I couldn’t tell how fresh everything was with the dim light, and Austin couldn’t speak to fill me in. Regardless, they weren’t here now, and given the chill and lack of smoke, they hadn’t been here very recently.
I handed the torch down to Niamh. “Can you put that out?”
She chittered at me but didn’t take the torch. Clearly that was either a “no” or an “I don’t want to.” I held it wide as I bent to grab one of the battery-powered lanterns, awkwardly tested it out without setting myself on fire, and then clicked it back off. I’d keep the torch until I could put it back, just in case… No, there was no real reason. I’d just gotten so used to putting things away that it was habit.
Judging by the orderliness of the room, I wasn’t the only one.
Niamh quickly caught up to me as I passed Austin and then the gargoyles, probably frustrating Austin because he was now stuck at the back. I briefly stopped at the entrance area in order to put out the torch and stow it in its holder. If they weren’t here now, they might come back, and while they might overlook a missing lantern, a missing torch and a missing lantern would probably be noticed.
I glanced out the doorway, half expecting to see a mage waiting outside, hands out, magic at the ready. The dark barrier waited, though, glimmering and seemingly solid. It looked like a wall. If a mage stood on the other side, waiting to get the drop on us, we wouldn’t know until we walked right into them.
“What a stupid setup,” I said, my adrenaline spiking. “Why would they wait in here blind?”
Niamh chittered. Why? Who knew, since I didn’t understand a word of it.
Down the tunnel the other way, its size and shape uniform, I ended at the shadowy opening to the large cave with the viewing area at the top. The barrier up there was still in place, transparent and glimmering.
Maybe these mages could only create two types of variable: viewable or not.
But why make the other one viewable? So it could kill anyone who came to rescue me?
Thankfully, they’d underestimated Austin.
The cage lay where we’d left it, the door off and on its side. The chain dangled above. No one waited among the spikes. The mages weren’t here.
I breathed a sigh of relief. That was bad news, probably, drawing all this out, but the relief was real.
“Let’s head out,” I said, turning around and weaving through the gargoyles. “They’re not here. At least we know where here is, though. Maybe Austin can pick up the scent from here.” I walked back to the trick door slowly, not really wanting to leave the protection of the stone walls. There was only one way in, and we were walking toward it. Maybe they weren’t lying in wait beyond it, but they could come back while we were exiting.
At the door, I checked to make sure everyone was set, turned off the lantern, and stepped outside, ready just in case.
Dead space greeted us—even the basajaun had taken off. The flowers were still there, though, in their protective little cocoon. He hadn’t been kidding—he did not plan to take the basajaun candy from strangers. How odd. What could I have possibly done to flowers? Drugged them? Then what? The creature was too big for me to drag back to Edgar. And when he woke up, I’d probably have a dead Edgar on my hands.
Austin attempted to cross the threshold, but I was in the way, and he bumped me from behind. I moved as Niamh skittered through on all fours.
Something felt wrong. The wind in the leaves and pine needles were still present, but the birdsong had cut off. No animals skittered under the brush. It was almost like they’d sensed a predator.
But they’d all been active when we were here last. Maybe the basajaun’s presence had put them at ease. Now that he’d taken off…
Movement in front of me caught my eye as Austin crossed the threshold. I looked up as a woman in a dark dress stepped through the trees with her hands up, flares of light erupting from her fingertips. Two more stepped out from the sides.
They’d been waiting for us after all. The basajaun waiting outside had given me a false sense of security, like he would watch our backs. How could I have been so stupid?
31
Austin lurched forward, now knocking me to the side and