A grin tugged my mouth, and I bobbed my head.
“Move out of my way, inferior creatures!” Opie waved off Ash, Kek, and Luk dramatically, heading for the door. Bitzy sat in her pack, wagging her middle finger around like she was the queen of Hungary passing her minions on the street. “Let the experts through.”
Chirp!
“What is going on?” I glanced back at Warwick; his mouth was curved with humor.
“You’ll see.” He flicked his chin for me to follow my friends. I watched as Opie neared the door, his head tipping back at its colossal height.
“Some help, peasants?” He sighed like he was greatly put out, gesturing up the door. “Must I do everything myself? My gods, Bitz, you simply can’t find good help these days.”
Chirp!Bitzy rolled her large eyes in agreed dramatic annoyance.
“Just because you amuse me.” Kek leaned over, picking him up and holding him near where the lock might be on the other side.
“Thank you, my sapphire servant.” He nodded at Kek before turning to the door. Opie’s hands flattened against it, his tongue sticking out as he put his ear up to the door. “Hmmm... this is a gooey one.” His eyes twitched, his tongue changing sides. We stood there watching him for a full minute before he spoke again. “Alllllmost have it...” He grunted. Another thirty seconds passed. “Allllll mooooossstt thhheerree,” he stressed, his nose wrinkling. “Ah-ha!”
Clink!The sound of the lock broke, the door cracking open.
“Ta-da!” He threw up his hands, waving to the door like it was a prize.
“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, my mouth dropping.
“Sub-fae,” Warwick replied, his body heat pressing into me, herding me toward the entrance. “We might be a hundred times more powerful than them, but they slip under the radar of most magic, allowing them to do things we can’t.”
“Like opening magic locks and magic books.”
“Like that.” Warwick’s hands clasped my hips, moving me forward.
My eyes widened, turning to Opie and Bitzy, my smile growing. To a thief, this was like finding the master key that opened everything in the world. There was nothing I couldn’t steal.
“You two... you are the best.” I blew a kiss at them.
A deep blush colored Opie’s cheeks, a bashful smile hinting on his mouth, while Bitzy just flipped me off.
I loved them.
Taking the pair from Kek, I placed Opie on my shoulder, the duo holding on to my ponytail as we entered the pitch-black entrance.
I took lead since I had been through here. My memories were sharp because of whatever the healer had injected me with; every step now was like a callous rubbing against my brain. The smell brought me right back to when Killian’s guards had towed my maimed carcass up the spiral stairs toward my doom.
Now I was descending into it.
As silently as we could, the seven of us advanced down the tunnel. My anxiety corded in a tightrope around me, hoping I wasn’t leading them wrong. The odor triggered memories I had locked away, pumping my lungs with dread.
“You made it out, Kovacs. You survived. Don’t let it win now.”Warwick’s ghostly voice seeped into my ear.
Taking a deep breath, my shoulders eased down. The memories wouldn’t go away. They probably never would but feeling him behind me, Ash on my other side, my boys flanking me, Opie and Bitzy on my shoulder, all centered my wild thoughts, letting me focus on the goal.
“Double broomsticks. You get out of this place, Fishy, and then you purposefully come back?” Opie gripped my hair tighter. “I’m having flashbacks to when Master Finn made me bait the feral rats down here.”
“You had to put out the bait?”
“No, Iwasthe bait.” He shivered. “He said it built character. But all it did was make me lose my bowels.”
Chirp!
“I didn’t know you could stuff character up there.”
