Page 136 of Unveiled

He broke into a sprint, following the voice into a low, spiralling passage. The tunnel constricted. The air thinned. The hum grew louder, painful, frantic.

Adrian’s voice rose. “Connor.” Then only silence.

Connor stumbled to a halt. “Adrian, answer me.”

A deep crack opened beneath his feet, a fault line pulsing with Adrian’s resonance. Connor’s heart lurched.

He whispered, “Adrian, hold on. Please.” He jumped into the crack.

And the world swallowed him whole.

***

Adrian

Adrian lay curled in the dark.

He didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious. Minutes, hours, days. Time didn’t exist here. Only pain and the pulsing, suffocating pressure of the anchors beneath the valley, massive nodes of energy that spread through the earth like the roots of a diseased tree.

His shadow twitched violently against the cavern floor. Adrian clutched his head, trying not to scream as the resonance vibrated through his bones.

“Connor,” he whispered. “Connor. Where are you?”

Silence pressed back. Adrian closed his eyes. The Council’s whispers circled him like smoke.

Come to us, Marked one. Return. Return.

Adrian’s breath hitched. “No, I fucking won’t. Why do you want me?”

Then he heard another sound, faint at first, then growing. It was a roar, wild and feral.

Adrian’s eyes flew open. “Connor?”

The cavern shook violently. Stones fell. The ground cracked. A burst of golden fire tore through the tunnel ahead.

And Connor barrelled out of the dark like a storm given flesh.

Adrian’s heart lurched. “Connor.”

***

Connor

Connor saw Adrian, and something in him broke. His heart clenched with a torrent of devastation, fury, and relief. He ran to Adrian and dropped to his knees, grabbing Adrian’s shoulders.

“Adrian, are you hurt?”

Adrian pressed hands to Connor’s face. “You came.”

Connor’s voice cracked. “Of course I came.”

Adrian’s breath hitched. “I thought—”

“Don’t,” Connor whispered, his forehead pressed to Adrian’s. “Don’t ever think I wouldn’t come for you.”

Adrian grabbed his arm and Connor drew him up.

“You’re safe now,” Connor murmured. “I’ve got you. I’m never letting go.”