The scream had echoed through the tunnel. It had been sharp and terrified. Then...nothing. Every sound in the quarry seemed to disappear with it. Only the steady drip of water somewhere beneath the earth. Cassian drew his sword first.
"Bren, take the rear." The broad-shouldered warrior nodded immediately. Lyra had already fitted an arrow to her bow.
"I'll take the left passage if it splits."
"No," Hades said firmly. "No one separates." She inclined her head.
"Understood, Alpha"
Hades looked at me.
His eyes held the same concern they always did whenever danger crept too close.
"You stay beside me." Hades repeated.
"I will."
This time I meant it. He gave one short nod before stepping into the darkness. The tunnel swallowed us one by one. The air inside was damp and cold, carrying the smell of wet stone and something older—something that had been trapped beneath the mountain for years.
