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Once a sanctuary, now a tomb.
“I’m surprised he doesn’t have anyone standing guard here,” Dallas said as she stood beside Max in front of the maintenance elevator on the ground floor of the skyscraper.
Max chose not to reply, instead focusing on keying in the passcode Tanner had given him. The screen that was mounted on the wall beside the elevator emitted faint beeps with every tap of his finger. His reason for ignoring Dallas had nothing to do with not agreeing with her—it was the opposite. He did agree with her. And simply the thought of the imperator leaving the elevators wide open like this was…unsettling. And made him fear they may be walking into a trap.
They’d move forward with the plan, though. Unless something drastic deterred them. And the plan was this: Block all exits the imperator and his men could use to get away, push further inward until they found the Well replica, and meet the others there. While Max and Dallas took the maintenance elevator to the tunnels, Darien, Tanner, Roman, and Jack would go in through chamber seven. And Lace, Ivy, Travis, Jewels, Aspen, and Kylar were currently heading to the tar pits, where they would do one of two things: Guard the tunnel if they couldn’t find the way in…or, if they found out how to get inside, they’d come and meet at the Well replica.
Max extended his hand to Dallas. “Fingerprint, Red.”
She retrieved the glass slide from the back pocket of her bodysuit and passed it to him. He unstuck the glass pieces, peeled off the thin plastic sheet that bore a fingerprint—one that belonged to maintenance staff—and flattened it on the scanner.
A cheery beep sliced through the screen speakers. A moment later, the elevator doors shot open.
“Green light of approval,” Max breathed. He and Dallas stepped into the elevator. On the screen inside, he keyed in another code—another Tanner had given him. The code that would prevent anyone but Max and Dallas from coming down or leaving.
Once that was done, he turned to face Dallas. “Ready?” he asked her, hand drifting toward the buttons by the door.
She squared her shoulders and nodded once. “Ready.”
Max jammed his finger into the button that read BASEMENT, and they began their descent.
They rappelled down to the bottom. While jumping was an option for hellsehers, the chambers were deep, and Darien didn’t want to risk injuring themselves over something so reckless and easily avoided.
Darien touched ground at the same time as the others, all of them moving at the same swift pace. Buckles clinked as they took off their rappelling gear and set it aside. Weapons again at the ready, they started walking.
The tunnels were so deep below the earth that by all rights it should’ve been pitch-black down here. But there were bioluminescent glow worms all over the walls and ceiling, the clusters of insects casting ethereal blue light on everything. The tunnels were made of adamant shot through with silvery veins of cristala, the valuable material that had kept this place hidden from everyone except the few people who’d already known about it. Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere, the mounds and tapering columns sparkling with bits of cristala that looked like shattered mirror.
“Look at these here,” Tanner said. Despite the low volume of his voice, his words resounded through the tunnels. He pointed at the thin, colorful lines forking through the floor. Everywhere they stepped, those lines flared with colored light, illuminating the path ahead with a rainbow-like glow.
“What are they?” Roman asked, his gravelly voice carrying farther than Tanner’s.
“Channels for energy,” Tanner replied, his boot lighting up as he took another step. “The anima mundi, maybe.” Hopefully, was what Tanner looked like he wanted to say. But Darien didn’t let dread get the better of him as they carried on, guided by nothing but their Sight, the bioluminescent insects, and the veins of energy lighting up and warming under the soles of their boots, suffusing their bodysuits and faces with many hues.
Eventually, they reached a massive cavern with a ceiling too high up to glimpse. There were eerily realistic statues of animals and people everywhere, frozen in place like pieces on a chess-board. No two were alike, but they all held one similarity that stuck out to Darien in a way he couldn’t ignore: They looked terrified, as if they had spent their final moments facing off with something so petrifying that to merely look upon it had instantly stopped their hearts.
Darien fought the chill building at the nape of his neck, Bandit breathing heavily in Darien’s shadow.
Those are Familiars, Bandit said with a low growl. Dogs and cats, wolves and lions, birds and aquatic animals…
As Darien walked, deeper into the underground chamber, the air seemed to peel back, like a gate swinging open with enough force to cause a sharp breeze. The temperature dipped alarmingly quickly, his breath instantly fogging before him. The floor was no longer lighting up from the anima mundi, the veins below their feet dull and colorless and cold.
Darien’s good hand curled into a fist at his side, the long blade that was strapped to his back emitting a hum of warning, as if sensing the same thing Darien sensed.
The Nameless beings that inhabited pockets of the in-between throughout Terra usually required payment from their visitors in advance. Without payment, a person could not enter. But there were a few beings that had eked out a living for so long, they had carved out their habitats more firmly than the newer creatures, existing in such a way that unsuspecting prey could stumble upon them without coin or blood. Without payment. Without planning, nor premeditation.
And this? This deep cavern that felt more like the belly of a beast…
It was a fucking Crossroads.
“Shit.” The low oath came from Roman, who gripped his gun tighter, beads of sweat forming on his temples. “Faster.” He gestured with his gun to the arched doorway at the other end of the cavern—the only way out, aside from the door they’d come through.
Something dripped from the ceiling.
Splash.
Splash.
Splash.
