Page 91 of Tharn's Hunt
"Oh my god," I whisper, my hand flying to my mouth. "Justine! They're alive! The others are alive!"
I count quickly—one, two, three... at least a dozen women visible from here, their forms so achingly familiar. Relief crashes through me, bringing tears to my eyes. They made it. They survived.
Mikaela spots us first.
Her braids swing as her head jerks up, a waterskin slipping from her fingers. For one frozen second, she just stares, her lips forming a silent oh my God.
Then—
“JACQUI!”
The scream rips through the cavern. Every head whips toward us.
Chaos erupts.
Feet pound stone. A chorus of shrieks and sobs crashes over me as they surge forward?—
“She’s alive!”
“AND JUSTINE!”
“—can’t believe it—” “—thought you were—” “—look at you both!”
Tharn’s arms tighten around me, his growl vibrating through my back as the first hands reach for me.
Mikaela gets there first. Her fingers clutch my face, her dark eyes scanning me frantically. “You absolute bastard,” she chokes, tears streaking her cheeks.
Her fist thumps my shoulder—once, twice—before she yanks me into a hug so tight it hurts. “Never do that again,” she hisses in my ear.
I can’t speak. Can only grip her back, my fingers twisting in her shirt as the others swarm us.
Erika’s arms wrap around us both, her happy squeal muffled against my neck. Tina hovers at the edge, wiping her glassesfuriously as if she can’t trust her eyes. Pam launches herself at Justine, nearly toppling Rok in the process.
Their voices overlap, a cacophony of questions and scoldings:
“Where have you been?”
“We searched?—”
"Wait—is Hannah with you?" Alex, the nurse, asks, her voice cutting through the noise with sharp concern as she scans our small party.
A cold knot forms in my stomach. I shake my head, looking from Alex's worried face to Mikaela's grim one. "Hannah? No. Why would she be with me? I was alone."
Alex's face falls. "Damn it."
"She took off a few days after you did," Mikaela explains, her voice flat and heavy with a grief I haven't heard from her before. "She went in a different direction. Said there had to be something better out there than just... waiting to die. We tried to stop her."
Guilt hits me. HARD. My reckless departure didn't just put me in danger; it inspired another, more desperate one.
"We didn't let her go alone," Justine says, a wince in her voice. She’s still in Rok’s arms, but her expression is steady. "They sent one of the hunters to track her. His name is Sorn. He's one of their best."
A flicker of hope sparks in my chest. "So you think he found her? That they're okay?"
The hope dies when I see the look on Justine's face. "Neither of them have returned."
The silence that follows is heavy, a stark reminder of the dangers that still lurk beyond these caves. The joy of our reunion is suddenly, painfully, incomplete.
“Your sister nearly killed us—” one of the other women starts, breaking the tense quiet.
