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A flash of light lit up the early morning, and a second later, I was being tackled in a bear hug. When the arms wrapped around me, I struggled against it, terrified that some other horror had me in its grip. Then, the familiar scent hit my nose, and I relaxed, gratefully allowing the arms to embrace me.
“Kira! You made it!” Zoe screamed as she tried to pop my head off with her hug.
I wrapped my arms around Zoe and held back my tears. My best friend, alive and well. If nothing else had gone right today, at least I’d found her. That meant we were in Haven. There was no other explanation.
I noticed the person who’d appeared along with Zoe—a beautiful fallen angel in military garb. “Who’s your friend, Zoe?”
She released me and turned, giggling. “Oh, sorry. This is Eliana, Eli for short. She’s Crew’s second-in-command. I told you about her.”
If this was Crew’s right hand, she wasn’t what I’d expected. I’d assumed that person would be some grizzled, battle-worn shifter, not the stunning fallen angel who stood before us. Eli nodded to us in greeting but remained silent.
“We don’t have any time to lose,” Zoe said. “We only found out a little while ago about the mansion being overrun. I need all the details on how that happened, but first we need to get to Haven. Simon is probably out hunting for anyone who escaped the mansion. He’ll want anyone he can find to use in his experiments.”
“Kira, you’re sure we can trust these people?” Gavin asked, eyeing Eli warily.
“I’d trust Zoe with my life,” I said. “Come on.”
“Follow me,” Eli said.
Zoe hurried to join Eli in leading us out of the clearing into another line of trees before coming to a steep rock face of the mountain. Eli walked straight into the stone and vanished.
“What the…” J.D. sputtered.
“It’s a concealment barrier spell,” Zoe explained. “Pretty simple and keeps us hidden. Come on.”
Zoe took my hand and led me through the faux rock. The world blurred for a split second, and then I was in a tunnel. This wasn’t quite a cave; more like a mine shaft, dug out by hands and magic rather than by millions of years of erosion.
“Stay close,” Zoe said, this time addressing all of us instead of just me. “There’s a ton of tunnels down here and loads of booby traps. If you don’t want to end up in a bloody spot on the floor, stay nose to ass, people.”
“Nose to ass?” I asked.
Zoe grinned and tilted her head toward the fallen angel. “That’s one of Eli’s favorite sayings. Let’s hurry.”
We watched Eli and Zoe disarm three different traps as we made our way deeper into the honeycomb of passages.
J.D. looked around like a kid who’d fallen into his favorite movie. “This is so dope! A legit guerilla warfare underground base. Nobody’s gonna believe this when I get back home.” He called up to Eli. “Do you guys actually liveinthe mountains?”
She didn’t look back. “We live in a system of caves beneath the mountain, yes.” She finally stopped and turned to address us. “Our leader escaped the mansion and the show attached to it two years ago. He created the tunnels you’re in now, and the ones lower. He used an elemental fae weapon to create the caves. When he was a contestant on the show, they gave him the weapon for one of the challenges. It lets him manipulate stone and earth.”
J.D. pumped his fist and laughed. “Yes! A secret shadowy leader with a freaking magic wand? I think I played a video game like this once.”
While J.D. geeked out, Eli went on. “He created this place to be exactly what it’s called—a haven. It’s open to anyone who has been sent to Bloodstone Island to die. We used the fae weapon to hollow out the mountain, and have expanded it and fortified it as well. We’ve worked hard to make this place as self-sustaining as possible. We rarely need to venture out into the island itself. The only time we leave is for emergencies or to help any poor unfortunate souls who get sent here.”
The story was amazing, and from the look on everyone’s faces, I wasn’t the only one who was impressed. The fact that all this was going on withoutanyoneon the show knowing was the most impressive part.
“This leader of yours sounds like a really amazing person,” Chelsey said.
“Yes, miss, he’s really something. Come. Let’s go meet him.”
We continued following Eli and Zoe through the many corridors. The place wasn’t massive by any means, but it was expansive. I figured two or three dozen people probably lived here. Not a huge number of people, but enough that the logistics could get difficult. This Crew guy was one hell of a leader to keep this running. Not only that, but he’d made this place as damn near impregnable as he could. The sheer number of traps they’d set in the entry tunnels boggled my mind.
The farther we went into the tunnels, the more became visible to us. We passed one room that was made into an entire underground garden. Two shifters and a fae woman walked around, plucking tomatoes and squash from plants. Above them, a fae light shone what must have been UV rays on the plants. Another chamber revealed what looked like bunk rooms. A man sat on one of the beds, his head down as he stared at the floor. As we passed him, he looked up and I slid to a stop.
“Mika!” I smiled at the sight of him.
His broody frown slowly gave way to surprise, followed by a smile as he stood and walked to meet us. “How the hell did all of you get here?”
“Long story,” Wyatt said as he shook Mika’s hand.
