I stood in the main room of our tent and stared at all the supplies spread out on the floor. I had everything I hoped I needed to help the group survive. I had more of the coins for transportation since Shanton was going to have a medic come down with us. There were devices to help with blending into the surroundings, floating around, and seeing what couldn’t normally be seen—like magic, energy, heat signatures, and even through darkness.
The boys’ bags were ready to be filled too. They had some basic supplies, food, drinks, shelter, batteries, flashlights, basic first aid. Even with a healer with us, I wanted them to be prepared. One thing Lombardi pushed with all his employees was basic first aid training. The healer was only one person, he couldn’t be everywhere if something went wrong. I was also giving them some of my toys to hold onto for me as backup.
I reached over and put most of their flashlights off to the side to make more room and then gave each of them goggles I got off Henzie, a computer whiz incubus at BMS. He worked magic with all things electronic and was one of the top three labbies working there, with me at the top.
The goggles not only allowed them to see in the dark, they also allowed them to see magic or energy, depending on the setting. I tossed in a couple of other gadgets for both defensive and offensive scenarios. Best case, we’d need none of them. Worst case, we’d need them all. I went to zip up the bags, but then stopped, digging through them again.
“Laila,” Rhett said, leaning against one of the support poles. “Enough already.”
“I could be forgetting something.”
“You aren’t,” Venni spoke. “We watched you spend two hours doing this. Even we know you have everything we’ll need, plus some. Let’s get some food and then meet up with the rest of the team.”
“I’m starving,” Davies said. Of course, he said this over a mouthful of food. I eyed the dish before him, full of every type of protein in existence.
“I see that,” I replied.
He shrugged. “You’re taking too long worrying about nothing.”
“You say that until we spring a trap and you end up losing an arm.”
He rolled his eyes. “I won’t. You won’t let me.” He grinned, showing off his teeth with food stuck between them.
“You’re disgusting,” I said and stood, moving away from the bags. My fingers twitched, wanting to go back to check everything.
“Come on,” Rhett said, coming to my side. He led me away from the bags, sensing I needed help to get away before I went back to packing and repacking again. This whole assignment was messing with my need for control and we hadn’t even gone into the maze yet.
We went over to the mess tent to get some food. Breakfast was quick, everyone chowing down, knowing we weren’t going to have a full meal for what could be a few days if we were lucky. If we weren’t then it would be a few weeks, if at all.
When we finished eating, Rhett glanced at me and then nodded. I sighed. Time to go stay alive. I had to remind myself why I was doing this. While I wasn’t so sure about how I felt about Shanton having a dangerous weapon, Lombardi was, and I needed to trust that. Otherwise, we risked failing and someone else with very bad intentions was going to get their hands on the artifact. I couldn’t let that happen. From the sound of it and from what we learned about the traps, I imagined this weapon had the ability to destroy cities. There weren’t many cities in America. We were too undiscovered and new compared to the European countries. They didn’t have as much trouble with Nature fighting back like we did.
We went over and met with the other group. Whertz and Millie leaned against a massive tree, twice as wide as I was tall. They talked quietly, Millie smiling as she reached over and touched the tree, her eyes turning green and glowing softly. Magic filtered through the air, the tendrils reaching outwards.
My own magic wanted to reach out and mingle with hers, but I locked myself down. Her magic brushed against my skin and Venni shivered next to me. Davies didn’t feel it, and Rhett was well practiced in keeping his thoughts his own.
I tasted her magic, taking in the natural scent, the taste of fresh green leaves, the crispness revitalizing. Her eyes snapped to me, widening. I smiled as her magic retreated.
Shanton turned to look at me as his assistant talked away about something. His observant eyes flickered between Millie and me, knowing something had happened.
The third man, the one I hadn’t really had a chance to meet since he liked to stay quiet, sat on the ground, but then he was up and approaching me.
“Who are you?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before you demand answers from me?”
My men stiffened around me, none of them moving. The aggression in the air thickened. I didn’t need to feel him to know this man did not like me.
“Myr. Now, who are you?”
“Dr. Laila Porter.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Yes,” I challenged him.
His lip curled into a snarl and the pupils in his eyes slitted.
“You’re not a witch. You’re not fae. You’re not a magic-user.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “That’s news to me.”
“What are you?”
“Seems you know better than I do.”
His lip curled again before he turned and stalked away to stand next to Tyren. Great, I had a fan club forming, just not the good kind.
“Are you ready?” Shanton asked, walking over with Meshan following behind.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
Davies snorted but kept his mouth shut.
Shanton nodded. “I had a different medic in mind but after learning you aren’t as easy to heal, I didn’t want to risk our medic unable to help you. Chez will be joining us shortly, he needed to wrap some things up. Come over here.”
The dragon led the way onto a narrow path. My magic told me others hid in the forest, probably the guards. They did well to hide physically, but by the flicker of Venni’s eyes, he sensed them too.
“You’ll need to hide your guards better,” I said.
Shanton paused to look back at us before finally nodding. “They will.”
He walked for a few yards before we came to a large tree. “This is the entrance. It goes at a slope for a few feet and then drops down.”
“Alice in Wonderland,” Davies grinned. “Cool.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“A children’s story passed around the humans. We all heard it once or twice growing up. A girl goes down a rabbit hole and ends up in a new world where the impossible happens on a daily occurrence.” Davies smiled big. “When we get back, I’ll let you borrow the book, Babe.”
“I didn’t know you could read,” I said, adding a little extra sweetness to my words.
Everyone either laughed, chuckled, or smiled, including Davies. He always knew how to take a joke, even when he was the butt of it.
“Sounds interesting,” Shanton said. “But this isn’t a rabbit hole, more like a cave. We have to crawl through first, but after a few feet, it opens up enough for us to stand up. Some of us will have to push our packs ahead of us so we can crawl through.”
“I’m here,” Chez said, interrupting as he came into view with old clothes and a full bag on his back.
“Good, we can get going. Dr. Porter, you’re lead.”
I nodded. “I’m going to crawl in first and get a sense of the layout. Shanton, you’re in charge of the maps since you’re most experienced with the setup. I want Millie at my back with Davies behind her. Chez will be guarded by Vennie, Yvenne, and Myr. Shanton guarded by Rhett and Tyren. Whertz, bring up the back. Just because you’ve made it through this part doesn’t mean you can be lax. Stay alert and let’s stay alive.”
Everyone spoke out their agreement and we did one last check of our bags. The massive tree loomed over us, challenging us to enter. I eyed the large hole at the base before crouching. My hands sunk into the cool dry dirt and with a little bit of magic, tried to get a feel of what we were going to be facing. The temptation was there to open myself up completely, but the last thing I wanted to do was attract that behessif to us. With my luck, the damn thing would stalk us through the caves.
Not sensing anything, I frowned and reached out further.
But then smashed against an airtight barrier.
“About a quarter of a mile in, there’s a barrier,” I said. “But I didn’t sense anything else. Something must be cloaking the traps.”
“Then why are you here if you aren’t even able to sense them,” Tyren asked.
“I will when it counts,” I said, ignoring the little bit of hostility in his voice. Somehow, I rubbed him the wrong way, and I didn’t even know why. I was just good like that with some people. “See you on the other side.”
I dove into the hole and crawled, my clothes getting covered in soil. I was glad I wore old clothes. All of us were smart enough to wear clothes we didn’t care about losing.
Shanton was right. While the first few feet were a little tight, it opened up right after. I stood and looked around, pulling out my flashlight to see. We were in a caving system. The shadows were deep, the walls shimmering from the reflection of the light.
“Wow,” I said as the room filled with everyone else.
“Yeah, wow,” Davies agreed.
“The tunnel is here,” Shanton said, pointing to what looked like a solid wall of darkness.
“All right, let’s do this then.” I hiked up my bag, made sure it was in place, and then marched into what I hoped wasn’t my death.
I kept in mind where Shanton said the path dropped down. This would be the first tricky part. I didn’t need someone breaking a leg. I grabbed a small white bulb in my bag and tossed it in the air, activating it with a brush of my magic. It flashed once and then lit up, allowing us to see without having to waste the batteries on our flashlights.
“That’s convenient,” Millie said, tucking her flashlight away.
I grinned as I put my flashlight away too. “Thanks. It’ll last a couple of hours. I have a few of these though. And look, no hands.” I lifted my hands and wiggled them.
She giggled as we continued as a train.
“Around the bend,” Shanton called from the back.
We went around the bend and there it was, the drop. I lowered my bag and dug through it.
“How is everyone going down?” I asked.
“Magic,” Millie said, shrugging.
I glanced at Shanton since I knew he didn’t use magic. He smirked and released his wings, forcing the men at his sides to back off. I stared at the beauty of them. They blended in with the shadows around us, a red shine to them. Of course. He would fly down.
“You destroyed your shirt,” I pointed out.
He shrugged. “I have more.”
That was a shame. It would be a nice distraction to have a half-naked Shanton around.
“I can give you a ride.” Shanton grinned, showing off his white teeth, his incisors a little bit longer than a normal human’s.
“Only if you can bring down the rest of my men,” I said.
“Sorry, I only carry beautiful women.”
I ignored him. “Any traps down there?” I asked.
“No, it’s a pretty wide open room,” Shanton answered.
“All right, you guys go down first, we’ll follow behind.”
“How are you getting down? Climbing will take time and the walls aren’t ideal. They’re slippery,” Millie said.
I smiled big and tossed a tube to each of my boys. “Hold onto those,” I said.
They eyed it. “What are these?” Davies asked. He’d never seen them before, and he knew what most of my toys were.
“It’s a cream. You’re going to put it on the bottom of your shoes, and it’ll allow you to jump down and land softly.”
“You’re sure it works?” Venni asked, eyeing it.
“Considering Ami tested it by jumping off the BMS building and lived, yeah, it’ll work.”
“See you at the bottom,” Shanton said and jumped down, the sound of his flapping wings bringing along a breeze of disturbed air. His men followed behind. Chez eyed the tube with interest before following the rest.
“Ready?” I asked.
“No,” Davies admitted.
I laughed. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”
I sent the floating light down ahead of me to join with those already waiting at the bottom. All I had to do was send a simple thought.
I made sure they all placed the cream onto the bottom of their shoes and then we walked to the edge. There was a small light at the bottom, but it was wrapped in pure darkness.
“You’ll jump and free fall, but the closer you get to the ground, the slower you’ll drop. Bend your knees when you land like you do when you jump off something.”
“Got it,” Davies said. He rubbed his hands together, took in a deep breath, and then jumped. He let out whooping noise that echoed off the rock walls.
Venni shook his head. “I hope he didn’t go splat.”
“I wouldn’t have given this to you if it didn’t work,” I said, sending him a glare.
He took a moment to look sheepish before a voice yelled out, “Made it!” Davies sounded way too excited about this whole thing.
“Be safe,” Venni said and jumped too. He didn’t whoop like Davies did, but I knew he was enjoying himself by the small curl of his lips before he disappeared from sight.
“You’ll be okay?” Rhett asked, standing next to me.
“I have to be.”
“You know you don’t have to be brave all the time.”
I sighed and bumped my shoulder into his. “Go already.”
So I could go and get this over with. I had magic; I trusted my magic. Having that bit of control helped me. Like I said, it wasn’t the heights that scared me, it was the lack of control I had on an airplane or helicopter. My feet were meant to stay on the ground.
Rhett patted my head and jumped without saying anything. I followed soon after, using my magic to keep my descent slow. I landed without making a sound, my heart pounding only a little bit faster than normal.
“Might have to work on that landing a bit,” Davies said.
“Or you can lose some weight.”
He did a fake gasp. “Venni, she called me fat.”
“Might need to start incorporating some veggies with your meat,” Venni said.
I nodded in agreement as I spun around, taking in the large room.
Shanton stood at another opening with his team, waiting patiently as I took in the sights. I took my time as I noted the way the black walls sparkled. I moved closer and lifted my hand, resting it on the rock.
There was a soft vibration to the coldness, but when I reached out with my magic, there was nothing to sense. I found rock and dirt but that was it. I felt like I was brushing against empty space in the middle of complete darkness, only feeling cobwebs against my fingers.
Stepping back, I frowned. That was wrong. I’d touched rocks before, I’d touched mountains and earth. There was always something there to feel. Life, magic, energy, even death. This was wrong but I didn’t know why. Maybe a ward, but there would be a sense of that too. Wards couldn’t be masked like beings could do with themselves. So what was it? What was muting this space?
“Laila, ready to go?” Davies called out. He was now over by the opening, ready to move on. He shuffled from side to side, his energy high. Rhett was right. He was an adrenaline junkie.
I nodded and joined them.
“The first trap is a few yards ahead of us.”
“The head chopping?”
He nodded.
I turned on another orb, sent one high to light up the ceiling, and the second to show off the ground. When we got to the trap, we paused with me at front. I looked around for signs. My senses told me nothing. This trap had nothing to do with magic. What we needed to find was the trigger.
“Rhett,” I said. “Go for it.”
He cocked an eyebrow. I smiled back at him.
He shook his head before eyeing an area.
And then he was gone.
There was a sound like the breaking of a tight metal wire, the whooshing of something flying by, and then a crashing. Rhett stood on the other side, a massive ax between us. The ax had embedded itself into the wall about the height of where Rhett’s neck was.
“Where the fuck did that come from?” Davies asked.
I approached the ax. It wasn’t tethered to anything. Someone could have easily thrown it. The trajectory of the ax ended in the rock wall, but there was nothing there. No markings, no cracks, no anything to show that this was a trap meant to fling a damn ax at someone.
My magical senses picked up nothing from the wall but a dullness. This was going to be a lot trickier than just locating traps.
Putting my bag down, I dug around until I found my pair of goggles, strapping them to my head and covering my eyes. I flipped the switch and saw nothing magically. Switched to the energy setting and still nothing.
Untraceable.
An impossibility.
“Is this was you meant about Alice in Wonderland?” I asked Davies. “Impossibilities?”
“What’s impossible?” Davies asked.
“That trap is untraceable. Completely. That should be impossible.”
“Definitely Alice in Wonderland style then.”
“Elementalists are expert manipulators of magic and energy, able to weave the two together into something more. I’m not surprised their traps are hard to sense. That’s something they would account for,” Shanton said.
“Which means it’s something I need to figure out,” I mumbled as I touched the wall.
“Are you sure this is something she can do? She can’t even sense the traps,” Tyren asked.
“She’s already doing better than any of us,” Shanton said. “She easily found a way past the trap without getting anyone killed.”
“And could have gotten the vampire killed.”
I snorted.
“What?” Tyren growled.
“You need to hang out with vampires more,” I said. “Then you’ll know how fast they can truly move. Rhett wasn’t at risk.”
He glared at me but kept his mouth shut. Tucking my goggles into my pocket, I collected my bag.
“Let’s get moving. I’m not up to spending weeks down here.”
I took lead and everyone fell in behind, keeping their previous order.