Chapter 146
The first thing I feel when I wake up is heat—oppressive, suffocating heat. My eyes flutter open, and I’m greeted by a hellish glow. Molten rock oozes like liquid fire, casting jagged shadows across the cavern walls. My body aches, my head throbs, and my lungs feel like they’ve been filled with ash. I sit up slowly, blinking away the dizziness, and realize I’m surrounded by the collapsed remains of the lava tube.
“Phoebe.” Cora’s voice cuts through the haze, sharp and commanding. I turn to see her crouched a few feet away, her face illuminated by the faint orange glow of the lava. Her hair, usually so pristine, clings to her sweat-drenched forehead, and there’s a streak of soot smeared across her cheek.
“What happened?” I croak, my throat raw and dry.
Cora doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, she scans the cavern, her sharp blue eyes darting to every crevice and crack. Finally, she looks at me. “The volcano erupted. The tubes collapsed. We’re lucky we weren’t buried alive.”
Lucky. Right. I glance around, taking in the jagged rocks, the narrow tunnels, and the rivers of molten death creeping too close for comfort. “Yeah, we’re real lucky,” I mutter, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
Cora stands, brushing debris off her arms. “We don’t have time for this. Get up.”
Her tone is clipped, impatient. It grates on me. “I just woke up,” I snap. “Give me a second to figure out where the hell I am and why everything hurts.”
Cora narrows her eyes, her jaw tightening. “We’re in a lava tube under an active volcano. The walls could collapse at any moment, and the lava’s already too close for comfort. Does that help clarify things?”
I bite back a retort and force myself to stand, ignoring the wobble in my knees. My hands are scraped raw from the fall, and every muscle in my body protests as I straighten up. “Okay, fine. Where to?”
Cora points toward a narrow passage barely wider than my shoulders. “Through there.”
I stare at the opening, my stomach twisting. The passage looks more like a death trap than an escape route. “Are you sure about that? Because it looks like it could collapse if I breathe on it too hard.”
Cora crosses her arms, her expression hard as stone. “It’s the only way forward. Unless you’d rather stay here and wait for the lava to catch up.”
I glare at her, frustration bubbling in my chest. “You don’t have to talk to me like I’m five. I get it.”
Her lips press into a thin line, but she doesn’t apologize. Instead, she steps closer, her tone softening—barely. “This isn’t about coddling you, Phoebe. It’s about survival. I need you to trust me.”
Trust her. The words hang heavy in the air. My chest tightens, and I cross my arms defensively. “That’s asking a lot, considering everything.”
Cora exhales sharply, clearly exasperated. “I don’t have time to unpack your trust issues right now. If we want to get out of here alive, you’re going to have to set your doubts aside and follow my lead.”
The frustration bubbles over, and before I can stop myself, I snap, “Maybe I’d follow your lead if you didn’t treat me like a liability every second of the day.”
Cora’s expression falters, just for a moment. Then she squares her shoulders and steps past me, heading toward the narrow tunnel. “Believe what you want, but staying here isn’t an option. You can follow me, or you can stay behind. Your choice.”
The words sting, but she doesn’t look back to see my reaction. I stare at her retreating figure, torn between anger and fear. The thought of following her into that claustrophobic tunnel makes my skin crawl, but staying here with the lava creeping closer isn’t exactly appealing either.
“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath, my fists clenching at my sides.
Reluctantly, I follow.
The tunnel is worse than I imagined. The walls are jagged and uneven, forcing me to hunch over as I crawl through. The air is thick and stifling, every breath tasting of sulfur and ash. Sweat drips down my face, stinging my eyes, and the sound of the lava flowing behind us is an ever-present reminder of how close we are to disaster.
“Keep moving,” Cora says from ahead, her voice echoing in the tight space.
“I am moving,” I snap, my frustration mounting with every step. “Not all of us have a lifetime of experience crawling through death traps.”
Cora stops abruptly, turning to face me. “Do you think I enjoy this?” she asks, her tone cold but steady. “Do you think I wanted to be here, dragging my granddaughter through an erupting volcano because of choices I made decades ago?”
I open my mouth to respond, but the words catch in my throat. The raw emotion in her voice catches me off guard. For a moment, I see past the hard exterior—the guilt, the regret, the fear.
“I made mistakes, Phoebe,” she continues, her voice softening. “But right now, all I care about is getting you out of here alive. So please, just—”
Her words are cut off by a deep rumble that shakes the tunnel. The walls tremble, bits of rock breaking loose and pelting us like hail. I stumble, catching myself against the wall as the ground heaves beneath me.
“Move!” Cora shouts, her voice cutting through the chaos.
I don’t hesitate this time. I follow her through the tunnel, my heart pounding in my chest. The rumbling grows louder, the walls around us groaning under the pressure. Just when I think I can’t take another step, the tunnel widens, and we stumble into a larger cavern.
The air is cooler here, the glow of the lava faint in the distance. For the first time since waking up, I feel like I can breathe.
Cora leans against the wall, her chest heaving as she catches her breath. I sink to the ground, my legs trembling beneath me. For a moment, neither of us speaks, the tension between us hanging heavy in the air.
Finally, I break the silence. “For the record, I don’t think you enjoy this. But you don’t make it easy to trust you.”
Cora looks at me, her expression unreadable. “Trust isn’t given, Phoebe. It’s earned. And I’ll earn yours, if you’ll let me.”
I nod, unsure of what to say. The anger and frustration are still there, but so is something else—something softer. Hope, maybe.
“Let’s keep moving,” Cora says after a moment, pushing off the wall. “We’re not out of this yet.”
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