So, I didn’t know if you knew this already, but Lucian was a straight-up psycho. Thanks for the heads-up, by the way.
“Remind me to never share dreams with you.” I didn’t want that parade of horrors rolling around in my psyche.
“Let’s just hope your guardian doesn’t get distracted,” Lucian said with a suggestive smile.
I slipped my earmuffs around my neck and leaned toward him. “If you intend to harm me, you’d better hide my body very well. Or eat me, bones and all. Because if Henri finds out, or our mother, I think you’ll be very sorry.”
“Our mother too?” Lucian asked as though he’d never considered the possibility of her retribution.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m the Parousia.”
I sat back and pet my cat, relishing the hot fury pouring off of Lucian in waves. I returned his demonic glare with my own cool gaze. He’d been looking for my weakness, but I’d found his instead.
“I don’t like this at all,” you said a little while after we’d landed.
You were assessing the entrance to the mine, a black hole framed by rough wooden beams that looked like a gaping mouth in the side of the mountain. Lucian corrected me and said that it was only a hill, but everything looked like a mountain when compared to Miami. The ground was sparsely vegetated with saddish looking plants, and the soil was mostly sand and loose rock. There were no signs of civilization for as far as we could see and no roads leading to this location. It was truly isolated. Not trying to sound like you or anything, but it looked like a trap.
“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” Lucian said, probably hoping that I was.
“Nope.” I tried to act brave even though my nerves were already frayed, and we hadn’t even stepped inside. Even Seneser seemed a little apprehensive. The only one who was unfazed was Spooky, who went straight up to the mine’s entrance and rubbed her furry back along the wooden beam as if trying to mark it with her scent.
“Who’s the scaredy cat now?” Lucian quipped. Then, looking at me, “Has Henri ever told you how he got his fear of being trapped underground?”
“No,” I said looking to you, but you were silent, distracted. Annoying as it was, Lucian’s teasing was far more comforting than your solemn distress. I rarely saw you fearful or out-of-sorts and right then, you were both.
“What do you know about this place?” you asked Seneser.
“The area was mined for gold, silver, and low-grade copper. The network of tunnels is vast, and there are several spirits trapped within, some of them quite unruly. It’s been abandoned now for several decades, likely due to a mining accident.”
You grunted and grabbed your ropes to fashion a harness for me to wear around my hips and thighs. The other end of it would be fastened to a rope around your waist. I had my tantō strapped to me while you wore your leather sword belt and the sheath for your big boy blade. I hoped you wouldn’t need to use it.
You crafted a similar rope harness for Lucian and Seneser, probably worried Seneser might try to flee with his human host. But if this was his escape plan, it was an extremely elaborate one. As you were checking my ropes one last time, Lucian asked if I knew how you’d acquired the skill. I didn’t.
“By tying up his conquests,” Lucian said with something like admiration. “He used to have quite a reputation.”
Your gaze lifted to meet mine briefly, but you didn’t confirm or deny it. You were too focused on what dangers might lie ahead to engage in Lucian’s antics.
“Last chance,” you said to me. “We can still walk away.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
“I want to meet my mother.” I turned to Seneser. “Can you sense her?”
He shook his head. “Not yet, but it may be because her strength is impaired.”
“And you’re sure this is the right place?” I gripped his arm so that he wouldn’t be able to lie to me.
“Positive.”
“Then let’s go.” I made a move, and your hand shot out and pressed flat against my chest.
“Stay behind me.”
I waited for you to pass, then adjusted the straps on my backpack and followed you inside. Spooky was already several yards ahead, and if it weren’t for her glowing eyes reflecting the light of our headlamps, we wouldn’t have been able to see her at all.