Bruja (23 page)

It was there. Faint but there. In front of me. I felt along the wall again, but there wasn’t a hinge or handle or anything. I pushed with all my might. Nothing budged.

“Push with me,” I said to Lucas.

He joined in, and again, nothing.

“It’s here. I know it.” God. I was so bad at rhyming. I wished my magic pulled me in a different direction, but belief gave the spells power, and somewhere along the line, I’d started believing in rhymes.
“Door from here to there, give way. Let in this wolf, witch, and fey.”
The magic built as I said the words. For a second after, nothing happened. I held my breath, waiting for something. Anything.

Then a creak echoed through the tunnel. It started off soft and slowly built louder.

I reached out, needing something to hold on to as I waited for the exit to appear, and Lucas grabbed my hand tight.

Oh my God.
My heart raced.
I found it. I actually found it.

Slowly, a crack formed between the crystals. It wasn’t a straight line. Instead, it followed the curvature of each individual crystal. Finally, the outline became visible.

This was it.

The door opened barely an inch, and then all was quiet.

I let go of Lucas’ hand, and pushed.

This time it swung open like it weighed nothing.

A breeze felt cool along my skin. There was a long staircase, but I could already see the pinks and oranges of the setting sun. I grinned. “We did it.”

“
You
did it,” Lucas said as he put his arm around my shoulder. His dark eyes sparkled in the light. “You did it.”

“I did, huh?”

“The tasty is no fun. No fun at all,” Gobble said before flying up into the sunlight. He wasn’t getting his deal from me. Not yet. And if all continued to go well, maybe not ever.

“Go on.” Lucas gave me a little push forward.

I started up the stairs. Excitement that we’d finally made it this far made my achy muscles a little bit more bearable. We hadn’t stopped much, but Lucas had occasionally handed me a bar to eat, some jerky, or a bit of dried fruit. I’d taken it and kept going. The urgency to help Raphael had never died down. Even with the exhaustion, I’d been so focused on finding the way that I hadn’t realized how much time had passed. “I can’t believe it’s been a full day.”

Lucas shook his head. “For a bit, I thought we might be sleeping in there.”

That was a terrifying thought. I never thought of myself as claustrophobic, but being deep in those tunnels had tested me nearly past my endurance. I wiped my sweaty forehead off on my damp T-shirt. “Well, it’s a good thing we don’t have to.”

When we finally stepped out and onto the grass, I was beyond tired. My thigh muscles quivered from the strain.

“We should set up camp and take a look at the map. See if we can figure out which way the temple is from here, and we’ll get started at first light.”

I knew we had to wait, but that didn’t help the pressure bearing down on me. I couldn’t feel Raphael at all anymore. He was beyond our twindar and I had no cell reception to check on him. “Let’s get set up then.”

“I know you want to keep going, but wandering around in the dark isn’t a good idea.”

“I don’t want to wander. I want to go straight there.” If I didn’t keep making progress, I’d start to think about the consequences, and that would do nothing but paralyze me with fear.

“I promised you that I’d get you to him in time, and I mean to keep that promise. Okay?”

I nodded, but I wasn’t sure how he could really promise that.

Lucas started walking, looking for a good place to pop the tent.

“You found the way,” Gobble said as he reappeared and settled back down on my shoulder.

“No thanks to you.”

He made an unimpressed noise. “Not my job to do it for you.”

That was debatable, but at least I didn’t owe him anything. Being bound to an evil witch was bad enough.

Lucas set down our packs in a small break in the forest. “This is enough room for the tent and a fire.” He started taking out the tent and setting it up.

I sat down on a fallen log and slipped off my shoes. My feet had swollen from all the walking, but by the grace of God, I’d managed not to get blisters. I worked my thumbs into my arches as the sky turned dark and stars appeared. As I sat there, I realized I really had to pee.

The thought annoyed me. Camping was not at all in my comfort zone.

Somehow, I managed to put my shoes back on. I made sure I still had some tissues from in my purse and checked my cellphone. The battery was dying, but one bar appeared before going away. It kept flashing in and out—which would do me no good—but I wanted it keep it with me at all times. Just in case. “I’m going to go…” I motioned with my hands.

“Holler if you get lost on your way back,” Lucas said.

I started off to find a bit of privacy, making sure I was far enough that I’d avoid any embarrassment because of his Were hearing.

When I started back to the campsite, a glow caught my eye. Something…

Just a little ways off from us. I’d thought I could see because of the moonlight, but it was so much more than that. The aura was a pearlescent white.

I couldn’t help but investigate. I made my way through the forest, breaking branches as I went, but not caring. The closer I got, the faster I went.

“Where are you going?” Lucas said, suddenly behind me.

I let out a high-pitched screamed before I could stop myself. My heartbeat echoed in my ears. I hadn’t heard him—hadn’t known he was following me at all.

He gripped my waist as I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. It took me a few seconds to find my voice again. “You scared the living daylights out of me,” I finally managed to say.

“You scared me when you wandered off, so we’re even.” He studied me. “What are you seeing?”

I twisted out of his grasp and pointed ahead. “Something really bright is just up there. I wanted to see what it was.” It wasn’t far, just on top of a small hill.

“And you didn’t come get me?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t think of it. I had to see what that was. It could be the temple.” I glanced around. “Where’s Gobble?”

“How should I know? One second he was there, and the next, gone. I expect he’ll be back, but I’m glad to be rid of him for now.”

“He’s not that bad.”

He growled softly.

“Come on.” I kept walking toward the glow, stepping around trees and plants as I moved through the forest. It was weird being able to see this well at night, but I liked it. Made things much easier.

A thick layer of moss hung down from a tree branch. As I moved it out of the way, the temple came into view.

I gasped as I took in the overgrown stone structure made of perfectly cut square bricks. Just like some of the Incan ruins I’d seen in passing. A small steeple cut into the night sky. And the most beautiful part of all: the windows on either side of the door glowed with a pure, bright light.

I nearly laughed. It didn’t feel real. I’d hoped, but I wasn’t sure that anything would come of this. But now I knew. The map had been right. I had a real chance at saving Raphael. Everything might turn out okay. “That’s it. We found it.” I took off running for the front door.

“Wait.” Lucas caught up and wrenched me to a stop. “Someone’s been here.”

I froze. “What do you mean?” We’d asked so many villagers, and no one had even the smallest story about the mages or their temple. So how could anyone have been here?

“Here.” He pointed to a broken branch and some smushed grass. “Tracks.”

I couldn’t make out a footprint. “Couldn’t that have been a bear or something?”

“No. Those are human tracks.”

There was no way that was possible. “I thought no one knew the way.”

Lucas squatted to sniff the supposed track. “Human. They smell familiar, but not.” He stood up. “We have to be careful. No running. You stay behind me.”

Maybe people had been here recently, but that didn’t change what I needed to do. “I don’t need to be protected. I have plenty of magic of my own.” I brushed past him and closed the distance to the temple.

As soon as I stepped inside, the most foul smell ever hit me. I covered my mouth and nose as I gagged.

The temple’s entry was one massive room. Along the far wall, a corridor led off to elsewhere. An altar made of three huge slabs of stone stood between us and the corridor. A bowl of fire burned on its surface.

I stepped toward the altar. “What is that—” I stopped myself. I didn’t need to ask the question. I knew that smell. Only one thing was that disgusting.

“Vampires,” Lucas spat the word.

Standing in front of the walls, frozen like statues, were vampires.

Hundreds of them.

“Oh God.” They weren’t moving, and if they were really alive, they would’ve attacked by now. But if something changed, we were toast. There was no way we could fight this many. I didn’t have enough magic left. And no matter how strong an Alpha Lucas was, he was only one wolf.

“Whatever you do, don’t move,” Lucas whispered. “You could set them off.”

“Oh
God.
” My throat was suddenly tight. I took in the room with wide eyes, trying to come up with something—anything—that could help us.

What was I supposed to do now? Whatever I needed was surely inside this temple, but one wrong step and we’d both be worm food.

Just the two of us against an army of vampires… We didn’t stand a chance.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Why would the white mages have vampires in here?” My voice was tight with fear, as I stood there, taking in the surroundings. There had to be hundreds of them.

“I’m not sure. They’re frozen now by some sort of spell, but I don’t know what—if anything—would release them.” His aura flared bright as he paused. “Maybe we don’t meet the criteria. Maybe you have to do something the mages wouldn’t like to set them off. Or practice evil magic? Or maybe if one of us steps on the wrong tile, they’ll swarm. It could be anything.”

Perfect. Nothing was ever easy. Not for me, at least. “You don’t have to come in with me.”

“Like hell I don’t.” His voice was a little more gravelly than normal. His wolf must not like being in here. “Where you go, I go.”

I turned slowly, not wanting to set off the vampires, and faced him. “This could be really dumb. I don’t want to be responsible for your death. You’re a pack Alpha. You have more than just some witch on a quest to worry about.”

“You’re not just some witch.” The gravelly tone was getting thicker.

He stared me down until I looked away. If he wanted to go in, there wasn’t any way I could stop him. And part of me was relieved. I didn’t want to go in there alone. But the rest of me wanted him safe. I didn’t want my mess to cause anyone else any more harm. “Fine.” I held my breath as I took one step, and then another.

A fine coating of dust covered the ground. It kicked up in the air as I walked, tickling my nose. The walls might’ve had something on them, but I couldn’t see past the vampires. I was doing my best not to look at them. I passed by one, and glanced at it quickly. Its straw-like hair and half-rotted body, gave me the creeps. It wore all black with a long, frayed duster that touched the ground.

I stood close enough that it could have reached out and grabbed me. I held my breath as I stepped past, focusing on the floor, but nothing happened. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad? “Let’s head to the next room.”

Lucas motioned me forward. “You lead the way.”

I wiped my hands on my pants. “Okay.” I took even, measured steps, half expecting the vampires to charge as I walked around the altar.

As I made it closer to the door on the other side of the room, I started to breathe a little easier. If there was a booby trap, we hadn’t set it off yet. We had a ways to go before getting out of here, but maybe Lucas and I didn’t meet the mages’ criteria for enemies.

Lucas had to help me push the carved wooden doors open. They weighed a ton, and once they got moving, there was no stopping them. I winced as they slammed into the walls, and then glanced back at the room, but as far as I could tell, none of the vampires had moved.

I sent Lucas a wide-eyed look, but he just shrugged. “Seems okay,” he said.

It did seem okay.
So far, so good.
I focused on moving forward, even when all instincts told me to turn and run. I didn’t like vampires—not one bit—and the smell was only getting worse.

I glanced over at Lucas and he gave me a small nod as we started walking down the hallway.

“Any clue what you’re looking for?” Lucas whispered to me.

“Not really,” I whispered back. “As least I’m not sure. I figure whatever I need will glow a lot. Or something.”

The hallway was lined with rows of vampires two and three deep. All frozen.

“How did the white mages capture so many of them? There’s got to be hundreds,” I said. Under other circumstances, I might’ve been able to analyze the magic, but even if I wasn’t totally exhausted, I had no intention of casting a thing in here unless the worst happened.

“I don’t know. The magic that’s holding them must be strong. I wonder if we could replicate that.” He paused. “Although, why keep them around when we can kill them and be rid of them for good?”

No kidding. “Right? They’re not exactly the type I’d want guarding my house. They’d just as soon eat me as protect me.”

“Plus, the smell is horrible.”

“It’s bad for me. Must be even worse for you.”

He grunted. “Nearly unbearable.”

Poor guy. We kept moving forward, at a steady even pace. I held my hands out, ready to cast a protection ward just in case we triggered some vampire release lever.

The hallway ended in a set of downward stairs. Crystals—the same kind from the mines—lit along the stairwell as it twisted down. I was slightly dizzy by the time we reached the bottom. There was another long hallway leading back the other direction. At the end was another set of huge doors. Whatever was behind those doors was directly underneath the altar upstairs.

Things of extreme importance were typically placed under altars—for protection but also because whatever magic was performed on the altar would drift down and imbue the object with residual magic. The longer the object rested under the altar, the stronger it got.