by Holly Hook
"We have to move," Steve said. He looked to his grandmother for orders.
She wouldn't face me. Instead, Adler backed away as I approached with Sven. There was still a distance she had to honor. "You should guard the pit," she said to Steve. "Make sure they don't come down here right away. The rest of us will keep working on moving the treasure that's away from the hole. I estimate we have time to move another pile or two if you're able to block their fire—"
"Yes, Ma'am," Steve said.
"Excuse me?" I asked. "You're telling your grandson, who is the only family member you have here, to take fire so we can get this treasure out of here?"
Adler dared to face me. She screwed up her face like she was trying to speak. "We need those of us with magic out of here."
A bad taste rose in my mouth as I realized what she was saying. Adler wanted to sacrifice Steve for the rest of us. Steve waited, eyeing the hole and the sun streaming through while the shouting went quiet again. A grave look came over his face.
"Steve's coming with us," I insisted, taking a step towards her. I put myself between Sven and Adler. "Everyone who helped today is coming with us, whether you like it. I won't see anyone get hurt if they don't have to. Isn't it time for this war to end?"
"Yes, it is," Adler said. "And it will."
I hated the way she said that. Steve shuffled forward. I glared at Adler, who returned it. We kept fifty feet between us. When I stepped forward, she stepped back. The fire magic spread through my limbs again, begging me to use it on Adler. Could dragon shifters hurt one another?
"And not by sacrificing our own," I said, thinking of Sven. "Or anyone else."
Adler twitched her lips like she wanted to say something, maybe about how Steve was sterile and useless for repopulating the den. And wouldn't she have wanted Sven to die instead of her grandson? She must've known I could prevent that and wouldn't try. I could see what she valued now. Her supposed caring about me was conditional. Had I been born like Steve, I'd be in his same position. Maybe she wouldn't have bothered to save me at all.
"We must do what we must," Adler said.
Power had shifted between us. "I'm stronger than you, Adler. And now you will listen."
Dirk's jaw dropped. Mom and Dad looked at each other. Dad smiled. Was it with pride? Steve backed into the shadows but not before his shoulders sagged with relief. The air in the room heated as if Adler were ready to unleash her fury. Her eyes reddened deep inside, betraying something monstrous.
And men's shouts sounded from the hole. Though I couldn't make out any of the words, it was clear there was a new development above.
"We have to go," I said. "Gather as much as you can and then we need to leave."
Steve got busy packing more stuff. There was no way he deserved to get left behind to deal with the Slayers. Sven and I got to work, too, even though I checked on Adler to make sure she wasn't trying anything. If there was anyone she wanted to eliminate, it was Sven.
But she tried nothing. Adler must also know if she tried to shift, the others would stop her. They outnumbered her and even Sven still had his sword and armor. He wasn't helpless.
The hole remained empty, spilling sunlight.
It wasn't until I saw the cables dropping into the hole, one after the other, that panic set in.
I tugged on Sven's sleeve as a cable landed on the coin pile and snaked to the floor of the cave. "What's that?"
He looked. "They'll rappel down here."
"We can't stop that?" I asked.
"Maybe you can," Sven said, though there was tension in his voice.
"I can summon storms. That might not include snapping ropes," I said. "I'm willing to bet they're fireproof."
At least Sven wasn't ready to sacrifice himself anymore. Maybe my speech helped with that. He stuffed a handful of old Roman coins into a bag and tied it, throwing the bag to Ellie. We had been working down here for hours and the light above was getting long and tired. Late afternoon. The Slayers were about to descend and find the rest of the hoard. Even with all of us and our enhanced strength, we had only managed to clear four piles of treasure.
After this, the hoard would be much, much smaller.
Adler dropped the bag she was filling and waved us towards the cave. "All of you. Leave. I'll hold them off."
"What's with the change in heart?" Steve whispered, but not to her. He stood next to me and Sven.
I grabbed another two bags and hauled them to the tunnel, making sure that Sven and Steve were following. "You're not coming?" I asked Adler.
"I'll be behind you," Adler said. "They're coming down. Go!"
She was right. Two dark figures rappeled down the ropes like spiders on silk, armed and quivers and swords hanging from belts. Adler clenched her fists at the sight.
"But we all need to get out of here safe."
"Go," Adler said. "If you will be this way, then someone needs to try protecting the hoard."
"Come on," Sven said, squeezing my hand.
I had no choice. Adler walked away and kneeled as her joints popped. She took the coming shift well, remaining still and taking the pain without screaming.
Anger filled me. She was trying to guilt me and manipulate now. It was a Tasha move. I turned away, both from the sight of her changing shape and the horrific sounds that followed. Men shouted. They detected someone down here. Then they would fight and Adler would destroy them...if they didn't get her first. There would be death under Olivia.
"Come on!" Sven repeated, even though I was following at that point.
I dragged the bulging bags of treasure with me as the tunnel turned gray and we left the main hoard behind.
* * * * *
It turned out that Steve and the others had moved much of the treasure to a "safe chamber" deep within the tunnel network. Mr. and Mrs. Macher explained that there were dozens throughout the cave system and Adler had used her mind magic to prevent anyone from even getting near them. The safe chambers weren't enough to hide the entire hoard, but Mrs. Macher told me they were enough to keep the den from dying out should disaster hit. Since I'd stayed with Sven the entire time while underground, I had seen none of these safe chambers yet, but the one Mr. Macher led us to was only large enough to fit a house. A bunch of trash bags already sat there, bulging with the smell of metal and paper money.
We deposited the loot, and I stood still among the sad pile of stuff, listening. I heard nothing echoing through the complex tunnels. Even I didn't know where we were underground. Sven had to hold my hand the entire time since he couldn't see at all. This little safe room had no braziers.
"Die out?" I asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Macher said with sadness. "Losing our treasure means we may die out. Dragons rely on magic. It's our lifeblood, and this is the final hoard in the world. While some dragons have survived on their own, they're few, and even they have to hold on to some wealth to stay going."
I eyed the sad piles in here. What we'd rescued wasn't even a quarter of the size of the one back in the main chamber. "Adler must be holding them back."
"She must," Ellie told me. It was the first time I'd heard her speak since she came down here. Until now, I'd only glimpsed her around town, running errands.
"I don't hear any fighting," I said.
"Maybe she ended it for those intruders quickly," Mr. Macher said. "Adler has fought many Slayers."
Sven tensed. His red glow tightened around him as if the blood were fleeing from the surface of his body. I worried about Adler. Maybe I'd been too harsh with her, but after all of Steve's kindness, he didn't deserve to get left behind to suffer a certain and very painful death. Sofia had already tried to kill him. Poor Steve stood near the entryway of the chamber next to a sagging bag of antique glasses. He faced the ground. I wanted to say something to him, but nothing came to mind. What did you say to someone whose grandmother would sacrifice him?
And where were Steve's parents? It didn't bode well.
"We can't linger in here," Mr. M
acher said. "This treasure should be enough to keep us going should the Slayers loot the main chamber, but even that will take them a while. Adler's placed a mind trick on this chamber to make the entryway appear solid. Sven, you're lucky that you can't see at all, or you would have had an unnerving experience."
"This is already unnerving," Sven said. "A person could go crazy in this dark."
"We leave through the quarry," Steve said. "I'll lead the way."
We followed Steve back through the tunnels. Heat wrapped around my skin and I wanted to check on the main hoard, but Sven tightened his grip on my hand in a silent bid not to try.
And then the harsh voices of men followed. They were in the chamber.
Steve froze.
So did everyone else.
And as if I could sense what was happening in the chamber, a ripple raced through me, distressed and panicked. I caught my breath. I'd gotten used to the sense of magic flowing through me and now something was disrupting it.
And the sense was immediately followed by a raging inferno.
Shaking my hand from Sven's, I took a breath as that anger took over, wild and instinctive.
"Why are we letting them steal from us?" I asked. "Why are we listening to Adler? There are nine of us who can fight."
Chapter Eleven
"Felicia, they have guns. You heard Adler," Sven said.
"You are not fighting those men," Mom said. "They're ruthless."
"If they take the hoard, we wither away," I told her. "Do you want that? You saw how much treasure we'll have left if they get what they want. People like the Society want to ruin the world. They own a chunk of it already. Then it will be just about survival for us." I imagined having to hide what little would remain of the hoard. The continued existence of the Society would mean hiding for the rest of our days. It would be even worse than the prospect of staying stuck in Olivia all my life. We might even have to stay underground.
I couldn't imagine. It was a fate worse than death.
And I couldn't let it happen. These people craved freedom.
"I'll be honest," I said to everyone, even though I knew this would hurt my parents. "I don't want to stay in this town for the rest of my life. Picking olives isn't the only thing I want to do. There's a world out there and if we spend all our time huddled around here, protecting what we have, then we'll never get to experience it." I thought of the beach with Sven where I felt alive for a few precious moments. It was the most alive I'd ever felt, and I craved more. "So long as the Society exists, this is all there will be for us. Hiding and waiting. This war has been going on for centuries and they won't end it until we're all dead and they have everything."
"Felicia," Mom said.
"I'm sorry," I said. I'd never said this out loud before, even though those words have always hung between us. "It's not that I mind helping around the farm. It's that I'm tired of being in a cage."
Mrs. Macher placed her hand on Mom's shoulder. "Let go," she whispered. The two of them walked ahead into the tunnel, whispering to each other.
"I think she's coming around." Sven leaned close to my ear. His words sent a tingle down my neck. "So, what do you have in mind?"
"The Slayers have guns and they've brought them down with them," I said. "We have that established." I watched as the Boers, Ed, and Ellie faced me, waiting for my word on what to do next. No one wanted to charge into the main chamber to face a bunch of ready Slayers. Even Sven made no motion to do that. "We're vulnerable while shifting, aren't we?"
Steve nodded at me. "Very," he said. "Especially if we lose consciousness. To shift, we'd have to first go into the main chamber where there's room. The Slayers are already in there. Shifting at this point will be suicide."
"Then that's out," I said. "And so is attacking from above since they have guns up there, too. We should get everyone out of these tunnels. I'll flood the place to slow the Slayers down." I tried to think of the layout of the town. The river ran past the Water Company and the hole the Slayers had blasted might not be too far from there. Not to mention, the river ran underground part of the way. If it rose too much...
"You'll fill these tunnels with water?" Dirk asked.
"Yes. Flash flood. These tunnels look like water flowed through them before. We will need a lot of rain. And Dirk, you're helping me."
"But that might kill—" Sven started.
A pang ripped through me. His father. Did Sven still care about him? He must feel about his father the way I did about Adler. There were a lot of things wrong with her, but she wasn't evil. Was she?
Adler was a family friend. My parents' friend, although maybe not anymore. And she could have wound up dead or captured by now. I didn't hear her out there, trying to fight.
"The Slayers should have time to get out," I explained even though I wasn't sure about that. "They have equipment."
Sven frowned. "Flash floods have power. Water could sweep them away, and then they won't know where to go. I can't see in these tunnels. It would be a horrible death."
"Has anyone seen water flow through these tunnels before?" I asked, facing the Boers. Being the farmers, they might have the most knowledge. "Have you?"
Mrs. Boer, a young woman with glasses and a plaid shirt, answered as the men's shouts continued from the main chamber. "These tunnels are higher than the main chamber. The hoard is the lowest point in the cave system. If the underground river overflows, the water will collect there. But it hasn't happened for years. That might stop the Slayers from stealing the loot for a while."
"Then they won't get swept into a tunnel," I said to Sven.
But I wasn't reassuring him. A part of me wanted the Slayers to drown, but another part of me knew that would hurt Sven, no matter how bad things had gotten between him and his father. That was the last thing I wanted.
Sven let out a breath. "I don't want you to wither away, Felicia." He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. His lips brushed my cool skin, sending a new heat through my body that replaced the vengeance-seeking fire. It was as if his kisses had a power all their own.
My mother had felt this way about a Slayer who turned on her.
And Adler knew it.
"Are you okay with this?" I asked.
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "Those men would kill everyone here."
"And your father?"
Sven sighed and pressed his forehead to mine. He was shaking. "He would kill us both."
I trembled. Sven no longer had a father. He hadn't had one to begin with and he was now accepting of that fact. My heart broke for him.
"We'll find your mother," I promised. "And we'll make sure your sister is safe."
"Thank you. I won't let the Society hurt you, Felicia, even if it kills me. They almost did through me."
Silence dragged out as everyone listened. We had no privacy. Sven straightened, leaving the pressure of his forehead on mine. It gave me the strength to turn to everyone. "We start another storm," I said to Dirk. "This time, we make a flash flood. The caves should prevent the water from sweeping away town. Right?" I face the Boers.
"When the river overflows, it will go here first," Mr. Boer told me.
"I hope." I whirled and faced everyone. "We had better get out of here. None of us want to get caught in that."
"But what about my grandmother?" Steve asked.
"Water is better than what will happen to her in the hands of Slayers," Mr. Macher said. "If they've captured her, it will be a mercy. It takes a lot to drown a dragon. She might escape."
I thought of the giant bear traps in the Olsens' shed and wanted to vomit. Those had been used before. Adler might have issues, but I didn't want to see her trapped in one and in agony. A tremor overtook my body, and I nodded. "Everyone out of here," I said. "Then we get as close as we can to the excavation site."
* * * * *
By the time we exited through the quarry, night had fallen. Sven maintained his grip on my hand. Tonight would be hard for him and difficult for all of us.
I had killed only once and now Sven would see me kill again. I didn't know if we'd survive that together. Sven already had enough to drive him mad.
But if I didn't, I would kill these innocent people who hadn't done a thing to harm anyone in town. The den was just trying to stay alive. The more I thought about how trapped in Olivia we all were, the angrier I got. Heat within urged me to head over to the quarry site so I could unleash it. The Slayers needed to suffer.
"Felicia," Sven whispered as we walked across the quarry yard. "Breathe."
"It's that obvious?"
"Your hand is getting very warm."
"Oh."
"I know you're worried about how this will affect me," Sven said. "So long as you and my sister are safe, I'll be happy. Those aren't my people who blasted open that hole."
"I know they're not," I said.
Mr. Macher suggested that my parents return to their house to watch over Sofia and make her some food. Mom and Dad hesitated, looking at me. How could they focus on that when they knew I was heading into danger? But Dad agreed and urged Mom to follow him. I watched the two of them go.
"Sofia will hate this," Sven said.
The girl had struggled to be something all her life, and now she was just the prisoner sitting around, doing nothing. "She needs to know what her father did," I said. "That he left her to die."
"I'm not looking forward to telling her that," Sven said. "Sofia's in denial."
"I'll help with that," I said.
"She won't trust you."
"Fair enough."
"Ready?" Dirk asked, hands in his pockets. "We need to go to wherever the site is. They're not blasting anymore, but by now they'll have floodlights on the place. That should be easy to find if we look long enough."
"Adler knew where the hole was," I said. "She can't tell us where to go now."
"Our principal might take care of herself," Dirk said. "I always said she was scary. She was always nice to you though."
