Chapter Twenty-Five
Iwasn’t sure how far I army-crawled into the tunnel before my breathing became labored and I started shaking with fear, but it definitely didn’t seem far enough. Instead of giving in to the sense of the walls closing in around me, I tried to zero in on Sam’s feet jostling and kicking in front of me as we progressed.
With each inch, the jagged rock we squeezed through soaked my clothing a little more, leaving me cold and wet. The ceiling mirrored the ground, dripping cold water onto my backside. With each tiny drip, terrifying visions of the mountain collapsing on us ran through my mind. I shuddered.
You’ll get through this. You’re strong enough. You’re brave.
I chanted a few mantras, although they didn’t have the effect that they usually did. What was worse, the appearance of multiple tiny red dots in the tunnel, the recording lights of cameras, assured me that hundreds of people were watching me break down. This was a shitty time to discover that I had a fear of caves.
Somewhere up ahead, a rock fell. I screeched and tensed.
“It was just a pebble!” Sam called back.
But I was already too far gone down the rabbit hole. My eyes were squeezed shut and my body trembled. Strange sounds were coming out of my mouth, reminding me of a caged animal. I couldn’t move another inch.If I don’t make it out of here—oh my God, I need to stop thinking that—we’ll fail.We’ll—
“Hey! I found a cavern!” Diana’s voice echoed down the tunnel.
My eyes popped open wide, and for a moment, my trembling ceased. A cavern was still a cave, but at least it was bigger.The train of witches in front of me sped up noticeably, and somehow, I found the strength to follow.
“Thank the universe we’re out of there.” I breathed my first full inhalation in what felt like forever as I emerged from the tunnel after Sam, who had her eyes closed and was taking long, slow breaths.
“Agreed.” Andre rubbed his arms with his hands, presumably to stop them from shaking.
Diana was the only one who didn’t seem fazed. In fact, she was already walking around the cave, examining it and looking for how to proceed.
Aware that the sooner we found the exit, the sooner we’d be out of there, I turned to explore in the opposite direction. Right away, I noticed that the four holes designated for the magicals to enter had all exited next to each other.
Noises came from one, the tunnel I thought belonged to the fae. I leaned close to it, cupping my hand around my ear.
“I’m stuck!” a gruff voice—Luvon’s—grunted.
“I’ll help push you!” Ayla said, her smoky tone worried.
“Why not just use earth magic and clear the way?” another male voice, Volwin’s, asked.
“No!” Sana cried out. “We need to try every possible avenue before trying earth magic. I can’t guarantee that it won’t collapse our tunnel—or the others. It’s a last resort only.”
My eyes popped open wide. “Diana! The fae are considering using earth magic. We need to get out of here!”
“So stop standing around and look for an exit on that side,” Diana said right before disappearing behind a rock that jutted up out of the ground.
She’d been out of sight only ten seconds when a blood-curdling scream cut through the cavern.
My heart rate spiked. I rushed to her aid and turned the corner just in time to see Diana fall to the ground, and the ghost-white visage of Francis zoom away.
“Hey!” I chased after him, but he was a vampire with super speed who darted to the side of the cave and vanished. I approached where he’d disappeared and sighed. It was yet another godforsaken tiny tunnel. Pissed, I slammed my fist into the rock. “You won’t get away with this!”
An evil laugh echoed back at me.
“Odette,” Diana wheezed. “Help.”
I whirled around and ran to her. “Andre! Sam get over here!” When I reached her side, I dropped to my knees. “What did he do to you?”
Diana’s hand covered her arm, and when she pulled it aside, a cut glistened up at me. It was small, but pulsed and oozed a white, foamy substance. Where the foam touched her skin was slightly swollen.
I reared back, disgusted by how alien the wound looked. “What the hell?”
Diana shook her head. “I thought I heard something andstillcame over here alone. How stupid of me!”
