The Glass Man - Lila Gray Book 1

Chapter Twenty-One

Liam and Garret wandered a little way along the wall, while I stood before one of the openings. Giving me space, even though I hadn't asked for it. I suffered another wave of guilt while staring at the place my mother had lived before I'd ruined it all for her because of some stupid prophesy. Donovan had said the fae couldn't live happily away from the fae cities. My mother had hidden more from me than I'd imagined.

The song fell from my lips, as if drawn out of me by the gateway itself.

"Codail a mhuirnín, codail a stor

Dún do shúile

Gheobhair is gheobhair, o gheobhair a pháiste

Codail a stóirín go ciúin is go sámh"

For the longest time, nothing happened. We stared at each other, back at the wall, all of us in the grips of crushing disappointment.

A small sound brought my head up. "Do you hear that?" I said. "It sounds like..." Humming?

"There!" Garret pointed at the opening second from the left. "There's light coming out."

"Here's hoping that's a good thing." Liam grumbled as he hastened past me.

I leveled a glare at him. "What's your problem?"

"Okay, stop." Garret pushed back the hood of his black cloak and stopped in front of us. "Would you two just kiss and makeup already? This day has been hard enough without the two of you chewing at each other like a pair of pissed off trolls."

My nose wrinkled as I thought it over. "Trolls don't exist. Right?"

Garret groaned in frustration and looked away for a moment before he set his ice blue eyes back on me. "Don't change the subject. We should be helping each other through this, not throwing daggers."

I drew in a giant breath and huffed it out. "Look, I'm sorry I'm angry, and I'm sorry it's coming out this way. Let's get inside. I promise I'll shut up if he does." I jabbed a thumb toward Liam.

"That'd be a miracle I'd like to see," Liam muttered.

I scowled at him. "I heard that."

"Goddess, I'm starting to wonder who's the grownup here." Garret shook his head, turned, and disappeared into the lit opening in the granite. Liam gave a bow and a dramatic sweep of his arm to usher me inside.

I rolled my eyes and strode past him.

He followed me in, laughed as though trying to keep some ugly words inside his mouth. My guilt worsened. Just having him close soothed my soul, so why did I keep pushing him away?

Because he betrayed me.

Because he let my father die without giving me a chance to save him.

Because he's of Parthalan's people, that's why.

Bullshit. Fucking coward.

Shaking off my own dark thoughts, I moved farther along the tunnel, expecting cooler, damper air inside the cave. Instead, I found comforting warmth. The walls were smooth instead of bumpy, and everything gleamed as if someone had recently polished it from floor to ceiling.

Garret walked ahead of me, jumping every time he kicked a pebble, or a foot fell harder than the time before. A halo of dark blond hair stood out all over his head. The sight of him reminded me of the way he'd looked around Rourke. Small, vulnerable. Hopefully, nobody had found Rourke wherever Donovan had chained him up. I shivered despite the warmth.

The light hovering in the distance of the cave never changed, never allowed us to catch up, and never left us behind. We followed it in silence until the tunnel opened into a wide, underground lake. The rock ceiling hovered only a few feet above the water. Crouching down, we could see the tiny light on the far side. It had to be at least a mile across.