This time my shiver is more of a shudder, one that I feel rattling my bones. “Duly noted,” I say, my words croaking slightly. I consider summoning some kind of protective bubble around us, but I can only imagine what Arryn would say to that needless use of power. Instead, I keep my arms close to my sides and remind myself of why we’re here and how important our task is.

True to Arryn’s word, the path begins to slope upward as we start back toward the mainland. More than ever, I’m desperate to leave the oppressive tunnel, especially knowing that the walls themselves could be hiding corpses ready to transmit their deadly pathogens. I don’t know what Arryn was thinking, bringing us along this path. And yet, she’s still as cool as can be as she walks confidently ahead, utterly unperturbed by the diseases we could contract with a single misplaced touch.

I struggle not to think about the air we’re breathing in, the stale scent now seeming not just unpleasant but life-threatening. Dread clenches like a vice around my chest, making it difficult for me to draw in oxygen. But it’s not just terror making the task difficult—it’s also because the path is becoming so steep that it’s an effort to keep pace with Arryn’s demanding strides.

Soon, my fears are pushed aside as all my concentration is dedicated to placing one foot in front of the other. I’m sweating enough despite the chilled air that I have to remove my coat, tying it around my waist to keep my hands free for balancing on the uneven, slippery ground.

I’m not sure how long we hike up, up, up from beneath the ocean—twenty minutes, perhaps thirty or more. All I can hear is the sound of my heart racing in my ears and the haggard breaths coming from all three of us. Once again, I reluctantly acknowledge that I never would have managed this venture if Arryn hadn’t forcibly healed me.

“Are we”—Cami pants—“nearly there?”

“Just a few”—Arryn gasps back—“more minutes.”

Indeed, not long after, the path levels out again. But while we might have made it back up to the surface, we’re still underground.

“I take it we’re in the no-touch area?” Cami says around her slowing breaths as we continue along the dark passageway.

“I would recommend against it,” Arryn replies, her own exhalations beginning to ease. “Strongly.”