by Eden Ashley
But Rhane remained rigid. Turning an ear toward the mouth of the passage, the rest of his body was frozen, alert. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered.
Unconvinced, Kali rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” His hand clamped down over her lips, and Kali accepted that Rhane wasn’t joking at all. She exclaimed a four letter word into his palm.
Easing away, he retrieved their scattered garments and handed them to her. Then he crawled silently to the edge of the opening. Heart pounding audibly, she started toward him but stopped when he gestured for her to stay back. Switching off the discarded flashlight, she waited. She was still horny, but noises from below had finally reached her weaker ears. The threat of discovery deadened every awakened nerve ending that wanted sex.
A mixture of human voices and the signature hisses of lurking rogues drifted up from the tunnel below. The troupe’s movements stopped advancing as they must have reached the end of the collapsed passageway. Kali closed her eyes, pleading silently that no one looked up. She knew Rhane would never let anything happen to her. And the two of them could handle whatever small army came their way, but then Rhane’s cover might possibly be blown. Then what would happen to Warren?
Kali swore silently. They should have been more careful.
She heard Rhane’s retreat from the mouth of the tunnel. The noise was his way of signaling the threat had passed. Switching on the flashlight, she drank in the sight of his naked form striding powerfully toward her. Her head fell back in exasperation, and she turned the light off again. “Please put your clothes on.”
He did so quickly, touching her again only after he was fully dressed. “I’m an idiot, and I’m sorry. It was stupid to get carried away like that with danger so close.”
Kali tenderly stroked his cheek. She was pretty certain the old Rhane would have never been so reckless. “I’ll share equal blame if you let me.” With a small smile, she sighed. “Let’s find this statue and get you home. Then I can have you when I want, where I want. And we’ll never have to stop again.”
Chapter 24
The new realm they entered was not nearly as complicated a network as the elaborate left labyrinth below. These caverns followed a linear design, except for those deviations forced by nature. Kali and Rhane navigated a search of the chambers easily enough. At one point, stumbling upon a severe drop-off, they were forced to descend a twenty foot shaft, clinging to slippery footholds as they conducted a precarious climb down into the extension of the tunnel. Eventually the twists and turns ceased all together, ending in a chamber that was vast, but not the largest they had encountered. It was, however, the most unusual.
An underground lake filled the great cavern. Fed by an unseen source, less than three feet of dry land encompassed its borders. So large was the reservoir, the flashlight’s beam could not reach halfway across. Kali and Rhane walked the perimeter of the lake as darkness pressed from all around. She shone the beam upward and all around, but saw no other options. It was hard to mask the disappointment from her voice. “There’s nowhere to go.”
Rhane turned to her. His expression looked as bleak as she felt. “There’s one possibility we haven’t considered.”
“What’s that?”
He jerked his chin toward the lake. “We go under.”
Kali thought it was a long shot until she considered the architects whom they were dealing with. A secret underwater lair wasn’t entirely inconceivable. “Okay.” Slipping her shoes off, she directed the beam over the water. “I’ll go first and check things out. Come back and tell you what I find.”
Rhane shook his head as she spoke. “We go in together.”
Kali looked him over. He seemed calm enough. Still, she had to ask. “Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well…” She hesitated, considering. If Rhane couldn’t remember whatever experiences had made him so terrified of water and tight spaces, Kali saw no need to remind him at that exact instant.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Never mind,” she said, and waded into the water. Her skin quickly adjusted to the icy temperatures, and she might as well have been wrapped in a cozy blanket on a sofa. This was her domain. She swam a few lengths and treaded water as the rocky bottom dropped away and the lake plunged dramatically in depth. Preparing to duck beneath the stagnant but clear waters, she realized Rhane was no longer beside her. Kali spun around, fighting back the sudden spurt of anxiety. At last seeing him, the tightness in her chest eased. Rhane had lingered in the shallow regions, staring into the pool’s surface and looked up only when she called his name. An odd expression pinched new lines into his face. “I think I’m afraid.”
Crapola. The psychological damage his bitch of a mother had done to him must have imprinted on the wolf. But even with full memory of that trauma, Rhane always held a firm leash on his fears. Maybe she could talk him through it. Kali forced herself to fully relax. If she were tense, he would likely sense the negative energy and react in kind.
Instead of swimming to him, she spoke softly, letting her words acquire the tone of a lulling melody as they lapped across the lake. “What makes you think you’re afraid?”
“My head’s spinning. Every time I think about diving under the water it gets worse.” Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, an obvious attempt to regain control of his breathing.
Keep him talking. “Is that all?”
“Oh.” Rhane’s eyes opened again, and he managed a tight smile. “The walls and ceiling are moving toward me. Feels like all the air is being squeezed out of the room.”
It was difficult to hear Rhane describe the anguish he was going through. But it was also a relief. He had never discussed those carefully controlled episodes of panic, only shrugged them off to not be spoken of again. So Kali hadn’t truly known what it was like for him until now.
“Rhane, this is something you’ve dealt with before. To be precise, this happens every time you go near water. You always handle it.” She swam a little farther out, knowing he would follow. “Nothing stops you from getting the job done. Nothing stops you from keeping me safe.”
That’s it. Keep coming, Kali thought as he reached chest deep waters. “Back when you were a kid, you drowned…more than once. And I don’t know exactly what hell the Primes made you suffer in Golden Mountain. But I do know you won’t let me go down here alone. Put your fears away, Rhane. Get the job done,” she said. Then Kali dove beneath the lake.
The deeper she swam, the darker it got. Soon the beam from the flashlight’s halogen diode no longer pierced the gloom. Still, Kali kept going, letting long, determined strokes carry her through the thick layers of obscurity. There had to be more to a place so carefully hidden from even the most intrepid explorers. On the other side of the darkness, a pinpoint of light shone dimly from the depths. As she kicked toward it, the light brightened and spread. Soon it had enveloped her and the surrounding waters.
There, at a point too deep for human lungs, was the secret chamber they sought, and The Siren’s Heart had to be inside. Thick glass shielded a tiny window into the room, having survived for possibly centuries against the waters’ immense pressure. Kali pressed a hand against the glass. The surface was warm and inviting. Seeing no obvious way in, she found and followed the rough ridges of whatever material the glass recessed into. This path led her deeper into the lake. A twinge of pain started in her lungs. Her time without oxygen had been pushed to the limits. She paused for a moment, rechanneling her focus to ask her body to make up for what her lungs now lacked. Skin breathing was a skill she’d worked on a lot in the past year and had nearly mastered it, but the process did not come naturally…yet.
Once the underwater breathing started, carbon dioxide waste passed through the outer layers of her skin to be exchanged for oxygen rich water molecules. Lungs full again, Kali continued downward and hoped Rhane wasn’t far behind.
The ridges ended and her hand sliced through water once more. Backtracking, s
he retraced the trail. Again, her hand slipped through as the rigid surface unexpectedly ended. On the second turn, she noticed cool air had touched her fingertips. Shoving her entire arm into the breach, Kali confirmed it. Dry atmosphere waited on the other side. She had found the entrance.
She plunged through, nearly giggling with excitement when her head and shoulders broke the surface and found at last a reprieve from the darkness. Spying a small platform floating several yards away, she swam to it and climbed aboard. There, Kali chewed her bottom lip anxiously as the minutes passed, wondering if she’d pushed too hard or not enough, and nearly fell off the man-made island when Rhane lunged out of the water right beneath her. His fingers momentarily clawed the edged before he pulled himself onto the deck and rolled to his back, gasping in a great lungful of air. Kali kneeled over him, needing to see his eyes the second they opened. It was the only way she could know he was okay.
When at last he looked at her, she saw two troubled seas of green. But the already receding storm would not destroy him. He was all right. Shaken, but all right.
Grabbing the hand she held against his chest, Rhane slowly sat up. “Nice pep talk back there.”
“Hey, it got you here.”
“No really. I wasn’t complaining. Thanks.” He shoved a chunk of dripping hair from his forehead and smiled sadly. “Being with you now makes me realize that I have no idea how much I’ve truly lost.” He looked at Kali with wide eyes. “How am I supposed to do this?”
“You don’t have to do anything alone. I’m here. And somewhere within this maze is York, your best friend and right hand. Between the two of us, I’m sure we can fill in all the blanks. We’ll probably even fudge a few details in our favor.” She grinned at the joke, trying to convey enough confidence for the both of them. Then, sobering again, she touched his cheek. “But we don’t have to think about that right now. The Siren’s Heart is close. I can feel it. Let’s find the statue and bring you and Warren home.”
“Okay, boss.” Getting to his feet, he pulled Kali along with him. “Just tell me we don’t have to go back the same way we came.”
Kali winced. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she remained silent. She didn’t want to lie to him. Grimacing, Rhane nodded. “Right.”
She tried a quick subject change to get his mind off the return swim. “See if you can spot the seal. If this room is like all the rest, some sort of script should mark the entrance.”
With eyesight capable of refining the glow from Kali’s flashlight, he scanned the walls for a few seconds. “There,” he said softly and moved forward.
Kali followed, keeping her hand inside his as they approached the suspected entryway. Her nose almost touched the wall before her pathetic vision made out the near-microscopic writings. “What does it say?”
“Within this sanctum resides the Heart. A cornerstone that safeguards. A cornerstone that destroys. All souls of this world beware.” Rhane took a step back. “Kalista,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you opening it?”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“We have to. This is the only way for you to be free.”
“I can’t give this to my Primes. They’ll use it for evil.”
“Rhane,” she said, pronouncing his name with all the authority she could muster. “The statue is all they want. Your life and Warren’s traded for some stupid relic is not asking too much.”
He wasn’t convinced. “But at the risk of millions? There has to be another way.” From the set of his jaw and square of his shoulders, Kali knew Rhane had made a decision. She’d seen that resolute stance many times before. Thinking quickly, she decided it best to yield to his reasoning. “You’re right.”
But she couldn’t survive losing him again. She couldn’t leave the only bargaining chip in existence behind in a place she could never return to without him—without his blood. Kali took a deep breath. “Give me the statue. I’ll take it to Wesley. I know he can help us. He’s one of the good guys.”
“Wesley?”
“Yeah.” She waited, hoping, praying, and begging the necessary memories could be recalled to his mind. No more. No less. She wouldn’t lie to him.
“He’s…a Builder.” Kali could almost see his mind working in unison with the wolf mind, searching for information. “We argued about you. He recruited me to be the champion for his race.” His hand curled into a fist. “He threatened you.”
“Wes would never hurt me. We can trust him to do the right thing.”
“I don’t know, Kalista. I don’t know if I can trust him.”
“Then trust me. Open the door, Rhane.”
Chapter 25
The return swim was a lot easier. That was only because Rhane knew exactly where they were going and how long he would be in the water. Surfacing from the lake, he was barely out of breath. The walls and ceiling lurched a bit but mostly remained in place. Rhane was in perfect control. Still, he was very glad that part of their journey was over.
He trudged ashore just behind Kalista, eyeing her right hand warily. It held The Siren’s Heart, the prized relic sought by the entire supernatural world. He tried very hard to shake the feeling that bringing the statue from the depths of its tomb was a mistake. But what other choice did they have? If he and Kalista didn’t take the Heart, rogues might eventually find it. And those creatures definitely wouldn’t hesitate in using the relic to attain their ultimate endgame—whatever that was. Information coerced from a captured rogue claimed the hives sought to raise their gods. Rhane couldn’t wrap his head around that notion. Unfortunately, Kalista and the others had been short on time to get the creature to elaborate.
So here he was, barely holding it together underground in an elaborate labyrinth, manipulated into helping his sworn enemies, and making decisions that could affect the entire world with only a fraction of his mind available to formulate those judgment calls. No one could draw a better road map to failure.
The sigh escaped before he realized it. Feeling Kalista’s eyes on him, Rhane looked up. Her face was set with determination. “Trust me. Our plan will work. Everything will be fine.”
“I do trust you.”
“Then we’re okay?” She seemed uncertain. Despite her words, Rhane could sense fear at the fringes of her scent. He drew her close and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “We’re okay.”
The reassurance was enough to satisfy her, and they slowly made their way back to the secret entrance. Ascending the vertical shaft proved to be more of a challenge for Kalista. Rhane took the statue in order to free her hands for the task, and she conquered the climb after losing her footing only twice. Carefully remaining anchored to the rock wall every step of the way, Rhane positioned himself directly beneath Kalista and within arm’s reach at all times. Slamming into him had halted the fall that followed each slip. As they neared the main tunnel’s entrance, he prepared to shift for the climb down. Like it or not, Kalista would have to ride piggy back to survive the tremendous descent.
Fifty feet from the mouth of that tunnel, things went horribly wrong.
High frequency radio waves emitted a burst of static the instant the signal was activated. Rhane heard the burst and three consecutive beeps, less than a second apart. By the time the second beep sounded, he had launched himself across the distance separating him from Kalista. As their bodies collided, an explosion ripped through the tunnel, splitting rock and igniting flames. The entire atmosphere was engulfed. Rhane shielded Kalista as best he could as the force threw them forward and they fell through a hailstorm of debris and cave rock. At the last possible moment, he rotated, putting himself between her and the ground. The landing was brutal, ostensibly rearranging several vertebrae upon impact. Gritting his teeth, Rhane refused to pass out. Losing consciousness was not an option. Whoever had set that charge had to be close by, using what he suspected was a limited range transmitter.
He took a second to make sure Kalista was still breathing. She was pretty banged
up, but the damage was mostly bruises, a few scrapes. Getting to his feet was pure hell, but he did. His brain registered several burns across various regions of his body. Rhane took it as a good sign that he could even feel them. Second degree at worst, his injuries would heal in a few hours. His head was an entirely different matter. Double vision and nonstop ringing shouted above every other sound, rocking his balance. Every step threatened to drag him to his knees.
But when the white-hot pain sliced through his chest and into his heart, Rhane did fall. As his mind finally surrendered, Rhane lost consciousness realizing he had no idea from where the attack had come.
#
Rhane started awake, and his first thought was Kalista. He struggled to sit up, but every muscle in his chest screamed against it. Both his hands were held down by thick metal bands, cold against his skin. He was bound to a hard and flat surface, its chill seeping through his clothes to stick to his skin. Rhane wrenched at the stubborn bindings, cursing when they wouldn’t yield to his fading strength. He swore again. Why am I not healing? How long was I out?