Chapter 9 #2
“Don’t worry, Master Fishy. Seventy-five percent is still really good.” He threaded his fingers together, cracking them. “Magic fingers are ready. Bitzy and I knew you might need us tonight. Have them all warmed up.”
Chirp!
“It was the only warm place to stick them. They needed to stay nimble.”
Ash and I cringed, both knowing what that meant.
“Even more of a no,” Ash uttered to us.
Folding my arms, I saw Opie copy me, our heads tilting at Ash.
“No.” He shook his head vehemently. “We should get back as it is.”
“This might be our one chance.”
“Plus, tree humper, I didn’t warm these fingers for nothing.” Opie held up his hands, wiggling his digits.
“No.”
“Yes,” I countered. “Every moment, another fae is being tortured, and most likely killed. I’m not saying we go down there and blow the whole operation.
We aren’t ready for that. But I do want to know if we are even at the right place.
If we aren’t, we don’t waste any more time here.
But if we are, we need to know what is going on down there so we can put an end to it. ”
“This is completely stupid.” Ash gritted his teeth. “And totally dangerous. We have no plan.”
“And would we have a plan later? We have no idea what is below. We can’t have a plan if we have no understanding of what this place even looks like.”
“There could be an army down there.” Ash shot at me.
“There could be nothing,” I volleyed back. “Do you sense anything on the other side of the door?”
He closed his eyes, letting himself reach out, feel life humming in the earth. “No, not right there—but I do feel something down there.”
Staring at Ash, I waited for his answer.
“This is so reckless.” He pinched his nose.
“Yes, it is. But are you in?”
He huffed and puffed, shifting around until he finally grunted.
“Fine.” He held up his hand. “But you go on my word, what I say. You don’t have the awareness you used to, and if I say run, you don’t question me. You run. Got it?”
I nodded. In that moment, I felt an inkling of understanding Istvan and his desire to elevate humans on the food chain, which greatly unsettled me. It sucked being so fallible and unbalanced to the fae. Now that I was without power, I identified a little more with the need to be equal.
“Be ready to go.” He then gestured to the two on my shoulder. “You get the door unlocked as fast as you can. Less than thirty seconds.”
“Yes, sir!” Opie saluted Ash.
Chirp! Bitsy flipped him off.
“I’m so gonna regret this,” Ash muttered, turning back around, inching a breath away from the corner. “Ready?”
I glanced out toward the brush, knowing Lukas and Scorpion were about to lose their minds.
“Go!” Ash whispered.
Turning away from where they were, I ran. Bounding down the steps to the wide, solid door, my heart drummed in my ears with a fevered melody. Opie darted down my arm as I reached out, holding it near the seam in the door above the handle. Opie’s little hands patted around the surface, searching.
“Hurry,” Ash commanded, his gun up, watching the camera and any activity which might come up behind.
“Keep your dick in your pants.” Opie snapped back, his palms finally landing on a spot, cringing. “Ohhh.”
“Ohhh, what?” My voice squeaked. “What does ohhh mean?”
Chirp!
“Okay, so it was a soft seventy-five percent.”
“What?” I blinked.
A grunting sound came from Ash behind me.
“Hold your tree limbs.” Opie’s tongue stuck out of his mouth, his hands tapping and fidgeting around the spot. “This one is tighter than Master Finn’s ass.”
Chirp!
“I would not know. It was an expression.”
Chirp!
“That was a total misunderstanding.”
“Guys!” I hissed.
“You don’t open it in ten seconds, we are aborting.” Ash hissed over his shoulder.
Opie’s tongue switched to the other side, his brow furrowing.
“Eight . . . seven . . .” Ash counted down.
Anxiety compressed my breathing, panic clawing and biting at my nerves.
“Getting closer.” A bead of sweat formed on Opie’s forehead.
“Closer is not good enough. Hurry.” Forcing my legs to stay steady for him.
“Five . . . four . . .”
Bitzy reached over Opie’s shoulder, her lids shutting briefly, her face strained.
“Three, two . . . one!”
Click! The lock snapped.
My body slammed forward as the door was ripped open. Ash shoved us in with a jarring force, shutting the door behind him.
Our breaths pitched together in gulps, my body leaning back into his.
Adrenaline pumped frantically through my veins.
Peering around, I noticed the space was dim with a few fire bulbs leading into a long tunnel.
It was a typical industrial basement with cement walls, floors, and ceilings lined with water and gas pipes.
The ceilings were a few feet above Ash’s head, and it was wide enough for a large truck to wheel through, like the one I saw parked next to the door.
Large enough to carry several bodies in.
Ash slipped away from me, taking lead, his gun up.
Motioning for Opie and Bitzy to get into my pack, I matched Ash’s steps, my weapon swiveling behind us as well to guard. Both of us on high alert, our footsteps were precise and silent.
The tunnel sloped farther down, gradually taking us lower into the earth. Passing a few doors that appeared to be utility closets, I noticed everything was very ordinary. Nothing you wouldn’t find under any factory.
That quickly changed.
Bright light shone down at the end of the tunnel. Noise from machines and movement reached us, each of us tightening our grip on the trigger. Ash and I moved on opposite walls, and the more we neared the end, the less we could hide in the shadows.
Peeking out where the passage split to the right or left, more fire bulbs flickered in the space, machines and equipment lining one side of the wall. Nothing I recognized or understood, but their noise hummed through the air.
“Which way?” I whispered to Ash.
He shrugged, nodding at me, telling me it was my choice. I forced this on him, so it was my decision to be right or wrong.
Inhaling, I motioned to the left, going with my gut intuition. Stepping out, we were no longer hidden by any shadows. The long corridor was like a bowling lane. If we were found, we had nowhere to hide.
We scuttled down, the tunnel curving, and climbed down metal stairs, running into another pair of magic-locked doors. A card scanner was next to it.
“Shit!” I bit down on my lip. I knew it wasn’t going to be so easy; Istvan was far too paranoid and smart. “What do we do?”
“Card scan?” Opie was back on my shoulder. “Easy-peasy.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” He started down my arm. “A strong eighty to thirty percent.”
“Wait . . . thirty?”
Chirp!
“Twenty-five the lowest.” Opie motioned for me to move my arm to the card scanner. “They’re a little tougher, but I’m their bitch.”
I tilted my head.
Chirp!
“No, I meant they’re my bitch.” Opie huffed, his hands on his hips. “I’m the bitch! No, no, that doesn’t sound right.”
Chirp!
“Fuck my life.” Ash waved at the scanner. “Shut up and do something, both of you, before we are all dead bitches.”
Opie promptly went to work while Bitzy flipped Ash off, chirping in a low, continuous noise.
“You want mushrooms?” Ash slanted his head at her.
Instantly, her mouth clamped shut, her enormous eyes blinking.
“I will get you a full bag of mushrooms if you shut up and get us in.”
She blinked once more before climbing out of her bag and over Opie to reach the scanner.
I twisted my head to peer at Ash, his expression in disbelief. “My life is now bribing a three-inch imp with hallucinogenics so she will listen to me.”
“Father of the year.” I winked at him.
“Fuck.” His finger dug into his eyes, rubbing fiercely, then snapped back into defense mode, his muscles tensing.
“What?”
“Voices.” Ash’s head tweaked toward the stairs. I strained my ears to listen, but heard nothing but the humming of the machines. “They’re coming this way.”
Terror flashed through me, my head feeling dizzy, but after years of conditioning, I quickly locked it up, searching for anywhere to hide.
“I think he will be pleased.” This time, I heard the male voice arising from the passage before the physical forms followed.
Their footsteps were seconds from turning the corner to the stairs, leaving us right in their eyeline.
Panic bubbled in my stomach, my gaze darting over the space. There wasn’t much between the stairs and the door. We had one possibility.
Clutching Opie and Bitzy in my palm, Ash and I scrambled for the stairs, slipping underneath the open treads as shoes hit the metal.
Ash pressed me into the corner against the back wall, his body almost covering mine.
We didn’t move or breathe as we watched three sets of legs move down, their chatter blocked by the pounding of my heart.
The moment they reached the ground and came into view, I recognized them: Dr. Karl, his assistant Dr. Stefan, and the man who was Istvan’s right-hand man, Lieutenant Andor, another one with too much greed, misogyny, and entitlement.
Faithful to Istvan to a fault. He didn’t care about right or wrong; he only believed in following Istvan.
He, like so many, wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. And all it would take was one of them to look back, and we would be as good as dead.
“The last batch had much better numbers. Also, the younger ones seem to produce better results. I think we are getting closer. Now that we’ve updated the science of Rapava’s theories and tweaked the water tanks from the plans General Markos obtained from those lost records, the results have been much better,” Dr. Karl said to Andor, searching his pocket and pulling out a card.
“They better be. General Markos has not been pleased with the progress so far.”
Dr. Karl’s fingers slipped, the card falling from his grip.
It felt like slow motion as it hit the ground, Dr. Stefan twisting to pick it up.
It would only take one side glance, and we’d be caught.
Deep fear rooted me in the spot, not even daring a twitch of my lungs.
Sweat pooled at the base of my spine as Stefan picked up the card, his head lifting.
Oh gods . . . we’re dead.
“Give me that.” Dr. Karl snapped at him, yanking the card and Dr. Stefan’s attention to him. Away from us. A minuscule ounce of relief pressed into my lungs. “You are so slow. Lieutenant Andor doesn’t have time to waste.” He belittled his assistant, even though it was his own fault.
Karl swiped the card over the scanner, the door unlocking and sliding open.
“Come, we should be getting the new shipment in soon.” Dr. Karl motioned Andor in, following in behind him. Stefan was on their tail, disappearing to the right.
From here, it appeared there were no guards or anything waiting on the other side.
The door started to shut, and the instinct to run and block it from locking rattled through me. I locked myself in place, watching our way in close on us.
Something caught my eye, tearing across the floor to the door. It looked like a rat with a backpack and a mohawk.
Huh?
For a second my attention snapped down to my empty hand. I hadn’t even noticed when Opie and Bitzy slipped out. This time when I blinked at the form, it looked more like a tiny man in a black bodysuit with pink tassels and a similarly dressed imp on this back.
Right as the door was sliding closed and would lock, Opie propped his body in the opening, the door squashing into him until his mouth and cheeks puffed out.
“Now would be a good time,” he muffled, the door groaning, trying to close all the way. “Before this brownie becomes a pancake.”
Ash and I darted to him. Ash pried open the doors, letting Opie free, peeking his head and gun through. “All clear.”
“Wow. I think I’m thinner now. And much taller.” Opie padded at his body. “Do I look thinner?” He stretched his form like he was doing a photo shoot. “I’m like a model now. Handsome, thin, tall with impeccable taste.”
Chirp!
“Okay, but I’m at least taller?”
“We don’t have time for this.” Ash jerked his head as he opened the door wider. “Go!”
I snuck through the opening with my gun raised, ready to shoot, while Opie and Bitzy climbed up to my shoulder. Ash slipped in behind. The door hissed shut, locking. The sound hit my stomach with dread.
Trapped.
Underground.
“Looks like we don’t need a card to get out,” Ash whispered, nodding at the button by the door.
“Let’s hope.” I took a step forward, my gun following my gaze, searching every corner.
The men were nowhere to be seen. The space was the same cement and machinery, but a dome like-structure dominated the middle of the area.
Like an observation point, cement went to waist level, then clear plastic panels curved over the top, light glowing from below.
Tentatively we moved toward it. The distant sounds of talking and machines itched at my ear, keeping me on guard.
Finally reaching it, I peered down.
And I knew I was looking at the deep pits of hell.