Page 35

The slog through the fog-dampened woods seemed endless. Each step felt like his last. Oliver wondered if it was possible to fall asleep on his feet. There had been plenty of times in his life when he had been tired. Times when he had mainlined caffeine to keep going. There were the times when he had resorted to Fast-Rez pills to stay alert in the Underworld while moving through dangerous, uncharted territory on an expedition. But never had he known the utter exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him on the forever trek Leona was taking him on that night.

Her grip on his hand was the only thing that kept him vertical. She was using the physical connection to support his aura. Without it he knew he would have collapsed on the soggy ground and slipped into the dark dreamscape that beckoned.

“Not much farther,” Leona promised, steering him around a tree. “According to the locator, the entrance to the cave is only a few yards from here.”

“You said that an hour ago,” he said. He could barely get the words out.

“Not an hour ago. More like ten minutes, give or take. This time I really mean it.”

“Should be there by now. Starkey said it was a thirty-minute hike.”

“Not at the pace we’re going.”

“I just need five minutes of sleep.”

“If you fall asleep now, you won’t wake up for hours. I can feel the exhaustion in your aura. Just a few more yards. I think Roxy has realized where we’re going. She’s leading the way.”

An encouraging chortle in the vicinity of his feet made Oliver look down. Roxy blinked all four eyes at him and then scampered ahead.

“Almost there,” Leona whispered. “I promise. You’ve got to stay awake. Tell me something about yourself.”

“I’m boring.”

“Nope.”

“Mostly I am.” He paused, struggling to pull himself back from the edge of the dreamscape cliff. “Except when I’m not.”

“Tell me about the times when you aren’t boring.”

“I’m scary.”

“Because of your talent, do you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know. Seems like a pretty cool talent to me. When I saw you slipping through the crowd at the reception, I assumed you were a clever artifact thief.”

“Wasn’t trying to be scary that night,” he mumbled. “Just didn’t want to draw attention.”

“What are you like when you’re scary?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do want to know.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m curious about you.”

“Why?”

“Lots of reasons,” she said. “You’re a very interesting person. I think we have a few things in common.”

“Ever had to get a marriage annulled on account of your talent?”

“No. But I’ve never been married.”

“Smart.”

“Maybe. But now that my sister has found the right man, I’m starting to wonder—” She broke off and then started moving more quickly. “There’s the cave. See the energy at the entrance?”

“No. I’m still psi-blind because of the explosion.”

“You’ll have to take my word for it. Energy is pouring out of the cavern.”

She hauled so heavily on his hand he nearly went down. He managed, barely, to stay on his feet. He blinked a couple of times in an attempt to see through the glowing fog. Sure enough, he could make out a faint, shifting aurora spilling through a crack in the rocks.

The possibility that they had reached their destination gave him a small jolt of adrenaline.

“About time,” he whispered. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“Not quite. We can’t risk sleeping in the cave. They might come looking for us. We have to get down into the Underworld. We’ll be safe there.”

She was right.

“Shit,” he said.

“I agree. Current conditions are not optimal.”

She draped his arm around her shoulder and helped him stagger through the narrow entrance into a cavern illuminated in a paranormal radiance. He heard more chortling. Roxy seemed to be enjoying the adventure.

The energy inside the massive cavern hit him like a ton of green quartz. He almost went down. He knew that if he had, he would have taken Leona with him. She struggled under his weight but she somehow managed to keep both of them on their feet.

He became aware of the low thunder of a nearby waterfall. He looked around and saw a wall of water tumbling out of the rocks into a pool.

“This place is really hot,” Leona said. “It’s the kind of energy that can cause hallucinations. Probably explains why the locals were so easily convinced that Vance will return.”

He tried to take a closer look at the waterfall pool but he couldn’t seem to focus.

“Roxy,” Leona said, “where is the Underworld? Please, sweetie. Show us where the entrance is. We need to get Oliver down below where we can all hide.”

Roxy chortled enthusiastically. Oliver wondered if she understood or if they were going to play hide-and-seek for the rest of the night.

“I’m really not up for that.”

He did not realize he had spoken aloud until Leona glanced at him.

“What?” she said. “Never mind. Roxy has found the steps into the tunnels. Here we go. Almost there.”

She guided him around the edge of the pool. When he looked down he could see that the waters were crystal clear. He also realized that he could not see the bottom. A chill of disturbing energy raised the hair on the back of his neck.

He must have somehow dozed off for a moment or two after that, because the next thing he knew, Leona was bracing him as they made their way down a spiral staircase. He recognized the familiar green quartz and the wide steps that had been designed for feet that were not quite human.

“You did it,” he muttered. “You got us into the Underworld. You’re good. Really, really good.”

“The credit goes to Roxy,” Leona said. She stopped at the foot of the twisted stairs and looked around. “We should be safe now. All we have to do is pick a chamber, any chamber. The only way someone could find us would be if they accidentally stumbled over us.”

The buzz of Underworld energy gave him another little surge of adrenaline. He saw that they were in a rotunda that offered a choice of a dozen corridors.

“We’ll take this one,” Leona said.

She got him into one of the branching hallways and, a moment later, into a small chamber.

“Now you can sleep,” she said.

He would have collapsed onto the hard quartz floor if she had not managed to control his fall. He ended up sprawled on his side and immediately closed his eyes. He was about to step off the cliff into the darkness when a memory made him pause.

“Forgot to tell you I figured out why someone went to so much trouble to get me to Lost Creek,” he mumbled.

“Let me guess,” she said. “Someone wants you dead.”

“Yep. Thanks to you, they screwed up.”

He stepped off the cliff and fell into the darkness.