by Maya Banks
The ground rumbled then began to shake, and to Ridge’s utter amazement, the rock split into two distinct doors and slowly opened.
“Take the key back, Robby,” Ridge directed.
When Robby had pocketed the bracelet, Ridge moved through the entrance, bearing India with him. Robby and the earl followed close behind.
They stepped into a larger cavern, and Ridge gave his surroundings a cursory glance. The room was bathed in light from several holes in the ceiling. Water dripped down the walls, pooling in small puddles on the floor. At the far corner the wall jutted outward, forming a point. On either side of the point were two pathways.
He walked forward, his gaze swinging from side to side, but no other exit existed save for the two he approached. He looked down at India, his chest tightening in fear. She had been unconscious for so long. It didn’t bode well, what with the amount of blood she had lost.
He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. “Please wake, India. I need your help,” he whispered.
“Which should we take?” Robby asked as he came to stand at Ridge’s side.
Ridge looked at his father, arching his eyebrow in question. The earl flushed.
“I don’t remember, son. It’s been so long ago, and in truth, I’ve tried to forget everything to do with the city.”
Ridge turned his attention back to the two paths. The exit to the left was wide and seemingly well lit. They would have no problem walking upright unless it narrowed down the line. The path to the right was decidedly narrower, but neither looked overly threatening. Nor did either stand out as the one to take.
Did they lead to the same result?
“Let’s try the one on the left,” Robby spoke up. “If we aren’t successful, we can always double back and try the other.”
The earl frowned. “I don’t think that’s wise. I remember my father commenting on the wisdom of choosing the right path.”
Ridge closed his eyes and tried to think.
Look to the north, to the great peaks of Orion. In the cradle of the moon lies the doorway. The way is broad that leads to destruction.
India’s translation of the bracelet’s inscription replayed in his mind. It was a road map to the city. They had deciphered the first clues. And now all that was left was the last. The way is broad that leads to destruction.
It sparked a remembrance. His childhood Sundays in church, sitting on the pew beside his mother, listening to old Reverend Applegate spew fire and brimstone from the pulpit. According to him, they were all doomed to hell, and his fondest scripture to quote...narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it.
And if he wasn’t mistaken, the preceding verse went something like and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.
But was he willing to put all his faith and India’s life into a simple Bible verse? He didn’t have a choice.
“We take the one on the right,” he announced.
To his surprise, neither Robby nor his father disagreed.
“I’ll go first,” the earl said grimly.
He shoved past Ridge and entered the pathway.
“I’ll guard your back,” Robby said with a grin.
Ridge ducked into the pathway, mindful of the precious bundle he carried. Though not well lit, the curving trail offered more light than their original jaunt into the mountain.
For what seemed an interminable amount of time, they walked, navigating countless twists and turns. Ridge could swear they were going in circles. Just about the time he was ready to declare his choice a mistake and head back, the light became brighter. More and more sun flooded into the tunnel, and he quickened his step. As they rounded another corner, his father stopped suddenly.
“It’s just as I remember,” the earl whispered.
Ridge stepped out of the tunnel beside his father and looked down at the valley below in complete and utter amazement. It was perhaps the most beautiful place he had ever seen. And it teemed with life.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ridge stared at the lush, green terrain surrounded on all sides by imposing mountains. That such a niche had been created in what looked to be such an inhospitable environment was astonishing. He could well see how the city had gone undetected for thousands of years. Or was it longer?
Rows of cottages lined the banks of a large lake. Livestock grazed the north end of the valley. The entire valley bloomed. Trees, flowers, plants, and people.
People moved about the village. Children played, shepherds attended the flocks of cattle and sheep, women gathered in groups, weaving and making pottery, men grouped on the edge of the cottages, cleaning fish and laying them out to dry, and other women waded into the lake, washing clothes.
He glanced around to see he stood on a rock shelf midway up the mountain. How were they to get below to the village? He began searching for a pathway down.
A sound to his left alerted him, and he held India closer, protecting her against any unknown threat. A smiling older man wearing a blue robe walked slowly toward them. White hair hung over his shoulders, and a long, flowing beard fringed his face.
He knew this man. He was one of the two men in the images that haunted him.
“Greetings,” the man called out.
Before Ridge could respond, the earl stepped forward. “We have need of a physician. Maximus Hadley, is he still here?”
The older man smiled. “Yes, of course. It has not been all that long since you left our city, Charles.”
“Twenty-six years,” the earl muttered. “We must see my father.”
“Yes, of course. Follow me.”
The man turned and walked down a worn pathway. Ridge started after him, following him around the turns and twists as they headed down the mountain.
Ridge shifted India until her head was tucked firmly in his neck. “Wake up, sweetheart. You would want to see this,” he murmured as he took in their surroundings. He wouldn’t contemplate the possibility that she might not awaken. Surely a shoulder wound wasn’t a life-threatening injury.
Her eyelids fluttered, and her dark eyes stared up at him in confusion. Then they clouded with pain.
He stopped in midstride. “India? Can you hear me?”
She winced. “Of course I can hear you. You’re all but shouting in my ear.”
He squeezed her tighter against him, his heart thudding in relief. “Do you hurt?” A stupid question, but he couldn’t seem to make his tongue work properly.
She nodded her head. “It hurts everywhere. What happened?” Then as if suddenly remembering the chain of events, her eyes flared in alarm. “And you? Are you all right?”
“I would be a lot better if you hadn’t taken such a foolish risk,” he said with a growl.
She nestled her head against his chest then froze. She pulled away again. “Where are we?”
“We should hurry, son,” his father said beside him. “She needs help.”
India’s mouth fell open. “Is this all a dream?” Fear crowded her expression. “Did I die after all? Is this some bizarre hallucination?”
“No, sweetheart. You are very much alive and I very much intend to keep you that way. I’ll explain everything later. Father is right. We must hurry.”
Ignoring the flabbergasted look on India’s face, he started forward again, hastening to catch up to the old man who was nearly down the mountain.
A few minutes later they walked through the line of cottages. People stopped in their activities to greet them, some openly rejoicing to see the newcomers. Ridge thought it odd considering the fact they couldn’t have had many visitors. But then the idea that there were actual people here far surpassed the notion of odd.
“Father,” the earl whispered.
Ridge turned to see his father staring at a man who didn’t look much older than the earl. His mind flickered in recognition. The man from his dreams, hugging him and tussling his hair. Could this be his grandfather? Bu
t he didn’t look any different than he did in Ridge’s dreams, and the last time Ridge would have seen him would have been twenty-six years ago.
The two men embraced then the earl quickly escorted his grandfather over to where Ridge stood.
“We need your help,” the earl said. “This young woman...”
“Is my daughter!” a man roared from the distance.
Ridge looked up to see whom he presumed was Phillip Ashton charging toward them.
“Bloody hell, could this get any more complicated?” Robby asked. “As if it isn’t confusing enough.”
Ridge heartily agreed.
Ashton stopped in front of Ridge, staring in horror at India.
“Papa?” India blinked in confusion. She stared accusingly up at Ridge. “You told me I wasn’t dead.”
Ridge chuckled. “We’re here, India. We’ve made it to Pagoria.”
“Put me down,” she insisted, struggling in his arms.
“You’ll make the bleeding worse,” he said, holding her tighter.
“I want to hug my father,” she said fiercely.
Slowly so as not to jostle her, he eased her down, holding her tightly so she didn’t fall.
“Papa, oh Papa!” she cried, throwing her arms around Ashton.
Ashton returned her embrace, tears sparkling in his eyes. “There, there now, girl. You’ve an injury that needs tending. We’ll blether on after you’re all patched up.”
India swayed on her feet, her face paler than ever. Ridge swore and swept her back into his arms. He should have never let her down in the first place. She needed all her strength if his grandfather was going to remove the bullet.
“Bring her in here,” Maximus said, gesturing toward one of the cottages. “I’ll collect what tools I have.”
Ridge maneuvered his way inside and found a bed to lay India on. He smoothed his hand across her face. “All will be well, sweetheart. I won’t allow you to die.”
She smiled weakly. “I feel so odd. I swear this is all one big dream. How did you...” she paused for a long moment almost as if she forgot what she was saying. Then she refocused her eyes on him. “How did you find the city?”
“Shhh,” he said, hushing her with a gentle finger. “I’ll tell you everything once Grandfather has tended your wound.”
“Grandfather?” She looked more confused than ever and who could blame her. She had awakened to something he himself had no understanding of.
“We’ll talk later,” he whispered.
His grandfather entered the room, a woman garbed in a blue robe like the others worn by the inhabitants of the city glided in beside him. She bestowed a warm smile on Ridge.
“You’ve grown into a fine man,” she said.
He blinked in confusion. “Do I know you?”
She smiled again. “You wouldn’t remember me. You were but a boy when last we met.”
“Ridge, my boy. Go find your father and your brother. I’ll call you when I am done here.”
“I won’t leave her.”
The woman laid a hand on his arm, and she squeezed reassuringly. “Leave us. She won’t come to any harm. You’d only be in the way here.”
Ridge paused for a long moment, rife with indecision. India opened her eyes again. “I’ll be fine, Ridge. Do as he says.”
“Notify me the moment he is done,” Ridge told the woman.
He turned and walked out of the room and out the door of the cottage where his father and Robby stood with Phillip Ashton.
Ashton stood to the side of Robby and the earl, his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers. He didn’t wear the same garb the villagers did, yet for some odd reason, he didn’t look out of place in this strange city.
Ridge had never seen Ashton in person, but he’d always imagined someone younger looking. More devil may care as the life of an adventurer would suggest. Instead he stared at a man who looked old and worn out. And he carried a mountain of guilt in his expression.
Ridge leaned against the wall of the cottage and stared at his surroundings. His brain worked hard to process everything that he had seen so far, but frankly, he was simply astounded.
He wanted answers.
He pushed away from the wall and started toward his father.
“It’s time we talked, don’t you think?”
The earl nodded his head then wrapped an arm around Robby. “Let’s take a walk, shall we? I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“Shout for me if I’m not back when he is finished with India,” Ridge said to Ashton.
Ashton surveyed him with suspicion. “Just who are you anyway? And why were you carrying my daughter? Were you the one responsible for her injury?”
“I’m the man who loves your daughter more than anything,” Ridge said calmly.
Ashton quirked his eyebrow, his thin lips set in a firm line. He stared at Ridge for a long moment. “Very well. I’ll summon you when Maximus is finished.”
Ridge followed Robby and his father away from the cottages toward the lake. The earl sat down on a stone bench situated on the banks and sighed heavily.
Robby sat down on the ground then flopped over onto his side. He rested his elbow on the ground and propped his head with his hand. Ridge remained standing and waited for his father to speak.
“Maximus, my father, your grandfather, was an adventurer.” The earl rubbed his head tiredly. “He was a restless soul.” He looked up at Ridge. “You are so much like him. It’s why I did so many of the things I did. I was afraid you would follow his path in life.”
The earl closed his eyes and hung his head. He looked so very old to Ridge. Haggard. Regret hanging from him like a death shroud.
“He was obsessed with Pagoria. Much like the Ashton chap from what I’ve read. He came across a relic and became convinced it was his means to find the city. To his credit, he was right.”
He looked back up at Ridge. “You worshipped him when you were a child, and he indulged your interest by allowing you to trail after him. He wanted you to accompany him on his quest for the city, but I was against it. Finally I agreed on the condition that I go as well.”
The earl let out another harsh sigh. “I was hoping to somehow convince him during the journey to give up his outlandish ideas and return home. I felt like...I felt as though I had no father. His work always came first.”
Ridge watched his father in shock. He could never remember a time when his father had been emotional about anything. Admitting a weakness, a longing, was not something he ever imagined hearing his father do.
“Instead we came here, and to make a long story short, he opted to remain in Pagoria. Wanted me to remain as well along with you, but I couldn’t. Couldn’t do that to your mother, to Robby who was a mere babe. I had duties to attend, duties my father was not interested in assuming in his role as the earl.
“So, I returned home with you, concocted a story about my father’s death so I could assume the title. Even so, it took seven years for him to be declared dead. And all the while I tried my hardest to make you forget.”
“Why?” Ridge asked. “Why would you do such a thing?” Despite his best effort, years of pent up resentment came boiling to the surface. “Why treat me like a second-rate person because of my interests? You made me feel so very insignificant, always heaping praise on Robby, and taking every opportunity to downgrade my accomplishments.”
A single tear slipped down his father’s cheek. “Because I didn’t want to lose you like I had my father. I was afraid if I encouraged your pursuit of Pagoria that the damned city would take you away from me as well. I couldn’t bear it.”
Ridge was stunned. It sounded suspiciously like his father loved him. He didn’t even know what to say.
The earl turned the full force of his tortured gaze on Ridge. “I love you, son. I know I have not shown you my heart. It is a regret I will live with for the rest of my life.” He looked down to Robby who had remain
ed silent the entire time. “I love you too, son. You can’t imagine the agony I endured when I read your letter. I couldn’t let you...die without hearing how very proud I am of you. Both of you,” he said as he returned his gaze to Ridge.
“I love you too,” Ridge said in a low voice. He swallowed in an attempt to lessen the burn in his throat. The tightness in his eyes, the sting of tears that forced him to blink.
“Can you forgive me, son? Can we start over this day?”
Ridge drew in a shaky breath. “Yes. Yes, I think we can.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
India opened her eyes, wincing at the sudden pain that lanced down her arm. The ceiling blurred then slowly came into focus. Ceiling?
Where was she? She glanced around, realizing she was lying in a bed, a comfortable bed, and she was inside a dwelling of some kind.
Fuzzy images came back to her in snippets. Ridge carrying her. Her father’s voice. The feel of her father’s arms around her. Had she dreamed it all?
She struggled to sit up and gasped as a wave of nausea struck her. She glanced down at her shoulder to see heavy bandaging wrapped around her chest and arm, anchoring her arm to her side.
“You’re awake.”
She jumped and stared into the face of a strange man. Yet, there was something vaguely familiar about him.
“I’m sorry to have startled you,” he said, his deep voice rumbling over her.
“Who are you, and where am I? Where’s Ridge? And my father? Did I imagine him?”
The man smiled at her. “No, you didn’t imagine him. He is quite impatient to see you. As is Ridge. Shall I summon them now?”
She nodded, her throat squeezing uncomfortably. She was going to see her father at last! He was safe. Tears slid down her cheeks, and she wiped at them with her free hand.
Footsteps clamored in the doorway, and her father burst in. “India, India, my girl! Thank God you’re safe.”
He closed the distance and gingerly folded her in his embrace. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the feel of him. The smell. Papa.
More tears spilled in rapid succession.