Juli followed without hesitation, one hand on the wall and the other resting on her pommel.
"For the record," she said behind him, "if we die in here, I'm haunting you forever!"
Eli huffed a small laugh.
"I'd expect nothing less. I'd feel really lonely if you weren't around."
Her cheeks flushed slightly before returning to normal.
The daylight shrank above them with every step of the way, until it was just a thin silver of green and gold. Even that was gone when they reached the twentieth step.
When his foot touched flat ground, he gestured for Juli to stop and take point. Since there was no knowing what lay inside, they had to keep their voices down.
Ahead stretched a corridor of pale stone, its walls lined with moss and streaked with some kind of black stain. The ceiling was low enough that Juli could touch it if she raised her hand, which meant Eli was nearly as tall as the passageway.
