I hung my head, shame clouding through me like an insipid fog. The golden cord snapped once in my mind and then it was gone. I remembered the final warning.
My head flew up. “We have to get out of here. The three freed are coming to destroy anyone still in the caves.” I faced Josian. “Tell your men in the other channel.”
He nodded. “They’re fine. There was nothing in their side except the traps, so they’ve already exited and are waiting outside.”
The pressure in the room had eased; I lurched to my feet with everyone else. Without a backwards glance, afraid I’d see the mists of the Seventine, I bolted toward tunnel eight. I had Lucy’s hand held tightly in one of my own and I trusted that everyone else was escaping with me.
There was a strange fogginess in the air now, making it difficult to see where we were heading, but I continued without pause. There was no time to waste. I screeched as a shadow rose in front of me, my face crunching as I smashed into what felt like a rock wall.
I bounced back, pulling Lucy down so we both ended up in a painful tangle on the ground. I was stunned for a moment and while I was waiting for the ringing in my head to stop, the melding bond snapped back in.
My breath caught in my throat. The emotions flooding my system were overwhelming. In the time Brace had been gone I’d forgotten how intense our melding was. The gasps were stuck in my throat. And while everyone was scrambling, trying to not stomp us to death, the wall I’d just smashed into moved out of the mists and, reaching down, scooped me into his arms. Lucy’s hand fell from mine.
The moment he touched me, his scent overwhelmed my senses and darkness engulfed my mind. I was neither fully unconscious nor conscious; I could feel the ground shifting, arms that felt like bands of steel wrapping tightly around me. There was not one iota of space between us. Tears tracked silently down my cheeks, flooding under my closed eyelids. Warm hands brushed them away.
“You need to open your eyes now, Red.” Shivers wracked me as his voice washed over my sensitive skin. “I need to see those tantalizing emeralds.”
I wanted to; I was wasting precious time not looking at his beautiful face. Every day I’d wished he was back with me and now I was too weak to open my damn eyes. The breeze caressed my face, drying the last of the tears which had soaked me. I felt relief that we were out of those mountains. No one had been attacked. The Seventine had kept its word to me, so far anyways.
I decided to face my fears and with a sigh opened my eyes. The light was dim outside, the sun starting to set in the indigo sky of First World.
“Hey, baby.” His features were immobile.
I clashed eyes with a chocolate brown so rich that I drowned for a moment.
“Brace,” was all I could strangle out.
His expression softened.
I finally noticed that his black tribal marks were visible. And the threads of our marks were bleeding out to join with each other. My eyes widened. I couldn’t see any yellow moonstale light reflecting around.
“Your marks –” I started.
His lips narrowed. “The Seventine’s power branded them permanently on my skin, since they’re part of the original universe.”
I sat up a little straighter. Was this why my marks had been permanent since my enlightenment?
Brace’s focus never wavered from me. He wasn’t saying much but the intensity screamed loudly. I wanted to blush. The heat in his gaze was as hot as the Crais suns’. I was probably getting a suntan. In my own nervousness I started to babble, confessing my sins.
“I’m sorry, Brace, I should never have freed the third. You warned me.” As the guilt overwhelmed me I struggled in his arms, wanting to stand on my own.
But he wouldn’t let me move an inch.
“I’m a damn stubborn idiot. I didn’t listen. I was too caught up in the thought that I could have you back.”
Brace’s expression darkened, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Listen to me, Red. You never stood a chance against its power and manipulation. Because of me it knew everything about us. It knew exactly what to say to you.” His tone was angry but his words confident. “If it takes me forever I will put the Seventine back in their prison. Don’t you worry about that.”
Josian interrupted us then. “I’m happy that you’re here, Brace, but we really need to move now.”
I had no idea how long he’d been standing next to us. Brace gave him the briefest nod before moving toward the Walker doorway.
You can put me down. I’m sure I’m not the lightest thing to be carrying around everywhere.
I spoke through our bond, my heart fluttering at the return of his mental presence.