"Watch where you step. The walls are crumbled in places, and shards of broken pottery are scattered everywhere," Valentine told him.
Cosimo helped Yelena down, and she hurried to catch up with Valentine.
"Look at these pretty pictures," she said, and Valentine lifted the torch higher to where she was pointing. They were murals of Minerva surrounded by devotees.
"Maria is going to gloat about this so much," Cosimo commented. "Let's see where she's hiding."
His heart was picking up faster by the second, wanting to run ahead and find her. It would probably get him stuck in the same infernal spell that she was in, so he resisted the temptation.
"What is that?" A design carved into the wall made Cosimo pause. He brushed his fingers over it, and magic burned in his fingertips.
"Feels like a broken ward of some kind," Yelena said. Her eyes turned a silvery white color. "Move aside, and let me look."
Valentine and Cosimo didn't question her. Out of everyone, only Yelena could feel the echo of the magic in the forest like Marcella. She hummed a little tune, and frost gathered in the air around her.
Valentine's eyes shone with animal keenness and utter love as he watched her work. Cosimo hid his smile. The novelty of seeing Valentine enthralled by a woman wasn't going to wear offany time soon. He hoped he didn't look so besotted whenever he saw Marcella.
Yelena's song got louder, and the frost exploded into complex glowing patterns all over the walls and on the floor in front of them.
"That is where the magic was. Most of it is deactivated, so Maria probably cleared them," Yelena said, looking around at all the patterns.
"That is incredible," Cosimo replied, staring at the glowing patterns.
"You should see when she does it as a dragon," Valentine said and kissed his mate.
"I will go back and tell the others to come down," Yelena replied, her cheeks flushed. "Val, watch the trap at the end, that one is still loaded and is on a pressure plate." She hurried away, and Cosimo let out a soft laugh.
"You two are adorable," he teased his son.
"At least I don't look at her like a hungry dog does a steak," Valentine shot back.
Cosimo snorted. "Not anymore, you don't. Come on, let's see where this tunnel goes."
Carefully not to disrupt the faintly glowing frost of Yelena's magic, they moved further into the darkness. The trap that she had pointed out shone a faint yellow.
"Should we..." Valentine said, staring at it.
"Would be rude not to see what it does," Cosimo agreed. They moved back, and Valentine tossed his torch at it.
Magic flared, their only warning, and Cosimo dropped, dragging Valentine down as something flew over their heads and struck the stone wall where they had just been.
"What was that?" Valentine gasped, pushing Cosimo back and scrambling up. He grabbed his torch and held it up to wherea slice had been taken out of the wall. "It was like an invisible blade. Look at this! This is at least an inch deep."
"What was down here worth putting up such lethal traps?" Cosimo wondered, brushing the stone dust off his clothes.
"I can't wait to find out." Valentine hurried off, and Cosimo went after him, hoping that Yelena was right, and it was the only trap not triggered.
At the end of the tunnel, they went down another set of stone stairs. Copper stands filled with oil were at the base of them, so Valentine touched them with the flame of his torch. Light filled the chamber, and Cosimo stumbled back in surprise.
Hanging in the air, wearing moth-eaten jeans and anEvil DeadT-shirt, her dark hair wild around her head, was Maria.
"Bloody hell," Valentine whispered in awe. "She hasn't aged at all."
Cosimo stepped closer and stared into the face of his long-lost sister. "It's okay. We will get you out of there."
Maria's eyes very slowly blinked at him.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Cosimo muttered. "We need to see how we can get her down."
