“Daniel.” Ben’s voice was barely audible. “All these branches in the tunnel—?”
“I have no idea where they lead,” the earth vampire said. “But I guarantee they’re a better option than the vampire barbecue that Arosh has planned for us.”
“That’s what I thought.” Without a word, Ben turned, grabbing Tenzin’s hand, and ran back the way they came.
He could hear Daniel following them; Ben ducked into the first dark corridor he found.
“Son of Vecchio!”
Ben could feel the heat coming.
“Foolish child.” The low voice behind him rumbled with displeasure. “Now you will taste my wrath. It no longer matters what Saba approves.”
The voice was coming closer and Ben ran faster—leaving him no time to examine that particular riddle. He clutched the scroll to his side as if carrying a football and pulled Tenzin with the other hand. “We have to get out of here!”
“We’re vulnerable in these tunnels,” Tenzin said. “Arosh’s fire will eat us alive as soon as he has the scroll.”
Of course. That was why he hadn’t struck already. The bone scroll was old, and the sinews holding it together were brittle. Bone could burn; no doubt Arosh knew that firsthand.
“As soon as he gets it,” Daniel panted, “we’re toast. Literally, he will toast us.”
Ben curled into an alcove and pulled Tenzin to his chest. “Daniel, you lead.”
“Oh, now you want my advice?”
“Shut up and find us a way out of here!” Ben shoved him ahead and Daniel moved, his legs pumping up and down as he ran down the corridors, faster than what should have been possible.
Earth vampires.
Ben ran after him, Tenzin behind him and clutching his hand.
“Wait.” She tugged her arm away and turned. “I can at least slow him down.”
She spread her arms as wide as she could, and Ben felt the cold wind from underground caverns sprinting toward her. The rush of cold air sent a chill down his spine, and he pressed his back to the tunnel wall as a roaring river of air swept through them and down the black corridor where the smell of smoke was rising.
Seconds later, there was a faint “ugh!” from the darkness. Tenzin smiled and turned to Ben. “It won’t stop him, but it will irritate him.”
“And we want that?”
She shoved Ben toward Daniel’s retreating form. “Of course we do.”
Ben continued to follow Daniel, trusting the earth vampire to lead them to some kind of opening. Everything was blackness around him, and the scroll lay in the curve of his arm like a contented child.
“Where are we going?” Tenzin asked.
“Just follow him,” Ben said. “We don’t have time to ask.”
The air remained fresh, but Ben could feel them sloping down, going deeper into the earth.
“You feeling okay?” He squeezed Tenzin’s hand.
“I’m fine. Focus on keeping that scroll away from Arosh. I want to grab it for myself and also throw it at him to keep him away, even though I know that is a very bad idea.”
Ben frowned, barely keeping his eyes on Daniel, who was an elusive shadow that darted to the right and into another tunnel. “It’s not like you to be so emotional about an object.”
Particularly one that wasn’t gold.
“I don’t have rational thoughts about that scroll, Benjamin. My urges are pure instinct.” She took a second to meet his eyes. “Do not give it to me. No matter what I say.”
“I won’t.”
Daniel pulled his arm, jerking him into another cavern, but this one was wider than the last and looked vaguely familiar.
He glanced around. “Have we been here before?”
“Not exactly.” Daniel walked to a wall of rock.
“What are we doing?” Tenzin asked, looking over her shoulder. “He’s coming.”
“Is Saba with him?” Daniel felt along the wall with his fingertips.
“I don’t think so.” Ben watched as Daniel pressed his fingertips into the wall and began to pull. “What are you doing?”
“There’s a door here.” Daniel grunted. “I could create a new tunnel and hide all of us, but doing it slowly would take too much time and doing it quickly could collapse everything down on top of us. This ground is riddled with passageways.”
The wall was slowly sliding away to reveal an oblong doorway.
“Tenzin.” Daniel nodded toward the door. “Go.”
Tenzin eyed the narrow sliver of blackness with suspicion. “No.”
“I’ll go first.” Ben reached for her hand, squeezed it, then headed for the door. “Just give me a minute to check it out.”
“I’ll close it behind us once you do.” Daniel’s voice was strained, but Ben knew it was more nerves than exhaustion.
Ben caught Tenzin’s eyes. The time underground was wearing on her. “Hey. We’ll get out of here soon. Taste the air, okay?”
She was silent but nodded. Ben turned and slipped through the narrow passageway, raising the flashlight to check out the room he was entering. He smiled with relief when he realized it was familiar. “Tenzin, I think we’re back under Bêta—”
A loud crash behind Ben spun him around.
The passageway was closed and a small woman stood in front of the door, pressing her hand to the rock. Ben saw the seams in the rock knitting together as Saba slowly turned to face him.
“Son of Vecchio.” Her eyes glowed. “I think your time is now.”
35
The rock crashed shut, and Tenzin spun on Daniel, knowing exactly where he was even in the immense darkness underground.
“What did you do?”
Daniel lifted his hands away from the rock. “I didn’t do anything!”
She reached over, put her hand around his neck, and lifted him in the air, baring her teeth. “Open the door, digger.”
“Hey!” Daniel frowned. “I didn’t do this. Do you understand me? The rock was… It was like someone pulled it from me and sealed the door shut. I cannot do shit like that. Don’t you understand?”
Tenzin dropped him to the ground, her mind racing. “Saba.”
“No,” Daniel said. “Arosh.”
Tenzin shook her head. “No, Arosh can’t control earth like that. He only—”
“Arosh!” Daniel lit one of the long ropelike candles he’d slung around his neck. “The Fire King is coming, Tenzin. And we’re sitting ducks.”
Tenzin swung her hand toward the door. “So make a tunnel there.”
“And risk collapsing the chamber? I don’t think it would kill him, but he might lose a few limbs for a couple decades.”
No, that wasn’t acceptable. She heard Arosh walking leisurely toward them in the distance and wanted to scream.
But she didn’t.
She did notice a narrow chamber in a corner of the cavern that looked like it might lead somewhere. “What is that?”
“I think it’s part of the ventilation system,” Daniel said. “I’ve seen them in a few larger rooms now. The underground cities in Cappadocia have something similar. Do you want me to—?”