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19

LONNIE

THE CUTTHROAT DISTRICT, INBETWIXT

Siobhan led us to the very same wine cellar where months ago Bael and I had joined the thieves before we all descended into the sewers. At first I thought we might be going that way again, and I braced myself remembering the horrible smell, and the way my boots squelched on the floor, stepping in Aisling only knew what.

Thankfully, we did not end up in the sewers.

Instead, Siobhan opened another hidden stone door in the wall and motioned for us to enter. The door creaked open, revealing a dark room.

“This is where I leave you,” Siobhan said. “The entrance to the vault is over there. I recommend you step carefully once you’re inside. You don’t want to set off any traps.”

“Thank you,” I said automatically, peering into the dark within. Then, my mind catching up with me, I spun back around. “Wait! What are the traps?”

She didn’t answer me, and when I looked back behind us she’d already disappeared. Moving as swiftly and quietly as a shadow. I wondered if that was part of her Unseelie magic or if Cross had trained her to move without detection. Possibly both. With any luck, we wouldn’t have to move through the vault in such a manner, because we might be many things but quiet was not one of them.

Sure enough, our boots slapped against the stone floor, echoing loudly off the ceiling as we entered.

“Damn,” I hissed as we walked. “She might not have known how to disarm the traps, but she could have at least warned us what we’re dealing with.”

Ambrose stopped in front of me and I came to a halt behind him, blinking until my eyes adjusted to the dim light. After a moment, I realized the room was larger than I’d originally thought. Much,muchlarger.

We were standing within an enormous stone cavern. It was nearly half the size of the main room of the thieves' den. Stone pillars hung from the ceiling and the floor, and water dripped softly off naturally occurring stalagmites and stalactites.

“I expected another room like the den,” I said to no one in particular.

“As did I,” Scion agreed.“This cave must have already been here before the city was constructed. Leave it to Cross to choose the most dangerous place possible to hide his treasure.”

“Why is it so dangerous?” I asked. “Aside from the traps that is.”

“Because of how old the cave itself is,” Bael replied from where he walked behind me. “The old ones live in places like this.”

I shivered and it had nothing to do with the chill damp air.

I’d met an old one once—an enormous murderous snake that was likely older than Elsewhere itself. It spoke in riddles and devoured Fae and humans alike, leaving their bodies mangled and floating in the quarry of Inbetwixt. I had no desire to encounter anything of that nature ever again.

As if my thoughts had made me paranoid, at that moment I could have sworn I saw something move in my peripheral vision. I quickly spun around, anxious to see who or what was there. Instead, all I saw was a skeleton propped up against the wall. Torn and moth-eaten rags hung off the bones, and beside the wretched person was a small pile of gold. Like whomever this had once been had died with their stolen treasure in their hand.

“I guess Siobhan was right,” I said with forced cheerfulness. “Some people don’t make it out.”

The men turned around to follow my gaze. Scion grimaced at the skeleton. “Cross is fucked in the head. He could have simply placed that there as a deterrent.”

"Well, if so, it’s a good one.” I shuddered.

Bael glanced back the way we’d come. “We need to make sure we can get back out once we’ve gotten the jewel. If the doors shut on their own, or…” he trailed off, looking meaningfully at the skeleton.

“Someone should wait here, to open the doors if something happens,” Ambrose agreed.

“Fine,” Scion said briskly. “You do that.”

“I didn’t mean me,” Ambrose snapped, widening his eyes meaningfully in my direction.

“He’s right, little monster. You should stay,” Bael said quickly. “If it’s really as dangerous as Siobhan claimed, I don’t want you anywhere near that vault.”

“Too late for that,” I said acidly. “Anyway, how do you know I don’t have to get the jewel myself? Like the hunts. Maybe it’s part of being worthy.”

“You don’t believe that,” Scion drawled, eyeing me with a raised eyebrow.