Bruja Page 18

  “Of course I know the way.” He sounded offended that I would even ask.

  “And?”

  “Oh. You’re asking for a favor. That will cost you, tasty. What will you give me?”

  I sighed. Nope. Not there yet.

  I spun around, counting five different chambers we could go through. I needed just enough magic to give us a direction. “Eenie. Meenie. Minie. Moe. Show us all the way to go.” All of a sudden, the light in the cavern died.

  I sucked in a breath. Was I empty? Finally drained of magic? “I’m sorry. I—” I froze as a line of light appeared in the crystal.

  The glow moved in a straight path from us like ancient streetlights, pointing down the third corridor on the left.

  Thank God.

  I grinned at Lucas. “That way seems good?”

  He laughed. “So I see. Let’s go.”

  Gobble landed back on my shoulder, and the three of us headed deeper into the mine, following the path that had been left for us.

  I was exhausted. Using magic took energy from me. My well was almost totally empty and I needed time to rest and build it up again. I wasn’t sure when I’d have the time.

  Having Lucas next to me gave me the energy to keep going, even if all I wanted to do was crash.

  “You doing okay?” He asked, almost as if he could sense my exhaustion.

  I wasn’t okay. Not yet. But I was one step closer. “Getting there,” I said as his hand found mine.

  Chapter Twenty

  As we moved further into the mine, crystals dotted the walls. They weren’t as thick or as dense as they were in the main cave, but they were there. About two-thirds up the tunnel wall, a waving line of them gave off a pure, white light. It wasn’t a totally straight line, since the crystals were more organic than orderly, but they guided us and gave us just enough light to see by.

  We followed the lit path through the tunnels long ago carved out by miners, taking countless twists and turns. Time wore on, and my shirt was nearly soaked through. The mines were hot and—even with the pretty crystals—more than a little oppressive. I grew desperate to find the exit to the valley.

  After a while, the tunnels started to rise again and my muscles burned as we worked our way back uphill. I took that as a good sign. We had to be getting closer to the temple.

  “Do you smell that?” Lucas said as we turned a corner.

  All I could smell was dirt, dirt, and more dirt. “No.” But if the wolves could smell emotions, then they had a way better sense of smell than I did. “What do you smell?”

  “Fresh air. It was there and then gone.”

  “Weird. Where did it come from?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Gobble giggled from his perch on my shoulder, but I ignored him. He’d been doing that off and on. I couldn’t worry about what was amusing him. I wanted to tell him to go away, but if I got desperate enough, I’d give him whatever bargain he was after.

  We turned a corner, and I slammed into Lucas. He’d stopped walking. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I stepped around him. As soon as I had a better view, the problem was clear. There were no more lit crystals. The walls in the next cavern were all dirt and stone. Nothing glowed.

  My heart sped as I noticed four tunnels leading off from where we’d stopped. If we kept going and didn’t pick the right one, we’d be in big trouble. There was no telling where they led and we didn’t have the supplies or the time to be stuck down here for days.

  Not to mention that the thought of being lost in these mines made it feel like the walls were closing in on me.

  “Can you see anything?” Lucas asked.

  “No. I…” I searched for any hint of an aura ahead of us, but couldn’t see anything. I chewed my lip as I tried to decide which route to take, but I none of them felt right. “We had to have missed something. We should backtrack.”

  I wasn’t sure where we’d gone wrong, but something had changed. Why would it lead us into a dark chamber with four equally possible routes?

  It didn’t matter. I spun around and started walking back.

  As we walked back toward the lit crystals, they started flickering. Then, one by one, they went out.

  “Are you seeing this?” I asked as I forced my already aching legs to walking faster.

  “Yeah.”

  The lights started glittering faster and faster. If we lost the path… It was too complicated to remember. Too dark. We’d be lost.

  “Run.” I took off, following the flickering lights, trying to stay ahead of them, but the faster I ran, the faster they died. As they started to outpace me, I finally skidded to a stop, gasping for breath. “We’re lost.”

  “We’re not lost.” Lucas had gotten farther than I had, but he quickly moved back to me.

  I scowled at him as he turned on his flashlight. “Do you know where we are?”

  “Not exactly, no. But I can scent our way back to the entrance. So, we’re not lost.”

  The breath I’d been holding left my lungs. Living the rest of my life wandering these tunnels until I died of dehydration sounded like a special kind of hell.

  Gobble giggled again. This time I was paying attention.

  “What do you know?” I angled my head to the side so I could get a good look at him.

  “Witches and wolves all distracted by lights and not paying attention.” He rolled his big blue eyes. “I’ll only tell if you pay back the favor. Not helping for free.”

  But he’d already said enough. We’d missed something. The exit?

  I grasped Lucas’ sleeve. “We’re idiots.”

  Lucas narrowed his gaze. “We are?”

  “Yeah.” I laughed. “We really are. Where did you smell that fresh air?”

  Lucas chuckled. “We are idiots. That’s where the exit is.”

  “Exactly. Can you get us back there?”

  Lucas nodded. “Sure can. Stay a few steps behind me so I can scent it.”

  “You got it.”

  I let him pass by me and waited for a count of five before following. After a short few minutes, he stopped.

  “It’s here.” He ran the light up and down the tunnel walls, but no break or gap was visible. Even the ceiling looked solid.

  “We’re missing something,” I said.

  “Can you see anything? Any auras?”

  I shook my head. “Just a faint residual glow from the crystals. Nothing that points the way.”

  “Okay.” He squatted down, and dug a little groove in the floor to prop up the flashlight. “Our eyes aren’t seeing anything, but maybe our hands will. You take that wall.” He pointed behind me. “I’ll take this one.”

  I turned and crouched down to start at the bottom I ran my hands along the crystals, not caring if the sharp edges nicked my skin. They stuck out at odd angles, growing out of each other in clusters, but there were no seams or holes. I couldn’t find a break. Not anywhere.

  “Are you sure we’re in the right spot?” I asked.

  “We’re in the right spot.” His voice had a hint of growl in it.

  I turned to find him squatting at the ground, staring at the wall. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to—”

  “I’m not angry at you. I’m just frustrated.” He quickly stood and glared at Gobble. “And he’s not helping. He knows how to make this door appear.” Lucas tried to flick the fey, but his wings zipped into motion and he zoomed off my shoulder.

  “Not my fault you’re stupid.”

  Lucas’ aura was usually so toned down that I didn’t see it unless I focused. Alphas—like Teresa and Dastien—glowed much brighter than other wolves. Apparently Lucas could turn his off and on. In a flash, he lowered the floodgates and I had to blink to adjust to the blinding halo of gold and white.

  Gobble shrieked and fled to hide between the crystals on the wall. “Pack Alpha means nothing to me, wolf. You can’t force me.”

  Lucas moved fast, snatching a little arm in his hand, but Gobble disappeared—reappearing behind Luca
s.

  Lucas howled as the little beastie bit down on his ear.

  I wanted to wring both of their necks. “Stop it. Neither of you are helping anything.” I turned back to the wall, ignoring those two yahoos. I crossed my arms and stared it down. There had to be something—some clue that would tell me what to do next. I stuck my finger in my mouth and pulled it out, holding it in the air to see if I could feel a breeze.

  It was there. Faint but there. In front of me. I felt along the wall again, but there wasn’t a hinge or handle or anything. I pushed with all my might. Nothing budged.

  “Push with me,” I said to Lucas.

  He joined in, and again, nothing.

  “It’s here. I know it.” God. I was so bad at rhyming. I wished my magic pulled me in a different direction, but belief gave the spells power, and somewhere along the line, I’d started believing in rhymes. “Door from here to there, give way. Let in this wolf, witch, and fey.” The magic built as I said the words. For a second after, nothing happened. I held my breath, waiting for something. Anything.

  Then a creak echoed through the tunnel. It started off soft and slowly built louder.

  I reached out, needing something to hold on to as I waited for the exit to appear, and Lucas grabbed my hand tight.

  Oh my God. My heart raced. I found it. I actually found it.

  Slowly, a crack formed between the crystals. It wasn’t a straight line. Instead, it followed the curvature of each individual crystal. Finally, the outline became visible.

  This was it.

  The door opened barely an inch, and then all was quiet.

  I let go of Lucas’ hand, and pushed.

  This time it swung open like it weighed nothing.

  A breeze felt cool along my skin. There was a long staircase, but I could already see the pinks and oranges of the setting sun. I grinned. “We did it.”

  “You did it,” Lucas said as he put his arm around my shoulder. His dark eyes sparkled in the light. “You did it.”

  “I did, huh?”

  “The tasty is no fun. No fun at all,” Gobble said before flying up into the sunlight. He wasn’t getting his deal from me. Not yet. And if all continued to go well, maybe not ever.

  “Go on.” Lucas gave me a little push forward.

  I started up the stairs. Excitement that we’d finally made it this far made my achy muscles a little bit more bearable. We hadn’t stopped much, but Lucas had occasionally handed me a bar to eat, some jerky, or a bit of dried fruit. I’d taken it and kept going. The urgency to help Raphael had never died down. Even with the exhaustion, I’d been so focused on finding the way that I hadn’t realized how much time had passed. “I can’t believe it’s been a full day.”

  Lucas shook his head. “For a bit, I thought we might be sleeping in there.”

  That was a terrifying thought. I never thought of myself as claustrophobic, but being deep in those tunnels had tested me nearly past my endurance. I wiped my sweaty forehead off on my damp T-shirt. “Well, it’s a good thing we don’t have to.”

  When we finally stepped out and onto the grass, I was beyond tired. My thigh muscles quivered from the strain.

  “We should set up camp and take a look at the map. See if we can figure out which way the temple is from here, and we’ll get started at first light.”

  I knew we had to wait, but that didn’t help the pressure bearing down on me. I couldn’t feel Raphael at all anymore. He was beyond our twindar and I had no cell reception to check on him. “Let’s get set up then.”

  “I know you want to keep going, but wandering around in the dark isn’t a good idea.”

  “I don’t want to wander. I want to go straight there.” If I didn’t keep making progress, I’d start to think about the consequences, and that would do nothing but paralyze me with fear.

  “I promised you that I’d get you to him in time, and I mean to keep that promise. Okay?”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t sure how he could really promise that.

  Lucas started walking, looking for a good place to pop the tent.

  “You found the way,” Gobble said as he reappeared and settled back down on my shoulder.

  “No thanks to you.”

  He made an unimpressed noise. “Not my job to do it for you.”

  That was debatable, but at least I didn’t owe him anything. Being bound to an evil witch was bad enough.

  Lucas set down our packs in a small break in the forest. “This is enough room for the tent and a fire.” He started taking out the tent and setting it up.

  I sat down on a fallen log and slipped off my shoes. My feet had swollen from all the walking, but by the grace of God, I’d managed not to get blisters. I worked my thumbs into my arches as the sky turned dark and stars appeared. As I sat there, I realized I really had to pee.

  The thought annoyed me. Camping was not at all in my comfort zone.

  Somehow, I managed to put my shoes back on. I made sure I still had some tissues from in my purse and checked my cellphone. The battery was dying, but one bar appeared before going away. It kept flashing in and out—which would do me no good—but I wanted it keep it with me at all times. Just in case. “I’m going to go…” I motioned with my hands.

  “Holler if you get lost on your way back,” Lucas said.

  I started off to find a bit of privacy, making sure I was far enough that I’d avoid any embarrassment because of his Were hearing.

  When I started back to the campsite, a glow caught my eye. Something…

  Just a little ways off from us. I’d thought I could see because of the moonlight, but it was so much more than that. The aura was a pearlescent white.

  I couldn’t help but investigate. I made my way through the forest, breaking branches as I went, but not caring. The closer I got, the faster I went.

  “Where are you going?” Lucas said, suddenly behind me.

  I let out a high-pitched screamed before I could stop myself. My heartbeat echoed in my ears. I hadn’t heard him—hadn’t known he was following me at all.

  He gripped my waist as I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. It took me a few seconds to find my voice again. “You scared the living daylights out of me,” I finally managed to say.

  “You scared me when you wandered off, so we’re even.” He studied me. “What are you seeing?”

  I twisted out of his grasp and pointed ahead. “Something really bright is just up there. I wanted to see what it was.” It wasn’t far, just on top of a small hill.

  “And you didn’t come get me?”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t think of it. I had to see what that was. It could be the temple.” I glanced around. “Where’s Gobble?”

  “How should I know? One second he was there, and the next, gone. I expect he’ll be back, but I’m glad to be rid of him for now.”

  “He’s not that bad.”

  He growled softly.

  “Come on.” I kept walking toward the glow, stepping around trees and plants as I moved through the forest. It was weird being able to see this well at night, but I liked it. Made things much easier.

  A thick layer of moss hung down from a tree branch. As I moved it out of the way, the temple came into view.

  I gasped as I took in the overgrown stone structure made of perfectly cut square bricks. Just like some of the Incan ruins I’d seen in passing. A small steeple cut into the night sky. And the most beautiful part of all: the windows on either side of the door glowed with a pure, bright light.

  I nearly laughed. It didn’t feel real. I’d hoped, but I wasn’t sure that anything would come of this. But now I knew. The map had been right. I had a real chance at saving Raphael. Everything might turn out okay. “That’s it. We found it.” I took off running for the front door.

  “Wait.” Lucas caught up and wrenched me to a stop. “Someone’s been here.”

  I froze. “What do you mean?” We’d asked so many villagers, and no one had even the smallest story about the mages or thei
r temple. So how could anyone have been here?

  “Here.” He pointed to a broken branch and some smushed grass. “Tracks.”

  I couldn’t make out a footprint. “Couldn’t that have been a bear or something?”

  “No. Those are human tracks.”

  There was no way that was possible. “I thought no one knew the way.”

  Lucas squatted to sniff the supposed track. “Human. They smell familiar, but not.” He stood up. “We have to be careful. No running. You stay behind me.”

  Maybe people had been here recently, but that didn’t change what I needed to do. “I don’t need to be protected. I have plenty of magic of my own.” I brushed past him and closed the distance to the temple.

  As soon as I stepped inside, the most foul smell ever hit me. I covered my mouth and nose as I gagged.

  The temple’s entry was one massive room. Along the far wall, a corridor led off to elsewhere. An altar made of three huge slabs of stone stood between us and the corridor. A bowl of fire burned on its surface.

  I stepped toward the altar. “What is that—” I stopped myself. I didn’t need to ask the question. I knew that smell. Only one thing was that disgusting.

  “Vampires,” Lucas spat the word.

  Standing in front of the walls, frozen like statues, were vampires.

  Hundreds of them.

  “Oh God.” They weren’t moving, and if they were really alive, they would’ve attacked by now. But if something changed, we were toast. There was no way we could fight this many. I didn’t have enough magic left. And no matter how strong an Alpha Lucas was, he was only one wolf.

  “Whatever you do, don’t move,” Lucas whispered. “You could set them off.”

  “Oh God.” My throat was suddenly tight. I took in the room with wide eyes, trying to come up with something—anything—that could help us.

  What was I supposed to do now? Whatever I needed was surely inside this temple, but one wrong step and we’d both be worm food.

  Just the two of us against an army of vampires… We didn’t stand a chance.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Why would the white mages have vampires in here?” My voice was tight with fear, as I stood there, taking in the surroundings. There had to be hundreds of them.