Chapter 11
I pulled off my goggles and removed the mouthpiece, watching as Ash did the same. Before us, a set of stone-carved stairs led out of the water. My attention went to the woman who had stepped out of the pool already. Her lower half, now human, revealed legs in place of a tail. She casually grabbed a towel off a hook on the cave wall and wrapped it around her body.
“I’m Mira!” Her bubbly voice echoed through the cave, high-pitched and melodic as she waved at us, smiling. The apprehension I’d felt earlier toward the girl seemed laughable; this cheerful petite girl didn’t look much older than me, and she certainly wasn’t threatening.
“It’s been so long since we’ve had any visitors!”
Her smile grew even larger as she pointed toward two doors near the pool exit. “Those are bathrooms, fully stocked for guests. You should find anything you need inside, even clothing suited to the weather down here. Cresinthia is much warmer than up above.” Her face practically glowed as she spoke, lighting up the room. “In the meantime, I’ll call Madam Pearl and let her know you’re here.” She giggled, her laughter like the soft chime of tinkling bells.
“Madam Pearl?” Ash raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, she’s in charge down here, and she will be dying to speak to you .” Mira pointed directly at Ash, and he and I exchanged looks.
“So, I take it there are no evil lake monsters down here?” Ash asked dryly.
That brought another fit of giggles from Mira, her hand flying to her mouth. “What a silly thing to ask!”
Ash watched Mira as if she were deranged.
“You can leave your gear on the benches in the bathroom,” she continued, her cheerful tone unwavering. “Once you’re done, head out that door there.”
Her graceful hand pointed to the middle of the cave. “I’ll go send the message to Madam! Oh, she will be so pleased!”
Still smiling, Mira disappeared through another door to the left of the pool.
Ash turned toward me, his expression deadpan. “Wow, Areya, you were right—that girl is terrifying. I’m so glad she didn’t murder us with rainbows and an army of unicorns.”
I snorted. “She was so nice! But, then again, I guess nice is a foreign concept to you.”
He raised a brow. “If I weren’t nice, I would leave you here to figure your way out of all that gear on your own.”
I looked down at the scuba gear and then back up at Ash, chewing my lip. He smirked, walked over to me, and began undoing the various straps and buckles until I was finally free. Handing me the pile of equipment, he turned back to his own. As I headed toward the women’s bathroom, I paused at the door and glanced back at Ash.
“Look at that—the big bad vampire knows how to be nice after all. I’m truly shocked!” I teased, feigning surprise.
He rolled his eyes, but a faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
Inside the bathroom, I placed the scuba equipment on the bench by the entrance, just as Mira instructed. It was more like a locker room than a bathroom, built right into the cave.
The front wall was lined with sinks and mirrors, while a large white cabinet stood against the opposite wall. A little farther in were rows of showers facing bathroom stalls.
I approached the cabinet and opened the first door, curious about what might be inside. It was stocked with neatly arranged soaps, lotions, and hygiene products all smelling faintly of citrus and sea salt. Behind the second door were stacks of clothing in various sizes, though all turquoise, the same shade as Mira’s bikini top and all made from a light, breathable cotton.
Sifting through the clothes, I picked out a pair of shorts and a top that looked like they would fit. At the bottom of the cabinet were some strange rubber sandals in the same vibrant hue.
I took my time showering and washing my hair, afterward using a brush and an oddly shaped hairdryer from the third cabinet to dry it.
As I gathered my slightly damp hair into a messy bun, there was a knock on the door.
“Uh, are you ok in there, Areya?” Ash’s voice sounded awkward, almost concerned.
I hurried with my hair. “Yeah, I’ll be right out!”
“Just making sure I don’t need to break this door down and strangle a unicorn,” he added.
I chuckled. This was the third time today he’d made me laugh. It was hard to reconcile this version of Ash with the one I had met just three days ago—the dark, cold, arrogant version who’d had my mom killed and who had drained a woman of her blood right in front of me.
My chest tightened, a sharp pang of grief and guilt reminding me my mother was actually gone. I took a deep breath, fighting against the panic trying to well inside of me.
It was such a bizarre twist of fate. Only last night, I’d gone to bed certain of facing death today. Now, here I was, working side by side with the very man responsible for my mother’s death, and Ash—of all people—had risked his life to save mine.
I was struggling to wrap my mind around it.
A part of me was beginning to believe that when his memories had returned last night, so had a piece of his humanity.
Against all logic, I did believe him when he said he would keep me safe.
Slipping into the turquoise outfit, I slid my feet into the flimsy sandals before stepping out of the bathroom. Ash was leaning against the cave wall, dressed back in his signature black, his eyes scanning me as I approached.
“You look nice,” he said.
I blinked, caught off guard by the normalcy of his comment.
“That’s twice in one day. Wait until the other vampires hear you’ve gone soft.”
Another grin tugged at his lips, and he shook his head as we headed toward the center door.
On the other side, we were greeted by the sight of a sleek, silver, bullet-shaped train. The tracks stretched forward, disappearing into a tunnel winding deeper into the caves.
I glanced back at the door we’d just come through, noticing a sign overhead that read: Kingdom of Astern . Ash’s eyes flickered suspiciously over the sign, but he stayed silent.
Mira was waiting for us in front of the train, her ever-present smile lighting up her face.
“This train will take you straight to the city of Echo. When you arrive, follow Main Street until you hit Waterspout. It’s only about a ten-minute walk. Once you reach Waterspout, turn right and you can’t miss the manor. Madam Pearl is expecting you,” she chirped cheerfully.
Ash and I exchanged wary glances as the train door slid open with a soft hiss.
“Hurry now!” Mira urged, gesturing for us to board.
We stepped inside the empty train to find a narrow aisle flanked by rows of seats—twelve rows in total, three seats on either side. The train didn’t have a driver, and there were no windows except for right at the front, which offered one large expanse of glass.
We took the first row, Ash sliding into the middle seat, with me sitting beside him in the aisle.
A flashing red sign above our heads caught my attention: Warning: fast speeds ahead. Please buckle your seatbelt. The doors slid shut with a soft click, and a robotic voice came over the speakers. “ Train to Echo leaving in two minutes.”
I fumbled quickly for my seat belt, pulling the red strap across my lap, only to find it ending in frayed edges where the metal buckle should have been. Chewing at my lip nervously, I glanced at Ash to see that of course, he wasn’t even bothering with his seatbelt.
He noticed me watching, and his eyes trailed down to my legs, which I suddenly realized were bouncing nervously.
“Something wrong?”
I held up the broken strap. He snorted in amusement.
“Live a little, Areya.”
Frowning, I peered around him, spotting the seat next to him, which, thankfully had a working seatbelt. Without thinking, I stood up to move, stepping in front of him.
But just at that moment, the train lurched forward with surprising force, throwing me backwards—straight into Ash’s lap.
He caught me effortlessly, one hand gripping my thigh, the other steadying my arm.
“If you wanted to sit on my lap, you could have just said so.” His eyes locked with mine, and that cocky smile was back, his lips curving into a devious line.
“Oh, myGod!” I groaned, throwing my hands over my face, wishing to disappear into thin air. Heat flooded my cheeks, burning so intensely I was certain I resembled a tomato.
As much as I tried to focus on anything else, it was impossible to ignore the very real, very distracting sensation of Ash’s hands on my body. He let out a low, amused laugh, clearly enjoying my discomfort. Swallowing my embarrassment, I managed to scramble off his lap and into the next seat. Buckling up quickly, I let out a relieved sigh before my eyes caught sight of Ash’s still unsecured strap sitting loose by him on the seat.
Ash followed my gaze. “Really, Areya?”
“The sign says to buckle your seatbelt.” I shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile, implying, I like to follow the rules.
“ I didn’t realize the seatbelt police were on the train.”
Mortified, I dropped my head into my hands. A few moments later, curiosity got the better of me and I peeked through my fingers. The train was flying at an incredible speed, blurring through the dark tunnels. I straightened in my seat, shoving aside my embarrassment.
“Twenty minutes to Echo, ” the robotic voice announced over the speaker.
I glanced at Ash. “So, this isn’t exactly what I expected.”
“No, it isn’t,” he agreed, his face suddenly sober, clearly processing the fact that he had been lied to about the lake.
“Do you have any idea who Madam Pearl is?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“No idea.” He shook his head, his usual arrogance gone.
“Do you think we’re safe and not walking into some type of trap?”
He paused before answering. “I don’t sense a shred of evil down here.”
I nodded, and we both fell silent the rest of the ride, the quiet hum of the speeding train filling the space between us.
Eventually, the train began to slow before coming to a stop, and the robotic voice rang out again. “ Welcome to Echo. ”
The doors slid open, and we stepped out into another dark and eerily quiet cave-like area.
We followed an exit sign through a narrow tunnel until we emerged into what looked like the middle of a train station—a very empty one.
The station felt abandoned.
In the middle of the vast open space, a series of benches circled around a large fountain featuring a woman with a large winding tail. Various food stalls lined the walls, but every one of them was closed, their lights off, and their counters covered in dust. We passed what looked like a souvenir shop, stopping for a moment to peer inside the window. It had clearly been closed for a long time, the shelves coated in dust, and thick cobwebs clinging to all the corners.
The tunnel from which we had exited bore a sign above it that read: Kingdom of Astern. As we continued walking, other tunnels branched out from the main hall, each with its own sign overhead. The first we passed was labeled Kingdom of Titan, and a few paces ahead was another tunnel, Kingdom of Ellington .
This one had been boarded up, with a large, weathered “Closed” sign hanging across it.
We walked in silence until we came to a tunnel labeled Kingdom of Ambrosia. Ash stopped abruptly in front of it, his gaze lingering on the sign.
“Does that mean anything to you?”
He shook his head, but I couldn’t help noticing him glance back at the sign as we walked away. A little farther ahead, we passed another tunnel marked Gardonia Library of Knowledge.
Then finally, we found ourselves in front of a set of large, tinted doors.
The word Exit was etched into the glass.
Ash stepped forward, pushing one door open and gesturing for me to walk through.
As I did, my mind faltered, struggling to keep up and process my surroundings. The sunlight, though warm and pleasant, caught me off guard.
Glancing toward the sky made me squint, seeing bright clouds floating lazily above, and my mind was scrambling to make sense of it.
I turned back toward the doors we had just exited. They were built directly into the solid rock of a cave wall, so my gaze followed the rugged stone upward, my breath catching to realize the true scale of the place. The cavern stretched impossibly high, the stone walls towering hundreds of feet above us, blending seamlessly into the roof of the cave. The sky—it wasn’t real.
It was some type of illusion, an enchantment masterfully crafted to deceive the senses.
We were still very much underground.
My eyes shifted back down to the floor. Directly ahead of us was a sign that read, Welcome to Cresinthia , and just beyond it, the beginning of a wide street— Main Street.
My gaze swept over the horizon, revealing an underground city that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. Ash stood beside me, his eyes also wide with disbelief as he too seemed to struggle to take in the hidden city.
As we started walking down Main Street, the first building we passed was marked Welcome Center , though the closed sign in the window made it clear we wouldn’t be getting any formal introductions. Beyond the Welcome Center lay a mixture of shops, restaurants, and various buildings crowded together along the street.
Unlike the eerie abandoned train station, this city buzzed with life.
People sat at small tables outside a charming café ahead, laughing and chatting over food. A woman emerged from a shop a few doors down, balancing a large shopping bag in her arms.
The street in front of the shops was alive with men, women, and children traveling by bicycle.
Just like Mira, everyone here seemed to be wearing the same cheerful smiles as if this place were wholly untouched by any of the worries of the world above.
I hadn’t realized the beaming smile on my own face, until I noticed Ash watching me out of the corner of his eye.
His expression was far more guarded, his gaze scanning the streets with a quiet intensity.
“This place is—” I started, unable to find words adequate to capture this sensation.
“Incredible.” Ash finished, though his voice lacked the awe I felt.