Page 72 of Treasured

We needed to get out of here. That sense of foreboding was just getting worse.

The ice fell away in small slivers until, finally, the moonstone was revealed. Without the layers of ice, the light was as bright as the sun itself. I shielded my eyes with my arm as Sebastian hit the hilt of his dagger one last time.

A deafening crack echoed through the chamber. The ground shook beneath our feet. A roar came from beneath us, like a long-forgotten monster waking from a slumber.

I dropped my arm, and my eyes widened as I looked around. A scream crawled up my throat, and my heart raced. Fissures spread through the ice. The moonstone blazed like it was moments away from exploding.

I did not need to be an expert in caverns to know that this was very bad.

That feeling was confirmed when my magic’s melody quieted moments later. My shadows vanished, and the dagger dissolved into nothingness.

Shit.

“Damn!” Sebastian swore. He reached into the column and grabbed the moonstone. A heartbeat later, shards of black, shimmering stone rained from the ceiling.

“Is that prohiberis?” I asked, although I already suspected the answer.

“Yes,” he grunted as a shard the size of his fist slammed into his head. He shook off the impact, grabbing my arm. “We have to get out of here.”

I was in full agreement. Prohiberis was a stone that blocked all forms of magic. I’d only been around it a few times, but already, I knew its effects were extremely unpleasant.

“Give me the moonstone.” I opened the bag, and he shoved it inside.

I had barely secured the top of the bag before Sebastian yanked me behind him. Rarely had I seen him so worried, which only served to make my heart race faster.

We were in real danger.

Everywhere I looked, prohiberis fell from the ceiling. The fissures in the ice grew larger, and the ground shook beneath our feet. We ran through the ice tunnels, dodging chunks of rocks, ice, and debris.

At that moment, without my magic, I almost felt mortal. If it weren’t for the fangs in my mouth and the too-beautiful-to-be-real vampire prince by my side, I could have forgotten I was a creature of the night.

The temperature dropped as we ran. Neither of us spoke, the pounding of our footsteps echoing the beating of our hearts. Thank Isvana, I’d had the foresight to mark our passageway through the tunnels. The notches acted as guideposts, leading us out of the cavern.

The entrance was in sight when the ground shook again.

This time, though, something was different.

A massive crack appeared in the ice in front of me, and the ground disappeared beneath my feet.

One Way Out

SEBASTIAN

A high-pitched, blood-curdling scream filled the cavern as the ice beneath Luna’s feet gave way. “Sebastian!”

My name had never filled me with as much horror as it did at that moment. Luna’s hand slipped out of mine, and I lunged for her. I was too late. Her fingers flailed, and she fell.

“No!” I yelled.

I fell to my knees, the ice cutting into my legs, as I stared down the black hole where my wife had stood a moment ago. It was an abyss, a monster, a void that swallowed her whole.

This could not be the end. I refused to let her become one of the countless beings who called the Forgotten Passage their tomb.

Our story would not end like this.

The Tether twinged in warning, the rope uncurling deep within my stomach. We were out of options. Throwing caution to the wayside, I leaped into the hole after Luna.

Prohiberis and shards of rocks and ice rained down on me. The air rushed past me, but the Tether quieted as Luna’s terrified face appeared in my field of vision. I reached for her, grappling in the darkness.

---