Chaos (Lanie Bross) - Lanie Bross Page 0,34

girl gave her a puzzled look. “It’s Sunday.”

Jasmine pushed blindly out the doors.

A sharp, stabbing pain drove through her temples. The earth seemed to blink, and suddenly the ground dropped away.

Luc couldn’t be sure how long he was in darkness.

It could have been a few seconds, a day, or even longer.

But then he was aware again: of his heartbeat, of the dryness of his throat, of the ache in his palms and shoulders.

He opened his eyes. He was inside a tunnel, staring up at a web of wires and tangled cables. It reminded him of a subway, deep under the earth, shadowed and empty. Then he remembered how he’d pierced the membrane of the Crossroad and fought his way through to the other side.

Carefully, he pushed onto his knees, then stood on shaky legs. Invisible weight pressed in all around him, making it an effort to move. Even breathing was a struggle. With each inhale, the air seemed to take minutes to seep down into his lungs. Like everything was traveling through syrup.

The cable he had grabbed—the one that had snapped—was hissing on the ground, emitting sparks and the stench of acrid smoke.

The tunnel extended in both directions as far as he could see. And everywhere, wires: threaded like spiderwebs, looped and coiled like snakes, hanging like tree branches above and behind and on every side of him. None of the wires seemed to end; he couldn’t see where they were connected or what they connected to.

And the place he’d fallen through—the tear in the wall of the Crossroad—was gone.

He began walking, picking a direction at random. He was trying to quell a sense of rising panic. How long had it been since he’d said goodbye to Jasmine? It seemed like weeks. She would be worried about him.

And he was no closer to saving Corinthe.

There had to be another way out. There was always a way out.

This world looked almost liquid. It seemed to shimmer when he moved; the cables swayed lightly, as though disturbed by the tiniest air currents. Each time he took a step, dark ripples extended outward, like waves on the ocean, though his feet met with solid ground. It made him feel off-balance, as though he might plunge into darkness at any second.

Then, ahead of him, Luc saw something out of place: a shadow, a momentary disturbance, as though someone else was slipping through the darkness ahead of him, weaving between the cables. His heart sped up. Could someone else be in this vast tunnel with him?

He moved more quickly, fighting through the syrupy air, breathing hard. He wasn’t alone. The person was sticking to the shadows, ducking underneath the webs and loops of the cables, moving nimbly, as if familiar with the landscape. Maybe Luc could learn the way to an exit.

He was close enough to call out. He stepped on a wire and sparks sizzled under his foot. The person spun around, temporarily illuminated by the flashing light.

Black hair, wide eyes, a face like a predator. Miranda.

Instant rage ignited in his gut. Luc launched himself at her before she could react.

Surprise gave him a momentary advantage. He pinned her against a nest of cables, his forearm across her throat. The air around them filled with static. Miranda twisted out of his grasp. She moved more slowly than he remembered. Maybe the tunnels were affecting her, too.

Or maybe she was sick. The thought filled him with joy.

She lunged at him, but he sidestepped, then grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. He needed to restrain her. He knew what she was capable of. Even in her weakened state, she was much stronger than he was.

Luc grabbed blindly for one of the cables above him. It burned his palm, but he barely felt the pain. Miranda was trying to buck him off, snarling, twisting from side to side. He wrapped the cable around Miranda’s throat. She coughed, and clawed at the cables with her fingers.

Just one tug and it would tighten. Suffocate her. It would be so simple.

She had killed Corinthe, or might as well have. She deserved to die.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right here,” he spat out. But he knew he wouldn’t do it. He couldn’t.

“Because you need me,” she rasped. “We’re on the same side now.”

Luc snorted. “You tried to kill me. You almost killed my sister. You betrayed Corinthe.” His throat was tight with rage. He could barely force the words out. “We’ll never be on the