Finding the Lost

by Shannon K. Butcher

Page 49

  “No. I mean I found Tori. Her body is there with Sibyl. ” Tori had died alone in a cage, trapped in the darkness.

  Paul’s presence slid into her mind, cool and calming. She felt him trying to comfort her, whispering soothing words directly to her soul.

  She soaked them up and let them give her the strength to pull in her next breath. She didn’t know how she would have lived through this without him. Even now, her heart was struggling to beat against the pressure of her grief. Her baby sister had died alone in some cave, and Andra hadn’t been able to stop it.

  “We’ll recover her body,” whispered Paul. “We’ll bring her home. ”

  Andra tried to control her breathing and quiet the sobs that shook her. She wanted to give up, to curl in on herself and cry until nothing mattered anymore and all the pain was gone. But Sibyl needed her. She owed it to Tori not to let another little girl die alone in the dark.

  She pushed away from Paul, already missing the animal comfort of his warm body. “We need to get moving. We’re not far away now, and night is coming. ”

  Paul grudgingly let her go. He gently wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. “Sibyl is lucky to have someone as brave and strong as you on her side. So am I. ”

  She was going to miss him. Their time together was up in only a few more hours.

  His kind brown eyes swept over her face as if soaking her in. “Don’t think about that now. You’ve got enough to deal with to also be thinking about our future. ”

  They didn’t have a future. Not really. And as hard as it would be to walk away from him now that she loved him, she would have done it all again in a heartbeat. She now had proof that real courage and honor existed to fight back the ugly things in the world.

  “We should go,” she said.

  He looked like he wanted to say something more to her, but instead he nodded. “Sibyl needs us. ”

  Three hours later, they found the cave where Sibyl was being held. The strain on Andra was nearly too much for Paul to bear. She was pushing herself, and if he hadn’t felt her desperate need to see this through—if he hadn’t known that failing would kill something inside her—he would have demanded she stay behind in the SUV.

  Not that he had any real right to demand anything from her. Less than an hour remained on the clock before his luceria fell from her neck and he was once again alone.

  Paul looked at his ring. The colors had solidified completely, which meant their bond was complete. Breaking it would kill him. Unless she changed her mind about leaving him, he wasn’t going to live to see sunrise. If he tried to hold out, Andra would end up paying the price. He’d already tried to force her to stay with him once. As soon as his soul started to die off, there would be nothing to stop him from finishing what he’d started. The only way to keep her safe was to walk away for good.

  The saddest part of knowing that wasn’t that his life was ending—he’d had a long, full life. The saddest part was going to be leaving Andra alone. She didn’t deserve that. She deserved to be happy. To be loved.

  Maybe Iain could give her what she really needed once Paul was out of the way.

  It was full dark now, and based on the trampled dirt and vegetation near the cave entrance, most of the Synestryn had already gone out to hunt.

  “Where is she?” asked Gilda, the Gray Lady. The woman looked like she was barely holding herself together. Angus’s arm was supporting her, keeping Gilda from swaying with weakness.

  “Inside,” said Andra. “About a quarter mile from here. ”

  Nicholas surveyed the surrounding land. “This whole area is low. We’re bound to run into some water. ”

  Shit. That made this whole rescue effort a lot more dangerous. They weren’t just going to be fighting demons; they also had to make sure they didn’t drown.

  “The tracks they left behind aren’t muddy, so maybe we’ll get lucky,” said Paul.

  “Yeah. ” Madoc snorted. “ ’Cause that happens all the fucking time. ”

  “Enough,” ordered Angus. “We’re going in, regardless. Paul, Andra, Madoc, Nicholas, Gilda, and I are going in. The rest of you guard our exit. Don’t let anything come back in and sneak up behind us. ”

  Everyone nodded. Helen pushed her braids behind her shoulders, lifted her hands, and a ring of fire erupted around the vehicles and the entrance. “They’ll have to come through that first,” she said.

  “Good,” said Angus. “That’ll help. Andra, you stay behind me and Gilda. ”

  Andra stepped forward. “I need to go in first so I can see the way. Besides, Gilda looks like she’s about to fall over. ”

  The Gray Lady straightened her shoulders. “I’m fine, stronger than a child like you on your best day. ”

  Angus stepped in front of his wife and lifted her chin. “That’s enough. We do it her way. She’s gotten us this far, hasn’t she?”

  Gilda gave a slight nod and looked away. “Fine. Let her go first. ”

  Andra was already at the mouth of the cave when Paul caught up to her. “You need to be in constant contact with my power. Something nasty could pop up, and you won’t have time to react if you’re not ready. ”

  “Okay. I can do that. ” He felt her reach out to him and open herself up. Their conduit was larger now than it had been only hours ago. Power flowed easily out of him, making his body sing.

  “Tell her about the seeing-in-the-dark thing,” called Helen. “She’s going to need that. ”

  “Right. If you funnel some power to your eyes, you can see in the dark. Just be careful not to do too much, though. You could hurt yourself. ”

  “Got it. I can see everything. Thanks. ”

  The tunnel went down steeply for twenty feet before it leveled off. This wasn’t a nice, well-planned mine. It was a natural cave with plenty of twists and turns and no nice, flat surface to walk on. At one point, they had to squeeze one at a time through an opening no wider than his shoulders.

  The smell of damp earth and decay clung to the air. A steady drip from a hundred places echoed off the walls. Boots scraped behind them, and Madoc grunted as he tried to fit his big body through the hole.

  Andra and Paul waited on the far side of the small opening for everyone to catch up. Gilda slid through easily, but Angus wasn’t so lucky. Nicholas had just as much trouble and ended up losing a chunk of his shirt in the process.

  Paul could feel Andra’s nerves jumping around anxiously. She wanted to get moving, and he couldn’t blame her. Every second Sibyl was with the Synestryn, she was in danger.

  As soon as Nicholas was through, Andra and Paul moved into another tunnel that led down deeper into the earth. They had to crawl on their hands and knees here, and Paul’s shoulders brushed the walls of the tunnel.

  The tunnel widened until Andra was able to stand up. Paul had to keep his head down, but at least he was giving his knees a break.

  “So,” she said, breaking the bleak silence. “How long do I have to be in the dark before my eyes turn black?”

  Paul had no idea what she was talking about. “Why would your eyes turn black?”

  The tunnel ended and at the mouth of it was a large cavern with room enough to breathe. They all filed out and Andra pressed on, crossing to an opening on the left.

  “That’s what Sibyl told me. Her eyes were black the last time I saw her, and she said it was because she’d been in the dark so long. ”

  From behind them, he heard Gilda, and her tone was so odd, so full of shock and fear, it stopped everyone dead in their tracks. “You saw a girl who looked like Sibyl with black eyes?”

  “Yes. ”

  Angus drew his sword.

  All the color drained from Gilda’s face. “What else did she tell you?”

  “She gave me the map so I could find her,” said Andra.

  Gilda clutched Angus’s arm. “That wasn’t Sibyl. That was Maura. We’re walking right into a trap. ”

  Chapter 28

  A
deep rumble shook the ground around Andra’s body. Dust spilled from the ceiling, then small rocks. She looked up in shock and saw a crack had formed overhead. And it was getting wider.

  Paul pulled Andra out of the way and shoved her into the tunnel for cover just as large rocks started dropping from above.

  Shouts rose up on the opposite side of the cavern. Gilda screamed. Then Andra could hear nothing but the sound of rocks grating against one another as they filled the room.

  “Down the tunnel,” shouted Paul, pushing her to get her moving.

  Andra moved. Adrenaline made her arms and legs move as fast as her pounding heart. She scurried down the tunnel until it let out into a shallow pit. She slid out of the opening and down until she was standing on a shelf of rock. She moved over so there was room for Paul beside her.

  Dust coated his body, and there was an ugly scratch on his cheek. “You okay?” he asked around a cough.

  “Yeah. You?”

  He nodded absently, but he was looking the way they came, as if hoping to see the rest of their group.

  “They were trapped on the other side, right? Not caught under all that rock?” She prayed it was true.

  Paul’s grim expression didn’t give her much comfort. His jaw was tight with anger, and his eyes promised retribution. “We’re on our own now. We can either go back or move forward into the trap. What do you want to do?”

  “Even if it is a trap, we can’t leave Tori here. Or Sibyl. At least now we know it’s coming. ”

  “If we do rescue her, we’re not going to have any fun trying to find a way out. ”

  “I’ll blast one open if I need to. ”

  Just then, the luceria fell from her throat. Andra caught it before it could hit the ground.

  Paul sucked in a pained breath. “Our time is up. ”

  “We need more,” said Andra.

  “That’s your call. Not mine. ”

  “What do I do?”

  “Put it on. Give me a new vow. ” He looked as if he were about to say something else, then clamped his lips shut.

  Andra locked the luceria back in place. Paul’s eyes went to it and the look of longing on his face nearly made her weep. He fell to his knees and scored a line in his skin, through his shirt. “My life for yours, Andra. Always. ”

  She hesitated. She needed time to think. What would happen to Paul if she died while wearing this thing? What if she didn’t make it back out alive? It was a trap. She had to remember that.

  He wanted forever. She couldn’t let herself want that, too. At least not until she was sure she wouldn’t be a liability to him—until his people figured out whether there were more women out there like her who could be a better match for him.

  He thought he wanted forever now, but what would happen if they found more women next week? She didn’t want to trap him. She didn’t want him to die along with her if she messed this up and failed to get everyone out alive.

  “An hour,” she whispered. “That should be enough to get us out of here, right? If not, we can go for another hour. ”

  Paul’s mouth tightened and his jaw bunched with anger. “An hour. I understand now. ”