Page 24 of Their Trials

“Is it just me, or do the turns seem to be coming more quickly?” I asked the guys.

Arryn paused, glancing up and down our current path. “They do seem shorter distances apart.” His brow furrowed.

“That means we're getting closer to the center, right?” I prompted, hoping we were almost to the end. I was afraid to say anything for fear the walls would start shifting again, ruining any progress we had made.

“Let's hope so,” Baer said next to me.

“Think you can pick up the pace now, Baer?” Lennox asked, his demeanor lifting at the idea of being in the home stretch.

“I probably could,” he said hesitantly, pulling his arm from my shoulders. He'd kept his own balance for a while now, barely leaning on me as he regained some of his energy.

“Great. Lead the way, Captain.” Lennox saluted Arryn sarcastically, bringing a smile to my face at the eye roll Arryn gave him in response.

I kept pace with Baer, not wanting to wander far from his side as we increased speed, just in case. Still, no one spoke much, and I couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with the words we had spoken to each other during the Ankou attack.

Callum's words had cut the most, striking deeper than any blade the creature could have swung, piercing the heart of each of us. I tried to remind myself that he was under the sway of the Ankou, but I couldn't sell myself on the idea fully. Somewhere, most likely subconsciously, he had to have had those thoughts. They didn't just spring from nowhere, his feelings fueling the words that had hurt each of us. Lennox most of all.

I could still picture the grief and guilt written all over his face as Callum had lashed out at him. He'd mostly just stood there, taking whatever Callum said about him as if he had believed those things about himself already. It hadn't been until Callum had turned on me that he'd stepped in.

I gritted my teeth, my anger rising in defense of Lennox, whether he believed he deserved it or not. Somewhere along the way, he'd wormed himself inside of my heart, and I felt protective of him. The more I saw the damage that he skillfully hid, the more I was drawn to him, both of us broken in ways that could never be mended.

“What's with the frown, Killer?” Baer asked me softly, intruding my thoughts.

I smoothed the emotions from my face, this not being the time or place to address the issues I had with Callum. I glared back at the man in question quickly before turning to Baer. “It's nothing.”

I could tell he didn't buy it, the rise of one of his eyebrows as if to ask really? giving away his disbelief. “I'll tell you later. There's too many eyes and ears right now.” He nodded at me in understanding, glancing around us as if he could find whatever it was that was broadcasting our trials to all of Avalon. I wish I knew what to look for; it would make this a lot easier to navigate if we knew what to avoid, but looking around, I saw nothing.

A rumble shook the ground beneath our feet. Baer stumbled into me, and I caught him, trying to hold him up. His movements unbalanced me, and I stumbled under his considerable weight. Falling backward, Baer landed on top of me as I dragged him down with me.

“Ooof!” I groaned out at the same time as Lennox said, “Not again.”

“Are you okay, Killer?” Baer asked me, pushing himself up and off me.

“Just dandy.” I said, aching from the fall. Thankfully, I'd learned how to fall without hurting myself during my training. Takedowns were no joke in a fight.

“Are you sure?” His eyes scanned me, looking for injuries as I sat up, catching the moving walls in my peripheral vision.

“Yeah. I'm good. I know how to take a fall,” I explained, at a loss for energy to stand back up. My head turned to watch the wall slide into place in front of us, blocking our way.

“I was hoping we were done with that,” Arryn said on a sigh, walking over to help Baer to his feet.

Lennox pulled me to standing as we all turned to glare at the wall, as if we could move it by our thoughts alone. “Shit! Looks like we're backtracking,” Lennox said finally.

Callum grunted in response as I said, “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” My sarcasm cut through to save the day, distracting me from facing my utter exhaustion. What can I say, sarcasm was my coping mechanism.

Lennox just laughed at me. “Come on, Princess.”

“Fine. Surely my white knight is somewhere close, on his way to rescue me from this hell hole,” I teased him further.

“I hope you're not counting on me to be your white knight because I'm certainly not a good man.” He meant it as a joke, but I could see a flash of grief at that idea.

“I'm sure you have your uses.” I elbowed him playfully, trying to distract him from his dark thoughts.

He smiled at me lasciviously. “Oh, I definitely have my uses.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I laughed out loud.

“Come on,” I said, looping my arm in his and tugging him along with me as we started heading back the way we’d come.

Along the side of the wall, about fifty feet from where we’d been, we found a new entrance that hadn't been there a few minutes ago and decided to head down that way. My thoughts started to drift again as we walked, though this time they were sinful in nature. Apparently, the suggestion from Lennox had woken my libido.

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