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His voice echoed in the darkness, even though he kept it low. The resonance down here was incredibly sensitive. “A distance. I’d say at least three stories down, if you want to use a house as a measurement. Maybe four.”
So at least sixty feet. Probably more like one hundred, I thought, glancing around. It was dark. Too dark. We’d never be able to see where we were going or what might be coming toward us.
“We have to risk a light. There’s no alternative.” I debated on whether to pull out my flashlight—it would help, but it was very bright and might be overkill, considering the situation into which we were headed. We wanted to see enough to find our way, not advertise ourselves like a blue-light special at Kmart.
Chatter solved that problem. He held out his hand and whispered something, and a tennis ball–sized orb of fire appeared, hovering in the air next to him. It was bright but not blinding, and it softly illuminated our immediate surroundings.
“That fire thing you’ve got going on there is handy,” Peyton said.
He gave her a faint smile. “It serves its purpose.”
I glanced around. We were at a crossroads in the tunnel, with passages leading to both the left and right and straight ahead. I frowned, trying to figure out which one we should take. But Teral knelt by the juncture where the three passages met and pointed to something I couldn’t quite make out.
“Here—there are signs of tread going in this direction.” He gestured to the passage that led straight ahead. “I think there has been more traffic in this tunnel.”
“That would be the logical choice, then.” Once again, I realized they were waiting for me to make the decision. I cleared my throat. “Let’s go. Check, Teral, lead on.”
And so we moved forward, with Check and Teral at the front, and behind them, Grieve, Chatter, and me. Then came Ysandra, Peyton and Luna, and the other eight guards. I wondered how we were going to keep quiet, but except for the soft footfalls of Ysandra, Peyton, and Luna, there was no noise save for our breathing.
The going was slow because Check and Teral insisted on checking the passage for booby-traps every ten feet, but I knew better than to hurry them up. The place could easily be rigged, and I didn’t want to be responsible for anybody blowing up or getting impaled by spikes, Indiana Jones style.
Chatter’s light kept abreast with us, and he created another and sent it back to hover alongside the guards in the rear. We were able to see, and no doubt anybody getting close enough to us from either direction would see it, but the illumination wasn’t so bright that it immediately called attention to itself.
Besides, Cicely, not everything that walks in the depths uses eyes to see.
Ulean’s offhand comment gave me the chills, even though I knew she didn’t mean to. But the thought of some creature who didn’t need vision, snuffling and scuttling through the darkness, wasn’t my idea of a good time.
“This certainly isn’t as welcoming as the tunnel was where we went in search of Lainule’s heartstone. Or even where…” I stopped. I’d been going to say where I’d hidden my own heartstone, but I knew, instinctively, that I should never talk about that moment, that experience. The only one I would ever talk about it to was Rhiannon. And even then…as much as I loved her…the inclination to protect myself fully rose up and, with sadness, I realized that there was now a barrier between us, whether or not we wanted it there. The Queens of Summer and Winter were natural opposites.
Grieve glanced back at me, then smiled softly. “No, this is not a friendly place. There are dangers here. I can feel them in the slipstream. If you stop and listen, you can hear the rumblings from the depths.”
I nodded. So it hadn’t just been my imagination. I let myself drop into the slipstream as we continued along the corridor. Grieve was right. The distant pounding of something dark and large, reverberating like a low hum, echoed up to surround me. It was so low that I doubted the others—those who weren’t tuned in to the slipstream—could hear it.
“I can’t hear it, but I can certainly feel it.” Ysandra spoke up, breaking the silence. “There are ancient creatures who live in the earth, and most haven’t shown themselves for eons, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. We would do well to walk softly, lest we waken anything that should be left sleeping.”
“Creatures, or spirits?” Luna asked.
“Both,” Ysandra answered.
And with that, we continued along. I was beginning to worry about the time—how long had we been at this? It felt like hours, but logic dictated it couldn’t be more than an hour since we’d arrived at the Abby Theater. Finally, concern overrode reason and I turned to Ysandra.
“What time is it? Is it still daylight? Are the vampires still asleep?”
She stopped to pull out a pocket watch from the belt on the sleek black catsuit she was wearing. “It’s two fifteen. We have time, but we shouldn’t dawdle.”
“I think we’ve found our way in,” Check said, interrupting. He pointed ahead to where the passageway ended in a wall, against which a large metal door barred our way.
“Finally…” But now, fear began to creep in. The vampires were still asleep—they had to be—but that didn’t mean their guards wouldn’t be fierce. The amount of bloodshed I’d seen in the past few weeks was overwhelming, and we weren’t done by any means.
Check examined the door. “I don’t see any traps.”
Ysandra pushed forward. “Let me look. I can tell whether there’s magic set on it, although it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a trap there.” She knelt by the keyhole and whispered something low. A moment later, she stood, frowning. “Yes, there is some sort of magic here, but honestly, I don’t recognize it. It isn’t from the magic-born.”
“Could be a trap, could be a warning system. Is there any way to defuse it?” I joined her, gazing at the door as if staring hard enough could reveal its secrets.
“Not unless I know what kind it is to begin with. I could try, but if it’s a trap, I might set it off. Same if it’s a warning system. I think…we’re just going to have to brave this one and deal with the consequences.” She frowned again, resting her chin on her hand.
“Let me ask Ulean to see if she can find out what’s on the other side. She should be able to cross through it—”
