Tom ran a thumb over the mysterious edge. “These weren’t cut physically. This was a magical alteration. This was when they learned how to change their environment.”
“We knew they might,” Lucen pointed out. “But I didn’t expect there to be so many of them.”
I wasn’t sure if he was referring to the cells, the shackles or the missing pieces, but it didn’t matter. So many of each suggested far too many demons. Especially if only two had escaped into the real world so far.
Mitch nudged my arm. “Look.”
H wasn’t pointing at the shackles but straight ahead where the corridor ended in another rough stone wall. An imposing dark wood door hung in the middle.
I shook myself. “That door wasn’t there a second ago.” Hell, I wasn’t entirely sure it was there now. Its color and opacity seemed off, like I was staring at a cheap disguise charm.
“That entire wall wasn’t there a second ago,” Mitch said.
Tom studied it on his detector. “Well, it’s here now, and if my readings are correct, we need to go through it.”
Of course we did.
Lucen and the p-squad members took up position around the door, and I withdrew my blade. Tom did the same after attaching the detector to his belt. On his signal, one of the Gryphons flung the door open. I held my breath and waited.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nothing happened.
We stood frozen in place, waiting. Any second I expected evil smoke to pour out, or whatever mysterious not-dragon creature the Gryphons had seen, or even a demon itself. With no way to mark the time, the absolute silence dragged on forever. I’d never experienced anything like it. On Earth, there was always some noise.
Finally, when the nothingness continued, we lowered our weapons and relaxed our stances in unison. The p-squad members took the lead, and we entered the next room.
“What the…?” My voice trailed away as I gaped.
The space we stood in resembled a cavern. The low ceilings, dusty walls and sandy floor were gone, replaced by enormous arches of stone that stretched as high as any cathedral ceiling. The rocky walls glistened with water and shone with a rainbow of colors—blues of every hue, pinks, purples and greens. The blue, a particularly stunning shade that reminded me of the sky, predominated, giving the whole area a serene glow. Where the light came from was anyone’s guess. It was possible the rocks themselves were luminescent. Since the cavern wasn’t real anyway, the possibilities were endless.
The air smelled damp. Not musty, but there was something unusual about it. It was a light, almost plantlike scent that was more disturbing than pleasant. With so many signs of wetness around, I expected to hear running or dripping water, but there was none.
“Enough gawking,” Tom said. “Be ready.”
That was easier said than done. I drew my blade, but my gaze was constantly fixating on my surroundings, and not in the watch-your-back kind of way. Nor was I the only one with an attention problem.
We traipsed along a stone floor that appeared slick and wet to the touch, but actually wasn’t. Pools of water, or something resembling it, pockmarked the ground so it was impossible to walk in a straight line. Steam or smoke rose from some of them. In the light it all had a blue hue. We left the pools alone. Though I was curious to test what the liquid was, I had nothing on me I dared lose if they were filled with some nasty curse instead of water.
“It makes sense, right?” Mitch said under his breath. He, Lucen and I were bringing up the rear. In the humid air, his voice sounded thin. “The prison was hot and dry and dusty. They’d have been wishing the whole time they were locked in for a cool, wet place.”
“Could be.” Lucen motioned toward the cave wall. “Check it out.”
My neck swiveled in the direction he indicated, but I saw nothing.
Tom shushed us. “We don’t know what’s in here.”
“Living things,” Lucen said. “I can see them. Watch the darkest parts of the rocks.”
My stomach knotted, and I focused on a dim gap in the stone where wall met ground. I was about to tell Lucen I still couldn’t see anything when I breathed sharply. The shadow hadn’t moved itself, but something in it seemed to have. The darkest and lightest patch shifted.
Once I’d noticed the first hint of movement, I noticed more. “Shit. They’re everywhere.”
“But what are they?” Mitch asked. We all looked eerie in the strange light, but Mitch’s dark skin looked paler too.
“Whatever they are,” Lucen said, “I think it’s wise to assume they’re not friendly.”
Tom’s hand hovered near his gun, but he couldn’t hold the magic detector and a weapon at the same time. “They either got trapped in here by accident with the demons or the demons created them.”
That didn’t exactly narrow it down, but I conserved my snark in case I needed it later. “So far, they’re not bothering us, so let’s keep going.”
The p-squad guy laughed mirthlessly. “Famous last—”
One of the shadows shot out from a crevice and charged right at us. It smacked into the Gryphon’s ankles, tangling them. With a cry that was cut weirdly short, he toppled over backward and into the pool behind him.
“Peter!” The female Gryphon dropped to her knees to give him a hand, but Lucen grabbed her around the waist before she could reach him.
She screamed and struggled, but Lucen was stronger. “Don’t touch what’s in those pools. See that? You can’t help him.”
See what?
I swore. Again, Lucen saw what was happening first. The Gryphon—Peter—had stopped moving. From the looks of it, he’d stopped before he’d even hit the pool. His face was contorted in fear, and his arms were spread like he’d been grappling for balance. He’d been completely paralyzed.
My heart thumped in my throat as I stared helplessly. “Maybe he’s alive? We should pull him out. Do we have a rope?”
“He’s not alive.” Tom’s voice was cold with certainty.
“Jess?” Lucen eased his grip around the other Gryphon, who was trembling and looking both sad and terrified at the same time. “Don’t move.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s a basilisk behind you.”
I swore under my breath. So this was why Tom was positive the other Gryphon was dead. Basilisks weren’t native to the Americas or most of Europe, but I knew enough about magical fauna from my time at the Gryphons’ Academy.
I swallowed. “Um? Ideas? Why are you looking at it? Stop looking at it!”
“They can only kill you with direct eye contact.” Tom set the magical detector on the ground, his motions slow and deliberate, and retrieved the gun from his holster. “Anything else is a myth. As long as you don’t lock its gaze, you’re fine.”
“How are we fine? Its venom is still deadly if it bites us.”
Tom didn’t answer in words. His draw was so fast and smooth, I barely saw it. I heard the shot, and the female Gryphon screamed. Both sounds reverberated off the walls and rattled in my blood. Then Lucen’s shoulders sagged in relief.
Since nothing bit my ankles, I relaxed my muscles as much as I could under the circumstances. The air in here was cool and damp, but I’d never felt so cold with mortal fear before. I’d never felt so helpless. Lucen laid a comforting hand on me, and the warmth of his touch melted some of my terror. Along with it came the unwanted lust induced by the bond, and I had to concentrate to push the power through me and into the ground.
Turning around, I checked out the snake. It wasn’t as big as I expected, no more than two feet long at most. Dark gold and black scales ran down its body, forming a winglike pattern. On its head, more gold scales circled like a crown. Most importantly, blood spilled from between its cloudy eyes. Tom’s shot had been perfect.
“Thank you.” I wet my lips. “I knew you were a badass before, but that w
as…”
“One hell of a shot,” Lucen finished for me.
Tom smiled grimly. “Don’t thank me yet. We’ve got a lot more of them in here, I’m guessing.” He offered a hand to the other Gryphon. “Agent Gomes? Francisca?”
Francisca—I recalled her name as soon as Tom said it—shuddered and snapped back to herself. Taking Tom’s hand, she stood. Her eyes had swollen with tears, but she blinked them away, and her face became as stony as the walls. “I’m okay. I prefer knowing what we’re dealing with.”
In Portuguese, Francisca whispered what I assumed was a prayer or a farewell to the fallen Gryphon. Not being religious myself, I simply and silently thanked him for his help. Then we trudged on.
As the prison had, the cavern seemed to go on forever, but the beauty of this forever was tainted with terror. Every shadow became dangerous to glance at lest a pair of glowing eyes appear in it. Every dip in the rock beneath our feet had become a possible trap. We moved silently with our weapons out. Even Tom had resorted to only checking the magic detector every so often so he could remain armed. But if the speed of the first basilisk was any indication, we’d be damn lucky to strike another if one decided to attack.
“Up ahead.” Francisca’s voice was barely audible. She didn’t alter the position of her sword but merely nodded to something on our right.
Afraid to glance away from where I was watching one of our flanks, I nonetheless ventured a quick peek. A bright, white light pierced the blue rock several hundred feet ahead, as though a hole had been cut in the cavern’s ceiling. Leading up to it, stones rose in a series of twisting steps. A third of the way, the bottom of the cavern dropped out beneath them, creating a narrow, impossible bridge. Beneath it was more darkness.
“I don’t like it,” Francisca murmured. “Steep and high.”
“Better than snakes,” Mitch said.
My grip on my sword hilt was sweaty, and I adjusted it, imagining trying to balance with it in my hand as we climbed. Imagining what would happen if another basilisk appeared while we did. “Let’s hope we make it there before we worry about falling.”
I didn’t understand though—not the creepy architecture nor the snakes nor the light—and I wanted to stomp my feet in frustration. This place wasn’t making any sense. If the demons were molding it with their own magic, then why the cavern? Why steps that were so deadly? They had to live in here. Wouldn’t they have wanted to create something hospitable? Or did they not have much control over the magic?
So many questions, and this was not the time to ponder them. Yet my mind wandered as we inched closer to the light, despite scolding myself to focus. Just because no more basilisks had attacked…
Basilisks… Venom… Suddenly, the blackness beneath the steps swarmed with them. That wasn’t nothingness at all—it was a viper pit. Thousands of the creatures had gathered to strike as we got near.
I froze as if already paralyzed, certain I could see their sinewy bodies writhing in the dark. The very air seemed to hum with them too, a sinister buzz, the slippery hiss of scales sliding against scales. Beneath the stairs, the pit pulsed with life.
Lucen grabbed my hand. “We can’t go near the steps.”
“No. No, we definitely can’t.”
“The steps are going to collapse anyway,” Francesca added. “They’re too unsturdy.”
“We should go back the way we came.” Mitch too had noticed.
But Tom checked the detector. “We need to keep heading that way. You can’t leave. We need you.” Tom’s voice was high-pitched with fear and sharp with his stressed-out twang.
Something’s not right. The voice in my head felt distant and foreign, and one of the protective glyphs on my shoulder was heating up. All the protections the Gryphons and satyrs gave me had been active since the demon attack in France, but this one was going particularly nuts. Something nearby must have triggered it.
Something’s not right. My eyes widened with understanding. It was the panic I heard in Tom’s voice that was causing this reaction. The man who’d so confidently shot that basilisk, the Gryphon who’d been so fervently preparing for this day that I’d often called him a zealot—he didn’t panic. He might be afraid, but he didn’t squeak with terror that we were going to desert him.
And we didn’t desert.
Calm, I demanded of myself. The stairs will hold, and once you’re up them, the basilisks can’t reach you unless you fall. You will not fall. Something is messing with your head.
As if the something heard my thoughts, which it very well might have, the ground rumbled. I grasped Lucen’s hand, my attempt at controlling my fear starting to falter with the recognition of a pattern in the sound. Footsteps. The noise echoed off the cavern walls, making it difficult to tell which direction the creature was coming from.
“Time to run,” Lucen said.
I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, but hanging around didn’t seem wise either. We took off as a group, five pairs of feet pounding over the rocks, splashing what I hoped was only water up our legs as we ran. Halfway to the bridge, the inky darkness below twisted and deformed. Smoky black trails with red eyes emerged from the depth, slithering over the stones—the basilisks.
“Wait, stop!” My feet faltered, and my lungs cried out in pain. The snakes were going to block the stairs. There was no way we could fight that many. No way we could avoid locking one’s gaze.
I yelled again, my eyes transfixed by the teeming, slippery mass, but no one seemed to hear me. Desperate, I reached out to grab Tom’s sleeve, and we both went flying. My arm and hip slammed into the ground, and I skidded over rough stone. Francisca screamed. A blinding black fear, surreal and not unlike the writhing basilisk pit, clouded my vision.
I knew then. We hadn’t tripped. Something had smacked into Tom.
My sight cleared, but the cold certainty of impending death settled in my blood. I scrambled to my feet, relieved to see Tom doing the same, but not so relieved to hear a deep laugh behind me. At Tom’s feet, the magic detector, which had been on his belt, lay smashed against the stones. Broken and useless. Without it, we had no chance to find the key.
What good is it now anyway? We might as well be dead.
Not dead, not yet, answered a new voice in my head, one that definitely wasn’t mine. You are a feast of fear, and I need to eat.
I spun around, raising my blade. The demon standing before me looked much like a basilisk itself. Though not as tall as the purple one, this demon had a black tail with the same markings as the snakes. Its skin was as deep a gold and clearly scaly, and its eyes were inky. Its smile revealed two fanglike front teeth.
Tom and I hadn’t been the only ones who had been knocked over. Lucen alone was standing. On my left, Francisca kneeled on one knee, her sword held in an attack position. Mitch was crouching on his toes, his hands fumbling behind his back, searching for his sword while his eyes never left the demon’s face.
“Try not to be afraid,” Lucen said, which of course was totally ridiculous advice. The best I could do was try not to let my fear overwhelm me.
“Got any better ideas?” Annoyance crept into my voice.
The demon sensed it and grinned wider. You’re bonded to that satyr, but not an addict. Interesting. What are you?
I frowned. “Can you hear that?” I asked Lucen and the others.
“I can hear something, a buzzing in my head,” Tom said.
Also interesting. I decided to take this conversation public. If I was obviously distracting the demon, maybe someone else could use the opportunity to attack. “I’m the abomination who was sent in here to ruin your plans.”
The demon seemed to think that was incredibly funny. It tossed its head back and howled with laughter. Our opening was achieved and, no surprise, it was Tom who grasped it. As fast as he had earlier, he pulled out his gun and fired.
But the
demon was no mere snake. It must have sensed Tom’s intentions. That serpent tail it had whipped out, lashing Tom around the ankles. His shot went wide. Holding him by the legs, the demon flung him toward the basilisk pit.
I screamed. Francisca screamed. My fear turned to rage, and though both emotions fed the demons, such things no longer mattered to me. Rage didn’t freeze me like fear did. I lost track of everyone around me, charging forward with only the thought of hacking the creature’s tail off.
My sword came slicing down, but I caught only a tip of the creature’s skin. Blood splattered across my face, and I was thrown backward before I could try again. Lucen was shouting my name, but all I saw was the glistening rock rising up to meet me. Letting go of my sword, I braced myself for the impact. As I rolled over, I noticed Tom pulling himself to his feet by the edge of the pit. Blood trailed down his cheek, but the snakes next to him didn’t attack. They were as motionless as statues.
I understood then, or thought I did. This demon wasn’t yet as powerful as the ones who’d escaped. It hadn’t fed as well. But somehow it had used the magic in here to create the basilisks, and they were under its control. It was all a way to prod and poke at us. To make us afraid so it—or it and others—could feed.
Yelling and the clattering of metal on stone roused me from my thoughts. Francisca and Lucen were locked in a fight with the demon, wielding their blades expertly. But even paired, the demon’s tail and size gave it an advantage. Mitch had held back, and he and Tom both raised their guns, but with Lucen and Francisca fighting for their lives, they couldn’t get a clear shot.
“As long as we distract it, it can’t control the basilisks,” I told them, not bothering to keep my voice low. Stealth was pointless if the demon could hear my thoughts.
Clutching his side, Tom stepped forward. “The detector’s broken beyond repair. You’re going to be on your own.”
Misery Happens Page 23
