I wanted to kick myself. I'd known all about the voices, the invisible forces that could get into your head and suck all light and hope from your memory. If successful, they left you a blackened, empty and highly suicidal human shell. But the dangerous terrain, the toxic atmosphere and the very real possibility of a ghoul attack had been front and center in my mind. I'd forgotten all about the damn voices.

The kiss had been unplanned. When I heard her rambling and sobbing about how there was nothing left for her, it was as if she had reached into my chest and tightened her hand around my heart. I knew then I had to kiss her. By the time I'd lifted my mouth from hers, I realized the kiss had been more for me than her.

After nearly losing Rikki to the bottomless cavern, I was keeping her tucked safely at my side. The brutal climate and lack of fresh air were getting to her. Her strength and determination were fading fast.

"Do you think we're getting close?" she asked weakly.

"I haven't been here in a few years. I try and avoid the place, but I remember a big cave just past the bottomless pit. It was where they dropped us one night when we were in training. I was about sixteen, and by that age I was convinced nothing could scare me. But I was so fucking wrong. That was the first time I heard the voices. The ones that almost took you over the edge of that pit."

A shiver went through her, and I wished I hadn't brought it up.

"I'm sorry. Bad subject."

"No, the shiver was about you. What the hell were they thinking tossing teenage boys into this place? How did you make it out?"

"Barely. I think it was Wilder though who managed to shake off the voices and save all of us. Even though his name is Wilder, he's the cool headed one. He managed to stay ahead of the voices, and he brought all of us out of the trance. Don't remember much of it because it was all a blur but things got ugly. We very nearly pitched each other off the edge of the cliff. I was sure as hell glad to get out alive. That lesson really put me in my place. It was more than just a subtle reminder that I wasn't quite as invincible as I'd imagined."

The cave was mostly just a long slit in the cliff. I patted the matches in my pocket. There was no way we could sneak into Vapour's lair with lit torches, so I had brought along a set of long matches and two candles. They seemed pathetically insufficient against an army of ghouls, but I hoped that since most of the ghouls spent their time down in the pits, keeping the souls in line, we wouldn't meet any on our way to the cave. I still had my gun and the bowie knife I kept strapped to my leg just in case we met up with something more flesh than ghoul. So far we'd been lucky, but a crawling feeling on the back of my neck told me not to let my guard down.

"Maximus, do you think we'll find him?"

"I don't know. If they do have him, it's hard to see how he could survive in this place for two months."

She didn't respond except to squeeze my hand tighter.

We climbed up several layers of rock to reach the mouth of the cave. The darkness surrounding us on the outside was nothing compared to the darkness inside.

I held her hand but went in first. We stopped just inside the opening and lit the two candles. Wavy shadows danced around a tall cavern. Rock formations dripped from the ceiling like giant black icicles. Unlike caves in the mortal world, I was sure we wouldn't run into bats or bears. But that didn't mean there wasn't something even worse lurking in the crevices.

Rikki looked around at the rock formations. "It's almost kind of beautiful in a horrible, macabre sort of way."

I smiled. "There's putting a positive spin on things. Are you ready? Stay close to me."

She pressed herself against me. "That won't be a problem."

We headed along the narrow corridor that led deeper in the cave. The flames on the candles struggled to stay lit. The extreme heat outside the cave had not penetrated the caverns on the inside of the mountain. It was a nice reprieve.

"So much cooler in here." Rikki lifted her candle higher. "I guess that is why they keep the meat in here."

"Never thought of that. Makes sense. Although I'm pretty sure the ghouls don't care if the flesh is fresh or rotting."

"They really are foul beings, aren't they?"

"Yep. Like everything else on this side of the plasma. With the exception of the ferryman."

A noise hissed from the tunnel in front of us. I pushed Rikki behind me and lifted my candle. The flame died instantly. Rikki's candle went next. I quickly relit them both and turned back toward the tunnel.

I'd faced some damn ugly critters in Wynter, but the four headed serpent hanging down from a crevice in the rocks made me take a step back. I made sure Rikki stayed behind me. She glued herself against my back but bravely looked past my shoulder to see the monstrous snake. Its glowing white eyes were like eight small headlights in the otherwise lightless passage. The biggest head lunged threateningly at us with a flick of its red forked tongue. The heads danced around each other on long, silver scaled necks which all came from one thick body. It was hard to tell how long the thing was since most of it was hidden, but the diameter of its body assured me it was big. I put my hand on the handle of my knife, figuring the unpredictable movement of the heads was going to make my gun useless.

"I guess we must be getting close to something important because Vapour has sent out his most venomous guard," I said the words from the side of my mouth not wanting to make any loud noise. One of the heads circled out to get a look around me at Rikki.

Rikki shrank back out of view. "I really hate snakes, especially ones with four heads. My dad once told me about a serpent that lives down here that is nicknamed the multiplier because—'

"If you cut off one head two more grow back?" I barely turned my head to speak and kept my eyes trained on the snake. "I think you're right."

"What should we do?"

"We. Not this round, ferryman. This snake is mine. I need you to back up really slowly and step back around the last corner we turned. If anything happens to me, you hike straight back the way we came and don't linger at the bottomless pit. Did you get all that?"

"Yes." Her reply was shaky. "Don't die, please."

"I don't plan to." I listened for her footsteps to retreat. The snake caught just enough of her movement to begin bobbing its heads up and down with interest. They began hissing simultaneously. The sound rattled my brain as if it was filled with ball bearings.

I slowly pulled out my knife. I held the lit candle in the other hand. I hoped the flame would survive the airless tunnel and everything else that was about to happen. The fire was an integral part of my plan. I would have to move fast, faster than a snake, faster than four snakes. And from the looks in their neon eyes and the angry hissing sound, four highly irritated snakes.

I stretched my arm out and waved the candle around to grab the attention of all the heads. The second the glowing eyes landed on the candle, I lunged toward the snake. I sliced my blade through the thick body. The scaly skin was as tough as leather, but I'd always kept my blade ready to cut anything. Black blood oozed from the body. The frantic hisses were deafening as the sound echoed off the rock walls. Even though I'd severed the necks from the body, one of the heads managed to lunge at me, fangs dripping with venom. I ducked easily out of the way before all the disembodied heads curled up into withering ash and disappeared. The body was still dangling from the ceiling moving blindly around looking for its heads. The first bud of a neck appeared in the bloody stump. And then another.

I held the flame of the candle against the wounded flesh of the snake. It writhed and tried to pull away but I burned it black with the fire. A disgusting sour odor of singed flesh filled the narrow passage. I held the candle against the snake until the body finally gave up its struggle. It hung limply from the rock crevice, smoke still streaming up from its flesh.

Rikki stepped out from the shadows, her candle flame highlighting the shock on her face. "How the heck did you think of that?" She walked toward me.

"Some of our first training was learning how to survive on our own. Fire was always a great, albeit painful, way to seal off a deep cut. I once had to jam a glowing hot knife blade into a gash on my arm." I pointed out the deep scar on the side of my arm that was always there to remind me of it. "I had fallen down the side of a steep incline, and a jutting tree branch caught my arm. Ripped it wide open. Hurt like fucking hell to jam red hot steel into it, but I saved the arm. I figured I'd help seal up this guy's wound too. Although I wasn't completely sure it would work." I flicked my finger at the limp body. Its flesh quivered and the silver scales glittered in the candle light. "I say we keep moving. We don't want to be here much longer."

"Good idea." Rikki took hold of my hand and walked a wide berth around the dead snake.