Page 156 of Scars Beneath a Serpent’s Scales

Emmeline’s Fates pounded at her mind, urging her on. Her skin buzzed, like starfire was pulsing through her veins, reminding her of Metrina’s message to come here. Of the promise she just swore to trust where the stars led her.

So magic trembling within her, Emmeline did.

Chapter Fifty-One

Roremar

Roremar’s heart was beating out of his chest as he raced through the tunnels beneath the cliffs. His knuckles were torn up, but at least the blood had stopped flowing on the ride over here. He could barely process the lingering pain now.

What did Emmeline’s letter mean she was going to the caves? Why in a Fate’s starry-eyed fuck wouldn’t she wait for him? It was after curfew, and she was tied to Anphrosia.

When he first got to the cliffs, he’d thought he’d missed her. He’d prayed that was what happened.

But then he noticed a set of bare footprints that looked about her size—and paw prints—venturing deeper into the tunnels. After what he’d put together tonight, his stomach sank like a damn rock.

He’d grabbed a mystlight lantern and hurried after her without another thought, following the prints around twists and turns leading deeper into the rocky land.

Finally, he rounded a bend and ran straight into her. His arms wrapped around her to stop them both from toppling over.

“Roremar?” Emmeline asked, pressing her hands to his chest.

“Are you okay?” He held the lantern higher, scanning her twice just to be certain. She was covered in dirt, her skirt stained and soaked, but she seemed unharmed.

Cold moisture dripped down the cavern walls, but his heart hammered, sweat beading on his skin.

“Now that you aren’t running me over, yes. What are you doing here? Where did you come from? And why are you bleeding?” Gently, she pulled his free hand closer to inspect the cuts.

“Already almost healed,” he insisted, waving her off. “What are you doing here? I got your note, but it didn’t explain everything. Did you figure out about the caves? And what’s Cirre doing?”

Emmeline stiffened. “Cirre found me, and what about the caves?”

She didn’t know. Didn’t know that Darcy had found those cave drawings and supplies out near the jungle settlements, or that Roremar suspected all the tunnels were connected.

“I’ll explain, but you first. Why are you here?”

“My ring—I lost it. But look.” Emmeline flashed him her hand, light unlike anything he’d ever seen dancing in her eyes.

He tried to set aside his terror in favor of that smile, taking a deep breath over the panic still in a vice around his lungs. “What’s so special about this ring, Huntress?”

She blanched as if she thought he wouldn’t ask. Hazel eyes sought his, so many questions pouring between a dozen colors. Since her walls came crashing down, this dire need to answer them all had mounted in him. But he needed her to meet him halfway, give him something to work with.

Cirre sat ahead of them, tail swishing like a patient pendulum counting the seconds for Emmeline. He’d wait for fucking ever if she needed him to.

“It was my mother’s,” she finally admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “She gave one to me and one to my sister when we were girls. A matching pair. I couldn’t find it tonight, and Metrina told me to look for it here.”

His heart shattered at the longing in her words. He hated that he hadn’t been there when she was panicking. Roremar pulled her to him, relishing in the feel of her against him.

“I have no idea if she’ll still have hers when I find her.” Emmeline’s voice cracked as she peered up at him from beneath her lashes. “But I need to have mine. She needs to know I never forgot about her.”

The urge to kiss her twisted through him—to tilt her chin up and claim her in this very tunnel—but her words only succeeded in reminding Roremar that she was leaving soon. He couldn’t trap her here. So instead, he cupped the back of her head and held her to his chest.

“You’re going to find her,” he swore. Soon. She’d find her soon.

“Where were you?” Emmeline asked, pulling back. “I went to Fated Ink, but no one was there.”

Cold doused his veins. “Isle Guard. Darcy wrote to me. He found the star symbol from the tattoos carved into a cave out in the jungle.”

Emmeline eyes widened. “What?”