“What is it with the women in this family and their need to go first?” Dad sighed.
Payne glanced around at all the faces in search of someone, then he scowled. “Let’s go.” He started walking inside while Barron took the easy route and fated. Isabella and I followed behind Dad, August, and Payne.
“Do you miss the sun when you’re down here?” Isabella asked me out of nowhere. She caught my surprised, yet curious frown and elaborated. “I know, it’s random and now is not really the time, but living down here in the Underworld, don’t you hate not waking up to the sun?”
I tilted my head at her as we walked. “I don’t miss something I can go and see anytime I want in the human world.”
“I’d never seen the sun until the day after I escaped. I didn’t even know what it was,” she had that faraway look in her eyes as she talked like she was in a happy place, “but I remember getting woken up by it in the back of the truck I crawled into… and the moment the sun kissed my skin, I swear I fell in love with it. The warmth I felt from it gave me a hope I’d never dreamed of having, and that marked the beginning of ten long years I managed to hide myself from Julius.”
If the sun could have been her lover, I would have been so fucking jealous. The absolute sparkle in her eyes as she talked about the sun and the moment she got away, you could tell how life-changing it was for her. “I want to see the ocean,” she said in a daze and at random.
I never thought of it before, but I realized she left a life behind the day I found her. Something tight hit my chest. “Did you have to leave anybody behind when you came with me?” I couldn’t help but ask, but I also feared her answer.
She shook her head. “I had a few friends, but if you meant a lover then, no, I didn’t have one.” The relief I felt was instant and my shoulders loosened as we walked. “What about you?”
“I wouldn’t have come on to you if I was with someone,” I told her. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in a relationship.” Happiness twinkled in those dark eyes of hers. She brushed her hair behind her ear, looking entirely pleased. “Maybe we should have asked these questions before climbing into bed with one another?” I offered, earning me another joyful beam from her.
She laughed. “Maybe.”
“Fucking hell,” August muttered, looking back at us before glancing at Payne. “Do you have earplugs?”
“One of these days, August, you’re gonna trip over your own words,” Payne said to August. “I can’t wait to shake the hand of the woman that finally knocks you on your ass.”
“Done talking?” Dad turned his head back slightly. “If so, look ahead.” He pointed ahead.
“Killian!” Mom yelled for Dad and he faded which set all of us into motion.
“Shit,” Payne swore. “Is that spikes hanging from the ceiling?”
It definitely was. The device was shaped similar to a chandelier would look, only instead of holding lights, hundreds of metal spikes jutted out the bottom. It dropped several inches and screams erupted in the metal cave. The kids were trapped below it in a giant oval hole carved out. It was at least twenty-feet-deep. The shape of the spiked chandelier was built perfectly so that it would drop down on them. “Help us get the kids out!” Mom yelled up at us.
“Let’s take it down.” Payne looked up at the trap once more.
“You can’t,” Prudence yelled as she scooped up a child and placed her away from the circle. “It has a protection spell. We’ve already tried. It’s about to drop, we have to hurry and get these kids out of here.”
“There are hundreds of kids down there,” Payne muttered. “We won’t get them all out in time.”
“We have to try,” she told him.
“What about Harvest?” August asked before I could.
Prudence shook her head and dropped back down into the hole. “There’s no one here but the kids.”
I caught Isabella’s worried frown. “It’s okay. Stay right here,” I told her as we all moved toward the kids.
“If it’s a spell, I might be able to neutralize it,” she said quickly. “I’ll try to see while you’re doing that.”
I nodded, then jumped down. I materialized my scythe and several of the kids shrieked in terror. “It’s okay, we’re going to get you guys out of here.” I morphed my scythe into a chain. “Payne,” I yelled and the moment he tipped his head to look down, I sent the chain crawling up the wall of the hole and into his hands. He disappeared with one end and I could only guess it was to find somewhere to anchor the chain. Around me, we were all using similar ways to get the kids up quicker. My essence gave the chain a bluish glow and with it, I was able to control it without actually touching it. I wrapped several children in by their waist and slowly began to push them up the wall.
The spikes dropped another few feet. It was still a distance away from us, but who knew when it would drop completely. “We’re not getting them out fast enough,” I muttered.
“Sebastian!” Isabella yelled from above. “It’s going to drop completely. It’s spelled with a time limit.”
“Maybe we can fade with them all,” Joy said quickly. “Everyone touch each other,” she told the kids.
“We can only fade one person with us at a time,” Maureen swore.
“We have to try,” Joy met her eyes and said. “Maybe if we all use it together.”
