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Dusk laughs. “Okay, I guess it won’t hurt anything. We’re checking the perimeter.”
“The perimeter of what?”
Phantom and Dusk exchange a look.
I glare at them. “Come on!”
Dusk pushes some branches out of the way and indicates for me to keep going.
I cross my arms in front of my chest.
“Just walk,” Phantom says.
“I think I’m done walking without any information at all.”
Phantom glances over me as if he’s considering just picking me up again, and I hold my breath, hoping it won’t come to that. “We’re checking the perimeter of our area for any enemies.”
Okay, I guess that’ssomething. I keep walking through the branches Dusk parted for me, and we continue walking. It honestly seems like a waste of time. We’d spent most of the night at our camp. We’d eaten, and then they’d checked over their weapons and supplies before we’d started walking around. The guys, apparently, had some kind of freaking night vision, so they seemed to know where we were going and what we were doing, but it wasn’t until the sun’s early rays started streaking the sky that I had a clue where we were.
Not that seeing a bunch of trees helped me determine my positionat all.
So, a walk that should probably only take about an hour takes until the sun is up, beating down through the trees, because they’re treating me like I’m made of glass. A sheen of sweat coats my skin and I wipe my brow with my forearm while Onyx and Dusk walk silently beside me and Phantom leads like he’s the one in charge.
It’s another twenty minutes before we make it to the large cave, they’d shown me before full of shadow beasts. We go through the moss as before and circle deeper and deeper into the earth until we reach the massive cavern. There are men sleeping in various states of undress around the fire. None are completely naked, but none are completely dressed either. And the amount of muscle in this cave makes it look like the Gold’s Gym models have all decided to commune together in this one cave.
A woman in a leather top with straps, torn to reveal her stomach covered in scars, comes down the stairs on the side of the cave. A strange eagerness fills me. Another woman, an actual woman! Yeah, she’s a shadow beast, but us both being female is something, right? But I don’t speak up because as she passes, the look she gives me--half grimace, half scowl--isn’t one of friendship.
Damn it. I guess I’ll be as good at making friends with the shadow beasts as I was with the fae...
We take the tunnel that we’d taken before, and it brings up unsettling memories of the strange drink, suddenly understanding my men, and a strange black cloud. We pass the unconscious guy, and I hesitate at the doorway. In a strange way, he reminds me of Rayne. They both have more delicate features than the shadow beasts, and the shade of almost-blond hair. But it’s more than that.
I take a step to go inside, and Phantom catches my arm.
“We’re not here for that this time.”
Well, that’s good at least.“Who is he?” I ask, wanting to move closer to him.
“Adrik,” he answers, and there’s sadness in his voice. “Come on.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
I feel the tension instantly hit all of them, and hold my breath, but none of them answer. Glancing between the man and them, I decide this might be one thing best left alone.
For now.
I force myself to turn away from him, and then we move deeper into the cave. The tunnel is lit by flame torches and there’s a definite old world feel to the place, combined with the same glowing crystals on the walls as before, but there are fewer here.
“Where are we going?” I ask Dusk who’s walking beside me, but it’s Phantom who turns around and answers. “We’re going to see a tribe elder. He’s the oldest living member. He’ll know what to do.”
That’s ominous since I don’t know which part we’ll be asking him about.
But I follow. And follow. And follow, because this is the cave that just doesn’t end. We have to be halfway across the state by the time we come to a shoot off from this tunnel that ends in a small room. lit by rustic-looking lanterns. There’s a man sitting in a small cocoon chair hanging from the ceiling, a cocoon chair that reminds me of a hammock. His feet rest on the ground though, and he seems content. He’s just reading a dog-eared copy of a leather-bound book and has a pair of glasses perched halfway down his nose, turned a little to catch the light from the flames from a fire in one corner.
Phantom approaches him slowly and gives a little bow. I don’t know why that surprises me, but I expected a secret handshake or something similar. Anything but this formal bow that feels more like the actions of a prince than the shadow beasts I’ve met so far.
“Hello,Solemus,” he says to both Phantom and Dusk with a bow of his own, before giving a nod to Onyx.
“Hello, Elder Auero,” Phantom says, and his expression is grim.
