbed out, and we met eyes. He nodded at me and busied himself with gearing up while I led Aiden to the side of the ladder and smiled up at him. "You never stop surprising me. In good ways and bad."
Aiden laughed a little. “I’ll take that. Darcy, I"m sorry for what happened in the tower. For what I did."
I shook my head. "You've atoned for it. I wouldn’t be alive right now if it weren’t for you." I took a deep breath. "Look after my sister while I"m gone, okay?"
"Zara? I doubt she needs me looking after her. And I'd probably incur her wrath for trying to."
"Just make sure you take down any silvers who try to steal her off the scaffolding again."
"She won't be on the scaffolding for a while—she's still bed-bound for now. But"—he touched the crossbow at his hip—"I won't let anything get to her, Darcy."
I wrapped my arms around him, hugged him tight. "We’ll be back," I said. "We won’t let Beacon fall to them."
"Just focus on surviving," he said. When he pulled away, I knew he had little hope for that. And the truth was, I didn't know how Blaze and I were going to handle nightfall. Aiden's eyes shifted to Blaze. "Make sure you keep her safe."
Blaze turned toward Aiden. "It’s what I do."
I clipped a headlight around my scalp, flicked it on so the tiny beam illuminated a cone on the tunnel's wall. "This should do me against the silvers."
And we all laughed—briefly, fully, like we could send all the nervous energy out of our lungs in one go. It didn't work, but it helped ease my trembling hands.
"I'll go up first and get the hatch open," Blaze said.
I nodded, and I watched him go, climbing like he hadn't nearly died out there. He took the rungs faster than any normal man could.
But of course, he wasn't a normal man.
As I started up the ladder after Blaze, I knew that this was how it was supposed to be. He climbed steadily ahead of me, and below us, Aiden backed the transport up, its headlight dimming as it reversed back down the tunnel.
Which left us alone. Whatever our fate, we were meant to go together, just the two of us.
With a grunt, Blaze unscrewed the hatch, pushed it open. Bright light flooded into the shaft, and he climbed out into the dock. His head appeared in the hole above, and one of his hands snaked down, the palm open and waiting.
I grabbed it, and he lifted me up and into the dock with supreme ease. As soon as my feet had touched the floor, I sank to the ground, breathing hard.
"Don't tell me you're already winded, Doctor," he said, crouching by me and unscrewing one of the canteens. He passed it to me. "We've got a long way to go, after all."
I shot him a look, accepting the canteen. "You try climbing a ladder with one good hand. Oh, and not being genetically modified."
He watched me drink, and when I'd finished, a small, heart-palpating smile touched his perfect lips. "If I do those things, will you be impressed?"
I let a tiny, echoing snort into the canteen. "Yes, I'll be impressed." And then I corked it, and a chill fell over me. "We're going to die out there tonight, aren't we?"
He shook his head, and one warm hand came to enfold my face in his fingers. I leaned into it, closing my eyes. "No, Darcy," he said. He helped me up, and we gathered our gear.
He turned to me. "You know where we're going," he said. It wasn't a question.
And somehow, after the dream I'd had of Blaze when we were still back in the facility—of the cabin in the snow—his words didn't come unexpected.
I only nodded, took his hand. "The cabin," I said. "The cabin in the forest."
That was the place; it was where we would find answers. It was the last place we needed to go. And we needed to move quickly.
He nodded. "You dreamed of it, too."
"I did. How do—"
"I don't know," he interrupted, squeezing my hand. "I don't understand it any better than you do. But I know we need to go there."
He was right. So I squeezed back, and removed my hand to touch my finger to the door's locking mechanism. It slid open at once, casting us in brilliant light.
I hung in the doorway, my eyes adjusting to the brown and endless landscape as the child inside me resisted this fearful and desolate place.
"Go ahead," Blaze said.
"Together," I said, sliding my hand back into his. "Both of us together."
And his touch—that simple thing—strummed something like bravery inside me. So we stepped out together into the dead zone, into the place that would lead us into the heart of silver territory, to the cabin, and to the answers we sought.
Hi Reader—
I hope you enjoyed the second installment of Darcy and Blaze’s romance! This one was full of twists and turns and layers—a real challenge to write. But I have to say, penning their first night together (if you know what I mean), was truly the highlight. If you get a chance, it would mean a great deal to me if you’d leave a review for Firestorm on Amazon.
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Yours sincerely,
Alex