Page 27 of Warrior Unraveled

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They’d walked through a labyrinth of countless tunnels that all appeared to look the same. Virginia had lost track of which direction they were headed in, they’d turned left and right and turned back at dead ends so many times. For all she knew they were back at the same place where they’d started.

Whenever they’d heard voices or other sounds, Wesley had dragged her in the other direction, clearly wanting to avoid another demon encounter. But what if they were heading too far away? What if the reason they hadn’t come upon another demon in the last half hour was because they were walking toward an area that even the demons avoided? And what if there was no water in this direction either? Surely the demons would congregate around the water sources in this hellhole, since they, too, needed water for survival.

“We have to turn around,” she said quietly but firmly.

Wesley glanced at her, but continued walking. She tugged at his hand and stopped, forcing him to do the same. With a sigh, he faced her. “What?”

“We’ll never find water here. If there’s any, it’ll be where the demons are. They must have caves they live in. There has to be water there.” She motioned to the dark corridor ahead. “There’s nothing down there.”

“Then what do you suggest?” He ran a hand through his hair. “If we go back there, our chances of being discovered get exponentially higher. Eventually they’ll hear us, even if they can’t see us. And then what? We have no weapons. Or do you want to throw rocks at them and hope we can take a few out like David took out Goliath?”

She blew a breath through her nostrils. “I wish it was that easy, but only weapons forged in the Dark Days can kill a demon.” She pointed to her empty holster. “And I lost mine.”

“I know. Listen, I know how you feel.”

She raised an eyebrow. How could he know how she felt?

“It’s not in your nature to avoid a fight, but we’re outnumbered, unarmed, and unprepared,” Wesley said, and partially, he was right.

“No other member of my race has ever entered the Underworld. This is an opportunity I might never get again. This is perhaps the only chance I’ll ever have at getting the inside scoop on our archenemy. Maybe find a way to destroy them once and for all.”

Wes shook his head vehemently. “We have no idea what we’re dealing with down here. Going on a spying expedition is too dangerous. I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but I know when to turn tail and run.”

Virginia opened her mouth to protest, but Wesley suddenly pressed his palm on it and nodded his head in the direction they’d been heading in. She froze. Then she heard it, too. Footsteps. Rapidly coming closer. She nodded, signaling her understanding to Wesley and pressed her back flat against the jagged rock formation that formed one side of the tunnel. Wesley did the same next to her, so their bodies were touching. She felt the brittle stone at her back crumble, and small pebbles rolled down to her feet.

Alarmed she looked at them, hoping the sound hadn’t alerted the demons that were fast approaching.

Moments later, five of the evil creatures charged by them, not even glancing at the spot where Virginia and Wesley were standing. They were armed to the teeth—as if they were heading into war. If only she had a dagger or two, she would take them out one by one like a shadow they couldn’t even see coming. But without a weapon she felt helpless, and she didn’t like that feeling. No, she didn’t like it at all.

Grudgingly she had to admit that Wesley was right—if only this one time—and that an encounter with the demons could prove fatal.

Virginia didn’t breathe until the sound of the demons running had completely vanished. Then she pushed herself off the rocks at her back, making more of the porous stone crumble under the pressure and collect at her feet. Instinctively she bent down and brushed them off her boots. Fine white dust remained.

She pivoted, but Wesley had noticed the same thing and was already inspecting the rock they’d been leaning against.

“Limestone,” he said. He knocked against it, and more of it crumbled, as if it were as thin as drywall and just as fragile.

She met his eyes. “Do you think there’s water behind it?”

Wes nodded. “It sounds hollow. I need a rock, something to knock through it.” He glanced around, took a few steps forward, and bent down. He came back with a piece of granite no larger than a grapefruit. “I hope I’m right.”

With the rock in one hand, bracing himself against the wall with the other, Wes pulled back his arm and took aim. The rock connected with the limestone and drove right through it. The momentum pulled Wesley with it, knocking him against the wall.

The impact shattered the wall, creating a large opening. Wesley tumbled through it.

Shock made Virginia’s heart race at a million miles an hour. She dipped her head through the hole, and to her surprise, she saw her own face reflected back at her. As if in a mirror. A wet mirror-like surface.

“Found it.” Wesley’s voice coming from only a foot away jolted her. He was getting up, dusting off his pants. He hadn’t fallen more than a couple of feet and had landed right at the edge of a pool of water.

Some light filtered through cracks in the rock and provided sufficient illumination in the cave that was maybe as large as a tennis court.

Wesley reached for her hand. “Come in.”

She set her feet over the remainder of the wall that had crumbled and allowed Wesley to help her down, even though she could have jumped the foot or two without effort. But somehow feeling his hands on her hips gave her a sense of safety.

Still in his arms, she lifted her lids and met his gaze. Damn, could those baby-blues actually be sparkling more down here, or had she started hallucinating?