Ethan looked down at Nora. “Still with me?” he asked. She nodded, though her grip on the table betrayed her fear. “Don’t leave me,” she said. “I won’t,” he promised—and then lifted himself into the darkness above. Ethan hauled himself fully through the hatch, bracing his forearms against cold stone. He turned immediately and reached back down. Nora didn’t hesitate this time.
She climbed fast, fear lending her speed, and Ethan grabbed her wrists and pulled until she tumbled beside him, breathless. They were standing in a narrow passage, barely more than a corridor carved into the mountain. The ceiling sloped unevenly, and the walls glistened faintly. Light rippled across the stone ahead of them, dancing in soft, wavering patterns.