Ruthless Fae - Ingrid Seymour Page 0,38

and, strangely, hoping for darkness in the unknown.

The beam behind me grew dimmer, then disappeared. I glanced back and noticed a new shape in the tunnel, a massive black silhouette that almost filled the entire passage, blocking the spotlight from the helicopter. Huge shadows in the shape of wings hovered above the figure, and I knew immediately who they’d released into the tunnel with us.

Bael.

An animal growl echoed through the cave, sending a shot of pain into my head. I covered one of my ears as, in front of me, my aunt picked up her pace, pulling me along.

“We’re being followed,” I yelled. “Someone’s in the tunnel with us. Run faster.” I didn’t want to say that the someone was Bael. There wasn’t time for panic.

Gods, coming into this cave had been a terrible decision. What had we been thinking? And Becca… I hoped she was all right.

I staggered forward, my feet knocking against my aunt’s as we clumsily made our way further into the earth. We took a sudden turn to the right and ran for a few feet until my aunt abruptly stopped, and I slammed into her with a humph.

“Shh, be quiet,” Vaughn urged.

I held my breath. The others must’ve as well because I heard nothing but my thumping heart.

Let Bael go straight. Let Bael go straight, I chanted in my head, hoping he wouldn’t take the same turn we had, and we could lose him in the maze Vaughn had said existed down here. But that would have been too easy, and a moment later, we heard Bael lumbering in our direction.

“Shit!” Vaughn cursed under his breath and started tugging us along again.

Of course, Bael could see in the darkness. I didn’t know if it was a Khurynian trait or an enhancement the Habermanns had provided, but either way, all we managed to do by pausing was lose ground.

After a couple of minutes, we took a left. This time we didn’t stop. We made a few more turns, and I began to lose track of our progress. I could only hope Vaughn knew where we were because, if Bael didn’t catch us and tear us to pieces with his new, taloned hands and feet, we would starve to death, our souls lost in the bowels of the earth forever.

Bael’s lumbering steps grew closer, shaking the earth and dislodging dirt from the cave’s ceiling.

“Faster, faster,” I urged, imagining sharp claws swatting at my back, trying to rip my wings from their moorings.

If my urgent call had helped us move faster, I couldn’t tell. We were exhausted and disheartened, the fight completely driven out of us by day after day of unrelenting trials and hardships.

Suddenly, I could hear Bael’s breaths right behind me. I wanted to push my aunt out of the way and fly above her, and it took all I had not to take that cowardly route. Something brushed one of my wings. It was Bael swatting at me as if I were an annoying bug. I squeezed my eyes shut even as I ran, resigned to the painful death the awful creature my once-gentle friend would impart on me. His feet thundered right behind, a constant reminder of how close death was following.

A soft blue glow appeared ahead. A moment later, everything before me opened up, the walls that surrounded us falling away.

Were we outside?

It didn’t matter. I could fly. I let go of my aunt’s hand, took to the air, and whirled on Bael. I blinked rapidly, my eyes adapting to the dim light. The Khurynian staggered out of the tunnel and came to a sudden stop, rubbing his eyes, then blinking in confusion. He no longer seemed hell-bent on destroying me for some strange reason, bewildered as he was.

Exhaling in relief, I whirled and went after the others. They were still running as fast as their legs would allow them. For the first time, I glanced around at our surroundings and realized we weren’t outside. We were still in the cave system, but we’d entered a huge area with a tall ceiling that was about fifty to sixty feet up. The glow came from bioluminescent creatures attached to the cave walls, carpeting every inch of rock and giving us a view of the massive chamber.

Bael’s growl drew me out of my thoughts. I glanced back and found that he had resumed his pursuit. Vaughn ushered Ronnie and my aunt behind a large, glowing boulder, then came out, pulling his shirt over his head