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“Is that odd?” AB glanced between us.
“Yeah.” My forehead creased. “This was human-run before. A tourist destination. And since the fall of the wall, it was abandoned. So a regular lock, I can see, but magic-locked?” I tipped my head, and Cooper and I exchanged looks.
“Like someone’s been through here who would know to do that.” Cooper picked up on my own thoughts.
“Would have areasonto do it,” I added, prickles of warning firing up the back of my neck, causing my skin to itch. Would the doctor have gone this way? Know to magic spell the door to stop people from following? “Do you smell anyone?”
Cooper shook his head. “Not strong enough. There are so many smells, too many people and fae magic around to get anything clear. I smell a mix of human and fae, but I can’t pinpoint anyone. I just saw the passage coming down this way and had an instinct to follow it.”
I would never second guess a Dark Dweller’s instinct. It was in every cell of their makeup to hunt and track their prey.
“Hey, possum droppings.” I tapped Annabeth’s bag. “You’re up.”
Silence.
“Hey.” I patted harder.
“I’m not talking to you.” A muffled voice came through.
“Normally I would thank the sea goddesses for that, but right now we need you to unlock the door.”
Nothing.
“Sprig,” I gritted.
His head popped out of the bag. “What do yousay, pirate hooker?” He blinked at me, feigning innocence.
I stared at him through lowered lids. “Just unlock thefuckingdoor before you become monkey pie.”
“That’s not the way to ask nicely.” He waved his finger at me. “Oh wait, did you say pie? I’m starving. It’s lunchtime, right? Dinner? Second dinner? I’m craving churros, ohhhh… honey pie, honey cakes with honey drizzle… oh wait, is it supper? Honey chicken sandwich, or honey beef kabobs, honey fried—”
“Sprig, open the damn door,” I growled. “Now!”
“Geeeeeez, someone’s grumpy. You think you’d be nicer since you got your Jolly Rancher sucked.” Sprig climbed out of the bag. “Can totally see whyBhean chaithad people kidnap her. I mean, no one likes STD flavor.”
“She didn’t—” My fingers curled up with an aspirated noise from my throat. I gave up on trying to explain. “Just unlock the door.”
Sprig hopped down AB’s arm as she took him closer to the knob. He wiggled his fingers like he was warming them up, touching the handle. While he fiddled with the bolt, Cooper and I turned our attention behind us, making sure no one was sneaking up on us.
“Allllmooost got it.” One eye twitched. Several moments went by. “Allllmoooosttt… there…”
Clink.
The door creaked open.
“See! Magic hands!” He waved his hands in the air. “What do you say, cockbuckler?”
“You’re lucky I haven’t stuffed you in a bottle and thrown you out to sea?” I grumbled, knocking past him, shining the torch in the room. The electrical room looked frozen in time, as it was five years before when it stopped working. The moment the wall between worlds disintegrated, magic funneled into Earth like a tsunami, fritzing out everything electrical, which was so much more than people imagined.
Nothing looked odd as we moved through the room, but I couldn’t stop the uneasy sensation scraping down my back, warning me. It had nothing to do with the actual rooms, but what was ahead of us.
The first room was filled with all the generators and electrical stuff. The second was small and empty, but had a door. Opening it slowly, my gun drawn, my torch lighting up the darkness, I peered down a metal staircase, descending farther into the windowless caves.
The depth of the sea was as dark as night, with places at the bottom where not a sliver of light was able to penetrate. That’s what this felt like—the darkness was the deep water wrapping around my lungs, suffocating me while I descended into its domain.
I couldn’t even sleep with my door locked on my ship, afraid of being trapped with no escape. This was ten times worse because I understood the ocean, respected its power, its right to take life when it demanded it. There was a vivacity to the sea. She was a temperamental mistress. She spoke a language only true sailors could understand, as if all the sirens in the world sang the song beckoning us back to her.
This place was cold, empty, though I did feel life calling from the depth. It made me feel uneasy, like something was not right. A force I was not prepared for.
