This whole thing was a cruel joke, and he wasn’t laughing.
After another thunderous warning, the roof collapsed. A slab twelve feet long and wide fell and crushed the king-sized mattress that they’d been lying on. The bed’s frame shattered under the weight of the ice. Shards burst out to the sides like that shrapnel Darien feared and peppered him across his back and legs. Thankfully none pierced his skin, just nicked him like tiny razor blades. Pain seared him from toe to head and he winced to stop from crying out.
And just like that, the room ceased to shake. Sucked into a silent vacuum, it was as if the event had never happened.
Koori blinked up at him. “Is it over?” Her voice was so small and full of fear. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close, running a soothing hand over her hair.
“I think so.”
Still linked together, they stood and surveyed the damage. Every piece of furniture had been smashed into small pieces. There were small holes in the walls. In one instance, Darien could peer through one and see the next room. The most telling evidence of the quake was the giant gaping hole in the ceiling.
Taking Koori’s hand in his, they walked to the center of the room and looked up. Through the jagged hole, they could clearly see something gray and swirling. Storm clouds, Darien thought. Bitter cold air rushed through the room and Koori nuzzled closer to him. Gooseflesh popped up all over his skin.
Darien had no doubt that it was the sky above him. The palace had been breached. There was a way out.
“This is it, Koori, our way out.”
“What?”
He nodded toward the gaping hole. “We can climb up and go through that to the outside.”
“How?”
“I have rope, grappling hooks, everything we need.” He glanced toward the corner where Koori had stacked all of his equipment from the ditched SUV. It was lucky that she had possessed the presence of mind to bring his things with him. Or maybe it was fate.
He was never one to believe in such things, more confident to rely only on what he could see, touch and measure. But with the way events were turning out, he couldn’t rely on stone-cold logic anymore—because everything that had happened since waking on the bed of ice just didn’t exist within that logical realm.
She shook her head. “It won’t let us leave.”
He held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “We have to try, Koori. It’s our only opportunity.”
When she met his gaze, he saw a kaleidoscope of emotions in the pale depths. He could imagine what she was feeling—fear and hope. He felt it, too. Hope that they could be free of the ice prison and fear that it was completely and utterly pointless.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
She hesitated for a brief second before nodding. “Yes, I trust you, Darien.”
Cupping her cheeks, he leaned in and kissed her. Not a quick peck of lips but a long, thorough tasting of her. He needed her to know that he cared for her, that he would do whatever he could to free her from this curse.
He hugged her close and buried his face into the silk of her hair. “I’ll get us out of here. I promise you.”
Chapter 11
T wenty minutes later, Darien was outfitted for the blistering cold outdoors. He had the grappling hook and rope wrapped around his shoulder, ready to go. In the large hiking pack he put on his back, he shoved the rest of his stuff—a hot plate, thermal blanket and the small pup tent designed for extreme temperatures that Jiro had given to him.
Beside him, Koori stood only dressed in her kimono staring up at the ceiling. She told him she was impervious to the cold temperature and didn’t need the extra clothing and equipment. She didn’t even want or need shoes. He definitely would need everything he could carry, once they reached the outdoors.
As she surveyed the roof, he could see in her face that she was just waiting for it to disappear. She’d shared with him the different ways she’d tried to escape and all of them had failed miserably with the palace reconstructing itself.
He glanced at the gaping hole and hoped it was too much damage for the castle to heal itself. He guessed they’d soon find out.
Holding the hook in one hand, he swung his arm up toward the break. The hook soared through the air, the rope trailing behind it like a kite’s tail. Darien held his breath, praying as the hook disappeared through the gap. In seconds he was pulling on the rope. He could feel the hook move until finally, thankfully, it found purchase and stuck. He yanked on the rope again. It held firm.
“I’m going to go first and make sure it’s safe up top.”
Koori nodded and watched as he grabbed the rope in both hands and started to climb. The ceilings were high in the palace, so it took him a bit to make it to the top. Once there, he swung his leg up and onto the jagged ledge and pulled himself up. The ice didn’t break. It held under his weight.
Leaning over the edge, he called down to Koori. “It’s your turn. Grab the rope, and climb up to my hand.” He held it out to show her she didn’t have to climb that far to reach him.
Without hesitation, she gripped the rope and made her way up. She was strong, showing great power in both her arms and legs as she climbed hand over hand, bare feet clutching at the rope.
Six inches from reaching his outstretched hand, the ice started to reform.
By the way Koori’s eyes widened in alarm she noticed it about the same time he did. “Darien!” she called, fear making her voice shrill.
“Keep coming! You can make it.”
With every inch she advanced up the rope, the ice made the same progress. Darien watched in horror as it knitted back together faster than he could see. The sound was deafening, like a knife being sharpened faster and faster on a flint.
Wrapping his hand in the rope near the hook, Darien leaned farther into the hole stretching his fingers out to her. A long, agonizing minute later, she reached him.
Once they hooked fingers, he started to pull her up. Thankfully she weighed next to nothing, and progress was quick. But not as quick as the sheet of ice forming over the hole. It was going to be tight.
“Oh, God, Darien!”
He had her hand now firmly in his, now her arm, her head. Her shoulders came through, and he wrapped his hands around her waist to yank her body the rest of the way out. But the ice was forming too quickly. He wasn’t strong or fast enough to save her. Her legs were going to be stuck in between. What would happen then? Would she be half in and half out of the palace for an eternity? He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t.
With all his power, he yanked her up. Falling backward, he pulled her with him until finally she was through, the ice skimming her toes. The hole sealed shut with a final earsplitting shrill.
Darien lay on his back, breathing hard, Koori clutched to his chest. His arms were cramping, but he was afraid to let her go. Adrenaline still shot through his system, but it was starting to slow. He could hear her ragged breathing and knew she was struggling, too. It had been close. Too close for his heart to take.
Finally, she stirred against him. “You can let go now, Darien. I’m safe.” He released his hold on her and she rolled off him onto the roof. Rising to her knees, she looked down at him and caressed his cheek. “Are you hurt?”
Sitting up, he shook his head. “No. But that was much too close for my liking.”
She smiled. “Mine, as well.”
Darien took in their surroundings. The wind howled around them, swirling snow and bits of ice into their faces. He didn’t know how Koori could be unaffected as he was already starting to feel the bite of the cold. But she was. She wasn’t even shivering. Long strands of black hair swirled around her head like a dark cloud of silk, but other than that there was no indication that the weather bothered her at all.
Luckily they were on a flat part of the roof, but the rest of it was constructed with turrets and points. They would definitely need the grappling hook and rope to get to the ground. He hoped he brought enough rope or else this might all be just an exercise in futility and they wouldn’t be going anywhere.
He stood to get a better picture of their situation.
The view didn’t do much for his confidence in getting them out. All he could see was gray. Above them, below them. All around. The blowing snow didn’t help, either. It was as if he were standing in the middle of a gray tornado, directly in the center with no sense of direction. Despair washed over him, draining him of all the hope he’d mustered before attempting this crazy escape. He was going to fail her.
Movement at his side startled him from his reverie. Koori stood beside him, her hand curled around his.
“You have done more for me than I could possibly imagine. More than I have been able to do for myself.” She squeezed his hand tight. “We can make it out of here together. I can feel it. For the first time in a thousand years I have hope. It is because of you.”
He met her gaze and saw there the strength he needed to move on. She believed in him. Koori made him feel invincible, as if he could take on the world and win.
“Okay. The first thing we need to do is get off this roof.”
He twisted around looking for the best and safest way to make their descent. Gathering the hook and rope, Darien walked to the edge of the flat surface and looked down. There was another level below this one. It was flat like this one and appeared to be stable.
“How many levels are there in this place?”
Koori shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve only ever been on one level.”
Darien looked down again. He couldn’t remember ever seeing any staircases in the castle, especially during his search for Koori’s room. He guessed there could’ve been stairs possibly tucked into obscure corners, but he wondered why he never ran across one. The castle was huge, but as far as he could tell it was all on one level. Obviously, the palace had a mind of its own and decided to grow a few floors to make it more difficult for them to leave.
“It’s more trickery and magic. Junzo was always very good at punishing people.” Her voice was filled with hopelessness. He hated to hear it. It tore at him.