Page 65 of In Darkness Forged

He could see her considering this. Horror flitted across her face, likely at the idea of dark tunnels filled with angry aranthas. It didn’t exactly bring him much joy, either.

“Nothing we can do now,” Aislin said finally, squaring her shoulders and peering down the tunnel ahead of them. “Nothing but hope Rhone and his friends have cleared the way.”

They moved on, weapons held ready, Tal preparing grimly for an ambush.

But nothing moved besides the two of them. There was no more blood or other signs of battle, though Tal spotted the remains of arantha silk hanging from both sides of the tunnel in several places.

Just when he had begun to think he was wrong about the dead arantha, the tunnel widened, opening into a larger cavern with numerous exits.

And numerous bodies.

The remains of a dozen or more aranthas lay strewn across the cavern floor, in some cases nearly intact and in others torn limb from limb. Silken threads hung slashed and torn, and ichor dripped from the rocks.

There had been a battle, and the aranthas had not won.

“Shapeshifters,” Tal said briefly, trying not to linger too long near the most gruesome of the kills.

He’d intended to leave the cave and allow them both time to recover. But perhaps they would do better to follow the trail of dead aranthas to see where Rhone and his followers were headed. They may have already taken the queen, and this quest would all have been for nothing. But then again, perhaps it was only together that they could survive.

“Do you wish to…”

“We should follow them,” Aislin said firmly. “Wherever they’re going is where we need to be. That is, if your magic is sufficiently recovered.”

Tal regarded her thoughtfully. “And if they were overwhelmed by the aranthas? What if this leads us straight into a death trap?”

“Would it be more of a trap than we’d have walked into all on our own?” Aislin asked dryly. “We are close, and delay earns us nothing. We cannot wait for my wounds to heal.”

He could see the wisdom in her choice, and yet…

He did not want to lead her down that path. Now that they’d reached the inevitable moment of greatest danger, he could no longer face it without fear. If he went alone, whether he could achieve his objective or not, Tal was likely to survive. His magic would grant him that much protection. But Aislin had no such assurance.

“Which way?” she said, holding up the glowing blade of his dagger to peer into the shadows.

“Out is that way”—he inclined his head towards the passage leading to the surface—“but further in…”

He could only point, because the words seemed to stick in his throat. Only one of the tunnels bore evidence of spider silk having once covered the entrance.

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Aislin headed for the tunnel. She had to step over the remains of a dead arantha and nearly slipped on its blood, but she still did not stop to reconsider. Not even when she had to duck beneath a curtain of arantha silk the size of ropes.

Tal took two steps within the new tunnel and stopped, seizing her arm and spinning her to face him, jaw rigid and set.

“I can’t,” he said grimly.

“Can’t what?”

“I cannot take you any farther.”

Aislin regarded him impatiently, brows drawn low over her blue eyes. “We’ve discussed this. I don’t expect you to protect me. We’re both here for the same thing, and we’ll both do our best to survive.”

“You don’t understand.” Admitting it was like ripping out another piece of his already wounded heart, but Tal could no longer deny the truth. “Aislin, I cannot simply stand aside and watch you die.”

CHAPTER18

Tal’s face was grim and set, his amber eyes stark against the gray pallor of his face.

“What do you mean?” Aislin’s fingers twitched as she stifled the urge to reach out. He would likely not welcome any attempt at comfort.

“I cannot let you die,” he repeated.

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