Page 26 of Captured in Love
Nora takes the tablet. OR IT COULD BE AROUND THE CORNER
We stare at each other, each wrestling with the truth that there could be a monster down here with us. The realization is surreal, and for one, I can’t wrap my head around it. Monsters aren’t real. Wherever this scale came from, there’s a logical explanation for it.
I point forward, lift my eyebrows, and tap my wrist monitor.Are we moving on?The worst thing to do would be to float, undecided, and waste our precious air supply.
Raphaël’s face is completely blank, as though he doesn’t want to influence Nora’s decision. She clenches her hands, and I know she’d be cracking her knuckles if she didn’t have the thick gloves on.
Finally, she gives a short, tense jerk of her head.
Yes, we’re continuing.
The moment we pass over the scales, a clicking noise disturbs the water. It’s less of a sound, this deep down, and more of a vibration I feel in my entire body. I turn, swinging my flashlight wildly to locate the source of danger.
Nothing seems out of place at first, then rusty metal spikes protrude from the ceiling, slowly rattling down.
We stare at them for a second, then Raphaël shoots forward and swims right up to them.
It’s not spikes but a portcullis, a thick metal grille that’s closing off our exit route.
Raphaël grips the bottom of the grille and strains visibly, trying to pull it up, so I join him, but even together, we can’t stop its progress.
We have seconds to swim under it and get to safety. Seconds before we’re cut off, and our only option remains to swim on, even though we don’t know where the tunnel is leading us or whether there’s another exit on the other side.
Raphaël grabs Nora’s hand and drags her back toward the mouth of the tunnel. I hesitate, then go to follow, but Nora shakes Raphaël off and pushes his hands away. She’s crying behind her mask, tears flowing down her face.
Her eyes are pleading with us to understand.
Quickly, she wraps her arms around him and squeezes him, then lets go and moves toward me. Her hug is strong and desperate, and over way too soon. Then she turns her back on us and propels herself to the other side of that iron portcullis, swimming deeper into the tunnel.
The grille is now more than halfway lowered, and we’re still on the opposite side. I don’t look at Raphaël, because this isn’t a decision we can make together. It could be the last bad decision I make, but I have to be the one to do it.
If I move forward, I could die. That’s the cold, hard fact I can’t seem to get past. But if I stay on this side, Nora will be cut off from me, maybe forever, and I will never get to enter the Ballendial Library or find the solution to my horrible family situation.
I close my eyes and try to force down the instincts that are screaming at me toget the fuck out of here. I try to think rationally, but there’s no use. Blood rushes in my ears, drowning out everything else.
I open my eyes and dive for the opening at the bottom of the tunnel. Careful not to snag my harness or breathing cylinder on the rusted metal spikes, I dart underneath the grille and straighten, facing Nora.
And Raphaël, who is already there, his large hand clasped around Nora’s.
Nine
Nora
Gods,how dumb are we?
Terror grips my chest, constricting my lungs and turning my breaths into quick, shallow gasps at the sight of both guys on this side of the portcullis. They’d moved almost at exactly the same time, only Raphaël was faster to swim under the grille.
The portcullis lowers the last couple of inches, and the metal spikes at the bottom lodge into holes bored into the stone walls of the tunnel. I hadn’t noticed them before, but the spikes fit perfectly, creating an impenetrable barrier that prevents us from returning.
For now.
I might have made a rash decision, but I haven’t gone completely mad. If there’s a mechanism to lower the grille from the ceiling, there has to be a way to raise it again, a winch or chain of some sort that allows it to retract. I have no idea how we tripped the thing in the first place—Levi hadn’t sensed any magic, and the metal looks old, as though it’s been down here for decades if not longer.
That might work to our advantage. If any part of the grille has rusted through, that might be another way to help us escape.
Still, we have to move, and fast.
I’d been half tempted to activate the spells in the amethyst crystals andmakeLevi and Raphaël leave the tunnel, but selfishly, I’d hoped they would make the decision to stay with me. Whatever is waiting for us on the other end, I’m more confident now that we’ll be facing it together.
