“Which means?”
“Level ten houses the toughest monsters—lawless, mutated creatures. They sometimes escape into the spaces between the portals, but this time, we’ve intentionally let them loose in there.”
“So they’re roaming free?”
“Only between the portal elevators. That area is hermetically sealed off from other parts of the Labyrinth, but if the seal breaks they can access the elevators from time to time. They’ve eaten the odd peripheral who’s fallen into that space. Their presence will make the humans think twice about coming down here.”
“What even are these monsters?”
“Behemoths, and the odd demonic species. Not a nice bunch, and dangerous as fuck.”
“Will Jax be okay coming and going?”
“Jax has a werewolf aura that will protect him. They won’t go near him.”
“Phew. Let’s talk about something more pleasant. Like surprising your mom with all four of you.”
“And us. I’m going to tell her you are my mate tomorrow, Clem. And that we’re getting married”
“I’d love that,” she murmurs. We lie there in silence, both of us now thinking of a future that is full of hope, not fear. As her head gets heavier on my shoulder I stroke her hair until I know she’s asleep, and then I too allow myself to fall into a deep slumber.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
OTIS.
I awake with a start; to my walkie-talkie beeping an incoming call.
Clem stirs, but doesn’t wake.
It’s Tony on the other end.
Swiftly I get out of bed and take his call out in the passage. “What’s up?”
“There’s been strange activity detected,” Tony’s voice crackles.
“Where?”
“At One Moonbeam Lake. Close to the rock fall.”
Shit. I know exactly the spot. It’s where the roof of the cave fell in, some weeks back, exposing a large swathe of Earth above.
“Our surveillance has detected footsteps, and breathing,” Tony explains. “It’s still too dark for the cameras to pick up images.”
I have no idea what the implications of this are, but it’s worrying. “Where are you?”
“Just outside your house.”
“We’ll take my jeep and go together.”
This is not what I needed today. But it can’t be ignored.
It’ll take a good hour to drive there, but hopefully we’ll be back in time for Mom’s birthday party.
I dress swiftly, careful not to wake Clem. I kiss her softly, then creep out to the kitchen, where I leave a note for everyone.
Tony is waiting outside the house.
He hops in and we drive at speed along the tunnels, which are less illuminated the further we go. The jeep’s headlights light the way, but I know the route almost by heart. This is the spot where we used to come as kids. We would picnic by the edge of the lake, and afterward, all of us younglings would climb up to catch sight of the stars or the tiny glimmers of Earth’s daylight through a crack in the rock roof.
