Elementally Priceless (8 page)

“After this is over, I will do what I can to answer all your questions. Assuming we both make it out alive, that fair?”

I nodded, satisfied. “Fair enough.”

We worked our way through the hotel, and it felt like it was never going to end. But in my head, I kept going over what happened with Caleb. Never mind I was still pissed that he’d been using me, or that he’d fooled me. And maybe even I was a little hurt that I hadn’t been anything special to him. But I was confused about something, more than all of that. He hadn’t spelled me, but I’d certainly been more than a little enthralled with him. More than taken. Yet, I was an Immune so I shouldn’t have been even that pulled under. Or at least, that was what I thought. But maybe it wasn’t as solid as my ability to Track. Maybe my Immunity wasn’t the sure thing I thought it was. A cold shiver caught me off guard. I’d not thought I could be spelled, but it looked like I was going to have to be careful, after all.

“Can I ask you one question?” I blurted before I lost my nerve.

Lark turned and lifted an eyebrow at me. “One.”

“Caleb… how did I not know he was a supernatural? Usually I pick up on it, and he’s been living across the road from us for the last six months.”

“Most likely, the energy he used blocked you from sensing him. Even Giselle would have been fooled at a distance. As long as he never had skin contact with her, she would never know.”

While that didn’t solve the whole Immune issue, it did explain why I hadn’t known what he was. “You were never fooled, though.”

Lark waited for me to catch up to her then strode off again. “I’ve been fooled enough times in the past by men that I’ve learned to not trust any of them until they’ve proven they aren’t twats.”

My lips curled up. Hell, I liked Lark. Even if she was some bitching destroyer elemental. Maybe I could talk her into letting me train with her. Now that would be something. Because even though she’d killed Caleb with her bare hands, I had a feeling she had a hell of a lot more training than that.

“Here’s the doorway,” she said, suddenly stopping in front of a blank piece of wall. I narrowed my eyes, using the second sight Giselle had been teaching me. I wasn’t very good with it, but it was enough for what Lark was pointing out. The wall had a set of double doors etched into it, hidden from the human world with a spell. I reached out and brushed my fingers along it, knowing my Immunity would disrupt it.

Lark hissed and grabbed my hand, but too late, the spell was displaced. I opened my eyes wide. “You’re welcome.”

“Now they know we’re here, ding dong.” At her feet, the fox seemed to laugh, almost as if he was more aware than just a regular fox. I glared at him and raised a boot.

“Try me,” I said.

He snapped his teeth at me, and I let it fly, but he skittered away before I could land a hit.

Lark laughed, her irritation from a moment before forgotten. “If you can boot him in the head, please do.” Her smile slipped. “But now that you’ve let the Shadow Walker know we’re here, we have to move our asses. Time is ticking.”

She jerked the large doors open. With their thickness, they were not light, yet she swung them as if they were cardboard.

Ahead was a tunnel that dove straight down, the stairs made out of the same marble the door was, and polished to a high shine. Along the walls, torches were set high enough that we couldn’t reach them, but they lit the place easily.

“Here, you take this.” Lark handed me the sword again and I didn’t fight the smile that spread on my face. The sword was freaking beautiful, in so many ways, and felt as if it were a part of my body.

Lark led the way, and the fox glared back at me from time to time. I didn’t care. I was totally in love with my new toy. Which is my only excuse for not seeing what was coming.

Lark

My eyes were trained on the stairwell, waiting for the flicker of movement that would give away the Shadow Walker. Red clenched my shoulder, his talons digging into me. “I don’t like this, Lark.”

I didn’t answer him, not because I didn’t agree, but because I was so keyed up. Behind me, Rylee moved almost silently. Giselle had done a pretty thorough job training her. Which was good because she was about to be put to the test.

Kit trotted ahead of me, his tail up and his ears perked. “This is so stupid. Lark, you have got to be the dumbest elemental in the world. Why would you—”

A dark shape detached from the wall and landed on him. He let out a screech that was cut short. I put my hand out to stop Rylee from rushing forward.

“Aren’t you going to help him?”

I didn’t look at her, kept my eyes trained on the shadow eating the fox. “Nope.”

Her breathing came in short bursts, but she didn’t panic. “What is that?”

“The Shadow Walker has minions; that’s one of them. As long as we stick together, they won’t bother us. Kit got too far ahead.” At least, that’s what I told her. The Shadow Walker’s pets were not particularly brave, nor were they large in number. A boon for us, one I planned to take advantage of.

Being underground, I tapped into the earth around us. It was much easier than I’d thought because the natural stone and marble used in building the underground fortress allowed me easy access to my power. Energy surged through me and from Rylee I heard a soft gasp. I turned and look at her, knowing what she saw would probably freak her out.

“Let me guess, my eyes are glowing, my hair is floating as if in water and a general spooky vibe just dropped over you, making you want to run up the stairs.” I lifted an eyebrow and she nodded.

“Yeah. That’s some crazy shit you’ve got going on.”

“Be glad I’m on your side.”

We continued down the stairs, the minion gone, Kit gone, and the three of us acting as if this was your everyday stroll into the pit of darkness.

For another ten minutes, we walked almost straight down, the steps becoming more and more narrow with each drop.

Rylee didn’t let me get more than a few inches ahead, and I could almost hear the questions hovering at her lips. But she managed to keep them in.

“When we get to the bottom, I’m guessing there will be some sort of challenge for us to face. Until we know what it is, take everything as if it will kill you, and either kill it first or run like hell back up.” I pointed to the stairs.

“Got it.”

I wondered how much she really understood of what we were going into. Shadow Walkers weren’t common.

“What can you tell me about Shadow Walkers?” Rylee asked as we curved around another landing, as if reading my mind.

I didn’t feel like talking, but more than that I wanted to keep an eye on what was around us, so I did something I probably shouldn’t have. I linked Rylee through her elemental blood to Red. It was a matter of seconds, and so easy I wondered if she had already linked to an animal before. The hawk gave an indignant snort.

“Your father will have your hide for this.” He pecked at my ear and Rylee sucked in a sharp breath.

“Is your bird talking?”

“I am not 
her
 bird.” He turned and I knew he’d be glaring at Rylee as only a predator can.

“That is fucking cool.”

He preened and even had the nerve to flutter his wings, and I knew it was a done deal. “Tell her about Shadow Walkers.” I kept my eyes to the walls and stone around us. Only one minion didn’t make sense, not if the Shadow Walker was truly trying to keep the kid for himself. Unless this was a trap? Hellfire, there was no way to know, either. Something strange was going on, that much was sure. I wished I could figure it out before whatever ‘it’ was happened.

“Shadow Walkers,” Red said, “are a strange creature. They look fairly human, but have the combined powers of a necromancer and a mage. Because of their powers, they can hide in plain sight, and rarely do they take an interest in the world around them. But if they do take an interest, you want to stay out of their way. There are not too many people who can stand up to their strength and come out in one piece.”

There was a pause and the sound of nothing but our footsteps for a good twenty seconds before she asked another question, and it was a good one. For some reason, I was proud of her for thinking as far ahead as she was.

“Weakness, strengths, what can they do, and what are they limited by?”

Red head butted me. “This is your department.”

I waved her up beside me. “Keep your eyes open and tell me if you see anything, even the slightest thing that doesn’t seem right. A stone that doesn’t look right, a shadow that gives your nerves a jangle, anything that catches your interest really.”

“Okay.”

Still doing my best to watch for a booby trap, I answered her earlier question. “Shadow walkers are not really alive, but not really dead either. They hover between the two so they are damn hard to kill. Before you ask, they aren’t like a vampire or a zombie. They are corporeal, more like a ghost gone very, very wrong. They are mages who gave up their mortal coil as a trade for power and become Shadow Walkers. It is through a series of spells and incantations they can even exist, so they are not something you can physically hit.”

I stopped as we rounded what turned out to be the last landing. In front of us was an open archway, but from our vantage point it wasn’t the archway that had my attention.

It was the labyrinth, laid out, beckoning us forward.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “The kid is in the middle of that place.”

“You sure?”

Rylee snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

A deep bellow reverberated through the maze, and even I had to admit my skin rippled with unease. If what awaited us was what I thought, this was going to be nearly impossible.

“What was that?” Red asked, fluttering his wings.

I blew out a slow breath before answering. “Minotaur.”

Rylee

“I’M SORRY, DID
 you say Minotaur?” I must have heard wrong, because Giselle and I had just gone over this. Minotaurs were not real, one of the few creatures of myth that really didn’t exist. That was why when Dox mentioned the creature I had blown it off. I wished now I’d asked him more questions.

“Yes.”

Shit, I hated how she didn’t give any explanation. “And?”

“And what?” She frowned at me, her eyes narrowing.

“Explain this to me. If they don’t exist, how can there be one in the labyrinth, which by the way is painfully clichéd.”

Lark put her hands on her hips. “Listen, kid, you aren’t always going to understand the why and where of this supernatural world. Minotaurs can be created, and that’s what the Shadow Walker has done. He’s created a monster that can’t be killed, and is controlled only by its master. Even I can’t stop this nasty bastard and he’s part animal.”

I licked my lips. “Then how—”

“We run. The deal is the same as with all the old stories. If we get to the center of the labyrinth then we’re safe.”

My turn to shoot up an eyebrow at her. “Really?”

She shrugged. “There is no other choice if we’re going to get this kid the hell out of here.”

Hell, she had a point and I didn’t like it. I felt Jonathan, closer than ever, but I doubted I would be walking a straight line to him. At least he wasn’t afraid anymore and whatever injury he’d had was healed. For the moment, he was okay.

The archway that led into the labyrinth was over twice my height and the walls on both sides of us were at least that tall as well. Peering down one direction, I swallowed hard. The four walls were the same height as the barriers that made the maze itself. Everything in the maze was a good twelve feet tall and there was no discernable ceiling, the place was open to the sky (or in this case open to the black above us). The whole place was freaking intimidating. I put a hand to the stone and pushed against it, a ridiculous hope of causing a domino effect fluttering through me. Yeah, nothing happened.

“These are big, thick walls.” I spoke without meaning to and Lark snorted. I stared around us. “Big, thick walls to keep big, bad, uglies from escaping, I guess.”

I tried to find something good about the situation as Giselle would have wanted me too. At least the pathway was wide, enough for a car to get through. Then again, maybe that wasn’t a good thing. How big was a Minotaur, exactly?