But before we could fall any further into the trap of each other’s arms, a terrified scream echoed through the tunnel outside our room and we both fell still.
“Darcy,” Roxy gasped even though it hadn’t sounded at all like her sister screaming.
But after Cal and Seth had discovered those dead guards weeks ago, we’d all been worried about the people we loved down here.
I rolled off of her, tossing her a pair of jeans and a black sweater before pulling a grey tracksuit on and grabbing some sneakers.
We were out the door and hurrying along in a tide of bodies within moments and Roxy called out in relief as we spotted her sister’s blue hair in the group ahead of us. Lance was with her and he caught her arm, tugging her to a halt so that we could catch up to them.
Roxy hurried forward and grabbed Darcy’s hand, the two of them exchanging relieved looks and muttered reassurances as I moved to stand beside them.
“What’s going on?” I asked, looking to Lance as he strained his ears to listen for some more information.
“I think another body has been found,” he said in a dark tone, meeting my eye with the same fear in his gaze as I felt in my soul.
If someone was somehow striking at the rebels down here, then it was more than clear to both of us who their real targets would be and the girls standing between us were it. But we’d made vows upon the stars when we’d entered The Burrows and anyone who came here had to swear they meant them no harm. So maybe we were wrong, but something in my gut told me we weren’t. I just didn’t know how they were pulling it off without Hamish feeling the vows break.
Dragon fire flickered through me at the thought of anyone trying to hurt the twins and I placed an arm around Roxy’s shoulders, tugging her close to my side as I narrowed my eyes at the people swarming past us.
“We should go see who it was,” Darcy said urgently, taking Roxy’s hand and tugging her into a jog as she slipped out of my grip instantly.
“Tory too, huh?” Lance muttered as we fell into step, hurrying to keep up with them as we strode down the huge tunnel. The earth Elementals had been hard at work here too and the walls were all lined with grey stone now, a decorative, vaulted ceiling making the tunnels feel less oppressive and plenty of water and fire features decorating the walls. “Darcy refuses to let me protect her as much as I want to.”
“That’s because they’re stubborn as all hell,” I grumbled, smirking as Roxy heard me and flipped me off over her shoulder.
"Yeah. Remind me why we’re with them again,” Lance teased but as the two of us continued to jog along behind them like a pair of whipped little guard dogs while blatantly checking them out, the answer to that question seemed kind of pointless.
We made it to the dining cavern before finding a huge crowd bottlenecked at the entrance to the tunnel which led down to the communal bathhouses.
“Make way for the true queens!” Geraldine bellowed, a doggish bark following her demand which had the rest of the rebels leaping to attention and backing out of the tunnel to let the Vegas pass.
We kept close behind them and I tensed briefly as another Vampire shot up behind us, relaxing as I recognised Cal when he fell into step beside me and let Seth drop down from his back.
“Have you seen Max, Xavier and my mom this morning?” I asked them anxiously, glancing around to look for the people I loved in hopes of spotting one of them.
“Yeah, I had to borrow some toothpaste from Max earlier and Xavier was in the room with him,” Caleb said, his gaze fixed on the tunnel ahead of us as we walked down it at a fast pace.
“And I saw your mom a few minutes ago making food with Hamish in the kitchens,” Seth added. “She called me a naughty pup and chased me out of the room when I tried to steal some cookies. They let the Vegas have anything they want though, so my only snack avenue is through them. At least Tory likes to leave them out for me to find.”
He looked a little salty about the situation and I snorted in amusement. I’d never realised my mom had an interest in cooking, but she’d been throwing herself into it wholeheartedly since we’d been here, helping to make all of the meals for the rebels while Hamish hung around her, murmuring sweet praises and stealing kisses from her whenever he thought no one was paying attention.
I wanted to protest against the idea of my mom hooking up with a damn Grus, but she just looked so fucking happy whenever I saw her with him that it was impossible for me to make any kind of issue about them being together. She deserved something good and someone to really care for her like that after spending years shackled to my father.