The dwarf pocketed the gems and muttered something unintelligible, shaking his head as we continued forward.
“There’s got to be another way,” I said.
“I don’t think so.”
We followed the dwarf’s directions down the narrow passage, winding deeper into the bowels of the mountain.
“Straight. Left. Right and then left,” I muttered to myself. “Or wait. Was it right and then right? Crap.” I had incredible recall for images, but speech, not so much.
“I think we head this way.” Damian pointed to the corridor to our right. “I can sense the box now.”
The passage grew steeper, and water began seeping out of the walls and dripping from the ceiling. I wiped the wetness from my forehead and rolled up my sleeves. It was more humid than Aquaman at a disco.
“We’re getting close,” Damian said.
A faint breeze cooled my damp skin as we stepped into a wide chamber, larger than the rest we’d encountered.
My heart sank.
The corridor continued at the opposite end of the room. One problem, though: the corridor was flooded. Little waterfalls drained from the porous rock, and the muddy brown water rose to a foot below the ceiling.
Damian took off his jacket and stored it in his backpack, tightening the straps to ensure a snug fit. Speaking of snug fit…did he just tailor his shirts to show off his perfect form? “I hope you can swim.”
“Why, are you hoping to see my breaststroke?” Damn it, I thought, aghast, did I really just say that?
Damian shot me a wicked grin. “I bet it’s spectacular.”
My cheeks flushed, and I suddenly felt uncomfortably hot. That’s it. I was having a heatstroke or something.
Damian strode into the water, peering down the flooded corridor that provided our only way through. “It looks like the passage isn’t fully submerged. We might be able to wade through.”
Things were looking up. A little.
I hopped in and let out a gasp as the cool, dark water enveloped my body. I cringed at the thought of what sort of creatures might be lurking in the muddy abyss. The water lapped at my chest as I waded forward, trying my best to focus only on Damian’s form ahead of me.
Something solid brushed against my leg.
“Shit!” I jumped onto Damian’s back. “There’s something in the water.”
If there was one thing I hated, it was murky water and the things in it. Damian shifted, wrapping a strong arm around me, holding me up.
The surface of the water was glassy, but I looked about wildly, half expecting a monster to come bursting out.
“It’s probably just a fish,” he soothed. “Let’s keep moving. I can see light up ahead. Looks like another chamber.”
His words weren’t reassuring, but I loosened my grip and climbed out of his grasp. I wanted out of this water ASAP. We hastened our pace, but it wasn’t exactly easy.
Suddenly, Damian came to an abrupt stop and stared ahead.
I tensed. “What? What is it?”
Silence.
My heart thundered in my ears, and all the little warning bells in my body went off. “Damian?”
A small ripple appeared, and a black fin broke the surface of the water.
“Not sure,” he said. “Let’s go. Pick up the pace.”
Shit. Shit. Shiii—
Something slimy wrapped around my calf and pulled me under. I kicked my legs as hard as I could, but the pressure on my calf only tightened, causing my muscles to spasm. I began flailing, and my lungs burned something fierce as I twisted and writhed in vain. Desperate for release, I grabbed my khanjar from its sheath and whipped my upper body forward, slashing the dark water, but my dagger found no target. I flipped onto my stomach and clawed at the stone floor as I was dragged backward. The ache in my chest grew, my movements slowed, and a peaceful darkness began to tug me into the abyss. I knew I should fight to free myself, but the darkness beckoned. It would be so easy to drift off…
The peaceful euphoria ended abruptly as something firm grabbed my bicep. Was that a hand? My oxygen-depleted brain moved slowly.
The grip on my calf loosened as two powerful arms wrenched me free, and then my head broke the surface. Gasping and choking, I gulped in as much air as my wheezing lungs could handle. I clung to Damian’s chest as he plowed through the water, and my senses slowly returned.
The submerged passage opened into a giant space illuminated by a single column of sunshine that pierced through a hole in the ceiling.
Damian lifted me out of the water onto the muddy ledge. I lay on my back, staring at the light. My mind was still foggy, but my pulse and breathing had slowed. I turned my head and watched as Damian braced his hands on the ledge to pull himself up.
With a splash, he disappeared into the placid water.
No!
I shot upright and looked around for something that might help, but the room was bare. Without warning, the water surged, and Damian burst upward, clutching a black reptilian body. He was dragged under again, and the water swelled with thrashing movement from below.
Then it stopped.
I peered into the dark waters, now calm. “Damian!”
No response.
Oh, hell.
18
Where had Damian gone? Did he need my help? Fear chilled my skin, but I climbed back into the water anyway. Every inch of me cringed. How the hell was I going to help him when I couldn’t even see him?
With a gasp and a splash, Damian popped his head up several feet from where he went under. I scrambled back onto the ledge as he hauled himself out of the water.
He smiled as he dripped on the rock. “Were you worried?”
“Of course! I don’t want to be down here alone.” It was only a half-truth. I had been worried for him. “What was that thing? A snake?”
“Not exactly. More like a newt. A giant one.” He pulled his shirt off and wrung it out, his chest speckled with gleaming water.
That cleared my head real fast. I turned to give him privacy, but mainly so he couldn’t see my flushed cheeks. I was shivering, so I couldn’t blame the heat for my sudden coloring. “Did you get it?”
“Yes. But I can’t promise there aren’t more. We’d best find another way out. Maybe we can squeeze through that crack.” He motioned to the opening in the ceiling where light poured through. We would need to fly up because it was a good fifty feet above us. I desperately hoped I could make it.
“Sign me up if it means we’re out of that water for good.” I looked down at the soggy clothes revealingly plastered to my skin. This was inconvenient.
“Take my jacket. You’re shivering.” Damian pulled his jacket out of his backpack. It was still dry. His backpack was apparently waterproof. Of course.
I took it. “Thanks. But what about you?”
“I told you, I run hot.”
My cheeks flamed. I zipped the oversized jacket up and scanned the room as he pulled his damp shirt back on.
The space was barren apart from a bench and staircase that had been hewn into the rock. Strange black stains dripped from the upper walls. Guano?
I climbed the stairs, which led to a doorway and another passage, draped in shadow. I could just barely make out boulders littering the floor and obscuring a section of the corridor down the way. “Crap. Might be collapsed up ahead. I can’t see much. I’m afraid I dropped my light in the water.”
Damian pulled another from his bag and tossed it to me. “Always bring spares.”
“Thanks.” I flicked it on.
He squeezed past me into the passage. “Let’s hope it’s not blocked. My tracking sense is ringing. We can’t be far now.”
I followed along behind. Black stains coated the walls of the passage, too. Except they weren’t stains. More like…secretions.
Damian noticed me inspecting the stuff. “Mineral deposits of some kind?”
I pinched a piece of the sticky substance off the wall. It smelled putrid, not mineral. “May
be some kind of cave lichen? I’ve never seen anything like it.” Maybe I should bring a sample back to the Field Museum. They had a collection of lichens from around the world and always welcomed new samples.
A crash of tumbling rocks startled me. I whipped my light toward the source of the noise and spotted Damian heaving boulders off an old collapse that blocked our path. You could have warned me, I started to say, then paused. Sure, I could help him, but I was enjoying the view. His shoulders flexed beneath his damp shirt with each heave.
Was it getting warmer in here again?
The rocks were piled up to the ceiling, with a narrow gap at one end. I shone my flashlight through. “Looks like it’s open on the other side.”
“Think we can fit?” Damian pulled another rock off the collapse.
“Me, maybe. It might be tight for you.” I handed Damian his jacket, afraid to accidentally snag it on the rocks. Clenching the flashlight in my teeth, I crawled up the rockfall and squeezed into the narrow gap. It was a tight fit, even for me, and I had to inch forward on my stomach. I moved gingerly, careful not to catch my clothes on the sharp rubble. The rockfall was about ten feet deep, and from what I could tell, the passage was clear up ahead.
“How are you doing?” Damian asked.
“Good. But you’re definitely not gonna fit,” I mumbled through my clenched teeth. I stuck my head out of the gap. All clear. The passage curved up ahead.
I carefully pulled my body out of the rockfall and dusted off my front. My damp clothes were coated with streaks of mud.
“What do you see?” Damian sounded concerned. “Are you all right?”
“It looks clear. There’s a bend up ahead. I’m gonna go check it out.”
“Be careful.”
I rounded the corner, then another. The passage continued, but fifty feet ahead, it opened into a side room. Damian’s muffled voice echoed behind me. And then…something else.
I turned my head to pinpoint the origin of the strange noise, listening carefully. It sounded like scuttling. But scuttling what? I didn’t want to wait and find out.
I jogged forward, eager to find the damn box. Slowing, I flashed my light into the side room.
Vibrant but crumbling frescoes covered the white plastered walls. Winged creatures. A knight in chain mail. An angel holding a cross. They were remarkable.
I swept the room with my light. It was no bigger than my bedroom. Several dusty rugs were neatly rolled and stacked in one corner. Beside them were two wooden chests and at least a dozen long ceramic jars with narrow necks and two handles. I recalled those from a Nat Geo episode on ancient shipwrecks. What were they called?
Scratching noises echoed down the hall.
I paused, my pulse quickening. What was that?
Heart pounding, I bolted to the chests and flipped the lid off one. It was filled with embroidered textiles and several metal jugs decorated with filigree designs. No box, though.
Shit. Where was it?
The letter said it was a box. Or was it a chest? The Arabic word could be translated either way. Heart pounding, I began searching frantically.
Could it be one of these chests? How would we get a chest out of here?
My mind raced. I flipped open the other chest, but it was full of silver coins and glass bangles.
“Damn it!” The box wasn’t in it either.
Pushing past them, I searched the rugs, unfolding each one. But there was nothing there. I pulled the ceramic jars out, one by one. Maybe it was hidden behind one of them. But no.
My heart sank as I scanned the other side of the room. Besides a small rockfall, it was bare.
I walked over to the rubble and slumped to the floor, resting my flashlight in my lap. We’d made it all this way for nothing. I thought of Rhiannon and felt sick. Frustrated, I leaned my back against the cool wall and gripped a piece of rubble that had fallen from the ceiling. Maybe the box was in another room. We would just have to keep looking.
I took a breath and sighed, releasing my grip on the rock. My hand brushed something smooth and cool. Curious, I glanced down and caught a glint of metal buried beneath the rubble, illuminated by my flashlight. My pulse surging, I pushed the rocks aside and…sweet fates!
A brass box.
It was small, maybe six inches all around, and it stood on four short legs. Ornate floral and vegetal designs decorated its dusty surface. I pulled the box forward, and its magic reverberated off my fingertips.
“Yes!” This was definitely it. I clutched the box and rose, turning to leave.
A giant spider filled the doorway. Horror shot through me, and I stopped short.
Its legs were as thick as mine and covered with gray bristles. Eight glassy black eyes stared back at me, and I saw my reflection in each of them. Two pincers clicked as they opened and closed, and black slime dripped from the corners of its mouth—the same stuff we’d seen on the walls. Definitely not lichen, but why did it need to be spiders?
More scuttling reverberated from the passage.
Oh, crap. There’s more of them.
I took a breath and whispered the name of the wind. Energy surged down my arm and into my palm, but it wasn’t as strong as it had been in the Realm of Air. I focused on drawing it together and forced a blast of wind at the spider. It wasn’t a powerful gust, but it shoved the creature into the wall of the passage, giving me just enough time to dart by.
I raced down the corridor, wheeling around one corner and then another. The scratching noise behind me grew faster...and louder. I spotted the rockfall ahead.
“Damian, I’m coming through!” I glanced behind me, and panic swelled. Two spiders were closing in, fast. I tripped on a rock, and my flashlight flew out of my hand, but there was no time to grab it. I ran through the darkness, my free arm outstretched in case I ran into a wall. A soft glow appeared ahead, lighting the path.
What the…?
Was it the same light that had illuminated the ice devils on the ship? It had to be, and thank fates—I needed all the help I could get. I scrabbled down the hallway as quickly as I could.
As I came around the corner, the beam of Damian’s flashlight shone through the rockfall. My lungs burned, but I quickened my pace. Almost there.
Scrambling up the boulders, I dove into the gap, grasping the box with my outstretched arm. I heard the spiders skittering behind me.
“I’m coming through, and I’ve got friends!”
Using my free hand, I pulled myself forward on the jagged rocks, kicking my feet for momentum.
Something clawed at my foot, and my heart leapt into my throat. Shit.
Damian shoved his arm into the gap, reaching for me. “Give me your hand!”
Instead, I shoved the box at him. “Take this!”
He pulled it through. With my second hand now free, I moved faster. The spiders clawed at my feet, making my skin crawl.
Damian reappeared and grabbed my hands, hauling me out of the crack. Pain shot through my stomach and thighs as rocks raked my body. He caught me and set me down, gripping my arms. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head, lungs heaving as I tried to catch my breath.
He shoved the box into his backpack. “Let’s get out of here.”
We rose and jogged into the illuminated room ahead. The glowing light beside me was gone now. Weird.
Behind us, the spiders clawed at the rockfall, beginning to break through.
Damian stopped abruptly at the top of the stairs. I joined him and stared down into the room. A giant spider looked up, while two more scurried along the walls toward us.
“Time to get the hell out. Can you fly?” Damian pointed up at the opening in the ceiling.
“I freaking hope so.” I closed my eyes and focused.
Nothing.
Damian hovered in front of me, his wings glinting in the beam of sunlight. A crash sounded behind me, and I turned. Two spiders scuttled down the passage toward us, their bodies filling the narrow space almost entirely. They m
ust have broken through the rockfall. With no time to spare, I leapt into the air, my arms reaching for Damian.
Except, he didn’t catch me—I was flying! Well, more like hovering, but I’d take it. Damian steadied me, and we darted upward.
The hole was a few feet in diameter, much too small for Damian’s wings.
“Go! I’ll follow you.” Damian latched onto the rock overhang and his wings disappeared. He began climbing up through the hole, except one of the spiders was crawling along the ceiling, headed right toward him. It would be on him in seconds.
I dropped back down and directed a burst of air at the spider, but only a faint breeze shot forward, not nearly strong enough to affect it. Whipping out my khanjar, I flew myself onto the spider’s hairy back. Its bristles scratched my arms, but my power had dissipated, so I clung on with all my strength. The spider craned its head backward. chomping its pincers in an attempt to knock me off.
Clenching my legs and tightening my grip, I raised my dagger and sunk it into the creature’s back. It screeched and dropped from the ceiling. I jumped, using my feet to propel me away from the spider as we plummeted.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Damian surging toward me, his powerful wings flashing as he tried to catch me before I hit the ground. Heart racing, I summoned all my remaining power and channeled it outward. I stopped ten feet from the ground, just as Damian reached me. The spider landed on its feet and scurried away.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. “For real, this time.”
Damian nodded, and we flew toward the ceiling. There were no spiders to stop us, thank fates, and I darted up and out, the sunlight momentarily blinding me. Damian climbed out a moment later.
We stood on the opposite side of the hill from where we had entered, about three-quarters of the way down. I sprinted away, and Damian followed. I was fairly certain the spiders wouldn’t leave the cavern, but I didn’t want to take any chances.
We hurried down the hillside, but I stopped short. The car wasn’t there.
I looked at Damian. “How long were we in there? Seems like hours.”
“A couple hours.” He pressed his cell phone to his ear and spoke a few words of Turkish, then hung up and met my gaze. “Selim will be here in ten.”
Wicked Wish (Dragon's Gift: The Storm Book 1) Page 14