Page 197 of Silver Elite

“You know,” he mimics, “I could climb right back up.”

“Let me have my fantasies, please.”

“You coming or what?”

I kneel, then twist around so I can slide my body along the edge of the craggy wall. I move lower, until my legs are dangling and I’m fully hanging.

Cross’s muffled voice drawls up at me.

“Yes. Stay just like that. I’m enjoying the view.”

“Fuck off.”

I make the six-foot drop, my sandals landing with a thud on the rocky floor. I look around to examine what appears to be a cavesystem, various gaping openings in all directions, while Cross presses his finger to the source around his wrist. A moment later, a torch illuminates our path.

“Where are we going?” I ask as he takes the lead.

“You’ll see. Just stay close and watch your footing. I really should have told you to wear boots.”

“I think you did this on purpose. You want me to be helpless.”

“There is nothing helpless about you, Wren.”

My heart flips. He rarely calls me by my name, and when he does, it sends ribbons of warmth unfurling through me.

As we descend deeper into the cave, his source shuts off abruptly, and the darkness envelops me like a shroud, filling the narrow passageway with an unnerving sense of isolation. The only sound is the steady drip of water echoing off the walls.

“Sorry.” His torch comes to life again, but the darkness hadn’t bothered me. I’m at home in the dark.

Anyone else might have felt claustrophobic as the twists and turns get narrower, but I stay on Cross’s heels, driven by curiosity. After what feels like an eternity of winding tunnels and precarious ledges, we finally reach our destination, and when we emerge into the cavernous chamber, I gasp at the sight that greets me.

“What is this?”

I sweep my gaze over the cave walls, stunned. The sea of flowers takes my breath away. They’re everywhere. Vibrant blooms sprouting from every crack and crevice, their petals unfurling in a riot of colors that paint the cave in a kaleidoscope of hues. And they’reglowing.An ethereal radiance casts the chamber in iridescent light. It’s extraordinary.

“How are they growing in the dark?” I demand, spinning to face Cross. “And how are they glowing? Are they creating their own light?”

“They thrive in the darkness. Some sort of mutation,” he explains. “And they’re not glowing. It’s the daggerstone.”

My brow wrinkles. “What?”

He beckons me closer. When he plucks one of the flowers, I realize it’s growing between cracks not of rock, but of gemstone.Daggerstone. I remember learning in school how these cave systems began to get discovered about fifty years after the Last War. So many things died from the bombing, the radiation, and never grew back. In the Blacklands, I saw hybrid plants that never existed before the war. Bears with horns. Trees whose roots grew up and outward, rather than into the ground. Daggerstone is one of those anomalies. Cavers stumbled upon entire walls of these gemstones shaped like gnarled daggers, long and pointed and shimmering like white fireflies. Daggerstone is almost always white, although I did see someone with a blue daggerstone pendant once. Several shades darker than cobalt.

More daggerstone hangs from the ceiling like crystal chandeliers, their icy tendrils sparkling in the light. Across the cavern is a pool of water that glimmers like liquid silver, like Modified veins, reflecting the dazzling array of colors that dance across the walls.

“This is incredible.”

I reach out to touch a delicate blossom. The petals are soft beneath my fingertips as I breathe in the sweet scent. It’s like the cave itself is alive. A living, breathing entity that pulses with the heartbeat of the earth.

A sense of awe tightens my throat.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so beautiful.”

I turn to find Cross watching me.

“What?”

“I thought you might like it. I could have bought you synthetic flowers. A nice little bouquet in a vase of water. But that’s not you.” He gestures to the flowers that are practically exploding from the cave walls. “This is you. Wild. Mysterious.”

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