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But she had come to accept the bond, and that meant accepting the dangers.
Derek looked out the door toward the beckoning forest, temporarily paralyzed by the choice he had to make.
He heard her stomping down the stairs again and had to wait, moving away from the door.
Iris looked very surprised. “Well then,” she said, dressed in flexible athletic wear. “I guess we’re going.”
“I guess so,” Derek said.
They waited for the other enforcers to join them, and they departed.
The path forward was quiet, only punctuated by the crushing of solid grass beneath their feet and the rustling of branches that obstructed their movement.
Nobody said anything.
They all understood the gravity of the situation and what they had to do.
That was until they reached a crashing waterfall.
“Here,” Mason said, pointing toward a nondescript river. “We smelled him from here. I’m certain of it.”
Derek smelled the air. His shifter nose picked up on it also. He could sense the scent of a distant memory, somebody he had once considered an ally. The skies were gray with fog, and a light rain had started to fall.
His blood ran cold.
“I’ll lead the way,” Derek said, moving forward before Iris could protest.
With every step, he expected a trap. Every time his foot crunched against the soil, he checked to make sure it was still attached.
He gestured for the rest of them to follow.
“Curious,” Derek said, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “Are you sure it was here?”
Mason nodded. Looking around, his eyes landed on something. He pointed downward beneath the waterfall.
Derek’s eyes went where he pointed.
A faint light, like a lantern, seemed to emanate from somewhere deep underwater. At first, Derek wasn’t sure what he was seeing.
But Mason had already dived in.
“Wait!” Derek shouted.
Willing his body into obedience, expecting to collide headfirst with the rocky surface of the riverbed, he followed, surprised when he encountered no resistance.
Seemingly, they had entered a hidden underwater passage, though Derek could hardly fathom how. This wasn’t an ocean. There wasn’t room for this to exist. He wondered if magic was at play somehow.
He swam downward, holding his breath with all of his strength.
Derek was relieved when he felt Iris swim up beside him.
Then he realized he no longer needed to hold his breath and gasped, listening to the dripping of overhead stalactites.
The glow of the lanterns was far brighter than he realized as several of the shifters went about their day, oblivious to their entry. They paced back and forth across rope bridges and storage areas.
Apparently, Cyrus had fancied himself a pirate.
But there was no more time to strategize. As soon as they left the water, they would be sighted and attacked.
