Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,101

she heard some shuffling and then a match being lit, she turned and watched Finlay light a torch. As the flame grew, it illuminated the dark space ahead. Had she come here under other circumstances, she would have stood there in utter admiration and awe, but as it was, her surroundings only added to her uneasiness.

In front of her was a staircase that led down into the cavern, but the light reached far enough for her to see what was ahead: beautiful formations of stalactites and stalagmites, reflecting back to her in a multitude of colors and shapes, glistening as even now they produced more layers over their magnificent forms. She’d seen a TV program about these caverns once. That’s why the name had been so familiar. She remembered it well now, because she’d been so fascinated about this small wonder, how nature had been able to create such beautiful caves.

“Walk!” Finlay ordered.

There was only one way, and she knew from the TV program that there was no exit down there. She tried to recall the layout of the caverns and seemed to remember that there were three shafts going down. It appeared that Finlay had decided not to take the cave entrance the tourists frequented, but an older side entrance that was now defunct. Eventually, two of the shafts would meet deep underground. Not that this would help her at all. While she couldn’t escape back up where she’d come from, the chances of escaping up the second shaft once she reached it were equally unrealistic. Finlay was a Stealth Guardian, and after seeing Hamish and Aiden fight, she knew how fast their kind was. Their speed was preternatural. She would never be able to outrun him. Or the demons.

As the stairs ended and turned into smoothly carved out walkways, they passed formation after formation, each more beautiful than the last. As the path widened, the cave split, and they entered the branch on the right. The light from Finlay’s torch reflected on the walls and painted dancing shadows on it, creating different colors.

“That way,” he demanded and pointed his hand toward another dark path beyond the cave. It felt like a tunnel when she stepped into it, and her claustrophobia surfaced at the notion that this place could collapse while she was in it. Her heartbeat accelerated, and her breath became irregular. Her palms coated themselves with dampness, and her knees began to shake.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Go!” he barked from behind her, his hand nudging her forward, not at all gently.

She had no choice but to continue. Her hands guiding her along the wall, she walked forward, one foot in front of the other, as she tried to breathe normally, hoping to chase away the fear that gripped her. It seemed to take an eternity until she finally cleared the tunnel and stepped into another branch of the cave. She stopped, hoping to rest now, but Finlay pushed on, leading her farther down the branch.

Would this never end?

They reached a massive gymnasium-size room, the ceiling at least two stories high. From above, stalactites descended in various shapes, sizes and colors, and below, from an abyss in the center of the cave, stalagmites pointed upwards like spikes as sharp as swords. Instinctively, she pulled back from the edge. If someone fell down there, the spikes would impale them like a pig on a spit.

“Sit!”

Leila turned to Finlay and saw him pointing to a spot next to a rounded formation. Hesitantly, she went there and followed his order. She watched him walk to an indentation in one of the cave walls and dipped his torch into it. As soon as it touched the little hole, the flame traveled outwards to both its sides, running a ring around the entire cave. Looking more closely, she saw the ridge that was carved into the stone and ran the entire circumference of the huge room. She guessed that it was filled with oil or some other flammable liquid.

The place was suddenly bathed in subdued light.

“What happens now?”

Finlay looked at her, his eyes suddenly shimmering in a low green light. “We’re waiting for the demons to arrive.”

She could only assume that lighting the fire had alerted the demons to their presence.

THIRTY-SEVEN

The signal from Leila’s tracker had led them to Northern California, a tourist destination named Mercer Caverns, a collection of caves that ran deep underground, filled with rock formations created by nature over millions of years, thanks to the mineral-rich rocks and underground flowing