Page 44 of Captured in Love
I’ve always wanted to hike up a volcano, visit Hawaii or even Iceland, but I’d never imagined I’d come this close to molten rock that could incinerate me in seconds.
“Hurry,” Raphaël shouts from above.
I wave to let him know I heard him and snap out of my awed, scared-shitless-but-kinda-loving-it moment. The soles of my boots are starting to smoke a little, which isnotgood. I hurry to the metal box and send out a magical probe to test it. No spells appear to be attached to the ornate clasp, so I flip the lid and peer inside.
“What is it?” Nora asks.
I study the two metal disks and one empty slot. “They look like large gold coins, but sort of lacy and inscribed with runes.” I check the inside of the box, too, and find nothing. “Okay, here goes.”
I gingerly reach into the box and extract one of the remaining two disks. As much as I want to save Einarsson the trouble and take his disk as well, I know better than to touch it—that’s what triggered the curse in the Egyptian tomb, resulting in the death of Isak’s human henchman and a near miss for the rest of us.
I unzip my neoprene and tuck the metal token next to Nora’s protection amulet.
“Done,” I call. “I’m ready.”
The moment I straighten, something pulls at my back. Frowning, I glance over my shoulder, but there’s nothing that could have caused the sensation. I take a step toward the sheer wall I need to climb to return to the others, but again, something tugs me from behind.
“Guys,” I shout, “get me up! Something’s wrong.”
The rope tightens immediately, and I take a running leap, reaching for the first handhold. My bloody fingers just brush the rock face before I’m yanked back, and suddenly I’m stretched out in the air, parallel to the crater floor, with only the taut rope holding me steady.
“Levi!” Nora screams.
“Fuuuuck!” I yell, grabbing the rope with both hands. “It’s trying to suck me into the lava pool!”
Whatever spell the Ballendial witches set up here must have been triggered by something I did to the box. Maybe there was a pressure sensorunderthe box, and it reacted to the loss of weight when I retrieved the token. Whatever it is, it’s actively trying to kill me, so I clutch the rope and put my trust in the three people above me.
“Pull!” Raphaël’s voice cuts through my frantic thoughts. “Pull!”
With each shout, I get jerked back toward the crater rim, closer to safety. My instincts are screaming at me to close my eyes and curl into a ball, but I force myself to remain calm. I only hope the nylon will hold up under the strain. It cuts into my middle, so hard I know it’ll bruise, but that’s the least of my problems now.
Two more tugs, and I’m nearly at the edge.
“Nora, grab his hand and bring him over,” Raphaël instructs. “Isak and I can haul him in.”
One massive jerk later, I grasp Nora’s clammy hand and hold on for dear life. She’s sobbing now, her face red with exertion. She digs her fingers into the neoprene at my shoulder and yanks me over the edge with Isak’s and Raphaël’s help.
I flop onto the stone ground, and the pressure of the trap dissipates. Nora flings herself on my chest and buries her face in my neck, her entire body trembling as she cries. I wrap my arms around her and stroke her back slowly, so fucking happy to be alive.
Raphaël’s face appears above me. “Are you all right?”
I nod in answer, still too shocked for words. It takes Nora a good minute to get herself under control, and her face is a splotchy mess when she finally lifts her head to peer down at me. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then give up because her braid is long past saving. I cup her face with my palm and bring her in for a kiss. It’s sweet and slow, and Nora’s lips are salty from her tears.
“I’m okay,” I whisper against her mouth.
She sniffs and wipes her tears away with her palms. “I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “Not your fault. We both went into this knowing it was potentially deadly.”
Nora sits back on her heels. “Yeah, we were just so cocky. I thought for sure we could handle it.”
I stand and pull her up, then unzip my wetsuit in front to take out the token. The yellow gold glimmers as I pass it to her. “Wecanhandle it. Here.”
She turns it over. “Pretty. Probably stolen from some poor dragon they killed.”
Isak comes to peer over her shoulder. “Yes, seems like it.”
I face the man who is supposed to be our rival, yet he keeps saving our lives. “Thank you for helping me.”
