I paused outside the elevator. While it would be helpful to see if there were any labels on the buttons inside, it would also probably set off an alarm if I tried to call the elevator.
Stairs it is.
I opened the door and glanced down and up the cement steps. No one was waiting for me.
Hopefully, that was a good sign.
Act confident,I told myself. If caught, then Cam would need to believe that I’d thought this was a perfectly normal thing to do.
I straightened my shoulders once more and started up the stairs, my head held high.
No one stopped me.
No alarms blared.
Just quiet stillness and the soft whisper of my sock-clad feet meeting the cement.
A door appeared after two floors. I opened it and found a hallway that looked just like Cam’s did.
Bypassing it, I went up another two flights and found the same thing.
How far under the catacombs is Cam’s room?I wondered.
Seven stories,I answered myself after finally reaching the top of the stairwell. At least, I assumed this was the level I’d intended to reach.
A peek outside the door confirmed it, the scent of dust and stale air tickling my nose.
Wow.The research bunker obviously went deeper than seven stories, making me wonder how Lilith had built it all. She’d essentially created a small city beneath the Vatican.
I quietly stepped into the eerie catacomb underground, my neck prickling with awareness.So much ancient energy. Just like the first time I came here.
Swallowing, I let the door close, then quickly checked to ensure it hadn’t locked. Not that I was sure what I’d do if it had, but fortunately I didn’t need to find out.
Right, I thought, glancing around.So where am I?
The catacombs were a maze, the lighting barely existent.
Well, it looked similar to what I remembered, just with a few enhancements. Like the various electric-based lights situated at certain points throughout the tunnels.
The stairwell seemed to be in a corner of the underground tunnels, making it potentially easy to return to. Assuming I didn’t get lost in here.
My fingers flexed, the urge to curl them into a fist hitting me hard.Keep. Moving.
With a deep breath, I crept forward in an attempt to acclimate myself.
When I’d visited with Cam, he’d done all the leading. And we’d entered via a secret tunnel that led to the surface, not the corner staircase behind me.
Hmm. Two choices—left or right.
I opted to go right, my steps slow and steady as I wandered the unfamiliar space. The limestone walls were still very much intact, the tunnel-like surroundings seeming to go on and on.
Which they did.
But the Blessed Ones were in a very specific tunnel, one that had been protected by vampire kind for thousands of years. I’d met two of them when I’d visited with Cam, their roles having been to hide the Blessed Ones from humankind. They’d usedcompulsion to safeguard their secrets, forcing mortals to forget that certain areas of the catacombs even existed.
Now I just have to find that specific tunnel.
There were several entries to other tunnels to my left as I walked, the right side seeming to be one solid wall of limestone.
