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Lush trees gave way to sprawling fields and then the cliffs came into view, the ocean crashing loudly just beyond the hills to my right. Our security detail slowed with the vehicle and trotted after us as Adam searched for somewhere to park. Nina procured the map from her satchel and shook it open, holding it out for us to look over.
“There are a few huge rock faces along that side,” she pointed out. “We’ll start here and move up the coast.”
“Can’t we just plug it into an app or something?” I whined. When her features dampened with annoyance, I shrugged. “It was a joke, Nina.”
“Not funny,” she scolded. “Negative ten.”
Adam pushed the map aside. “I thought it was golden.”
I smiled weakly. “Thanks, pup.”
“Alright, ladies. Let’s get moving.”
Nina exited the vehicle after me, hoisting her quiver and bow over her shoulder. She eyed Lucius in his wolf form for a moment before nodding and darting ahead. The mahogany brown wolf trotted after her like an obedient pet. It would have been cute if I hadn’t been so preoccupied with what we were doing.
The wind picked up the higher we climbed. Adam and I took one rock face while the others launched to the other side. We probably checked a football field’s worth of soil before stumbling upon the correct landmark.
A gnarled ash tree rose from the slate gray stones on the edge of a cliff.
“Well, that looks…” I clung to Adam’s bicep. “Safe.”
“Stick close, cherry. I don’t want you slipping.”
I turned to Nina and the wolves. “Don’t follow. The ground might be loose.”
Nina gritted her teeth but relented. She knew this was my mistake to fix. It was likely that Sasha had given her plenty of details which meant I didn’t have to discuss it. But she could tell. She could read the shame roiling off my skin in hot waves.
That meant Adam could probably tell, too.
So close, I thought while trekking the cliff next to Adam.Almost there.
Underneath the tree was mostly barren. The rock face had been scraped from years of salty winds beating against its surface. Letters scrawled into the stone revealed where we needed to go. Just beyond the tree was a set of stairs carved out of the cliff.
Adam gripped my upper arm. “I’m going.”
“No,we’regoing.”
“What did I say about questioning me?”
I frowned. “We’re doing this together or not at all. Get mad all you want, but you're not stopping me.”
That seemed to be enough. Adam relaxed his grip on my upper arm and took a deep breath, bowing toward the wind to keep the salt from his eyes. We used the tree branches as leverage to get past the initial hump and then clung to the cliff as we made our way slowly down into a cavern.
Water leaked in the miniature tunnel while the light behind us illuminated the way ahead. An eerie sensation washed over me as I covered my nose from the musky stench rising around us.
“It’s almost like sulfur,” Adam said. “But worse.”
“What could it actually be?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Watch your step.” He caught my shoulder. “It’s slippery in here. And I don’t know how deep it goes.”
The rugged terrain smoothed as we drifted deeper. At this rate, I thought the darkness would swallow us, but the soft, ethereal glow from the moss-draped walls illuminated the way forward. A few more steps had us stumbling into what appeared to be a crypt.
Or an altar room.
“This must be a place for…” Adam approached the stone altar set in front of a white marble statue. He poked one of the candles. “Gods.”
“No, I don’t think that’s a god.”
