Page 33 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

Alora moaned, not wanting to move any further. Not even wanting to breathe. Her body achedhorribly. If it wasn’t for him beneath her, she would’ve been worse off. “No. You broke my fall. Are you okay?”

“Nothing I cannot manage.” In the darkness, she felt his muscles stiffen as he adjusted on his back. Slightly grunting when his muscles flexed.

She was sure he would be sore. Especially if he had endured the full brunt of the fall and her weight slamming him into the stones. But Garrik would never mention any pain—she was certain of that. Not any real pain.

“Thalon? Jade? Aiden?” he called their names, pausing.

Somewhere to their right, a gravelly female voice groaned. Then movement, a muffled scrape against soft fabric and steel clanging against steel. Jade.

Another groan to their left. Deep and agitated. Thalon.

“What the bloody hells?” Aiden’s airy voice drifted as if he were up and fumbling around the darkness. Hollow thumps followed his voice, along with muffled footsteps. Alora felt Garrik exhale relief when Aiden began, “Is it just me, or does anyone else think this place is trying to kill us?”

“No. Just you,” Jade crooned, her voice ringing from the floor. “Can we get some light in this damn place?”

Right. Starfire.Alora’s muscles screamed as Garrik bent upward. She steadied herself in his lap, shaking the dizziness from her head.

Are you certain you are alright?Garrik asked as his hands fell to her waist.

She nodded, then almost laughed. He couldn’t see her. They couldn’t see anything.

A white sphere of star-kissed flames rose from Alora’s palm before she answered,Yes. I’m fine.And smiled when the light of her fire illuminated his beautiful face.

Aiden’s palms smashed against one of eight grand, dark amethyst pillars.

In between each, a set of five steps rested, adorned in the same hue. Each led up to doors made of shimmering obsidian and diamond dust, a perfect reflection of a night sky. Iron-wrought sconces hung from the lightest shade of amethyst walls; their metal twisted like beams of sunlight.

The stone floor? Where dark amethyst rugs didn’t cover was an intricate design of the night—a mosaic—laden with a grayscale of colors. And high above them, so high the darkness almost swallowed her light, an amethyst moon, larger than the mountain, gleamed off her fire through a sealed skylight.

Pushing herself off Garrik, Alora lit seven more starlight orbs and floated them to the sconces. The room exploded with glittering beams reflecting from the obsidian doors.

On the floor, Garrik drew in deep breaths while failing to hide the slight wince on his face as he scanned. Alora followed his careful assessment.

They had landed at the very center where seven rugs came to an end. Beneath their feet, a colliding moon and star laced within the grayscale of stones encircled them.

Thalon sat on one of the staircases, elbows to knees, rubbing his face.

“This wasn’t on the map,” Jade admitted as she pushed to her feet from a rug.

As each of them scanned, awestruck, Garrik broke through the silence and stood. “It was not on the map because you brought us to the door. Well done, Jade.”

“Where are we?” Alora asked.

Aiden shrugged. “The foyer?”

“An atrium.” Garrik’s eyes roamed over the room, stopping to observe each marking on all eight doors.

The doors each held their own unique symbol: a silver wisping moon, an exploding golden sun, the night sky in hues of silver, another wisping moon and white flamed star colliding, a single white flaming star, the same star covered by tendrils of Darkness, clouds of darkened storms, and the last beheld tendrils of Darkness.

After another moment of contemplation, they decided to split up. Thalon would open the door of the sun, Jade chose the clouds, and Aiden felt drawn to the moon.But Alora couldn’t stop staring at the star. And little to everyone’s surprise, Garrik stalked to the door of Darkness.

“Do nottouchanything,” Garrik warned. “Only the gem. We do not need this place trapping us inside because the owner ofthis …housewas protective of their treasures.”Glowing silver studied their faces.

Every one of them turned to Aiden, who gleefully beamed at the moon door, bouncing on his heels. He must’ve felt their attention and spun with an oh-so-innocent expression. “What?”

Garrik arched a brow as Thalon cut in, “Must we mention the Warathol incident?”

“Warathol?” Alora asked.

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