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If the Vâlve left the cave, we came for nothing.

“You ready?” I swallowed, nodding at the path.

Raven dipped her head, tracking with me down the lane, the trees quietly singing to me, trying to ebb the anxiety-causing mutiny in my chest.

The entrance to the cave came into view, gates blocking the access, but the door had been broken into a long time ago, rusting the hinges open. Yanking torches from my pack, I handed one to Raven.

“No turning back now.” I winked down at her.

Her lips pressed together, her body tense as we stared into the cave.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She feigned a tight smile.

“That was believable,” I chuffed.

“I’m fine.” Annoyance flickered her brow.

“Didn’t believe it that time either.”

“Don’t like being confined.” She shrugged. Why did it seem as if she was throwing out any excuse? “Go.” She nodded at the entrance.

Something didn’t settle with me. But as the daylight disappeared, the snow fell harder, and temperatures plummeted, I understood time was no longer on our side. Turning on my torch, I nodded for her to enter first. I peered back behind us as I slid through the gate.

The forest was quiet except for the snow hitting the leaves and branches and a slight breeze picking up. A shiver tickled the back of my neck like the trees were trying to warn me.

A storm was coming.

Chapter 23

Ash

The darkness was impenetrable, wrapping around me like it wanted to choke me. I didn’t normally mind being underground, feeling Earth’s heartbeat, but this was so impregnable it sat on my lungs and wouldn’t let up.

Our torches lit a few yards ahead, bouncing over the white limestone formations of Mother Nature’s molding art.

I shined my light on the dramatic formations. Stalactites impaled dramatically from the ceiling like spiked chandeliers. The stalagmites twisted and curved up from the floor, forming under thousands of years of the water’s relentless attack. The vast space echoed with soft drips seeping from a river nearby, slicking the floor.

The temperate air made me peel off my jacket. The caves, oblivious to the weather outside, no matter what time of year it was, stayed a steady fifty degrees. In the summer, that might be chilly, but coming from the frigid winter outside, this was balmy.

“So?” Raven spoke low, her torch on the metal steps leading deeper into the caves. “How do we contact this thing?”

“Have no idea.” I was afraid to even suggest it might not be here anymore. “Hoping it finds us.”

“You think it will?”

“If we provoke it.”

“What does that entail?”

“Pissing it off.”

“You seem to be a master at that.”

A soft scoff went through my nose, peering at her with a look that said,No, dziubus, that’s you.

Reaching for one of our purchases, I yanked the pick on the side of my pack from its holder. “We mine for gold or whatever we can find.” I flipped the pick in my hand, heading down the steps.