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“Which way?” I said softly. Zane nodded up the shaft he stood beside, his eyes narrowed as he gazed into the dark. My light illuminated the narrow tunnel, but the shadows still lay thick beyond its reach.
“There’s drag marks on the ground here,” he said. “And I can smell it.”
“Smell what?”
“His corpse.”
Zane led the way down the narrow tunnel. The ceiling was low enough that he had to bend, and even my head brushed it as I walked. It wasn’t long before I could smell it too: that vile rot, like old meat left in the sun. I kept glancing back, unable to shake off the feeling of being watched. It was eerily silent save for our footsteps.
The tunnel opened into a low cavern. Stalagmites jutted up from the floor, and the remnants of an old mine cart track were scattered around. White mushrooms sprouted in clusters from the walls, and they glowed softly when I moved my light away from them. The smell was horrific, and I tugged my shirt up to cover my nose in desperation. Zane paused again, sniffing the air, frowning.
“What’s wrong?” My voice was barely a whisper, but even that felt too loud.
“His body is close.” Zane turned slowly. “Get ready.”
I pulled out the shotgun. We crept forward, our boots splashing through puddles. The cavern opened wider, the stalagmites and stalactites like the teeth of some monstrous beast encaging us within its jaws. As my light moved around the cavern, I noticed odd scratches in the stones. Like claw marks. There were more mushrooms too — across the ground, the walls, even the ceiling.
Suddenly, Zane stopped. I turned my light toward him, then looked past him.
We’d found Marcus.
But something else had found him first.
19
Marcus lay on a ridge, atop a cluster of stalagmites, his body bent and broken between the spikes. He was bloated, his flesh mottled unnatural colors, his eye sockets empty — plucked clean. My brain couldn’t seem to process what I was seeing. It couldn’t connect the dots between the ruined flesh I saw, and the brother I’d known.
Then it clicked, and a strange, cold numbness settled over me like ice spreading through my veins.
Something had dragged Marcus up there, and it —they— were still there.
They were as still as the stones that surrounded them. Their limbs were long, as pale as bones. Their heads — skeletal, with milky white eyes and thin sharp antlers — drooped from their long necks. They looked stretched — everything out of proportion, too long, too thin. Their legs ended in white cloven hooves, and their knees werebackward, like long-legged birds. Wispy rags hung from their bodies, but the fabric looked disturbingly flesh-like.
They weren’t moving. Their arms hung limply at their sides. Only their heads were slightly swaying, so slowly that if I hadn’t stared at them for so long, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
I edged closer to Zane, as quietly as I could. He glanced down at me, and I mouthed silently, “What are they?”
He shook his head and pressed his finger to his lips. Message received, quiet and clear.
Keeping low to the ground, Zane crept across the cavern. He climbed up the ridge, and I raised my gun and kept my aim steadily on the creature closest to him. They still hadn’t moved, other than that subtle swaying of their heads. Zane crawled across the ridge, his eyes wide and unblinking, shockingly bright in the dark. He was right next to Marcus now, barely an arm’s length from the closest creature. Slowly, he reached over the stones and lifted Marcus from between them. My brother’s head rolled back, strange black liquid dripping from his purple, shrunken lips.
“Juniper.”
I shuddered, but I didn’t turn. The voice had come from behind me, a breathy whisper somewhere above my head. I had to ignore it. Just fucking ignore it. I held my aim as Zane began to crawl back down.
“You’ve come back to me.”
My grip on the gun tightened. I could no longer reassure myself that it was only in my head. I was inItsterritory now. These dark, flooded tunnels were the God’s domain. It knew I was here. Itknew.
“You’ve defied me for so long.”
There was a strange, soft sound behind me, like something slimy sliding through water. I exhaled slowly, hardly able to bear drawing another breath because of the stench. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt, and I desperately needed more air. But I didn’t move. Zane was nearly back down, Marcus slung over his shoulder, and the creatures still seemed entirely unaware. We were so close…
“You can’t run anymore.”
The wet dragging sound was right at my feet. There was pressure against my boot. Slowly, I looked down.
Thick, gray, slimy tentacles were coiling around my ankles.
