The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 507

Chapter 507

Ellie’s POV

When I woke, my ankle didn’t hurt anymore. My head pounded and I felt like I was going to puke, but that was nothing compared to the face that, when I looked down, my ankle was no longer snapped open and all my other wounds were neutralized.

I laid still until the nausea passed. When it did, I finally sat up, leaning back against the wall, and checked the fruit.

It was still glowing against my chest, but weaker now. The light used to reach the top of the pit. Now it faded out somewhere around halfway, the pulse under the skin slower than before. I didn’t want to think about what I’d do down here when it went out entirely.

So I didn’t. I stood, dusted myself off, and looked for a way up.

The walls were smooth, but I realized now that my head had cleared that they weren’t completely seamless. I found seams where the slabs met, thin lips of rock barely deep enough for my fingertips, and above them, the trapdoor slab still hung down into the pit on its hinge. If I could climb high enough to reach its bottom edge, I could haul myself over it and out.

The first attempt, I managed to get six feet up before a seam crumbled under my boot and I felt flat on my back.

I laid there wheezing until my lungs started working again. Then I got up and tried again.

The second fall was worse, because it was from higher, and because I landed on the arm with the freshly healed hand and spent a good minute swearing at the ceiling. On the third attempt, I went slower. My arms were shaking by the time the slab’s edge came into reach, and hauling myself over it was not graceful in the slightest, but then I was out, lying on the corridor floor with my cheek against the stone.

“Never again,” I muttered.

I walked for a long time after that.

I listened for footsteps behind me the whole way. None came. Either I’d hit Stephanie harder than I thought, or she’d found her own way out and left me for dead. I wasn’t sure which option scared me more.

It was at the fifth or sixth junction that I finally stopped, because I remembered.

The library. The way out is through the library. I will guide you.

I’d heard her say it right before the dark took me. And I’d heard her start to say it once before, right before Stephanie appeared.

I stood in the middle of the junction, feeling somewhat ridiculous, and closed my eyes.

“Alright,” I said. “Guide me, then. I’m listening.”

Nothing happened. No light appeared, and no voice answered. But strangely, I felt calm. All the panic I’d felt was gone, and suddenly, everything just… made sense.

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