Chapter 146: Found You
“Where does this lead?” Nina whispered shakily in the silence, her voice barely more than a breath, as she took a step forward.
Then, a sudden, terrifying realization crept into her mind, stealing what little air was left in her lungs.
Did this lead to the Alpha’s Vault?
Her eyes widened, her pupils dilating as she stared into the darkness. Had it been here all along?
There was no other explanation for what it was.
Another violent crash rattled the closet door behind her.
The wardrobe she had dragged over lurched forward another inch, scraping against the stone as the outer door wood began to splinter down the center. Folded clothes and heavy metal buckles clattered onto the floor.
Nina flinched, stepping backward.
The barricade was seconds away from failing. Staying in this room was no longer an option. They were not going to stop until they found her.
She had nowhere else to turn.
Without allowing herself another second to second-guess the decision, Nina stepped over the threshold and into the hidden passage.
The moment both of her feet cleared the stone edge, her eyes caught on an iron pressure lever built directly into the inner frame of the stairwell. She glanced at the thick darkness for a second, and then she reached out and pulled the lever down with all the strength left in her fingers.
The mechanism rumbled to life.
With a smooth, heavy glide, the stone wall slid back into place, sealing the passage shut.
The last sliver of moonlight from the closet window vanished. Darkness settled around her instantly, leaving only the pale, ethereal glow illuminating from the roots of her hair, washing the narrow stairwell in a faint, moonlight-colored radiance.
The minute the walls closed shut, she heard a loud bang from outside the walls, and a growl followed right after it.
The wolves had broken into the closet.
Nina inched away from the wall, goosebumps forming on her arms.
If she had stayed even a second longer, those wolves would have torn her to pieces.
She raised a trembling hand to her lip, wiping away another warm smear of blood from her nose.
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she stared at the red on her fingers. The effects of the curse were getting worse by the day. Now her hair glowed; what would happen the next time? And the next?
She was running out of time.
Nina dragged in a breath and turned toward the darkness.
Where the hell did this lead? she wondered as she stared at it.
The only thing she knew Rodrigo had kept away from her was anything relating to the Vothraki and the Earthstone.
Then there was only one explanation for this, and she needed to see for herself.
She could not lose a single chance of finding the Vothraki.
Without a second thought, Nina began descending the stairs.
The air grew progressively cooler with every step she took, dropping the temperature until her breath formed faint white clouds in the dim light. The passage carried the distinct scent of damp mineral stone, old dust, and untouched earth.
Thick layers of dust lay undisturbed across the staircase, broken only by the delicate imprint of her bare feet. The staircase seemed endless.
Nina held her breath as she slowly descended the stairs, her heart thudding wildly against her chest.
What if this was not the Vault and it was a den of rogue wolves?
Her feet came to a stop.
Dread coursed through her as she stared into the darkness.
Nina dragged in a breath.
It wasn’t like she had any other place to go. Going back meant being eaten alive; she could only continue forward.
Step after step, she descended deeper, her fingers tracing the rough wall to keep her balance.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she stopped at the final stone.
Nina stopped on the last step, looking back up into the dark stairwell. She’d been coming down for ten minutes, which meant she was far below the pack house, somewhere underground.
A chill settled in her chest.
What exactly was hidden down here?
She turned around and took a step onto the flat stone floor, and then her breath hitched.
Towering double stone doors rose fifteen feet into the vaulted ceiling. Intricate symbols were carved deep into the weathered surface, shifting strangely beneath the silver light of her hair. The edges were worn by age, but the doors still gave off a heavy, suffocating pressure that made her skin prickle.
No chains. No keyholes. No heavy iron bolts.
Yet they looked impossible to open.
Nina stepped closer as she looked at the doors. She followed the carved patterns with her eyes until they all met in the center of the doors—at a deep, hexagonal indentation the exact size of a medallion.
A shaky laugh escaped her throat, the tight knot in her chest finally loosening.
“There you are,” Nina whispered as she raised her hands toward the indentation, stopping just at the brink of it.
Without a single doubt, she knew what this was.
The Alpha’s Vault.
Nina smiled as she pressed both of her hands to the doors. The moment her skin touched the doors, warmth surged out from inside the vault to meet her. Nina gasped and tried to pull back, but her hands were pinned to the stone.
It didn’t burn, though. It felt… welcoming.
She could feel a heavy, ancient power flowing from inside the doors and through her fingers, traveling up her arms and into her chest. Her hair flared, the pale silver glow bursting into a beam of bright light that filled the cavern, like something inside of it was calling out to her.
One by one, the carved symbols on the doors lit up in soft blue fire.
A thrill ran down her spine as her insides hummed with power.
Nina looked up at the glowing runes, a soft chuckle leaving her lips.
“I have found you.”