Burning Alive

He pushed open the back doors of the van, dragging the duffel bag with him. Thomas was crouched near the opening of the mine, peering at the ground. His sword was in his hands, gleaming with lethal intent under the moonlight.



Drake handed him one of the face masks and fastened his own in place. “Any idea what’s down there?” he asked Thomas.



“At least three sgath. Four, maybe five haest. No malkaia that I can detect, thank God.”



“Any anguis?”



“No.”



“Good. It’ll be hard enough to breathe down there without them sucking up all the oxygen.”



Helen did not want to know what that meant. Going underground to fight monsters was bad enough. Doing it while worrying about having enough oxygen was terrifying. “Are you two sure this is necessary? I mean, if all those monsters’ souls are released, won’t they just go to hell?”



Thomas took a threatening step forward and Drake shoved his body in the way of the bigger man’s progress. “She doesn’t understand. It’s not her fault. She was raised human.”



“I am human,” said Helen. And she was sticking by her story. No way was she going to let these guys tell her otherwise, not while she was already dealing with heading into a dank monster nest.



Thomas growled and she could see a flicker of something frightening and wild glowing in his blue eyes. Something definitely not human.



Drake was a big man, but Thomas was freaking huge. Drake had to lean all his weight against Thomas to keep him from coming forward, and even then, he skidded over the ground a couple of feet before coming to a stop. “Let it go, Thomas. Focus on the job.”



Helen took several frightened steps back.



“She should have more respect,” growled Thomas.



“She will once she understands. Back off. You don’t want to do this.”



Thomas’s body shuddered and his eyes fell shut. When he opened them again, that inhuman wildness was gone and he offered Helen an apologetic grimace. “Sorry. I’m not . . . myself.”



“We’re running out of time,” said Drake. “We need to get moving.”



“I’m ready,” said Thomas.



Both men turned to her with expectant looks. Helen fought the urge to get back in the van and drive away. It would have been easier than taking that first step forward. “I’m ready, too.” What a huge lie that was.



“All right, then. Let’s move,” said Thomas.



Drake took Helen’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “You’ll be great. Just listen to your instincts and trust me. If I say duck or run, don’t waste time asking questions. Just do it. Okay?”



Helen nodded, feeling numb inside.



Drake pulled her face shield into place and handed her a small flashlight. “You may need this. At least until you figure out how to see in the dark.”



“I can do that?”



Drake nodded. “You sure can. I wish there was more time to teach you. I’m sorry for that.”



So was she, but she kept it to herself. She had to focus on being brave enough not to throw up. Putting one foot in front of the other was taking all her concentration.



They entered the mine and followed a man-made tunnel that sloped down at a steady angle. The light in her hands showed her where to put her feet and she kept the fingers of her left hand looped around Drake’s belt so she didn’t fall behind. She was not going to be left alone in a place like this. Just the thought was enough to send fear skittering through her nervous system.



“Deep breaths, Helen.” Drake’s voice was calm and confident and it helped her pull herself back under control.



The ground under them was a mixture of loose dirt and rocks and black stuff she did not spend any time thinking about. A musky animal scent filled the air along with something she couldn’t identify. Something rotten, stagnant, and oppressive.



After about fifty feet, they came to an intersection. Drake checked the monster finder and turned left. Behind her, she heard a scraping noise and looked back. Thomas was carving an arrow in the dirt with his boot pointing back the way they’d come.



Smart man.



“Will you be able to see this?” he asked her.



Helen nodded.



“I’ll leave one at every turn. If you have to get out alone, at least you’ll know the way.”



She didn’t even want to think about why she would have to leave alone. Being flanked by two competent, sword-wielding badasses was one thing; running around down here by herself was completely different. Completely frightening.



Drake reached behind and squeezed the hand curled around his belt. “Just hang on, Helen. You’re doing great.”



“I don’t feel great.”



“I know. We’ll get out of here in a few minutes. We’re almost there.”



Drake slowed and veered to the side so that his body was pressed up against one wall. Helen followed suit, as did Thomas behind her. Instinctively, she flipped off the flashlight, fearing it would give their position away. Darkness swallowed her and she felt a bubble of panic break open inside her. She stomped on the need to flee and focused on breathing through her mouth.



Just breathe. She could almost hear Drake’s voice brush against her mind in a soothing caress, and the luceria grew warm against her throat.



She needed to see. The blackness was smothering her, sparking a primal fear that she couldn’t control. If only they’d had more time and he’d been able to teach her how to see in the dark. He’d said she could do it. She needed to figure out how.



A ribbon of energy hovered between them, an invisible connection running from his ring to her necklace. She tugged on that ribbon, pulling some of his power into herself in an effort to figure out how to make it do her bidding. Her eyes were the problem, so she redirected some of the power into them.



Instantly, the world flashed into bright focus. She could see the tunnel they were in with perfect clarity. Every sparkle of mineral that had been broken to form the soil shone like glitter along the walls and floor. The grainy texture of the rocks littering the ground stood out in stark relief. She zoomed in on one until she could see each individual crack and bump and hollow. It was like looking under a microscope. Amazing.



She was so distracted by her newfound talent that she was startled by the tug of Drake’s belt at her fingers. She stumbled into his back and felt Thomas’s big hand wrap around her arm to steady her. “Sorry,” she whispered.



Up ahead, something skittered in response to the noise.



Oh, crap. This was not good.



Drake reached back and pressed her against the wall, flattening his own body as well. In a voice so quiet she could barely hear, he said, “Two haest, feeding. South wall.”



Helen had no idea which way south was. Or what a haest was.



“I’ll go in alone,” whispered Thomas. “I can handle two.”



Drake shook his head and she could see the grim set of his mouth with her newly perfect vision. “There are more tunnels branching off. Those two may not be alone.”



“Do you see the sword?” asked Thomas.



“No.”



“Let me look,” said Helen, before the words could filter through her brain.



“Like hell,” said Drake.



“I did something to my eyes. I can see perfectly now.”



Drake was silent for a moment as if deciding.



“If she’s tapped in to your power, she could be stronger than the two of us put together,” said Thomas. “Let her try.”



Helen wasn’t sure about that, but with a silent curse on his lips, Drake stepped back to give her room to slide into his position at the opening of the tunnel.



Her heart was pounding in her chest and her breathing was too fast, but she found the courage to lean forward just enough to see. It was an open area that was about three times as wide as the tunnel and fifty feet across. Large sections of the walls had been scraped away with metal tools. She could see tiny metal flecks still clinging to some of the rock. Ancient timbers braced the ceiling, but they were so eroded by termite damage that she didn’t think they were holding up much of anything. The floor was covered with bits of fur, bone, and dried leaves. Piles of the stuff stood in mounds near the walls. She could see things moving underneath the refuse—small, furry things with spines—things one would never see displayed in a petting zoo.



She repressed a shudder of revulsion, but not for long. Along what she had to guess was the south wall were two giant mosquito-looking creatures, as tall as a man. They each had two yard-long fangs protruding from their heads. The other ends of the fangs were shoved into the belly of a dead cow. Through the semitransparent tubes, she could see them pump something black into the cow until its hide expanded to the point of bursting. One made a clicking sound, which was returned by the second one. Then in unison, they started sucking something back out of the cow—a mix of blood and bits of muscle and bone. The cow’s stomach collapsed until it looked starved and the two things started the process all over again.



Helen’s stomach spun in a nauseating roll.



Her Most Disgusting Things Ever list had a new number one.



She closed her eyes, cursing her perfect vision for a moment before she forced herself to look into the opening again. She scanned the room, telling herself to focus on looking for something shiny. Several pieces of quartz caught her eye, as did an empty beer bottle, a scrap of aluminum foil, and the glass eyes of a doll’s head. No body. Just the head. Creepy.



She felt Drake’s hand on her neck as if he was going to pull her back, but instead, his ring touched her necklace and she felt a surge of power. Since she’d been channeling his power to her eyes, that’s where that surge went, and for a moment she could see through everything. She could see the cow’s skeleton, the thick plates of the monsters’ bodies, the spiky bones of the scurrying ratlike things hiding in the mounds of organic rubbish. She could even see several veins of minerals running through the walls of the mine.



Buried under one of the mounds of refuse was the unmistakable shape of a sword. The tip of it had been sticking out, but it was coated with dried blood and not at all shiny, so she hadn’t seen it before.



Helen ducked back into the tunnel and forced herself to keep her voice quiet through a sheer act of will. She was humming with energy and excitement and the thrill of finding the lost treasure. “It’s in there,” she told them. “Under one of those piles of fur and stuff. On the far wall. Middle pile.”



Drake gave her a proud smile and his eyes strayed to her mouth. He was thinking about kissing her and she loved that about him. Nothing like having a hot man wanting to kiss her to distract her from all the disgusting things in the world.



“I’ll take the haest,” said Thomas. “You get the sword.”



Drake nodded. “Don’t take them on unless you have to. They’ve just fed. They’ll be strong.”



“What do I do?” asked Helen. She was all pumped up on victory and adrenaline and the thrill of knowing they’d be out of here soon.



“Stay here. Warn us if you see something we don’t.”



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