AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zachary seemed to sense my mood. He caught my shoulder lightly with his hand and whispered, “Don’t worry. We’ll watch out for each other. Okay?”
Feeling a little better, I flashed him a smile, wondering what the hell I really did want. But there was no time for self-pity. We were almost there, and I had a responsibility to be on top of my game.
As we neared the cavern, Menolly slipped up next to me. “I don’t sense spirits very well, but I can tell you that I don’t feel any demonic energy coming from within.”
Vanzir heard her and dropped back beside us. “Neither do I. My guess is that Karvanak and his gang haven’t found the location yet. We’ve lucked out,” he added, glancing at Menolly. “But I’ll tell you this. Some of the shadows who come from the Netherworld put my kin to shame. Revenants and shades are far more dangerous than your standard RÄksasa or dream chaser.”
I frowned. Not a good thought. Not a happy thought. Not one I wanted to entertain, that was for sure. “Do you think there are any spirits or ghosts out there who are as dangerous as Shadow Wing?”
We walked lightly around the subject of Shadow Wing when Vanzir was around. After all, he was a full demon from the Sub Realms. He wasn’t necessarily angry at Shadow Wing for being the Big Bad he was. Vanzir just didn’t agree with his take on breaking through the portals or trying to overpower Earth and OW. When it came down to it, I wondered just how far his reformed status would take him. On the other hand, why else would he undergo the Ritual of Subjugation if he didn’t want to change? At least a little? He’d die if he reneged on the deal, and it wouldn’t be a pleasant death.
“I don’t know. I hope not.” Vanzir shrugged. He stared at me for a moment, his disconcertingly clear eyes homing in on my thoughts. Then he reached out lightly, his fingers barely grazing my arm before he seemed to think the better of it and snatched his hand back again.
“I know you don’t trust me,” he said. “I know you can’t figure out what my angle is. I don’t blame you. I’d probably feel the same way if I were in your shoes. But I hope that someday you’ll be able to believe me when I tell you that I haven’t got any ulterior motives. I may have been born a demon, but I’m just not . . . I don’t like what I’ve done in my life. It’s not me. I don’t fit in the Subterranean Realms, and I don’t fit with most of my kind.”
Before I could say anything, he hurried ahead to catch up with Roz. I watched him go, then let out a long sigh, not knowing what to think.
Menolly glanced at me, and we both shrugged. She looked as puzzled as I felt. “Who knows?” she said, modulating her voice so low I could barely catch her words. “He might be telling the truth. Meanwhile, we keep our eyes open.”
At that moment, Roz stopped and held up his hand, motioning us to come closer. He held his finger to his lips. “Be as quiet as you can. We stormed the house in Seattle and saw just how well that all went down. Let’s try for a more subtle approach here.”
“You think?” I said, but kept my voice low.
“Yeah, I think.” He grinned at me, then sobered. “Here’s the deal. We don’t have a clear picture of the cavern. The prospector couldn’t give us one, but if he’s right, the chamber with the spirit seal is off to the left of the main vault. There’s a short passage leading to it, but he mentioned a few old sinkholes and shafts. Don’t get yourselves lost. If the mining was extensive, there could be a labyrinth of tunnels. The wood shoring them up is bound to be fragile.”
Smoky frowned, his brow knitting in a way that made me glad I wasn’t Roz. “This is dangerous. I’ve been in old tunnels like this one before. They can crush you without warning. Walk softly, no loud words, no explosions. Camille, you should hold back on your magic. Morio, your fox-fire light spells will be fine, but nothing that could set up a tremor in the rocks. In other words, we’re going to have to face the spirits with spells that don’t send out shock waves. Obey me on this one, or you could find yourselves squashed flatter than one of Delilah’s toy mice.”
I snorted but not for long. He glared at me. Obviously it hadn’t been a joke. My smile faded away.
“The man has it down,” Roz said. “This is a subtle operation. So think before you speak, and test the ground before heading off into side passages.”
Camille glanced at Morio. “Just like with Titania’s cave. There were some nasty sinkholes there.”
We sorted ourselves out. Menolly and Vanzir would be our first wave. They were the most silent. Roz, Zach, and I would be the second line. Camille and Morio would come third. Smoky would cover our butts and make sure we weren’t surprised from behind.
As Menolly and Vanzir disappeared into the cavern, I let out a long breath. Here we go again, I thought, and then—motioning to Roz and Zach, who flanked my sides—headed into the darkness.
The air immediately shifted from clear and chilly to murky and damp. It smelled like mold, or slime, or something that had been sitting in the refrigerator a few weeks too long. I managed to catch my breath just before dinner made a repeat visit. I had a strong gag reflex, thanks to the hairball situation, and while I could eat a ton of junk food and watch the weirdest shit on TV, just send me into a room with a strong odor, and I was apt to lose it.
Whatever this was, it didn’t smell like any old normal, run-of-the-mill mold. Nope, this was nasty. This was . . . this was . . . sour and fetid and reminded me of the venidemons’ lair, though not quite so bad.
“Man, that’s rancid,” Zach whispered in my ear. “What the hell is it?”
“I dunno, but I’m not looking forward to finding out.” A pebble under my foot set me off balance, and I reached out to balance myself against the wall. As my fingers touched the rock, they met with the ickiest, slimiest mess I’d ever felt. It felt like I’d plunged my hand into a melted banana slug or a pile of snot.
“Gross, gross, gross.” I managed to lower my voice before I sent my dismay echoing down the hallway. I pulled my hand back and frantically tried to assess whether I’d covered it with something dangerous or just nasty.
Zach leaned in as Roz pulled a tiny, pen-sized flashlight out of his pocket and aimed the dim beam at my fingers. They were covered with what looked like some oozing ichor from an old fifties SF flick, the kind of stuff that comes in a can that parents never, ever want to buy their kids because they know it will either end up in the kids’ stomachs or—worse yet—their hair.
Only this stuff smelled worse than skunk juice. Worse than my litter box when I forgot to clean it for a few days. Worse than . . . What the—?
I stopped thinking about how it smelled because the slime started to move on my hand. It began to stretch itself out in a fine film. As it wrapped around my fingers and started to slither down my palm like some freak-ass living glove, I let out a little screech.
“Get this crap off me, now!” I didn’t care who heard me at this point. Visions of digestive enzymes going to work on my skin crowded my thoughts. I wasn’t ready to be assimilated into blob city.
Zach reached for my hand but Roz smacked him away. “Don’t touch it; let me take care of this. Here, you hold the light.”
By now, the others, except for Menolly and Vanzir who had gone on ahead, were gathered around us. Roz pulled out a chopstick—what the hell he had a chopstick in his pocket for, I didn’t know and didn’t ask—and poked at the slime. It reared up, like some bizarre rubbery club, and took a swipe at the long toothpick. Delightful; I was being devoured by Rocky the Blob. Next it would form itself into a tiny boxing glove and start pummeling me.
