Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,83

Karasu would need a spine of steel, and perhaps Crow was right. Perhaps they were a good match.

And Crow . . .

Dressed in black, his broadsword in hand, he had fire in his eyes, with determination to defend and protect. As if he could stalk through Aequi Kentron and conquer anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. Oh, sweet abyss, he was a formidable sight. Looking at him, standing beside him, Tancho’s heart was taken.

There was no going back after this.

Whatever happened on the other side of that doorway, whatever this new day held for them, Tancho’s heart would belong to Crow.

Of that he was certain.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine, blocking everything else out, and pretended he could hear the sound of the waves of his home. The ebb and flow, the reassuring pull and push of the water’s pulse gave Tancho a moment of peace and strength.

He felt Crow’s warm and familiar fingers grip his own, and Tancho knew the world had slowed down around him by the lack of sound. He opened his eyes and smiled.

“Are you okay?” Crow asked.

“I am. Just taking a moment to clear my mind, that’s all.” Tancho looked at the people standing next to them, slowed as they were in time. “I wish we could capture this moment forever.”

Crow looked around them, his eyes falling on Soko last. “I wish that as well. I am stricken to think some of us may not return.”

“He’ll be fine,” Tancho said gently.

Crow met his gaze. “If something were to happen to you . . .”

“How can it when I’ll be with you?”

Crow studied Tancho’s eyes, searching for something. “You have to return with me. When we first met, I wasn’t sure I’d survive one day with you. And now I cannot fathom a day without you.”

Tancho’s heart soared and he chuckled. “So let us live to annoy each other another day.”

Crow nodded and kissed him with so much tenderness it took Tancho’s breath away. They let go of each other’s hand and the room around returned to normal.

“Are we ready?” Crow asked.

Everyone nodded, so Crow opened the doorway. It was dark on the other side, but no blue guards ran at them. “There’s no movement in there now,” Elmwood said, peering as closely as he dared.

When the circle of sparks was big enough, guards snuck through first, taking a defensive formation, then Soko, Karasu and Kohaku, then Elmwood and Samiel, and lastly Tancho and Crow.

Something was wrong, Tancho knew immediately. It was far too dark. He looked up to find there was no glass dome ceiling above them.

They weren’t in the grand hall of the Aequi Kentron.

“Where the fuck are we?” Crow hissed.

And somewhere far off, though Tancho couldn’t be sure how far exactly, a blue arcane lamp lit up. With that faint light, he could see they were in some huge cavernous space, rank with damp and aeons of time.

And someone, or something, was coming.

Chapter Nineteen

The sound of the approaching footsteps drew louder and the guards quickly took a spearhead formation in front.

The blue light faltered a little, from what Crow could see, as though the person coming toward them considered stopping. “I come in peace,” a female voice said as she ran. “I mean no harm.”

Aelfflaed came into view, the blue arcane lamp she held swaying in the darkness. Crow could see her hair in disarray, her shirtsleeve was torn, and her face marked with grime and what appeared to be a yellowing bruise on her cheek. “I am so glad to see you,” she said.

“Stop right there,” Soko said. He stood tall, his sword raised. “Do not come any closer.”

She nodded, eyed the swords aimed at her head, and swallowed hard. “Apologies. I wasn’t thinking. There are so few of us left, I . . .”

“So few of who left?” Crow asked. “Where are the others? And, where are we?”

“We stand in the old house,” she explained, gesturing to where they stood. “The original Aequi Kentron, a few thousand years old, a hundred feet below the Aequi Kentron you know of today. This here is the first grand hall, and you’re standing on the compass. The one that started it all.”

“Started what?” Tancho asked.

“The doorways,” she replied. “We never knew about them. I mean, we learned about them as part of our histories, the old-world myths. We never knew they even worked until . . . until it was too late and those—” Her chin wobbled and her voice