Chapter 31 · No Master

"Let go of me, Rayne!" I dug my fingers into his wrist as the bridge split under our boots. "The pup is still in that tunnel."

"And the bridge is coming down!" Rayne hauled me toward the safe side, his grip burning through my sleeve. "You go over that edge, Sera, and I lose you with him."

"You don't get to choose which one of us you lose."

A crack ripped through the stone beneath us. The broken span dropped another foot. Dust punched up around our knees, and somewhere below, the stolen pup let out a thin, terrified cry.

My chest seized.

"There!" I twisted toward the sound. "He's alive."

Rayne caught me around the waist before I could jump. His body slammed into mine, hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. His breath hit my ear, hot and rough, while the bridge groaned beneath both of us.

"Sera, listen to me."

"No. You listen." I shoved at his chest. "Cole's hunters dragged him into the nursery tunnels. If we leave now, they take him across the border."

"If we stay, the whole underground deck buries him."

"Then cut through it."

His jaw tightened.