Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Bulwark glanced down at Nadia. “You ever done this before?”
“No,” she said flatly. “I’m a farmer, not a miner. I mean, I’ve read up a little bit about mining, but I’m not expert. Not even close.” The idea of walking into the darkened interior, past the bowed beams and cracked supports, made a chill slide down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. The mine smelled damp and old. Like earth that hadn’t seen daylight in a very long time. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“It’s a horrible idea,” Bussy said briskly. “Can’t we find a different challenge?”
Solomon shoved his gloved hands in his pockets. “No. Nadia chose a challenge out of the envelope, and this is it. We’re the Slate Pack. Being able to mine slate matters.”
“So does safety,” Nadia said.
Solomon kicked snow off his boots. “Bulwark has to keep you safe. If he doesn’t, he dies.”
“I don’t think I like that,” Bulwark muttered.
“Too bad,” Solomon said, leaning forward and handing Nadia a hard hat with a mounted light. “Those are the rules. Anytime the potential mate—”
“Or trophy,” Margaret added.
“—or trophy,” Solomon continued, “is with you on a challenge, she must emerge alive. If she doesn’t, we all kill you. It’s that simple.”
Nadia appreciated the bluntness. She truly did not want to die.
“Got it,” Bulwark echoed. He reached for his own hard hat and snapped the light on. The beam cut a narrow slice into the darkness of the mine.
“How are we going to know?” Nadia asked quietly. “The slate. The seventy to eighty percent yield.”
“You either know,” Solomon said, “or you don’t.”
Bulwark frowned. “I didn’t jump into this blind. I’ve studied slate.”
“Good,” Solomon said. “Then find a good vein. Chances are the minute someone becomes Alpha, we’ll start mining it. There should be several promising sections deeper in. If you hear running water, watch the floor. You don’t want to fall through it.”
Nadia exchanged a look with Bussy.
Margaret stepped closer and patted her arm. “It’s okay, Nadia. I used to mine all the time. Just keep your wits about you. If the earth starts to rumble, get down, seek safety, and breathe.” She smiled, but her lips trembled slightly. “You’re a wolf. Don’t forget that. If you have to shift, shift to get out. The mine has several entry and exit points. This isn’t the only one.”
That was not as comforting as Margaret probably intended.
“I have full faith,” Margaret added.
Nadia looked around, wishing Caidrik was anywhere nearby, but he wasn’t. He’d been chosen by Taryn first, and their challenge was a mystery. None of the challenges were shared with the other contenders, so they couldn’t make comparisons. Was he intrigued by the beautiful shifter?
“Are you sure you had twenty different challenges in that envelope?” Nadia asked.
Solomon nodded. “Of course. They’re all different. You won’t run into anyone else, especially not here. This mine’s been abandoned for years.”
“Let’s go,” Bulwark said. He turned, ducked his head, and stepped into the darkness. The mine swallowed him almost immediately.
Bussy pulled Nadia in for a quick hug, her arms firm and surprisingly strong. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Okay.” Nadia stepped back and flicked on her helmet lamp. The light felt small and inadequate against the dark ahead. The walls just inside the entrance were slick with moisture, slate layers visible where old tool marks had chipped them unevenly. Rusted bolts jutted from the stone. The ceiling dipped lower than she liked, and water dripped somewhere deeper inside, slow and steady.
She took one last breath of cold, clean air.
Then she turned and followed Bulwark into the mine.
The ground sloped sharply downward, and Nadia tightened her legs to keep her balance, boots scraping over loose gravel and damp stone. “Do you know what you’re doing?” she asked, trying to hurry enough to stay close to him without outright running.
“Not really,” Bulwark admitted, his voice echoing off the rocks. “I mean, how hard can it be?”
That was not reassuring.
She caught up enough to see his outline more clearly, his helmet light cutting a narrow tunnel through the dark. The mine pressed in on every side now, the walls close enough that her shoulders felt boxed in even when she wasn’t touching them. The air smelled of wet rock and old earth.
Bulwark pointed toward a section of boards bolted into the nearest wall. “They shored this place up recently.”
Her pulse jumped. “Yeah?” Hope edged into her voice despite herself.
“Yeah. They didn’t just send us in here blind. See those boards? They’re new.”
Nadia let out a breath. “Good. All right. That’s a good thing.” She scrambled to keep up with him. “So,” she murmured, more to steady herself than anything else. “According to the small amount of research I conducted, the sidewalls are where we get the good veins.”
“All right,” Bulwark said. “Then let’s keep going. Deeper.” He moved forward with more confidence than she felt, watching the walls where old tool marks scarred the stone. “If we find somewhere the crosscuts were started but not expanded, we should be in good shape.”