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“Torchlight, by the way it’s flickering.” He squeezed her hand. “It opens up a little up ahead.”
“Good.” She didn’t bother masking her relief. “Can you smell anything?”
“Humans. Two of them.”
Though his voice was flat, she could feel his excitement. “It might not be her, you know.”
“I know.”
But his pace increased regardless. The flickering glow grew until it shone warmly across the damp rocks and finally lifted the darkness. Ahead, the tunnel opened up into what looked like a wide cavern. Relief crawled through her.
There was no one to be seen ahead. Nothing to be heard. But she could certainly smell someone. Or something.
She pulled Ethan to a stop. “Zombies, dead ahead.”
“How many?” His question was little more than a caress of air past her ear.
“Two.” She hesitated, then frowned. “But there’s something else.”
“What?”
“I’m not sure.” She let go of his hand and stepped forward cautiously. Energy tingled across her skin, brief but powerful. She raised a hand. The farther she reached, the sharper the buzz, until it felt like it burned across her skin. Eventually it became a wall that resisted her efforts to push any farther. Tiny slivers of energy shot from her fingers, lightning sharp as they crawled up that unseen wall and faded away.
“What the hell is that?”
“Some form of magical barrier. I haven’t got the equipment with me to get past it right now.”
She kept her hand against the barrier and moved from one side of the tunnel to the other. The barrier appeared to be oval in shape, bowing out into the tunnel from either edge.
“Touch it with your fingertips,” she said. “Keep that contact so you know where it is, but don’t go any closer.”
He nodded. The lightning that crawled away from his touch was sharper, more fiery. He hissed slightly. “Feels like I’m being eaten by ants.”
“I think it would be a whole lot worse if you came into full contact with the thing.” She edged around to the right.
“Can you see anything from your side?” he said.
“A wall and another tunnel.” One that looked carved by nature rather than man. Or magic.
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“I can see living dead men.” He hesitated, and a wave of emotion hit her, so strong it knocked her backward. “And Janie.” Anger, hope, and frustration combined in his voice and speared right through her heart. He really did love that little girl.
“You sure?”
His glance was sharp. “Yes. I can see her face. You’ve got to break this thing so we can get her out.”
“I can’t—”
“Damn it, she’s here. She’s alive, and I’m sure as hell not leaving without her!”
“We have no choice, not right—”
“I will not leave her!”
“And if I try to break this barrier without the right tools, I’ll risk killing us all. Can’t you feel the power in this thing?”
“It’s only magic, for God’s sake. How dangerous can it be?”
