His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Sloane

The first tremor shook Malachi’s room hard enough to rattle the glasses on the table.

I sat up. For a second I thought it was another distant collapse somewhere deep in the temple. Then the floor moved again, harder, and a glass slid off the table and shattered.

I stared at the door. Liam’s voice still echoed in my head. We’re at the temple. He had said ast night, and he had reached me once more that afternoon, faint and broken. They had found us

I had spent every hour since then waiting for something to happen and trying not to think about what Malachi would do if he learned how Moonhaven had reached us.

Now shouting broke out in the corridor. Boots pounded past the room. Someone yelled about the upper chambers, and another voice shouted for the eastern passage.

I stood. My ribs still hurt when I moved too fast, and the mark on my neck had barely stopped throbbing, but none of that mattered. For the first time since Malachi had put me in this room, nobody was standing guard outside it.

I didn’t stop to think. I ran.

I was still wearing the thin nightdress they had given me before Jax attacked me. I had no shoes, no weapon, and no idea where the nearest exit was. It was still the best chance I had been given.

The corridor outside was chaos. Rogues moved in both directions, some carrying weapons, others hauling bags and crates. Dust hung in the air, and somewhere farther off, stone crashed hard enough to shake the floor under my bare feet.

Nobody paid any attention to me, which was almost worse. Whatever was happening had frightened them more than the thought of Malachi’s prisoner escaping.

I turned left. The circular room was somewhere above me, and Abby was there, or had been. I almost went toward it. Then I stopped. Kade was coming for her, and Liam was with him. Going up would only put me between them and whatever Cressida had done.

I needed out.

I took the opposite passage, and the corridors became unfamiliar almost at once. I knew the route between Malachi’s room and the circular chamber. I knew the cells, and a few of the common rooms they had walked me through. Everything beyond that blurred into stone and stairs and turns I had never needed to remember, because someone had always been escorting me.

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I didn’t stop.

Where’s the Boss?”

“No idea.”

He swore and kept going. Good. I didn’t know either.

I ran until the corridor split, one way climbing and the other descending. I chose down. The cold air seemed stronger there, and maybe that meant outside, or maybe I was lying to myself. At that point I

didn’t care.

I was halfway down the passage when a hand closed around my upper arm.

I screamed and twisted, and Malachi pulled me around to face him.

His shirt was covered in dust, one sleeve streaked with blood that didn’t look like his. His expression was controlled, but there was something dangerous underneath it.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I yanked against his grip. “Away from you.”

His fingers tightened. “You left the room.”

“The building is falling apart.”

“I told you to stay there.”

I laughed, and it came out breathless. “Of course. I should’ve waited politely while the mountain

buried me.”

“Come with me.”

“Not a chance.”

“Sloane.”

I tore my arm free. He caught me again immediately, and I shoved at his chest. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You don’t know the way out.”

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That landed. I saw it, and I tried to slip past him while it did, but he blocked me.

“Move.”

“No.”

“Malachi.”

Another tremor shook the corridor, and dust poured from the ceiling. His hand closed around my arm again, and I hit him. My palm cracked across his face. He barely moved, and I didn’t care I shoved him again.

“You marked me. You locked me up. You decided I belonged to you. I’m done letting you decide

anything.”

His voice went very quiet. “You chose now to run?”

“Yes.”

“While the temple is collapsing?”

“It was the first time nobody was standing outside the door.”

That stopped him, but only for a second. Then his gaze sharpened. “You were waiting.”

“I was surviving.”

“And Liam?”

My pulse jumped, and he saw it. Understanding came into his face all at once. “He reached you.”

I stepped back.

“You told them.”

“I told him enough.”

The anger in him went cold. “You betrayed me.”

I swallowed. “Yes.”

For several seconds, neither of us moved. Then he stepped toward me, and I backed away.

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The stone gave way. He moved toward me, too late. Something struck my shoulder and threw me down, my knee hitting first and then the rest of me, and a slab of broken stone crashed across my Bower leg.

Pain exploded through me, and I screamed. For several seconds I couldn’t breathe. Dust filled my mouth, and my ears rang. When I tried to pull free, the pain became so violent that black spots crowded my vision.

“Sloane.” Malachi dropped down beside me.

I shoved weakly at the stone. It didn’t move.

“Don’t.” He caught my hand. “Stop moving.”

“My leg-”

“I know.”

ady spreading beneath me. I watched him see it.

Before he could touch the slab, footsteps came through the dust, and Cressida appeared. Her hair had come loose, and blood ran down one side of her forehead.

“Malachi. We need to move.”

His attention went back to me. Cressida followed his gaze, and then she understood. “No.”

Malachi braced one hand against the stone. “The eastern passage?”

“Still open, but it won’t stay that way.”

“Then help me.”

Cressida stared at him. “She betrayed you.”

“I know.”

“She brought them here.”

“I know.”

“And now she’s tried to run from you.”

I closed my eyes. That one he didn’t answer.

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I opened my eyes. He was still staring at me.

hated that part of me wanted him to refuse. After everything, after the collar and the mark and the threats, after had just admitted that I’d betrayed him and tried to escape him, I still wanted him to choose me. It was stupid. Pathetic. Exactly the kind of weakness I had spent my whole life despising.

“Go,” I whispered.

His eyes moved to mine.

“You heard her.” He didn’t move, and I forced myself to smile. “You wanted me to regret betraying you.” My voice shook. “Looks like you win.”