Chapter 20 · And if I use it to walk out of your camp?

"And if I use it to walk out of your camp?"

"I follow."

"If I take my pup and disappear?"

"I follow."

His answer should've comforted me. Instead, it tightened the bond under my ribs.

"You'd let me leave?"

Rayne held my stare. "I'd rather follow you than bury you."

I closed my fist around the command seal. "You make that sound like a choice."

"It is."

"No, it isn't. You smell the bond every time you stand near me. You'd chase me even if I told you to stay."

His jaw flexed. "Then tell me to stay."

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

The pup cried again.

This time, the sound came from below the old supply shed.

I spun toward the stack of rotting crates. "There. Move them."

Rayne signaled two soldiers. They shoved the crates aside, revealing a narrow stone hatch and a black iron ring.

The lieutenant grabbed Rayne's arm. "Commander, that tunnel's sealed."

"Not anymore."

"The old passages were abandoned after the silver mines collapsed."

"Then pray nothing survived down there."

I dropped to my knees and brushed dirt from the hatch.