Sandy nodded his agreement. "As we proceed with the tour, you'll find the house is partially furnished. I had the decorator leave this room untouched because it has so many possibilities. It'll be up to you to decide what you use it for."
I walked around the large space, making mental notes and imagining a sunny living room where we could hang out if the cavern part of our house felt too closed in. It sounded cool, but I wasn't sure how I would feel about living inside of what was basically a cave.
Between this open room and the doorway to the rest of the home was a large bathroom. Larry peered over my shoulder while I checked it out. "Nice bathroom, when we have guests we won't have to let them into the main house if we make this our living room."
"I like that plan. I'm not sure I'd want the pack members who stop by to hang out in our private living quarters but this would be just right for greeting guests." Niles took one last look around the open room, craning his head back to admire the three skylights that kept the area bright and sunny.
After that, we took a full tour of the cavern part of our new home. The first room we entered was a kitchen and dining room combination with a cozy space that featured a dining room on the other side of an arched doorway. The master bedroom was on this floor, along with two other rooms. The stone walls had been polished so it didn't feel dirty.
As we checked out a third bathroom, I motioned to a spot on the wall where a shelf had been dug out and lined with a plank of wood. "I like the way the wall’s natural curvature gives an interesting shape to every room we enter. The built-in shelves and cubbies were a brilliant addition. Kudos to your builder."
Sandy tittered and cupped a hand to the side of his mouth as he leaned toward Dottie. "He said curvature. You heard it." I grinned at their snickering and caught up with Larry and Niles where they were about to go down what appeared to be a spiral stone stairway. Sandy called after us. "You boys go ahead, we'll be taking the elevator."
I hadn't noticed the elevator until Sandy pointed it out, although I wasn't surprised by its existence. This house might've been carved out of a cave, but it was definitely a piece of prime real estate. The lower level had more spare rooms, two more bathrooms, and the small grotto with the fountain Sandy had mentioned.
Larry seemed overwhelmed as we headed back up the stairs a few minutes later. "I don't know about you guys, but I never could've bought, or even rented, something like this in my wildest dreams. Now we just have to worry about how we'll ever afford nice enough furniture. Normally I'd buy secondhand or pick up the usable items people leave on their curbs. But not for a place like this. No, we need furnishings that won't make the place look tacky."
I ran up the two steps separating us and rested my hand in the small of his back as we climbed together. "Quit worrying so much, babe. Just because I'm a nurse by trade doesn't mean I'm completely broke. I came into a trust fund when I turned thirty last year. My days of selling things for bus tickets are long behind me. You wouldn't guess it to look at me, but I have a healthy bank account."
Niles spoke from behind us. "Don't count me out either. I've been living frugally and saving half of every paycheck for the past decade. I knew I would need money when I settled down and took on a pack. The three of us will be just fine."
Larry blushed as he glanced at me from under his lashes. "My paychecks from the military and my final payout all were directly deposited. I don't know why I'm worrying when I have a good nest egg of my own."
"Have you always been prone to worry?" I asked as we reached the top of the stairs. I could hear Sandy and Dottie's voices from the outer ICF part of the house, so we were alone for the moment. "It's okay if you are, but I can help you with anxiety, if you'd like. My healing gift works for the complete body—including the mind."
Larry chewed on his bottom lip, working it back and forth between his front teeth as he considered that for a moment. "I might take you up on that. I've always been a nervous Nelly, especially in new situations. It was easy to ignore it in the military when I didn’t have to think about anything but following orders. But I think being held captive might've amplified my natural anxieties."
We wandered into the main living area, following Niles while he took a second look around. When he went into the kitchen and started opening cabinets, Larry stopped and frowned at the stove. "I wonder why this isn't connected? Look at the counter, that hood should be in place above it."
His voice must've carried because Sandy came to the doorway and peeked around. "Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten all about that, we have to get someone out here to drill a hole in the ceiling before you can cook in here. The builder didn't leave a way for the hood to be attached and the appliance people don't do that. You ask me, they could’ve, but were probably afraid of cracking the rock in the ceiling and fucking it up."
Niles walked over and looked overhead. "It's not a bad idea to have the builder create a natural stovepipe while he's at it. The last thing we want to do is risk filling the space with carbon monoxide or some shit since this is a gas stove." Niles craned his neck back, staring up at the ceiling as if examining it for any natural openings we could use.
He was just about to take another step when Sandy shrieked. "Look out! Don't let that critter run up your pant leg!" Sandy turned and ran from the room after pointing out a large scorpion that stood mere inches from Niles’s foot.
Niles looked down then let out a scream higher than Sandy's. My mouth fell open as he scrambled onto a nearby counter and shook like a leaf. Guess we found out what scares him.
Larry looked down to see what all the fuss was about then jumped right up beside Niles. I looked at them both for a moment, unable to believe that my two tough men would be so afraid of a little scorpion.
Even though I hated guns and was the first to rescue a spider before letting someone swat it, I had no choice when the scorpion curled his tail and looked like he was about to attack. I spotted the handle of a revolver sticking out of Niles's sock. The scorpion skittered toward me, its body looking and sounding menacing in this echoing chamber.
Without pausing to think it through, I grabbed the gun right out of his sock and pointed it at the scorpion. I don't know who was more surprised when I squeezed the trigger and the gun went off with a roaring blast—me, who'd blithely assumed there would be a safety mechanism and had honestly been getting my finger comfortable on the trigger before preparing to shoot or my mates who were holding their hands against their ears and looking at me like I was insane.
The firing of the gun made my body jerk back, and my head swiveled to see Niles’s eyes widen in confused terror. Then my eyes shifted to Larry who was slo-mo sliding off the counter. I heard background noise that sounded an awful lot like yelling but it was drowned out by a ringing in my ears that was so, so awful. Who knew guns were so loud? Or that they were so trigger happy?
While it must have been mere seconds, the next moments proceeded in slow motion. First, I realized they were yelling, but I couldn't hear a sound above the ringing in my ears. Then I really couldn't figure out what they were trying to convey when Larry finally just jumped down with a terrified expression, and then I was on the ground and he was on top of me after tackling me to the floor and pointing at a wall where I watched the bullet ricochet and bounce off a few more surfaces before finally embedding itself in the roof over the stove right behind me.