Darkblood Prison - G.K. DeRosa Page 0,47
hug, and a swell of unexpected emotion tightened my throat. “Be careful, Azara, please. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
“I’ll be fine. Talon will take good care of me.”
His lips contorted into a scowl before he schooled them into a thin line. “Be sure that he does.”
“Enough with the goodbyes,” Dallas interjected, shooing us. “Get going. We’ll see you all in less than twenty minutes, if all goes well.”
I pivoted and followed Talon down the dark tunnel. After a few steps, I muttered, “Lucem venitem.” A glimmering orb of golden light appeared and hovered over our heads.
“Nice trick.” Talon’s hold on my hand tightened as he picked up the pace. We didn’t speak for a while, an ominous drip-drip providing the only noise as we moved silently beneath the earth.
The tunnel came to an abrupt stop, and I nearly barreled into Talon’s broad back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the other copy of the map Delacroix had provided. “This must be the spot.”
I nodded as he handed me the folded-up paper. Holding it up to the light, I whispered the words of the spell. “Apertum nasconda, apertum aprire.”
The ground rumbled beneath my feet, and my hand shot out to grip Talon’s firm shoulder. The rock wall shuddered, and a faint glow appeared through a crevice. The fissure elongated, climbing across the hard-packed earth and cleaved in two. The opening grew larger until it created a doorway in the impenetrable rock.
“Well done,” said Talon, shooting me an indulgent smile.
“Thanks.” I held my hand out. “After you.”
The opening may have been big enough for me, but my massive dragon friend had to duck and sidle in sideways. I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched. “I guess this means Thax isn’t that big?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I doubt the warlord uses these tunnels much, and even if he did, he wasn’t the one that built them. They were here well before his time.”
I followed in behind him as the dark walls of another tunnel coalesced around us. “How do you know so much about Thax’s castle?”
“I do my research. As soon as I found out he wanted something from you, I found out as much as I could. Having power and supernatural abilities is advantageous, but knowledge and determining how to outsmart your opponent, that’s key.”
“Who knew you were more than just a pretty face?” I squeezed his cheek with a playful grin, and he rolled his eyes in return. “Now where to, oh wise one?”
He glanced at the blueprint and pointed to the right. “According to this, Vander should be on the other side of this wall. There should be a doorway further down this corridor.”
“Awesome.”
We crept forward, Talon in the lead. One arm was draped across my chest, keeping me behind him. He didn’t have to worry, I had zero desire to go ahead of him. To be honest, after all the hype, I was terrified of meeting Vander. He’d been dragged to this hell hole because of me after all. If I were him, I’d probably hate me. And now his brother and I had a—thing. How would he feel about that? Then there were Delacroix’s veiled remarks… why did Vander know so much about me?
Talon stopped in front of a door, yanking my attention from my wandering thoughts. He scanned the map, then lifted his gaze to mine. “This is it.”
“Talon, before we go in there, you have to promise me something.”
His brows furrowed as his lips curled into a pout. “Okay… what’s that?”
“Choose Vander. No matter what you promised Logan, if it comes down to it, choose your brother.”
The hard set of his jaw melted away, and a pang of intense emotion smacked me in the chest. His glowing orbs locked on mine, leaving a scorching path in their wake. My insides burned from the intensity of his gaze. I tried to unravel the tangle of emotions in my gut, but they were too overpowering, too all-consuming. “I couldn’t, even if I wanted to,” he finally murmured.
“Because of the bond?” I forced out.
His head dipped. “I love Vander like a brother, more if that’s possible, but you hold a piece of me. I am a part of you. I would choose you every time.”
I gulped down the knot of emotion clogging my throat. “You have to at least try.”
He shook his head. “Can’t.”
I huffed out a breath. The one time I was actually trying to do the