Arys might have killed Shaz or me. The place might do something similar to me.
“I feel fine, Jez. I’ll let you know if that changes.”
She nodded, but I noticed she was careful not to have me at her back. I couldn’t say I blamed her. She’d survived one of Kale’s attacks, so she had every right to be wary.
The basement door was secured with a heavy-duty deadbolt and a security-card clearance slot. Before I could wonder aloud how to get by it, Willow vanished; within seconds, he opened the door from the other side. I waited for some evidence of a security breach to ring out, but again, silence. It was too strange, as if something wasn’t right.
“Hot damn you are a handy thing to have around,” Jez commented with a smile. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
The light in Willow’s eyes faltered for just a moment. “There are many things I cannot do.”
The stairs were cold, hard concrete. Dimly lit by a dusty, low-watt bulb, it was impossible to see the bottom due to the slight spiral in the staircase. Stone walls lined each side, giving it a small, claustrophobic sensation.
Willow took the lead, which was fine with me. Feeling a curious blend of fear and anticipation, I descended slowly behind him. I shielded tightly, afraid to allow any of the energy down there too close. In my mind, I kept seeing what it had done to Arys.
He’d be livid if he knew I was here without him, but I’d never allow him inside the old hospital again. Never. I had thought for sure he would kill me that night. Stripped of all self-control, he had been reduced to the essence of the vampire without the man, a killing machine.
In all honesty, I had been hoping to avoid Arys. I wasn’t in the mood to continue our conversation about Shya from last night. It was far from over. Of that, I was certain.
Jez hovered close as we rounded the bend in the stairs. Her perfume tickled my nose, and I had to fight back a sneeze. That would be a hell of a way to announce our presence to anyone down there. Of course, anything other than human likely already knew we were here.
I expected to see something at the bottom of the staircase. Instead, absolute black greeted us. My chest tightened, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“And, if you gaze into the abyss…” Willow murmured.
“The abyss gazes also into you,” I finished the Nietzsche quote, and my skin began to crawl. Whatever lay below us, it found its new visitors intriguing.
Jez made an irritated noise. “That’s really calming, guys. Thanks.”
As good as my night vision was, even I couldn’t see in absolute darkness. I momentarily wrestled with the decision to drop my shields in order to use my power. Holding my palm up, I took a deep breath, said a small prayer and formed a psi ball that glowed with visible blue and yellow fire. It lit up several feet surrounding us, and we moved forward.
A lengthy corridor kept us moving for what felt like ages. The dark behind us swallowed up the stairs, and we still had nowhere to go but straight ahead. Every step I took was like treading deeper into murky, cold water. The atmosphere grew thick with the presence of evil. I felt like I was choking on it as I struggled for each breath.
A pale blue glow drew our attention to a large room to the left. Double swinging doors blocked the entrance. Willow pushed through without hesitation. Metal tables lined the room, and rows of openings made a grid on the back wall. So, this was the morgue.
It wasn’t as creepy as I’d expected, but that did nothing to ease my mind. All that meant was the morgue wasn’t the big bad down here. We had yet to find that.
“Oh, disgusting.” Jez clasped a hand over her mouth and nose. She was staring at a body on a nearby table.
It wasn’t covered very well. An arm hung down, pale and lifeless. The stench of death and decay was overwhelming, assaulting my sensitive nose. I shared Jez’s revulsion. I wasn’t a fan of this place.
“I don’t think there’s anything in here.” As Willow scanned the room, he seemed to grow somber.
“Are you ok?” I asked, unsure how a place like this would affect someone like him.
“Yes. It’s just that I can feel the joy it has,