by JJ King
“God, it’s beautiful up here,” Keme gazed down at the quilted countryside below them as they reached the table top of the mountain.
“Just a bit different from your fields of wheat, I’d say.” Daphne linked her arm through his and snuggled into his warmth.
“Then you’d say right.” Keme scanned the whole of the valley, his eyes shining from enjoyment. She loved seeing him like this.
“This was fun,” she chuckled, “the part where we spent the last few hours climbing, not the possibly heading to our deaths part.” Daphne smiled despite the truth of her words, “Maybe when all this is over we can plan a hiking trip somewhere. Mount Kilimanjaro or Machu Picchu.”
Keme looked down at her with a grin, “I’ve always wanted to see the ruins, but never had the time, plus,” he continued, giving her a squeeze, “Peru isn’t really that far from Belize. I vote we start there.”
Daphne’s smiled widened as she thought it over, “Mid-honeymoon excursion, perhaps. It’s perfect.” She stretched up on her toes to give him a kiss. “I can’t wait.”
They turned back onto the trail and kept walking. Daphne half listened to the story of Diarmuid and Grainne being told by their perky guide, but her mind wandered, sticking on the dangers ahead of them. The very real and significant dangers.
There was a chance she’d never see her wedding day or get to climb to the Mayan ruins with her mate. The thought chilled her, but she focused her mind on the issue rather than pushing it away. Even though she knew it wasn’t true, it sometimes felt like Katherine and Quinn were too quick to rush into life threatening situations. Maybe it was the fact that they were all but bulletproof. She wasn’t and neither was Keme nor Ronan. Rose was a wild card, they didn’t know what she could do.
They were doing the right thing, she knew that, but there had to be a better way to do it. They could have gone to the Council for one, or the Geliget elders. Yet, they were on their own, the six of them, closing in on a murdering psychopath who might be completely aware of their approach. He could also be nowhere near Benbulbin.
She’d brought up their options a few times, now, reminding the group that they could have the whole of wolfdom behind them, if they’d just ask. They’d had reasons, justifications, mostly based on stealth and timeliness, but it still galled. Being the only voice of reason in the midst of a band of brothers’ type group, was exhausting, and she hated any of them thinking, even for a second, that she was too afraid or unwilling to fight the good fight for these women. She was willing, but she was also afraid. Afraid they wouldn’t all make it back from this mission, afraid to lose her mate and the closest friend she’d ever known.
But mostly, she was afraid for the growing life inside of her.
Chapter Eleven
Katherine stared down at the tiny white flowers scattered in the moss at the mouth of the cave of Cartronwilliamoge.
“They’re beautiful,” she mused, bending low to touch a petal with a feeling of reverence. Knowing what she did about the resilient Arctic flowers, Katherine couldn’t help but feel enthralled. They’d survived the ice age and were instrumental in creating a revolutionary serum that could possibly help their kind. Hurt their kind, too, if it were used for the wrong purposes. Still, so much potential and history in such a small flower, it was intriguing.
Rose bent down beside her and plucked one of the flowers from the plant, then closed her eyes and pressed it to her heart. Katherine saw Rose’s mouth move, silently, in what she figured must be a prayer.
Katherine, like most wolves, had grown up accustomed to seeing the Old Ones as symbolic references to their ancestors. They hadn’t been real to her, not until Raphael had slipped silver beneath her skin and named her Mia. Then they’d become all too real.
“Do you ever think about fate?” She murmured, wanting only Rose to hear.
Rose opened her eyes and looked sideways at her, “I used to,” she confessed. “There hasn’t been much time lately for philosophical thought, though. Why do you ask?” Rose stood, tucking the flower into her breast pocket.
“I’ve just been thinking about everything that’s happened over the past year.” She stepped into the cave with Rose and began running her fingers over the hard limestone walls, looking for cracks or something unusual. “I love the law, all the details and nuances, which is why I’m good at it.” She said it matter of fact. “But this,” she waved her hand, motioning to the cave and their friends who were busy touching the limestone walls, “is beyond logic. How can I explain a prophecy and a pregnancy that shouldn’t have been possible? How much of our lives is just playtime for the Old Ones?”
Rose didn’t answer right away. She moved silently beside Katherine, checking low while Katherine checked high. “My mom used to tell me these stories at night before bed,” she smiled wistfully, “She talked about the Old Ones as if they were part of her family, like an aunt or an uncle that she saw every day. It was nice, seeing them like that, through her eyes.”
“But if they’re real, as real as we are, then how can you wrap your head around all that’s happened? Is this all part of some elaborate plan? Are we just pawns in a big game?” Katherine heard the frustration in her own voice and closed her eyes, breathing slowly to keep herself calm. When she could breathe again, she looked at Rose and shook her head, “And why me? What’s so important about me?”
Rose shook her head, “I spent my life in a castle with an insane wolf chasing a prophecy. I don’t think I’m the one to ask.”
Katherine stared at her for a long moment before the corner of her eye twitched and she felt her frustration crack. The corners of her mouth lifted of their own accord and a giggle slipped free. “Well,” she said through laughter, “I guess we’re screwed.”
The sound of their guide’s too chipper voice caught Katherine’s attention, alerting her to the hunger she’d suppressed for too long. She ducked through the opening of the cave and emerged into the bright sun with Rose behind her to see a series of plaid blankets, laid out on the ground, each quickly being filled with hikers. She started towards the two blankets Daphne and Keme had claimed for their group when an empty blanket caught her attention. Frowning, she glanced over the group, counting heads like a kindergarten teacher. Nine, ten, eleven… She looked back at the cave, which had emptied out at the first indication of food, and scanned the space. Empty. Curious, she crossed to their guide and gestured to the blanket. “Did we lose a few people?”
The guide, whose name read “Trish” on the sleeve of her shirt, grinned and shook her head. “We take locals on the tour all the time and they like to branch off from the group. Not to worry, no one’s fallen off the edge. I hope.” She gave another cheeky grin and held up two crossed fingers.
Katherine made her way back to her friends, looking at the faces around her, recalling the two young men who had apparently “branched off.” They’d been with them when they’d arrived at the cave, she knew that for sure because they’d been walking just in front of Trish, who’d been ogling their asses the whole way up the mountain. So, when did they branch off?
“Guys,” she knelt down and reached for a bottle of water, “did any of you notice the two guys that were with us earlier? Apparently, they took off after we reached the cave.” She took a long drink, “But I didn’t see them leave.”
“The cute ones at the front?” Daphne asked, grinning at Keme when he shot her a look. “I remember seeing them in the cave.”
“Me too,” Quinn narrowed his eyes, picking up on Katherine’s suspicions, “but I didn’t see them leave. I was at the back, though.” He looked to Rose and Katherine, “You two were at the opening. Rose, did you see anything?”
Rose swallowed a bite of sandwich and pushed up her glasses before speaking, “I don’t think they came out.” She cocked her head towards Katherine, “Everyone was in the cave, right?”
“I’m almost a hundred percent sure,” Katherine felt nervous excitement bubble up inside her. “I think we need to ta
ke another look.”
Rose moved to stand, but Katherine stopped her with a hand on her leg. “Not yet,” she murmured, “let’s wait until the group leaves so we don’t draw attention to ourselves.”
Rose nodded, her eyes darting to the mouth of the cave and the tiny flowers that bloomed only on Benbulbin. She blew out a slow breath and closed her eyes, “Ok,” she agreed, settling back down, “no rushing in.”
♀♀♀
Rose ducked into the cave opening and straightened, turning on her flashlight. The light in the cave was dim now, the sun having moved away from the mouth, and the cavern was filled with shadows. She worked diligently in silence, moving her hands over the rocks, exploring every crevasse. Next to her Daphne worked, bending low to trace the wet rocks.
They covered every inch, going over the spots they’d searched earlier, rechecking every rock face. After an hour, Rose’s shoulders slumped in defeat, they’d found nothing. She leaned against the wall near the back of the cave and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted in every single part of her body and mind. “There’s nothing here,” she said through clenched teeth, “we’re wasting our time.”
“Maybe,” Daphne climbed atop a jutting rock to trace the ceiling, “maybe not. Do you see this?”
Rose narrowed her eyes, looking at the spot where Daphne’s flashlight was pointed. All she saw were wet rocks, nothing new or outstanding. Still, she pushed off the wall and crossed to take a better look. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“This,” Daphne wiped her hand over the rock and lowered it, showing Rose her fingertips, which were glistening.
“Water?” Rose couldn’t stop her eyebrows from rising in mockery.
“Yes, water, smart-ass.” Daphne got down off the rock and shone her flashlight on the wall, following the trickle of water as it ran down to the floor of the cave. “Water that’s running down this wall and,” she pointed the light at the floor, “disappearing. See,” she squatted down, “there’s no pool of water here. So, where’s it going?”
Rose bent down, watching the drips of water fall from the rock face to the cavern floor and run back into a large recessed space at the base of the wall. She put her flashlight between her thighs and reached a hand down to explore the empty space. Her fingers moved under the lip and stopped when they hit another rock, this one dry. “Just another rock,” she mumbled.
Her flashlight shifted and she twisted to grab it. Rose pitched forward, catching herself on the recessed rock to keep herself from falling.
It shifted and fell.
Rose’s eyebrows shot up her forehead as she stared at the fallen rock. She dropped to the floor of the cave and grabbed her flashlight, pointing it directly into the break in the wall. The rock was thin, barely three inches wide, but it was long enough and high enough to hide a six by three foot hole. She studied the floor it had been resting on and noticed scratches where the rock had been moved, repeatedly. “Daphne,” she motioned without looking behind her, “shine your light here.”
Daphne dropped to the floor of the cave with Rose and stared at the strange, out of place rock. “What is that?” She grasped it and shoved, moving it easily out of the way. “What the fuck?”
Rose’s heart skipped a beat, maybe several, she wasn’t sure. It felt like her chest was in a vise, being squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. She stared at the hole, her eyes tracing the size of the space, until her heart began to beat again and her lungs sucked in oxygen. “It’s a passageway.”
“Are you sure?” Daphne peered into the darkness.
Without hesitation, Rose flattened her body and shimmied into the space, holding her flashlight out to see what was before her. The last thing she wanted was to run face and eyes into a nest of critters. The space wasn’t huge, but it was more than big enough for her to fit into, big enough for even Quinn or Keme to squeeze into with a bit of effort and just past the outer rock, it opened, falling away to reveal a small cavern.
Daphne pulled herself halfway into the space and pushed up on her elbows to look around. “Holy shit,” she shone her light on the walls, which were full of markings, “this is definitely manmade. I’ll go get everyone.” She scanned the room once more then started to back out.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” a voice growled with a strong Irish lilt from the back corner of the cavern.
Rose threw herself back, away from the hatch door, made from the same faux stone as the passage door, and pressed against the cool damp rock wall. She tried to speak, to tell Daphne to run, but her voice stuck in her throat like cement and wouldn’t break free. Rose stared at Faolin and the gun he pointed straight at her head and her stomach clenched in fear.
He grinned at her, his face distorted by the shadowy light made by their discarded flashlights. Rose shifted back, trying to disappear into the stone, paralyzed by endless memories of that grin, peering down at her as he beat her, shamed her, spit on her. Raphael had been the big evil in the house for everyone but, for her, evil had come in another form, too. “You,” he gestured to Daphne, his gaze shifting for a moment, “in here, now.”
Rose’s breath came in shallow gasps as Daphne hesitated, closed her eyes, then moved slowly into the cavern. Once inside, she crawled to Rose and reached for her hand, squeezing it. The small physical connection tugged at Rose’s mind, chipping away at the frozen expanse of her terror. Her thoughts came back, jumbled and layered, years of fear mixing with the fresh pain of losing Skyla, Meghan, Grace and Siobhan. Then came the shame; shame that she’d failed, shame for being the cause of her sisters’ murder, and shame because she was too weak to face Faolin, let alone Raphael.
Strong hands grabbed her, pulling her violently forward. When she stumbled, crashing into him, Faolin let loose a string of Gaelic curses and backhanded her so hard her head snapped back and sharp pricks of light exploded behind her eyes.
He climbed free, revealing a dark tunnel beneath the stone floor with a metal ladder connected to one wall. “Down,” he barked, shoving Daphne first.
Rose watched as her friend lowered herself onto the ladder, her horrified gaze darting to Rose’s face as she disappeared into the darkness. Then the gun was pointed at her and Faolin’s hot breath pressed against her ear, “I’m so glad you came home Rosey,” she shivered at the sound of his horrid nickname for her. “We’re going to have so much fun, you and I.”
Stepping into the tunnel was like climbing down into the depths of Hell. Rose tried to remember if she or Daphne had left anything in the cave that would point to how they’d disappeared, but she knew there was little chance Faolin would have left any evidence for them to find. She’d heard the scraping sound of the rock being lifted back into place, covering the entrance to Raphael’s secret passageway.
They’d come back soon, she figured, having found nothing in the nearby caves, and find them gone. Chaos would break out and they’d search the cave again and, if they were lucky, they’d find the door. But what then? Raphael and his goons knew they were there and were ready. Rose blinked back the tears of regret that filled her eyes and wished her sister and friends a million miles away from the insanity and danger she’d brought upon them.
There was another hatch at the bottom of the shaft, which swung open without a sound after Faolin radioed someone below. Rose followed Daphne, blinking rapidly to acclimatize her eyes from the darkness to the blaring light of the tunnel below. Her feet touched solid rock, worn smooth after years of use, and moved to stand beside the shaking woman.
Rose reached for Daphne’s hand and felt the shudders making their way through her body as their palms connected. She squeezed, trying to give Daphne any strength she had to spare, but there was nothing to give. She was terrified and assumed the worst.
“Move,” Faolin barked, holstering his gun now as if he didn’t need the weapon against them. They were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and out of options, and the arrogant grin on his face showed her that he knew it. “Someone wants to say hello.”
He shoved her hard but she stayed on her feet, her faltering pride returning now. If she were going to die, she’d be damned if she would let them see her weak. Rose set her shoulders and chin and walked down the long corridor, still gripping Daphne’s hand.
The corridor opened up into a larger room that served as a courtyard of sorts. Rose counted the doors around them and wondered just how big this underground lab was. How long had Raphael been building a fortress in Benbulbin Mountain?
One of Raphael’s trained goons stood in front of one of the doors, a metal monstrosity with a keypad off to the side. Even through the fear of imminent death she couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow at Faolin, “Overkill, don’t you think?”
His hand connected with the side of her face with a bone crunching blow. Rose bit back her cry of pain and cradled her face in her hand, breathing through the pain as her body immediately began re-knitting the bones together. It was a small break, she touched the swollen flesh tentatively, and nowhere near the severity of what he’d done to her in the past. Rose lowered her hand and stared Faolin straight in the eye and smiled.
