“Got it. I’ll start over here.”
“Justin and I will take this end.”
As Aaron started toward the far side of the temple, I grabbed Justin’s arm and dragged him in the opposite direction. We walked into the rubble beyond the edge of the untouched summoning platform.
“All right, spill it,” I hissed, my fingers digging into his wrist. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s my line.” His hazel eyes, so similar to mine, flashed angrily. “A cult? Demons? Dozens of people killed in this place? What are you doing here?”
“Did I not explain to you yesterday how I’m done justifying my actions?”
“And I was okay with that—until you skipped town in the middle of the night.”
Seething, I dropped into a crouch and brushed snow off some rocks. What would the entrance to a secret underground lair look like? Hidden, but presumably easy to get at, right?
“Look,” Justin muttered, squatting beside me. “I was worried, okay? I didn’t know if you were running away because of me, or if you were in trouble, or what.”
“Yeah, but Justin.” I glowered. “You shouldn’t have known I was leaving town in the first place. How did you follow me?”
I hadn’t noticed any suspicious vehicles on the drive, which meant he’d been far enough behind us to stay out of sight. That suggested …
“You hacked my phone,” I growled.
“I didn’t hack it. I unlocked it with the same passcode you’ve been using since you were sixteen.”
Damn it. I was changing that code ASAP.
“That’s illegal,” I snapped at him. “You’re a cop. You can’t—”
“Are you going to report me?”
I glowered. Again.
He shuffled sideways and brushed at the snow coating a hunk of concrete that might have once been part of the temple roof. “What are we looking for?”
“I am looking for the secret entrance to the secret underground lair of the evil bastard who ran this secret cult—and killed everyone in it.”
“And … why are you looking for it?”
“None of your damn business. But feel free to go home and leave me to it.”
His jaw tightened—the same way mine did when I was digging in my heels with all the bullheaded stubbornness that fueled my cranky redheaded soul.
“Like you said, I didn’t drive all the way out here to turn right around and go home.”
I clenched my jaw right back at him. We glared at each other.
“Are you two searching or what?” Aaron called from the other side of the ruins, an annoyed bite in his voice. “We have an underground bunker to find, remember?”
Realizing the sum total of my and Justin’s efforts was brushing away a bit of snow, I pushed to my feet, angry at myself for being distracted and at Justin for—
“That’s what you’re looking for?” Leaning on his quarterstaff, Blake stood at the edge of the ruins, halfway between Aaron and me. “An underground bunker? Beneath the ruins?”
“Yeah,” I admitted, even more annoyed. “So if you don’t mind—”
“Get over here, then.”
“Huh?”
He waved at us to join him. “I’ll prove you’re on a wild goose chase so we can all go home. Unless you’d prefer to search the hard way.”
I headed toward him, unconvinced and suspicious. “Prove it how?”
“I’m an earth mage and you’re looking for a hole in the earth.”
My eyes widened. I glanced at Aaron, who also looked surprised. He broke into a jog, heading for Blake, and I hurried to join them.
“You can detect underground spaces?” Aaron asked.
“Easily.” Blake raised his staff in both hands. “I’ve always avoided shifting the earth up here to preserve the summoning circles, but checking for an open space shouldn’t damage them.”
He jammed the butt of his staff into the ground—and the earth vibrated as though he’d struck a huge stone bell. The booming toll rippled outward, making the thin layer of snow shiver and dance.
Blake gripped the staff, his eyes hooded with concentration. His breath caught. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“What is it?” I demanded.
“There is an open space.” He pointed to the hillside that rose toward the mountain’s peak. “It isn’t under the temple, but just behind it.”
“Oh man,” I gushed. “You just saved us so much time. Where’s the entrance?”
“No idea, but we don’t need one. Come on.”
Resisting the urge to clap delightedly—I really hadn’t wanted to dig—I followed on the terramage’s heels. He crossed the summoning platform and stopped at the edge. Taking a moment to ponder the rocky hillside, he raised his staff. A complex twirl, then he tapped it lightly against the ground.
A three-foot-long crack split the earth. With a hideous grinding noise, the edges of the fissure peeled back, dirt rolling away from the widening gap. Impressive—and creepy. This guy would make the world’s most efficient grave digger.
At the thought, my hand slipped toward the holster at my hip.
The tremors quieted. A new, almost perfectly square hole in the ground awaited us, the inside as dark as pitch.
“Nice!” Aaron exclaimed, unslinging a duffle bag from his shoulder. He pulled out two flashlights. “Shall we see what secrets await?”
“We shall,” I agreed in the same grand tone. “Just one thing first.”
As the three men looked curiously toward me, I raised my paintball gun and fired a shot into Blake’s face.
Chapter Nine
Okay, not quite his face. I wasn’t that mean. I shot him in the muscular side of his neck. It would leave one hell of a bruise, but that was it.
Aaron caught Blake’s shoulders as he keeled over backward. He eased the heavier man to the ground, almost dropping our flashlights in the process.
“Tori!” Justin gasped. “Why did you do that?”
I holstered my weapon. “Lesson one for the mythic world, Justin. Don’t trust random mages who could bury you alive in the grave they just dug.”
He glanced nervously at the hole.
Flicking my ponytail off my shoulder, I faced the scary darkness. “Blake can take a little nap while we investigate. Right, Aaron?”
“Yep. Also, Tori?”
I glanced back at him.
He grinned. “You’re seriously hot when you take out mages twice your size.”
“Aw, thanks, babe.” I kept my reply flippant, hoping he didn’t notice the slash of despondent guilt that iced my chest. Without any artifacts, shooting mythics with sleeping potions was the extent of my usefulness—and look how much good it had done in our earlier fight against Blake.
I approached the opening in the hillside. “Got those flashlights ready?”
Joining me, Aaron passed over a flashlight. As he turned his on, Justin stepped up on my other side, his expression vacillating between an annoyed scowl—directed at Aaron—and an uneasy frown—directed at the hole.
Turning on my light as well, I directed the beam into the pit. Hmm. Did mine eye spy a dirt-dusted stone floor?