“Blake for the love of God, just trust me. This is why we’re here—it’s why you agreed. My abilities don’t need to make sense to you right now. You just need to take the leap. If we sit around here wasting time, the girls are gonna vanish—or worse. We have to move quickly. They’re already there and it’s gonna take us half a day to get there.”
“Where’s there?”
“Korykion Cave. It’s within walking distance from the ruins at Delphi, but it’s still a hike.”
Blake nods, finally turning around. He grabs his cup of coffee, downing the contents and grabbing his coat.
“I hope you’re right about this,” he mutters, shaking his head.
“Only one way to find out—”
The urgency from the vision tells me we’ll need to plan this down to the minute. The time it’s going to take us to get to Greece from Rome is far too long for my liking—but I wouldn’t have been given the information unless there was a chance we could do something about the situation. That’s one thing I’ve learned for sure.
As soon as Blake reaches for his carry-on, I head for the door and walk out.
We’re gonna need to haul ass to catch another flight.
Catching the 10:40am flight from Rome to Athens just as it was boarding is more than simple coincidence—it was providence. However, the two hours in the air is still pure torture. Sitting mostly in silence, I continuing to stay with the stillness, so I can check in with the cave and the girls. A compulsion has taken hold of me—I need to maintain a read on them and their whereabouts. Luckily, the lack of booze has cleared my head and allowed me to use my abilities properly again.
Plus it helps that I’m acutely aware Blake and I are their final hope of ever getting away from these monsters.
So far, nothing has changed for them, but I’m not sure if it’s the truth of the matter—or if being in close proximity to Blake is disrupting my vision in a different way. A strange energy about the whole thing pulses around me—something I can’t put my finger on. There are blind spots—and I’m not sure what it means.
Only time will tell.
The second the plane lands, Blake stands up, reaching for his bag.
I take a deep breath and ground myself.
“We’re gonna need to catch a taxi or grab a rental,” I say, finally breaking the silence.
Each of us were deep in thought through the whole flight—but now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty.
Blake nods. “I don’t know the area. What do you suggest?”
“If we—no, scratch that—when we get the girls, we’re probably gonna need to get the hell outta there and fast. Don’t you think? Best to get a rental, I suppose. I can drive,” I say, grabbing my bag and heading down the aisle once the seatbelt light turns off and the flight attendant flashes her signal.
“I don’t wanna just get the girls. I want the men apprehended,” Blake says, his tone heavy. “I don’t wanna come all this way only to have them do it all over again.”
“Okay, you do the apprehending, I’ll focus on the girls. Deal?”
“Deal,” he says. “Damn, I wish my case woulda made it with us.”
“See—pack light, man,” I say, shaking my head. “When you have less to rely on, there’s less that can go wrong.”
“You’re not kidding. I’ll make a call to Interpol once I know for sure what we’re dealing with,” he says, shifting to his other foot.
Reading between the lines—he means once he verifies my story.
I roll my eye and continue to the front of the plane.
Blake follows behind, giving me the space to take the lead. I can tell it’s not his strong suit, but he acquiesces, just the same. I only wish he’d give in that easily with my abilities. Or at least give it a try.
Minutes tick away as we hurry to pay for our rental car and get the hell out of Athens. The drive to Delphi could take us another couple of hours, but I know I can shave time off with a few tricks up my sleeves. It all depends on how much the terrain and roads have changed over the years.
As soon as we get in our rental Jeep, I step on the gas and instinctively head toward Delphi. Blake pulls up the sat nav, trying to help us find the best route. Everything is a strange juxtaposition of the same energy and vibe from years ago, all overlapping with new buildings, roads, and landscape changes. Large trees and old sites that once stood are nothing more than ghosts in my memory as we speed toward our destination.
“You know, for someone who doesn’t overly seem like they like to drive—you sure do know how to handle this vehicle,” Blake says, breaking the silence.
“When needs must,” I mutter, refusing to remove my eyes from the winding road. The mountainous landscape is far different from the relatively flat one back home. One glance away could be disastrous. Especially at my speed.
“I’m gonna check in with Aiden to see what he knows,” Blake says, doing something on his cellphone. “Dammit. No signal out here.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” I say, shaking my head.
“What about you? You picking up on anything?” he says, trying to sound like he means it.
“Only bits and pieces,” I say, shaking my head.
“I hope you’re right about all of this Diana. I really do.”
“Me, too,” I say. Now would not be the time to be wrong, that’s for sure. “How are you planning on apprehending the guys once we’re there? Have you managed to work out a plan yet?”
“I’ve got a few things in the works, but it will depend on the situation once we’re in it. Those guys likely know the area a helluva lot better than we do—and that’s definitely to our disadvantage. Without my gear—I’m gonna need to be extra cautious,” he says, then adds, “you will too.”
I risk a quick flick of my eyes over to him. His gaze is dark and serious.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself.”
“Yeah, well, as true as that may be—you’re still a part of my team and I have to worry about you, too. Like it or not, you’ll need to be a little more cautious than you were back at the creepy old man’s place by the river.”
I tip my head in acknowledgement. Once a military man, always a military man.
“I think our best bet will be to get to Delphi, then hike to the caverns to see what we can find. I’ll get us as close to Parnassus as I can though. If we’re lucky, there might be a place to get wifi or at least better signal before we pack up—you could check in with Aiden then. I’ll do my thing while you do yours,” I say.
Blake nods, “Sounds good to me. I just hope we’re not too late.”
“So do I. I can’t imagine how those girls must be feeling right now.”
Blake groans, “How anyone could be this way—do this to innocent little—they’ve gotta have something evil inside them.”
A shudder rolls down my spine.
He has no idea just how right he is…
15
BLAKE STOPS FOR A MOMENT, casting a hand over his eyes to shield them from the blaring sun. Red and gold glint from within the strands of his dark hair.
“I thought you said it was close,” he says, eyeing how much further we have to go to the cave’s entrance.
“Pretty sure I said it was within walking distance,” I correct.
Sweat pools at the small of my back and I know Blake’s feeling the same as I am.
We need to move faster.
I glance down at my watch. It’s been nearly five hours since we left Italy. Five freaking long hours.
Blake does the same, shaking his head in what I can only imagine is disgust.
“Anything coming through on if the girls are close—or still alive?” he asks, his voice cracking slightly.
I shake my head.
“No. Ever since we arrived, everything has gone dark. Almost as silent as when I try to read you.”
“That can’t be good.”
I cast my gaze to him. Silence is definitely a mixed bag.
>
“I’m hoping once we get to the cavern, things will click into place. Sometimes I need to come into contact with items, or the location before things makes sense. There’s probably a lot of interference, energy wise—”
“Alright, let’s keep moving, then,” he says, reaching out and taking my hand.
I grab hold of his and take another big step forward.
The terrain is rocky, and the elevation is much higher than back home—making it harder to breathe as we forge on.
Avoiding the tourist groups and their occasional stopping points, it still takes us another twenty minutes before we finally reach the mouth of the cave.
“Wow—there’s a lot of people here,” Blake mutters, placing his hands on his hips as he takes in the scene.
I walk up, eyeing the massive mouth of the cave. He’s right. It’s a hub of tourists interested in learning more about Delphi, Greece, and the ancient ways people honored Apollo and Pan. Clusters of people huddle around tour guides who are all giving their own variations of the stories. Some speak in Greek—others in English or Italian.
I shake my head—this isn’t what I saw in my vision. There was no bustle of people and the cavern mouth wasn’t as wide and open as it looks in person. Yet, I know it was this cavern. I can feel it.
“They must have taken the girls deeper,” I say, leaning in to Blake.
“Could they do that without being noticed?”
“Sure, if they did it in the middle of the night or something. Hell, anything is possible. In my vision, there wasn’t anyone around when they all came through. They may have taken a different entrance or something. It wasn’t this wide.”
“Are you absolutely certain it was this cave?” Blake says, his eyes narrowing.
“I’m sure,” I say, staring him in the eyes.
But now that I’m standing here defending myself, I’m totally not sure.
What if the weird sense of connection—the fact this place was where I began my journey—has been clouding my judgment? Could I have let it all get in the way and taken us off course? It wouldn’t be the first time.
I shake away the memory of the ritual with Demetri and the way the Violet Flame transmuted more than it should have—all because of me.
“Then, c’mon—we need to look around the cave a bit,” he says, walking beyond a small group of tourists and heading deeper into the cavern.
When no one comes running after us, Blake takes his flashlight out of his pocket, switching it on as we go beyond the mouth of the cave and into the rear cavern opening. I stand back, trying to pull a read off of the energy in the space—the rocky walls, the unique way the stones and stalactites have turned green, before following him though the narrowed opening.
Small flashes of from the vision seem to mesh with where we are, but I’m not sure—things are in flux and shifting around. I shake away the confusion, pushing myself to go forward.
“Does anything look familiar?” Blake says, cautiously shining his light around the space.
“Everything—and nothing,” I mutter.
Blake turns around, the flashlight blinding me as he shines it my direction.
“Are you okay?” he asks, concern suddenly surfacing.
“Yeah—I don’t know. Something’s not right. I—think I’m going to need to you to leave.”
“Excuse me? I don’t fuckin’ think so,” Blake says, snorting indignantly.
My eyes widen at his cuss. It’s the first time I’ve heard him swear like that.
“Please. We both know there isn’t much time and if I can’t get a read on the girls—” my voice drops off, “well, you know. I need to eliminate the feeling it’s you muddying up the water.”
Blake’s left hand raises as he presses his thumb and middle finger to his forehead.
“Okay, look—I’ll give you ten minutes. That’s it. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. Especially not here—not with these men on the loose.”
“Ten minutes should be more than enough to know if it’s you or not.”
I take a seat on one of the nearby rock outcroppings.
Sighing heavily, he drops his hand and rubs his mouth. “Alright. I’ll be just outside the cavern entrance. Will that be far enough?”
I shrug, “I would think so, but I honestly don’t know how this shit works anymore. It’s all new territory. Sometimes I read stuff just fine with you nearby—but other times, it’s like the messages get scattered when I’m near you. Let’s just give it a try.”
He nods. “Ten minutes—but stay put. Okay? Right here so I can find you.”
“Oh, believe me—I’m going nowhere. Getting lost in this cavern is the last thing I wanna do.”
I shudder away my very first memories of stumbling out of this cave—lost, starving, and totally dehydrated.
Blake nods again, stepping forward to hand me his flashlight.
“Keep it,” I say, waving it away. “I have one, too.”
Tugging the tiny flashlight from my pocket, I tap the button and the LED springs to life.
Giving me a final glance, Blake’s lips form a thin line, but he puffs up his chest and walks out.
The moment he leaves my immediate vicinity, it’s like a breath of fresh air wafts through the cavern. My mind clears as the strange fog subsides.
Licking my lips and shaking away my daze, I pull my legs in to sit cross-legged against the rocky wall. I flip off the flashlight, allowing the darkness to settle around me. People’s voices bounce around the cavern walls, mixing with the slow drips of water as it continues to form more stalactites and stalagmites, as they have for eons.
Blowing out a breath, I center myself and search the cavern space for the girls.
At first, nothing happens.
My perception is filled with the scent of cold, wet dirt and rocks. Then, something shifts—
Flames erupt in my inner eye and I begin to catch snippets of a conversation elsewhere in the cavern…
“Finally got the word. We make the exchange at 2:00am,” a man says.
I can’t see his face, but he has long reddish hair in the light of the small fire. On the floor, the girls huddle together, trying to make themselves as small as possible. Their clothes are torn and dirty—and an air of abuse already lingers around them.
“Why so fucking late?” another man says, kicking at the dirt. “I ain’t no damn babysitter.”
Anger spikes in the first man, “I’m not paid to ask questions—and neither are you. We’re just damn lucky we were reassigned here instead of being caught by the police.”
“Guess none of these people ever heard of sleep. So, where’s the damn drop happening? We gonna have to meet him, I suppose?”
“Yeah, as if he’s gonna make his way through this labyrinth,” the first man snorts. “Moron. Of course we’re gonna meet him. We’ll start making our way to the entrance at midnight. The tourists should all be gone by then and we can do what we need to do without prying eyes. Plus, we can dump ‘em when we have our money and get on our way.”
“Yeah, that’ll be good,” the other man says. “Looking forward to being done with this one. They’ve been more trouble than they’re worth if you ask me.”
“No shit. It went sideways from the minute we got mixed up with with that little girl back in the States. It’ll be nice to finally be rid of this lot. Gonna lay low for a while until it all blows over.”
One of the girls on the floor whimpers, fighting back tears.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” the first man snarls, walking over to them.
Instinctively, the girls cower together.
“I said, what’s wrong with you?” he repeats, kicking the girl closest to him.
The girls cry out, jarred from the contact. They bow their heads, refusing to look up at their captors.
“Babies,” the guy mutters, walking away. “Next one of you who cries is gonna get something worth crying about. Ya hear?”
Again, the girls hudd
le in to the point of practically being on top of one another—almost as if they could vanish if they just merged into one person.
Suddenly, the vision of the girls and men shifts—dragging me from their location as I desperately try to stay with them.
I float through the cavern tunnels, hovering over an open space with standing water—then through another tunnel with etchings in the stone face. As I try to lean into it and get a better view, images of the symbol from Blake’s dreams and drawings juxtapose themselves over and over in my mind—blocking me somehow from seeing anything else.
“Diana—Diana, oh God, are you okay?”
My eyes roll, as I try to ground myself to the here and now, and my own body. Without warning, everything goes limp and I slump forward. Blake’s arms wrap around me before I can hit the ground.
“What in the hell was all that? You—you were glowing. Like, on your own, bright purple—glowing. And your eyes—they were—I just—I can’t—” Blake’s words drift off, but I can’t find a way to my voice just yet.
The visions—two separate, but clearly equally important visions—have depleted my body.
I should have brought chocolate, or something to eat in case something liked this happened.
Stupid.
Blake pulls me in close, his broad chest becoming my platform for stability and relief. Everything around me is spinning and I know if I’m not careful, I’ll lose consciousness. Who knows how long it would be before I awoke—and neither of us can afford that kind of detour.
I close my eyes, focusing on the sound of his heartbeat as it thumps away. It’s my metronome to stay here and now.
His left hand slides up beneath my hair, resting on my neck. The warmth of his palm radiates through me, making me shiver.
“I’m sorry, Diana,” he says, his voice low and husky. “I still can’t believe what I saw. I mean, I know I saw it—and I know something was clearly going on with you. But I still—how do you explain something like this?”
Oracle: A Diana Hawthorne Psychic Mystery Book Page 15
