We had a quarter tank of gas and two five-gallon cans in the back.It would be enough to get us back to the road, but I didn’t know if it would be enough to get us to the closest gas station.
“How much farther?”I asked, even though neither Lula or Abbi would know.
“There!”Abbi pointed at some random spot in the distance.“We’re going there.”
Lula squinted.“I don’t see anything.”
“I can…” Abbi said.“It’s…I can tell.I think it’s pretty old.Well, not old like me, but old.”
“What do you see?”Lu asked.
“They’re turning to it.See?”
All I saw were piles of rocks, which was all there was to see out here except for the occasional jack rabbit, lizard, or red-tailed hawk.
“No,” I said.
“Look better,” Abbi said, frustrated.
Lu slowed the truck, giving the dust Pamela’s car was kicking up extra time to settle.Pamela drove between piles of rocks.
That’s when I could actually see it.
The tunnel was so cleverly hidden with natural camouflage and magic that I would have driven—hell, I would have walked—right past it and not known it was there.
It was just wide and tall enough for a car.Pamela drove into it.After a moment, we did too.
Daylight cut off faster than I’d expected and I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust.The magic made it seem like there was only so far a person could wander into the place before the tunnel dead ended.
The darkness felt complete, unbroken for several minutes.Then it shimmered, and lights positioned alongside the road appeared.They were just bright enough, I could see the tunnel was not natural, but man made.
“Military?”I suggested.
Lula nodded.“Lots of old silos and other things out here.”
“It’s the other things I don’t like.”Abbi reached for my hand and held on tight.
Just a few weeks ago, we’d all descended into the caverns in Missouri to fight the Hush.We’d saved Hado, who had been stolen from Abbi and tortured.
But it was Abbi, well, Abbi and Hado on their own, with nothing but her mortar and pestle and moon powers that had sealed those caves.
The Hush would be trapped there, in the darkness for years to come.
I still had nightmares of those caves, those monsters, that fight.Abbi had faced more than me.I knew from the sounds she made in her sleep that she had nightmares too.
She blinked hard, tears pooled in her eyes, but she didn’t look away from the darkness around us.
“Elmer, Pamela, and Josie are good people,” I said.“They fought the Hush with us.They wanted to look after you, remember?”
“I know.It’s just…dark and cave-y in here.”
“Bah.What’s a little darkness?We have a moon rabbit who can shine almost as bright as the sun.”
Her scowl was fierce.“Brighter than the sun.I killed vampires.All of them.”
“Damn right you did.”
Brake lights bathed the space in red, and Lula slowed the truck.Then the SUV rolled to the right and we followed.
