Page 198 of Tears for a Broken Sky
“That’s going to hold, right?” Caelen asked.
“That’s the beauty of my magic, princeling,” Rigg chortled. “It always holds. That’s why I’m the best diamond miner in Duskfall.”
Caelen swallowed and nodded—but I caught him scanning the walls anyway.
“There’s no Morrkrin in here, right?” I heard him mutter to Phoenix.
Phoenix actually laughed. “Not that I can see, no.”
I glanced at Slade, who was watching the two of them with mild amusement.
“Don’t ask,” he muttered.
The tunnel Rigg had formed began to stretch under his command—and, somehow, he was sealing the wall behind us just as easily. He ran his hands along the stone like he could read it by touch alone.
“Here we go,” he said.
The passageway opened.
The air from the tunnel was damp and cold. We stepped inside. No turning back now.
Chapter 45
Elira
I had no idea where I was going.
I only knew I had to move.
I tore down the hallways, ducking into shadows wherever I could—but there were people everywhere. Guards. Monks. Acolytes. Servants fleeing in all directions.
Then—
“Hey! What are you doing out of your room?”
A guard in a Shattered Crown uniform rounded the corner. I froze.
He started toward me. “Wait—!”
Instinct took over.
I spun and drove a kick straight into his head.
He crumpled, out cold.
I dragged him into a nearby bathroom, heart hammering. He was young—barely twenty, if that. Light frame. Lucky for me.
I stripped off his uniform and yanked it on as fast as I could.
The pants were huge—hung off me like curtains. No way I could run in them. I tossed them aside.
Thank the gods I’d dressed in my most practical option: a set of navy slacks Vael had left behind without thinking.
They weren’t regulation, but they’d have to do.
I just hoped no one noticed the difference. I pulled the helmet down over my short hair. It was heavy on my head, but I didn’t care.
I ducked into the hallway and fell in step with a troop of soldiers charging toward the front gates.
