I almost give up on trying to find a spell when I feel a warm presence in the back of my mind. It’s like a hug around my heart. The more I focus on it, the stronger the feeling gets. It’s my mother. I feel it to my core. Somehow, she’s with me, maybe because of the Grimoire. Within seconds, there’s a spell in my mind.
“Got one!” I say to Weldon as we near a large drop-off that will pretty much throw us into the fire. All I can do is trust Meredith knew what she was doing. She never said exactly how we were going to get in, and we’ve ran out of time for questions.
The moment I reach the edge before the fiery drop-off, I turn and begin summoning a sphere of water in my hands, pushing all of my intent into the spell to help it grow as our team rushes past me, jumping into the fiery pit without question.
“What are you doing?” Jaxen asks through pants. “Keep moving.”
“You heard her,” I say, trying to keep focus on the spell. “We can’t let this swarm follow us in. Go without me.”
“No,” he says, and I know he means it.
“Faye!” Katie screams as she loses her footing and tumbles into the fiery pit behind me.
“You got this, mouse,” I hear Weldon say in my mind as he leaps through the pit with Meredith on his shoulders.
I don’t know how I’m going to pull it off. I don’t know that I can make the spell strong enough.
But I’ll damn sure try.
The last of the team jumps.
“We have to go!” Gavin says as the swarm moves so close that I feel the layers of my skin beginning to sear.
“It’s not ready!” I shout, scared I didn’t put enough intent into the spell. I watch the bubble of water large enough to fill a lake jiggle in the air in front of me, distorting the image of the firelings heading our way.
“It has to be!” Jaxen says. “On three, we jump. One. Two.”
Gavin nods.
With my breath caught in my throat, I hurl the swirling mass of water toward the swarm and take Jaxen’s hand.
Together, we jump into the flames.
THE SILENCE WE’RE STANDING IN is almost deafening.
I hear every heartbeat, the clamoring pace dying off as I bend over, grabbing my thighs, trying to steady my breath. Healing the parts of my singed skin that I can.
Mortality has never felt so real. Like a shadow stitched to my shoe that I’m quickly losing track of.
Gavin’s on his earpiece, checking in with Sterling and the rest. I try to tune out the body count he gives, focusing on Jaxen’s wounds instead.
“What’s your name?” Jezi asks the remaining Elite who wasn’t a part of our Rebellion.
“Derek,” he says, his face covered in a black ski mask.
“Glad you took this mission, Derek?” she asks, eyebrows raised.
He looks off to the side, and then hesitantly says yes.
“Dude,” Lukah says, checking out the burn that has seared through layers of flesh on Damien’s arm. “This is gnarly.”
Damien isn’t even wincing. He’s just staring straight ahead, looking as murderous as he always does.
“Are you okay?” Evangeline asks him as Katie comes into my line of sight.
She throws her arms around my neck, and I wince from the sharp shooting pains sparking in every one of my muscles. “That was too close. When you didn’t come through with the others, I didn’t know what to think. I just… I just fell right into the fire. I… I shouldn’t be here, Faye. I’m no good. I’m—”
I grab her arms and level my gaze on her, willing her to calm down. “You did fine, Kat. You will do fine. Here,” I say, connecting myself to her. “Pull from my magic when you need to.”
“Faye, I—”
“I’ve got you, Kat. Always.”
Her smile is unsteady as she nods.
Gavin’s inches away, watching us through the corner of his eye.
“Same goes to you,” I say to him. I reach for his hand and have to swallow back my emotions when he seems to almost jump from the physical contact.
His hand immediately retracts, and I suddenly don’t know where I stand with him. If he blames me for Cassie. If he’ll ever be okay again.
“I’m good, but thank you,” he manages, averting his eyes from me.
Weldon rubs his hands clean against the legs of his suit. “That was close. Good work, mouse.”
I nod with a half smile, trying not to think too deep about Gavin as Evangeline and Jezi tend to all the burns.
“That wasn’t even remotely good,” Meredith says, stomping out the mild compliment. “They know we’re here now.” Her eyes scan the area around us as if she’s expecting a hoard of demons to storm the corner at any moment. “If you were looking to keep this mission short, you best come to terms with the cruel reality now. We’re going to have to take it slow and careful from here on out if you want to see this through.”
Weldon’s eyes glow gold with anger. “Given that she’s never dealt with firelings, and how you so gracefully fell on your ass and needed to be hoisted out of that area, I’d say I hit it on the nail with saying she did a good job.”
Jaxen and Gavin are on alert, though they aren’t happy about it as they move around Weldon.
“Weldon, it’s fine,” I start to say, but his palm is in the air, shushing me.
“No, Faye. It isn’t fine.” He steps closer to Meredith, his features darkening the way they do when he’s mid-shifting to his demon side. “There’s an understanding that needs to happen before we go any further with Queen Bitch here.”
Her face stiffens, but he doesn’t back down.
“We just saved your ass. Your very Darkyn ass. I think a little respect is due to those who could have easily left you behind.”
Her gaze flicks upward as she crosses her arms. “Is this your way of forcing an apology from me? Because it isn’t going to work. You need me just as much as I need you. When this is all over, you can bet it will be as if we never worked together,” she says, undeterred from the frightening features of his demon side.
“Oh, believe me. That it will be.” Every word was backed by a deep, guttural growl.
She lets out a large groan. “Ugh! Are you always this freaking difficult?”
“Difficult?” Weldon flinches back. “You’re calling me difficult?”
She shoves her hands on her hips, glaring at him. “If the shoe fits.”
Jezi makes her way over to him, touching his shoulder, but I don’t think he notices as he waves his finger in the air. “I’ll have you know, lady, that I’m a damn delight to be around. I’m like the icing on the cake… so damn sweet and tasty your teeth will fall out.”
I think I might scream. Might pull at my hair until my eyes are blurry because I can’t bear another second of their bickering. Shoving past them, I spin in a quick circle, pushing out waves of volation, needing to preoccupy my mind. Hoping it will work so I can give myself some peace of mind with knowing we aren’t going to be raided at any second, but I don’t feel anything. Just that same static inhibiting me from detecting what’s around us.
“Where are we?” I ask, taking in my surroundings as quickly as I can. We’re in a hallway made of chipped, moldy stone that looks as old as the earth. The air is harsh against my nostrils, the smell of sulfur so thick I can taste it. Water drips from various cracks in the ceiling as Gavin stops near a corner and peers around the edge to check both ways.
He looks at his map that Meredith marked all over, and then turns back. “I don’t even know where to begin reading this thing.”
Meredith snatches it from him, looks at it, and then looks down each hallway. When she turns back, her eyes are bright and aware. “It seems the pit has dumped us off course. Probably because of the damn firelings. Great. This is just great.” She shoves the map against Gavin’s chest. “You thought it was bad back there? Well, this is ten times worse. We aren’t even near one of the secret tunnels.”
Weldon moves beside Jaxen and me, his eyes back to th
eir normal honey color. He drags his fingers over the rough stone, the light dimming from his haggard face. “I know this place.” His voice is deeper, darker, haunted by the ghosts continually surrounding him. “We’re in the demon quarters of the Underground. I-I’ve been here before.”
Meredith’s face tightens, her eyes forming into a harsh line. “It’s where they bring you for torture.”
“Do you feel anything?” I ask, looking to Weldon. Trying to keep his mind focused on anything but what he went through during his time here. His heartbeat throbs in his throat as he takes deep swallows and hones in on the other side of himself that links him here.
He looks up at me, his eyes pulsing in darkness. His face thickens as he taps into his demon side. “They’re everywhere,” he says, his voice darker, deeper. “And she’s right… they know, and they’re not happy about it.”
Without a word, I pull my bag off my back and crouch, unzipping it. Gavin tells everyone else to do the same. Our short break is over.
I stock every open pocket on my suit with fluxes. Hand a couple to Meredith even though every cell in my body begs me not to trust her.
“How far until we hit one of the unused tunnels?” Gavin asks, tucking the last of his fluxes into a sheath.
Meredith backs away from the corner and watches Jaxen and me as we scour through what weapons we have, trading and taking inventory. “If we head left, there’s a secret passageway I know of that will lead us all the way to the central nervous system of the Underground. It goes through where the cages are kept for those who made deals and are locked up.”
Weldon pauses. Gulps.
“If we’re lucky, Claire will be held there. As well as what you’re looking for,” she adds, looking directly at me.
The amulet.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Evangeline asks as she moves in between Gavin and Jaxen. It’s amazing how her presence near them shows the differences in their features, and how like his mother Jaxen looks.
“Yes,” Meredith says. The expression she wears says she’s not in the mood to be questioned. Especially by Evangeline.
“How? You said it yourself. This place is vast. How is it that you know every inch?” Gavin asks, his shoulders tense. “We lost two men back there. Two! And we haven’t even gained ground yet.”
Meredith steps up to him, inches from his face. “I told you all to be quiet. You didn’t listen. And when you spend what feels like an eternity hiding out, desperate not be caught again, you’d do well to memorize every inch you walk so you have a place to run should your maker come calling.”
She presses her hand to the wall and closes her eyes. Light emits from her palm again as marks appear on the walls around us. “I’ve marked these walls with a spell that, once activated, will show where my handprints have been. It took me a day and a half to make it through here between having to hide and rest. If we can make it halfway without being spotted, then we’ll be able to hide in a nook where we can rest up without worry of being caught.”
“Good,” I say, putting my bag on as soon as I’m back to my feet. Weldon leans against the wall, putting a toothpick in his mouth.
“I can work a chameleon spell to help cloak us,” Bianca says earnestly. Toby lightly kisses her neck. Strands of her dark hair have fallen out of her side braid.
Jezi rolls her eyes, but I smile at Bianca. She has guts. She’s down here, trying, fighting for a cause we may or may not win.
Meredith paints a forced smile on her lips. “Thanks, but cloaking spells are a strict no-no. This place is rigged to sniff out spells like that for this specific reason.” She pauses, her gaze ping-ponging back and forth, and then says, “No. We do this the only way we can—the hard way. We take our time, listen, and kill when we have to.”
Weldon lets out a low whistle, kicking off the wall he was perched against. “Sounds like my kind of party.”
Meredith peeks around the corner again. “We should move now. Stay behind me.”
“By all means. Please be the first to go,” Weldon says, stepping back so she can take the lead. As soon as we fall in step behind her, he leans his face to the side to whisper, “The line leader is always picked off first. Problem solved.”
“Weldon!”
He doesn’t respond, but I hear his faint snickering at the corners of my mind.
Minutes move past us with only the sounds of our faint breathing and quiet footsteps. Every second is engorged with a tightness in my chest that won’t go away. My stomach is twisted in knots, despite my mind telling myself that everything is fine.
Jaxen remains at my side, flux kept in his hand, with Jezi, Kat, and Evangeline directly behind us. Lukah and Damien holds up the back with Bianca and Toby. Our footsteps move in sync as we reach the end of a long hallway and wait for Meredith to point the way to go.
“I’m thinking now would be a good time to tell you there are traps set out for us,” Weldon says as we take a left. “Good old Clara. I knew I could count on her to keep things interesting.”
Meredith and Gavin freeze up. Spin slowly, eyes blazing.
Weldon points to his head, wearing his notorious grin. “Perks of being part-demon and all. It’s like picking up on the Underground radio station frequency or something when I’m down here. It comes and goes when it pleases.”
Her gaze flattens. “And you’re just now telling me?”
He listlessly shrugs. “You never asked.”
She shoots him a dirty look, and then steps close to his face, magic surfacing on her palms. “You do realize that this isn’t a game, right? If you have information, you should share it.”
“I just did, didn’t I?”
Gavin rolls his eyes as he shakes his head.
Meredith huffs. Turns so she can continue forward. “Is there anything else we should know?”
His smirk brightens. “Yeah. You might want to duck.”
“Everyone, get down!” Gavin shouts.
Without warning, holes open up on either side of the wall. Magic-laced fire blasts out right after Meredith drops to a crouch. The hallway fills with scorching heat that sticks to my skin like tar. Jaxen pulls me backward and tucks me against him as my arms cover my face, warding off as much of the heat as possible.
When the fire disappears, I try to even out my breathing. “Holy shit,” I say, chest heaving. Scorch marks line the hallway like angry finger marks. Meredith is underneath a shield of magic, discharging expletives at a rapid rate. She’s cursing Weldon, Clara, and everyone in between. The magic dies off as she stands back up, dusting off her cloak and turning on Weldon.
“How the hell did you know?” she snaps, her voice loud and accusing. Her steps carry her until she’s inches from his face.
Weldon claps his hands together, his face feigning appreciation. “Thank you for saving my ass, Weldon. You’re the best, Weldon. Whisk me away with your brooding eyes and witty words, Weldon,” he says in a high-pitched voice.
She doesn’t look amused. Neither does Jezi, who turns away from the show to check on the rest.
“Does that work for you back home?” Meredith asks tartly.
He blows out a breath and drops the act. “I’m surprised you didn’t know the trap was there, Miss I-know-every-inch-of-this-place. That had Clara the Darkyn bitch written all over it, and there’s a hell of a lot more where that came from. It’d be a good idea for you to do whatever Darkyn magic you do that will prevent that from happening again.”
She curses again. Turns back to the spot where she nearly lost her life. Her voice is faint when she speaks. Almost undecipherable. “I… I’m not a Darkyn anymore.”
Weldon turns his ear to her, his eyebrow flying up in surprise. “Come again?” he asks, as if he didn’t hear her right.
She turns back to us, and it’s written in her features that she knows whatever she’s about to say isn’t going to sit well with us.
I take a tight, bracing breath. Try to clear my face of any emotion.
>
“I haven’t been one for a while now. At least, not in the sense that you think I am.”
“Oh, this is great,” Gavin says, throwing his hands up in the air.
Weldon smiles unkindly, staring at her. “And that’s because?”
Her face could match a fire engine. “Look, it doesn’t matter, okay? Just… keep your eyes out for any traps, and I’ll do the same now that I know.” She rounds the corner without giving us anything else, leaving the rest of us looking at each other in complete shock and silence. A second later, we hear, “Are you coming?”
Weldon barks out laughter, shaking his head. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Quit antagonizing,” Jaxen says to him.
Quit antagonizing, Weldon mimics as we continue forward.
I shake my head. Hope that we make it through here sometime today, because I don’t know how long I can stand the tension between everyone.
We make it through trap after trap, growing accustomed to the fear of almost dying every time one springs from the ground, the wall, or the ceiling. Walking through what feels like an abandoned medieval castle with too many hallways to count. Hallways that seem never-ending.
We round the next corner on Meredith’s lead and find ourselves surrounded by gunfire on all sides. The hallway opens up into a battle zone as demons and Elites fight head to head, shooting, stabbing, and snapping necks left and right.
We all go into a frenzy, breaking formation to try to help our fellow Elites who don’t seem to have an advantage. I run toward the Elite closest to me, flux in hand, ready to stab the demon who’s got him by the neck, but my hands move through them as if they were made of fog.
The Elite’s neck is snapped as I scream out and turn, looking for everyone else. They’re all looking around, eyebrows pinched together.
“Demon mirrors,” Meredith screams from down the hallway. She’s on the other side of the battle we seem to be standing in the middle of, watching our brethren fall left and right, unable to help them.
“We have to help them,” I say to Gavin and Jaxen.
Everdeep (The Night Watchmen Series Book 4) Page 22
