Chapter 10

Corin

I wasn't sure if I liked Min-Ji's silence any better than her anger. Both made me feel like my heart was about to burst out of my chest. It had been better when she didn't know that the mate bond was real, even if she suspected. I didn't want her to feel rejected; I didn't want her to hurt. Not for the first time, I cursed the blasted female who made this necessary. If I told Zathar, I knew he'd tell me he'd take care of it, but he couldn't, and it wouldn't be right to ask that of him.

The tunnel collapse was a welcome distraction, but it was a major problem. Stones lay piled against the door we needed; only the upper half was visible. Even worse, I could see crude welds all along the metal frame of the part of the door that was still visible. Vrash hadn't just locked them in there; he'd sealed their tomb.

"Can you climb up there?" I asked Min-Ji. She was small and nimble; she might fit on top of the rubble to reach the door. These metal panels weren't always completely soundproof. If the warriors were still alive, she might be able to make contact.

My brave mate gave me a determined nod, her lips set in a firm line, and her brow furrowed. She pulled a leather strap from a pocket and used it to tie her silky black hair back into a tail at the nape of her neck. "You bet your ass I can," she said fiercely.

"Do you think one of those fire flasks could take care of the stones?" She was already clambering up the rocks, nimble as an Arazal or Sleara. I was glad to see her distracted; we'd focus on this mission first, and then we'd talk. I didn't want to, because I didn't know how to make it right for her, but she deserved a better explanation than the one I'd given her.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Min-Ji shouted once she reached the top of the pile of rubble. I had watched her climb with the constant fear that the rubble would shift and she would get injured. I should have tried to climb it myself first or at least tested how stable that rock collapse was. When my mate started pounding with a fist on the door, I worried that the noise would set off another rockfall.

All I could do was scan the tunnel and the debris with my eyes to verify its state. I didn't have any tools with me that could fully reassure me, though I knew that relics must have existed that could. The repair bots would be able to help, but I had sent all of them to repair the failing hydro plant, which was a dire task in itself. Those turbines had been at risk of catastrophically failing—and taking out the entire power system with them.

I would first have to try to move the rocks by hand to clear the exit, but Min-Ji was right; maybe a controlled explosion was the way to go. Excitement at that prospect pushed away my guilt over hurting Min-Ji. If I placed charges at several precise spots, I was certain I could manage a very small blast that would shift the rubble without causing another collapse. That would significantly speed up digging out the door.

"No response," Min-Ji sighed, but she didn't give up, and knocked on the panel in a precise rhythm. I knew why she did that—it was clever. A rhythm like that couldn't be natural, so it couldn't be mistaken for anything but another person. It paid off, too. When she waited for a minute to give the trapped warriors a chance to respond, we heard it: a soft, muted knocking that mimicked exactly what my mate had done.

We shared an excited look. "They're alive! We found them!" I said and moved closer, as close as I dared to get to the rubble that Min-Ji perched on. I didn't want to dislodge any of it while she was sitting on top—one rock like that could crush her hand or foot. I didn't want to test the extent of my healing abilities with the handheld device. I shuddered as I remembered the dire period when she wouldn't wake up. It had taken her several days to recover from that head injury, and I never wanted to go through that again.

"Focus on telling them to back away from the door while we blow away this rubble. I'll determine what charges to use." She gave me a nod, then twisted closer to the door and started knocking again. She shouted at the same time, but it didn't seem like we could hear voices through the sealed panel.

I was just about to question how we could warn them to back away from the door for safety. If we couldn't, I'd have to dig this all out by hand, and that would take hours. But Min-Ji gave me a sunny smile. "Thank God! I think Kalani understands my Morse code! Or maybe it's Reid. Either way, they've confirmed they'll maintain a distance. You're good to go."

I did not know what this Morse code was, but I'd make sure to have her explain it to me later. It was clearly a very useful tool. When she dropped down from the rocks, I didn't waste any time and started pulling out my mixtures. It was going to take a moment to find the best spots for my charges, but I could only do this once—it had to be right.

My mate's eyes on me the entire time made me feel like a youngling, maybe even in the first stage of molting—all awkward and ugly. My fingers felt clumsy as I slid the first small cylinder into a crevice, but she was smiling and Triff was humming merrily; they weren't judging me. That was all in my head.

This time, my vials with mixtures weren't volatile to air like the fire flasks. I had to ignite these with a flame, and to do that safely, I had to use nearly all the rolled-up fuse I'd brought with me. If this didn't work, I would be all out of supplies. "Back up more, around the corner." Min-Ji hurried to obey, her footsteps retreating, followed by Triff's hum.

Once I was certain they were at a safe distance, I ignited my fuse and hurried to take cover with them. It was very tempting to curl her in my coils then, for extra protection, but I made do with hovering protectively in front of her. If I gave in and touched her now… I wouldn't be able to stop doing it.

The explosion rocked the tunnel, rock clattering as it was flung in every direction, breaking apart from the force. A cloud of dust filled the tunnel, and I shuttered my nictitating membranes to keep it out of my eyes. Min-Ji coughed, and she threw up an arm to protect her face, as she lacked a helpful extra eyelid like I had. When the rumbling died down, it was tempting to move and see the results, but I made us wait longer. I didn't want to risk the tunnel collapsing on top of us.

Eventually, most of the dust had settled, and I could peer around the corner without risking the possibly unstable tunnel for an appraisal. "What do you think? Safe?" I asked out loud, but I knew it was up to me to make the decision. I saw no new cracks along the ceiling, and the large rocks that had fallen in front of the door had been broken down into many smaller chunks. They'd also spread out more along the tunnel, and I could now reach the metal panel and get a better look at the welds that held it closed.

"Only one way to find out," Min-Ji said. Regardless of the danger, one of us had to go. We had to get the warriors out. She pouted, her bottom lip sticking out when I told her to stay put, and the expression almost startled a laugh out of me. That was my mate, always catching me by surprise. I knew she was a little miffed that I wanted her to keep her distance, but she also wanted to lighten the mood, to give me some hope that this had worked.

Triff had trouble with the rocks that covered most of the tunnel floor, but my tough scales and agile body had no issue with the rough terrain. To the sound of the cleaning bots' dejected beeps, I made my careful way to the now mostly revealed door. The welds were crude, done in a hurry, but they were straight as a knife. The repair bots must have done it, but they had not stuck around to fix up their seams.

Pulling a leather pouch from my backpack, I weighed it in my hand as I considered the welds. This powder would heat it when applied, making the weld easier to damage with my blade afterward. But this was a tight space, and the area had already collapsed once. "Close your eyes," I said over my shoulder. "This will be bright."

Min-Ji made a huffing noise, but I was certain she'd done as I'd asked; she was a very smart female. I applied the mixture with a claw, then blew the catalyst onto it that I carried in a second pouch. My nictitating membranes and my scales protected me from the heat and the bright, purple-hued light. It flashed and sizzled with a loud hissing noise, burning along the weld I'd treated. I didn't let it cool down, attacking the now-heated seam with my blade moments after the powder had burned away.

It took several treatments of my powder and catalyst before I had managed to undo one entire side of the door, but that was good enough. It would have to do because I was now all out of powder, and, thus, out of tricks. I pulled out my longest blade for this next step and wedged it into the narrow gap between the door and the jamb. With some rope and rock, I made sure I had the right leverage to apply. Then, I heaved with all my strength.

The metal groaned and creaked, but the remaining welds couldn't hold against that kind of power. The door started to slide, and once the gap was wide enough, many hands made short work of the tasks. My brothers helped from the other side to yank the portal open with brute force. Then we were slapping shoulders, tapping tails and fists, and uttering relieved greetings.

I counted all the missing warriors, which included a very flustered Water Weaver male, a very calm former Warlord, and my best friend, Iave. The midnight sheen of his dark blue scales stood out among the many bright blue and purple Naga, and he greeted me with a tight embrace. "What took you so long, brother? We've been stuck down here forever!"

From the corner of my eye, I could see that Min-Ji was greeting people too, Triff tucked under her arm so the bot could cross the rock-strewn floor. She was smiling and laughing at things the warriors said, and they were blatantly flirting, not even a little hindered by their bout of captivity. They thought she was their last shot at a mate, the last single human female. They didn't know she was mine , and it tore at my gut not to slither over there and stake a very public claim.

I forced myself to look away, my gut churning so harshly that I couldn't focus on the relief of finding them all in one piece. My ears were attuned to anything Min-Ji said, and I couldn't bring my attention back to Iave and Krashe until I heard her greet Kalani—the only woman trapped, because she was a fierce warrior like my friend Iave and refused to sit on the sidelines. Kalani and Min-Ji hugged, and then the two were whispering as they updated each other on what had happened.

"Where is Reid?" I asked when I realized the human male wasn't anywhere to be seen. Of everyone here, Reid and I had grown closest over the past few months. I deeply respected the human and his ability to keep up with the Naga warriors despite his smaller size and lack of a tail. Reid had a dry wit and a keen eye, and unlike my brethren, he understood when I talked about the relics of our ancestors.

"Over here," Iave said gruffly, his deep voice taking on a worried note that only someone who knew him well would notice. I shot my friend a look and frowned when I realized he had lowered his brow in a deep furrow. He gestured with a hand at a pile of furs and blankets against the far wall, close to where the metal gate had lowered that prevented the water from escaping.

"I'll have warriors secure the door and the tunnel beyond. We'll be ready to move as soon as he's done," Krashe said, easily slipping into the leadership role he was so accustomed to. The red Naga slithered away, and I followed my friend to the furs. I noticed Reid's pale face first, sticking out from beneath a lavender fur and covered with a fine sheen of sweat.

"What happened to him?" I asked. They had access to water, and I'd already been assured that they weren't out of food yet, so it couldn't be anything like starvation or dehydration. He looked sick. I slipped out my handheld healing device and crouched next to him to appraise the situation. He was out cold, his eyes moving rapidly behind his eyelids, his breathing a bit too rapid to be normal.

"On the third day we were trapped, a gas was blown into the cave," Iave explained. "Kalani feared it was some kind of poison, but only Reid got sick. Nobody else did. We've all been in exceptional health, aside from being trapped." I cast a worried glance around the hydro plant, which was dormant on account of the water not moving inside the channel. Min-Ji was mingling with everyone. What if she got sick too? I had to find out what this was as soon as possible.