Page 95 of A Kingdom of Shadows

It never is.

But I am what keeps you pushing through when life seems hard to bear.

Hard to bear.

I glance to my left as if I can still see the safe despite it now being underwater. I think of the crescent... the sun. Solaris and Crello. Something snaps inside my head. My wide gaze settles on Darius. "We have to let the water rise all the way."

He looks at me as if the low oxygen level has gotten to me.

"The keys are there to trick us," I add, breathing heavily as my chest compresses. "Just trust me."

Beads of water drip from his dark hair. "You should know by now that I do."

And that is what we need.

My teeth chatter. I slide my hand by the nape of his neck, and he brings me closer to him as the water batters against our chests. I lean in, pressing my lips softly to his for warmth. My tongue glides along his bottom lip before he gives me access, consuming me with his taste and his... love.

She doesn't know it yet, but one day, when this is all over, I hope for her to be my wife, even if that might only be possible in my dreams.

Wife.

I kiss him harder, not for fear that this won't work, but for actual fear that I will lose him, which I now know I could never deal with, not when it comes to him.

"It won't be a dream," I whisper, pulling back slightly, the water now at our necks. "Me becoming your wife. It will be a reality."

He stills. It's as if he is not breathing.

For too long, he has believed he only deserved hatred.

And whatever lies ahead, I know he deserves a chance at a better life.

We reach the ceiling, taking in our last breaths, and then there's nothing except a burning sensation in my lungs.

I cling to Darius before our lips connect, exchanging air. I pray to be right about the riddle, and that the vault opens, I pray that Darius's trust in me does not go in vain.

But seconds tick by, and the safe doesn't open.

Come on, come on, come on—

Like someone cranking a lever, a screech splits the waters, and the safe pops open. A golden stone—similar in shape to the Melwraith and Screaming Forest ones—hovers inside the vault. I kick my legs, the weight of the water thick as I swim toward the stone, and pry it from the safe. I'm smiling as I look at it in my hand before glancing up at Darius.

He's staring at me as if wanting to ask how I knew.

Faith.

That is what I want to tell him.

It is what kept me from deteriorating for so long. Faith in Solaris and Crello, faith in my brothers, faith in my friends, faith in Darius.

I can't see or feel it, but I know it is there, and Darius put his trust and faith in me. That is what the test wanted.

My hands curl around Darius's as my form of an answer to him, and over his shoulder, part of the wall opens. I point to it and motion to Darius for us to swim toward it. We exit the cave and into the lake. It's darker than inside the oubliette. Nonetheless, we continue swimming upward.

To freedom.

To air.

"Solaris," something hisses in my ear.

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