Page 46 of Heir of Illusion

The sweat that covers my body cools as I stare at the water. In the absence of light, it appears almost black. A shiver passes through me. There’s something unsettling about the rushing current. Before I can move closer, a loud voice shouts from within the tunnel, pulling my attention back to the others. My strained muscles protest as I push myself up to my aching knees, finding the hole I fell through a few feet above me.

“I’m here!”

“Ivy!” Remy shouts over the others. “Are you alright?”

“Fine. There’s a river,” I call back lamely.

“A what?”

“Stay where you are,” Thorne orders.

I roll my eyes as I rise to my feet. Where exactly does he think I plan to go? For a swim?

“Captain,” The reaper’s muffled voice drifts through the tunnel, quieter this time. “You stay back as I go through.”

Remy begins to protest, but Thorne cuts him off.

“I don’t think this area is as stable as we hoped it would be. We need to do this one at a time. I’ll call back to you when I’m on the other side.”

Lifting my sunstone, I hold it up to the entrance in an effort to create a beacon for the others. If they see where the drop off is, hopefully they won’t take the same tumble I did.

After a few minutes, Thorne’s gloved hand reaches through the opening, followed swiftly by the rest of him. His exit is far more graceful than mine, but it still takes him several seconds to recover from the fall.

“Are you through?” Remy yells. “Is she alright?”

“Yes,” the reaper calls back, wiping the dirt from his shoulders as he stands up. “I’ve got her.”

I roll my eyes. “I told you I was fine.”

“You can go ahead and start—” Thorne’s words cut off abruptly as several rocks begin falling into the path we just exited.

Remy’s voice grows muffled. “What’s?—”

“Turn back!” Thorne shouts urgently. “Go back now! It’s collap?—”

The rest of his words are eaten up by the sound of the world breaking in half. The cave exhales a cloud of dirt into our faces as Thorne pushes me aside. He follows, landing next to me right before a large stone hits the ground exactly where we just stood, the impact breaking it in half.

I cover my head with my arms as dust and rocks land around us. Once the debris settles, I shoot up and dart back to the tunnel. Only… it’s gone. What was once a hole in the side of the wall is now completely caved in.

Chapter

Thirteen

Terror like I’ve never known races through me. Everything spins as I try to process what’s happening.

“Remy!” I shout frantically. “Answer me!”

I pull at the rocks that fill the tunnel, trying to dislodge them.

“Stop.” Thorne’s gloved hands drag me away. “You can’t touch those, or you risk it caving in even more.”

I fight his hold. “I have to help him. Please, I can’t leave him there.”

“Ivy, look at me,” he says gently and I realize it’s the first time he’s used my nickname. “If you start pulling at these, you don’t know what that could do to the rest of the tunnel. A lot of these rocks are holding up the others. You pull them out, and the rest come crashing down.”

My chest clenches at the thought of Remy being crushed. Helplessness weighs down my limbs as I squeeze my eyes shut.

“The area they were in was more stable,” Thorne continues, his voice soft. “It’s likely that section didn’t collapse, and right now, they’re going back the way they came.”

---