Page 85 of Of Nine So Bold

A flick of my hand sent the vines around Norbert crumbling. He surged to his feet, his hands balled into fists.

Gravel and dust began falling from overhead. A tremendous groan went through the earth.

Norbert looked at the cracking ceiling and then ran for it instead.

I paused, glancing back. The soldiers were still pinned by the vines, writhing in their restraints as rocks began raining down around them.

They’d killed so many…

“Niko!” Several yards farther down the tunnel, Gwyneira motioned frantically for me to keep moving.

These men chose to make themselves my enemies. They’d killed so many innocents. Even threatenedchildren.

But I couldn’t be like them.

The vines disintegrated at my gesture. The guards stumbled away from the breaking walls.

“Go!” I shouted.

The humans took off, scrambling across the shaking rocks to escape the tunnel. At the rear of their group, the guard who’d tried to kill me frantically ran after them.

But the ceiling couldn’t hold any longer.

Rocks gave way. Boulders crashed down. The last thing I saw was his horrified face, and then the earth took its own revenge.

Gwyneira grabbed my arm and pulled me with her, the tunnel collapsing in our wake.

22

GWYNEIRA

If we made it out of here, I’d never go underground again. Forget mines. Forget caves.

This was enough for a lifetime of nightmares.

“Oz!” Clay shouted. “Can’t you do something to—” He cut off, ducking out of the way of a falling boulder.

Ozias didn’t answer, and I couldn’t either. But Oziaswashelping. Our connection vibrated like a bowstring with the magical effort he was expending to keep the earth from crushing us all.

It was him versus countless tons of rock above us. Even he couldn’t beat gravity forever.

I pulled on Niko, urging him to run faster. Where were Valeria and her humans? They were supposed to be watching the surface, guarding against anyone trying to attack from there.

“Dammit, I thought we took outthe security station!” Lars shouted like he’d had the same thought.

One of the guards scoffed. “We have backup stations and eyeseverywhere. You traitors will never get away with?—”

Norbert backhanded the man, sending him flying into the wall. The impact destabilized the already crumbling stones,sending them cascading down and crushing the man before he could get to his feet.

Holy gods.

Norbert just grinned and kept running.

A cold feeling undercut my panic. After how he’d treated Niko, there was no doubt in my mind Norbert was trouble. Or maybewouldbe trouble once we got out of here.

Ifwe did.

We rounded a corner, racing toward the junction. Four other tunnels led off from there, including one to the mineshaft and the lift that would get us out. But all around the support beams holding up the exit, symbols glowed on the dark wood.

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