Page 35 of Obsidian Dream

“We shouldn’t send them alone,” Rieka blurted out as she turned to face Dante, concern etched on her features.

“It has to be us,” Khalida coolly interrupted.She held up her wrist, peeling back the thin dark shirt she wore so they could all see the consort mark.“This mark will be our saving grace.There isn’t anything that can be offered or used to sway us that we will both agree to.Neither of us care about finding Atlantis—that is what they offered Chaucer and Idris.”

“Dante can go.”

“No,” the three of them instantly answered.

Rieka let out a frustrated sigh.“Why not?”

“Because you need to be protected, and Dante is one of the few people who will not be tempted to hand you over for his greatest desire,” Khalida answered.“They think you are a key to finding Atlantis and resurrecting their king.”

Dante had proven it in Egypt when he’d chosen Rieka over ultimate power and Atlantis.

“Not an object,” muttered Rieka under her breath.“What about reinforcements who aren’t us?”

“Kade will be in Rome,” Dante said.

Rieka scrunched her nose.“Redhead with dark wraparound glasses?”

“Yes.The hunter has access to restricted archives that may help us find a clue as to what was in the catacombs and the reason for sealing them.”

Rieka chewed her lower lip.“Is that it?”

“One hunter is more than enough,” Khalida interjected.

“I will have personnel stationed in Rome.There have been some unusual sightings of large wildcats within the old underground tunnels.”

Talik snorted before he stretched out his legs.“I am pointing out again that for a species that is supposed to be extinct, it sure has been lively in the last month.”

Khalida rolled her eyes as she folded her arms.After a heartbeat too long, Talik forced his attention away before Khalida caught him ogling her.

“Can we have access to weapons and your armory?”Khalida asked.

“Yes.”

Giddiness rolled off Khalida.Talik hid a smile behind his hand.

“Kade has assured me the blasters have been calibrated to take down a serpopard,” Dante added, before he gave them both a pointed glare that would brook no argument.“The aim is to find the relic and remain undetected.”

“I prefer to carry enough firepower so we will not be disadvantaged.”

Khalida was preparing for war, which suited Talik.“How long do we have?”

“Six hours.”

Rieka coughed, drawing everyone’s attention.“I may be able to offer some useful information.I did a group project at college that used a ground-penetrating radar to map the catacombs of Rome.The archaeological project suddenly ended ‘for lack of funding’ when we started to create detailed schematics of the catacombs.The college archived the information.”Rieka shrugged.

“But you kept a copy,” Talik finished for Rieka.

“I can bring it up.” She pulled out a tablet and swiped through a few pages.“Here we go.From the study, we determined the tunnel to be approximately three and a half miles long.”

The space between them pixelated as an image formed, and a three-dimensional hologram took shape between them.

Dante pulled Rieka close, until she half leaned against him.

It didn’t take long before a grainy schematic of the catacombs appeared.The resolution wasn’t perfect, and there were huge tracts of the tunnel missing—blank spots on the hologram, which could mean anything.Talik moved closer, using his fingers to enlarge the image until he could barely see Khalida.“It seems fairly straightforward.One main tunnel, with one, two...”He continued to count the small black dots—what looked like smaller openings that led away from the path.“Thirteen potential side branches that could: One.Lead us farther into the underground tunnels.Two.Be nothing.Or three.My favorite.Be used to set up an ambush.”He ignored the death stare from Khalida.“I am not wrong.”

Dante leaned forward, spinning the hologram until it faced him.“We entered from this entrance.”He pointed to the area closest to him.“We followed the stairs.There was a short corridor barely high enough for us to walk through before we entered the main catacombs.The path ran along the center with oversized crypts on either side.”