Heartless Villains (Ruthless Villains Book 3)

My stomach lurched as the floor beneath my foot disappeared in a flash. Since my other leg was already in the air, on the way to the next stone, my balance was completely off and there was no way for me to get back on solid ground.

Panic pulsed through my body as I plummeted down into the hole that had opened up. Wooden poles waited to impale me below. I tried to twist around mid-air and grab something, anything, but I was moving too fast.

A hand wrapped around my forearm.

I sucked in a gasp and locked my fingers around the wrist that had miraculously appeared. It halted the fall enough that I swung towards the side of the hole instead. Pain shot through my shoulder and it felt as though my arm was about to be ripped out of its socket. A cry of pain slipped from my lips, but it was cut off by a huff as I slammed chest first into the stone wall below the edge.

The fingers around my forearm slid upwards until they tightened around my wrist instead.

Looking up, I found Callan’s face staring down at me.

His hand held my wrist in an iron grip, while mine did the same to his. It was the only thing keeping me from falling to my death as my body dangled over the sharp wooden stakes at the bottom of the hole.

Callan was holding on to the edge of the doorway with one hand while leaning down into the hole and keeping his grip on me, and he was clenching his jaw hard.

As I hung there, all I could do was stare up at him.

And for one very long second, I realized that he might actually let me fall. We had reached the Enhancer. All that was left was to grab it and get out again. And now that he already knew where all the traps were, he didn’t need my help to make it through the tunnels anymore.

This was the perfect moment. My hands were occupied so I couldn’t throw magic at him. All he had to do was let go and I would plummet to my death. Paige had told him that she would come for him if I didn’t make it out, and I loved her for that, but the truth was that Callan could squash her like a fly if he really wanted to. So there was nothing stopping him from just letting me die.

Callan’s eyes found mine.

Time seemed to slow down as our gazes met. I just looked up at him in silence, waiting for him to make his decision.

Confusion blew across his features, and he furrowed his brows.

That’s when I realized that the extra seconds of keeping me hanging there had been because he had readjusted the hand that he used to grip the edge of the doorway until it was in a better position. Surprise bloomed inside me. He hadn’t been considering whether or not to let me fall. The surprise was quickly overshadowed as my stomach lurched again when Callan heaved me up and pulled me over the edge.

Stone scraped against my body, and I scrambled to get my legs and my other arm up so that I could help the effort.

When my body was at last fully out of the hole, I rolled over on my back and forced out a shuddering breath. My heart slammed against my ribs. Staring up at the glowing crystals in the ceiling, I just remained lying there on the ground for a few seconds.

“That’s one,” Callan said.

Frowning, I tipped my head a little to the side so that I could look up at him. “One what?”

“One trap.” He jerked his chin. “Now let’s see if there are two different kinds or more than five.”

A surprised laugh bubbled from my chest. It dispelled the lingering panic that had been bouncing around inside me. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I blew out another long breath and then rose to my feet.

The gaping hole in the ground remained. As I turned to study it, I realized that the square-shaped stone I had stepped on hadn’t actually disappeared. It had just slid into the side of it, just like those pathways in the underwater tunnel. The fact that they weren’t triggered until the person stepped off them instead of on was insanely clever. And ridiculously dangerous for us.

“Okay,” I said once my heart had stopped trying to crack my ribs. “I’ll go first.”

Callan arched a dark eyebrow at me in silent question.

“There are probably more stones that disappear like that. And if that happens when you step on it, you’re going to turn into an involuntary hedgehog because there’s no way I’ll be able to pull all of…” I waved my hand in front of his muscled body, “this up on my own.”

He gave me a considering look before nodding in agreement. “Fair point.”

“So, step where I step. And get ready to grab me if the ground disappears.”

“Alright.”

After turning back to the chamber, I moved over to the stone next to the hole. Since I knew that it wouldn’t disappear when I stepped on it, but rather when I stepped off, I just stalked onto it without hesitation. Then I turned to look over my shoulder.

Callan moved until he was standing right behind me. Reaching forward, he held out his arms so that they were waiting in the air on either side of my waist. Once they were in place, he gave me a nod.

I lifted my foot and moved it towards the next stone.

My heart thumped in my chest as I waited for the ground to disappear.

Nothing happened.

After waiting another few seconds, I finished my step and moved over to the stone in front of me. Callan walked onto the one I had just vacated. Positioning himself as close to mine as he could get, he held out his arms again.

I drew in a breath and then raised my leg.

Anxiety flitted through me.

But yet again, the ground held.

“Mark the ones that are safe,” I said without turning to look.

Callan just grunted in acknowledgement.

While blowing out a small sigh, I continued to the next one. Behind me, Callan followed. Once his arms were in place again, I moved to take another step.

The stone below me shot to the side.

A gasp ripped from my throat as I started falling into another hole filled with wooden spikes. But before I could drop more than a foot, strong arms tightened around my chest and yanked me back.

My back slammed into a muscular body a second later.

I let out a nervous laugh as I tried to smother the flash of panic that had shot through me when I fell. Say what you will about Callan Blackwell, but at least the bastard had good reflexes.

“Nice catch,” I said.

He gently sent me down on the ground in front of the hole. “I’m still waiting for a thank you for when I saved your ass from falling the first time.”

While brushing my hands down my clothes, I replied without turning to look at him. “Then you’ll be waiting a long time.”

His fingers brushed over the back of my neck before he threaded them through my hair and closed his fist. With a firm grip on my hair, he pulled his hand downwards, forcing me to crane my neck all the way back until I could meet his gaze where he stood behind me.

“When we’ve settled all of this other business, I’ve really gotta teach you some manners,” he said while a wicked smile danced over his lips.

I smirked back at him. “As always, you’re welcome to try, pretty boy.”

A dark chuckle rumbled from his chest, but he released my hair and instead jerked his chin towards the pedestal. “Just get on with it, sweetheart.”

After shooting him a knowing look, I moved over to the stone that was located to the left of the hole. Blowing out another steadying breath, I stepped onto it. Callan followed.

We repeated the process several times on our way towards the pedestal, but only two more stones fell away from under my feet. Callan caught me both times and pulled me back to the ground in front of him.

It was strange trusting him like that. But I figured that if he didn’t let me fall into that first hole, he wouldn’t do it for any of the other ones either. If he was going to betray me, he would do it once we had gotten the Enhancer out of this room, which meant that in here, I could trust him with my life. It even got to the point where I was barely even worried about the stones disappearing anymore, because I knew that his arms would be there around me before I could plummet to my death.

When we reached the part of the floor that was right next to the pedestal, we stopped. All the other stones on the ground were square-shaped, but the part around the pedestal was fashioned like a circle. I glanced up at the ceiling.

The mass of white crystals covered everything except the area right above that circular stone and the pedestal in the middle of it.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I said as Callan moved over to stand next to me instead of behind me.

He also flicked a glance towards the ceiling. “Me too.”

The Enhancer was so close now. All we had to do was step onto that circular stone and then we would be able to reach it.

“Something will happen when we step onto it, won’t it?” I said.

It was more of a statement than a question, but Callan answered anyway. “Yeah.”

“Do you remember which stones we walked on to get here?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” But before he could retort, I slid my gaze to him and pressed, “Just answer the question.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Good. Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I will step onto the stone and grab the Enhancer and then we’ll run like hell for the doorway. Deal?”

He scowled down at me. “I thought we just agreed that something will happen as soon as you step onto it.”

“Correct.”

“But you’re gonna do it anyway?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“I could knock it off the pedestal with a force blast.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Then we would just have to go deeper into the room to get it. And besides, just the act of taking it off the pedestal might trigger a trap. So then we would have to deal with that while also trying to get the Enhancer back.”

For a moment, it looked like he was about to argue. But then he just blew out a sigh and said, “Fine.”

“Good.” I flashed him a smirk. “Next time, just do as you’re told straight away.”

His dark eyes flickered with the promise of revenge. But before he could say anything, I turned towards the pedestal and the Enhancer waiting on top of it.

“Now, get ready to counter whatever is about to happen.”