Chapter 74: The Hunter’s Claim
The stairwell smelled of concrete dust, blood, and old rain trapped inside stone. Corvin stayed half a step behind Rowan as they climbed, one hand at her back, the other ready for a weapon he knew would be useless. The thing below did not hurry. That was what frightened him. Predators that rushed could be tricked. Predators that lunged could be turned aside. Anything desperate enough to chase could still be made to bleed. But the thing climbing after them was not desperate. It was patient. Certain. Like it already knew how this ended.
Boom.
The sound rolled up through the stairwell and into Corvin’s bones. The building shuddered around them. Dust drifted from the ceiling in pale clouds. Somewhere above, metal groaned. Rowan stumbled.
Corvin caught her instantly.
“I’ve got you.”
She nodded, but her face had gone too pale. Her eyes were unfocused, locked on something he could not see. He hated that most of all. Enemies he could kill. Threats he could stand between. But whatever had reached inside Rowan’s mind was beyond his reach. For now. Lucien was ahead of them, moving fast, though not as fast as Corvin knew he could. He kept glancing back, not at the thing below, but at Rowan. That made Corvin want to break something.
The woman moved beside Rowan, one hand still hovering too close to her arm. Corvin noticed every inch of space between them.
“Do not touch her again,” he said.
The woman didn’t look at him.
“Then keep up.”
Corvin’s fangs pressed against his gums.
Jess climbed behind Malric, breathing hard, one hand braced against the wall.
“I just want everyone to know,” she said, voice shaking, “that when I said I wanted answers, I meant in a calm environment. Maybe with snacks. Not during whatever ancient murder parade this is.”
Malric didn’t slow. “Keep moving.”
“Oh, good. Commands. That helps.”
Another boom echoed below.
Closer.
Rowan flinched. Corvin felt it through her before he saw it. Her fear came in sharp, silent waves. Not panic. Rowan rarely gave panic the satisfaction. This was deeper. Instinctive.
The kind of fear the body remembered before the mind understood why.
“What did it do to you?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed. “The whispering stopped.”
Corvin’s jaw tightened.
“That sounds good,” Jess called from behind them.
Rowan shook her head. “It isn’t.”
No. It was not. Corvin could feel the absence now too. Since entering this cursed building, the city beneath them had pressed against the air like a second heartbeat. Unseen. Watching. Waiting. Now there was nothing. A dead silence where power should have been. Whatever was below had silenced the city.
Lucien reached the next landing first and stopped abruptly.
“Blocked.”
Corvin looked up. Chunks of concrete had collapsed across the stairs above, twisted together with bent railing and broken pipe. Not enough to seal the way completely, but enough to slow them. Too much. Behind them, another step shook the stairwell.
Boom.
The woman cursed under her breath. Malric stepped forward. Golden light flickered beneath his skin. Corvin felt the heat before he saw it. It rolled outward in a wave, warming the cold dust and damp concrete. Malric lifted one hand, and the light sharpened, spreading down his arm like fire trapped under glass.
Jess froze.
“Mal.”
“Back up.”
“For the record, I am very backed up.”
He shoved both hands forward. The debris exploded. Concrete shattered outward. Metal screamed as it tore loose from the wall. A blast of heat and gold light filled the stairwell, forcing everyone to shield their faces. Corvin kept himself between Rowan and the worst of it. When the smoke cleared, the stairs were open.
Jess stared at Malric.
“Okay. So we were just not mentioning that?”
Malric’s expression remained grim. “Not the time.”
“It feels wildly like the time.”
“Move,” Lucien snapped.
They moved. Corvin guided Rowan through the broken gap. Her hand found his sleeve and held on. The gesture was small. It nearly undid him. He had spent years building himself into something difficult to touch. Difficult to read. Difficult to wound. Rowan Vance had ruined that with alarming efficiency.
She looked up at him. “Corvin.”
“I’m here.”
“It said found.”
“I heard.”
“What if it meant me?”
He said nothing for half a second too long.
Her mouth tightened. “You think it did.”
He looked down the stairwell. The darkness below shifted.
Symbols glowed faintly through it.
“Yes.”
Rowan exhaled once, sharp and unsteady.
“Well. That’s terrible.”
Despite everything, something in his chest twisted.
“Yes,” he said. “It is.”
Then Lucien stopped again.
Corvin nearly collided with him.
“What now?”
Lucien raised a hand. Ahead of them, at the next landing, the air shimmered. At first Corvin thought it was heat from Malric’s power. Then the shimmer deepened. The concrete wall bent inward without breaking. Silver light appeared in a thin vertical line, cutting through the air.
Rowan stared. “Is that…”
The line split open. Wind rushed through the stairwell. Cold. Wet. Ancient. Corvin smelled stone, deep water, and soil untouched by sun. The opening widened into a jagged tear, glowing at the edges. Beyond it was darkness threaded with silver mist.
Jess made a small sound behind him.
“No. Absolutely not.”
The woman stepped toward it immediately.
Corvin caught her wrist. She stopped. Slowly, she looked down at his hand. Then up at his face.
“Let go.”
“Explain where that goes.”
“Away from here.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the only answer that matters.”
His grip tightened. “Not to me.”
The woman’s eyes flashed. “Then stay and argue. I’m sure the thing below will appreciate your dedication to being difficult.”
Lucien turned. “Corvin.”
There was warning in his voice. Corvin ignored him.
“What is it?” he demanded.
Lucien’s face remained hard. “An old road.”
Jess laughed once, high and panicked. “Oh, perfect. An old road. That makes the nightmare wall hole so much better.”
Rowan looked at the rift.
Corvin felt her fingers tighten against his sleeve.
“You know this place,” he said to Lucien.
Lucien did not answer. That was answer enough.
Boom.
The stairwell shook so violently the railing tore loose several floors below. The thing was moving faster now. The woman ripped her wrist free.
“It has her scent. If we do not cross now, it will not matter what any of you know.”
Corvin looked at Rowan. She was staring down the stairwell.
“Rowan.”
She blinked hard and looked at him. “The city knows that road.”
Lucien went still. The woman’s face changed. Corvin hated them both for understanding something he did not.
“What does that mean?”
Rowan shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know it does.”
Boom.
Closer. Malric grabbed Jess by the arm and guided her toward the rift.
“Oh no,” Jess said. “No, no, no. I do not consent to glowing wall transportation.”
Malric looked down at her. “Would you rather meet the ancient murder thing?”
Jess paused. Then pointed at the rift. “I hate that you made a good argument.”
He pushed her through. Jess vanished with a startled scream.