Chapter 28 · Shadows of the Deep

"Don’t touch him." I drove my shoulder into the hunter before his knife could reach Kane’s throat.

The impact barely moved him. It did move me. His hand closed around the back of my neck, and my face hit the stone hard enough to flash white.

"You’ve got three seconds," he said. "Tell me where the delver went."

"He’s right behind you."

The hunter glanced over his shoulder.

I bit his wrist.

He swore and loosened his grip. I twisted free, dropped low, and kicked the back of his knee. He buckled. Not much. Enough.

I grabbed Kane’s coat and hauled him toward the crack in the wall.

"Move," I hissed.

Kane’s boots dragged across the floor. Blood ran from his side, dark and thick, soaking through his shirt and dripping between the stones.

"You’re terrible at following orders," he said.

"You’re terrible at staying alive. We all have flaws."

The hunter rose behind us.

A chain snapped through the air.

I shoved Kane down. The chain struck the wall where his head had been and carved a bright line through the black rock.

"Jessa!" Kane grabbed my ankle. "Left. Now.