Page 212 of Empire of Shadows

There was another soft crack and a shifting of pebbles.

“Leaving my weight where it is sounds pretty problematic as well, Princess,” Adam warned.

Ellie made a quick and desperate assessment of the situation. Only one reasonable solution presented itself.

Her gaze shifted to a wide, flat circle of stone that lay just ahead of them. It was a remnant of some long-ago broken stalagmite.

“Set down the torch,” Ellie ordered. “Carefully.”

“Why?” Adam demanded skeptically, even as he obeyed.

The ground shifted and snapped again beneath him at the slight motion.

“Are there any razors on that limestone shelf to your right?” Ellie prodded.

She took a careful step back as she readied herself.

Adam glanced back at the platform. The move elicited another ominous crack from the trap under his boots.

“Nah,” he said. “Looks like that bit’s pretty—”

“Good,” Ellie cut in and launched herself at him.

She had three paces of a running start. She used every inch of it, building up as much momentum as possible. There was just enough time for Adam’s face to shift into lines of horrified surprise before Ellie reached the edge of the cracked stone and leaped.

Her shoulder collided with the solid mass of Adam’s chest. Her arms flew around his waist. The impact sent him toppling backwards even as Ellie heard the rock giving way beneath his feet.

Adam landed on the shelf with an audible oomph. Ellie was sprawled on top of him.

She lifted her face from a pectoral to assess the damage. He was rubbing the back of his head and wincing.

“Are you intact?” she demanded as she pushed herself awkwardly to a sitting position.

“I… uh…” His expression went a bit blank as he looked down at where she straddled him with her hands braced on the dust-streaked musculature of his chest.

“Are you concussed?” Ellie demanded urgently. She felt a spark of panic.

He slowly let his head drop back down onto the stone and pointed his gaze deliberately at the ceiling.

“Not the time, Bates,” he muttered to himself pointedly. “Not. The. Time.”

Ellie’s cheeks flushed as she realized the impropriety of their position. She scrambled awkwardly free of him and stood up to brush the dirt from her trousers.

Adam levered himself upright. He shook the dust out of his hair with his uninjured hand, and then hopped nimbly back up to his feet on the limited platform of the broken stalagmite.

He looked down at the place where he’d been standing. The floor had crumbled away beneath it, revealing a pit.

“Yup,” he concluded. “Chock full of knives.” He glanced ruefully at Ellie. “Thanks for that.”

He was so very large, filthy, and under-dressed. The room began to feel a bit warmer. Ellie wondered if someone had let steam into it.

“It was no trouble at all,” she replied weakly. “Maybe for the rest of this chamber, we should test the ground before we put our weight down on it.”

“Sure,” Adam agreed and promptly hopped off the platform.

“Testthe ground, Bates!” Ellie exclaimed with strangled panic.

“What?” he complained. “This part had to be okay or it would’ve fallen in with the rest.” He read the expression on her face and lifted his hands. “Got it. Very carefully.”

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