Chapter 43
Excitement fills me as I lead Madi and the others to the passage I discovered.
Phoenix tosses Caspian his shorts, and the merman stumbles to put them on while I briefly explaining what I did to make the tile pop open.
A strained eagerness passes over the group.
This is the discovery of a lifetime, but there could also be unknown dangers ahead.
Madi holds up a flashlight, shining it down into the darkness. It only illuminates a few steps before it hits a wall.
“It looks like the steps curve,” she whispers, even though there’s no reason to. There’s a kind of awed hush that’s fallen over us.
I don’t know what’s down there, but if someone went to all this trouble to hide it, then it must be important.
“Do you think this is the library?” Caspian tests the first step with his bare toes.
“Let’s find out,” Phoenix takes the flashlight from Madi, then moves Caspian to the side before stepping all the way down. “I’ll go first to make sure it’s safe.”
“I’m going with you.” Madi takes another flashlight from her dry bag and steps down right behind Phoenix.
I want to argue, but I suck my teeth and keep quiet. This is her discovery. I won’t hold her back.
Phoenix offers Madi his hand, and the two of them descend single-file.
Caspian and I follow close behind. Madi is right, the staircase does curve, and continues to spiral as we traverse further underground.
As we walk, more of those veins of glowing ore illuminate, lighting as we stride past and dimming when we’re out of range.
We’ve made it about two rotations when there’s a loud screech. Metal against stone. For a second, I think it’s the stairs, and then I realize it’s coming from above us.
“I told you I could open it,” Branson’s cocky voice carries down the stairs.
“I loosened it for you,” one of his packmates whines. I can’t tell which one it is.
“This isn’t a fucking jar of pickles, Carter. How can you loosen a big ass door? I’m just stronger than you both. Admit it.” Branson again.
Great. The little twats found us.
“Oh, ho, ho, what do we have here?” Carter says, his voice closer now. It’s clear they discovered the stairs. Shit. Maybe we should have closed the entrance behind us. Well, at least now they can see for themselves that we found it first. Assuming this is the library.
“I knew I heard something,” Branson says. “They were probably just here.”
Phoenix picks up his pace as if he’s worried they might overtake us and make it to the library before us.
Madi and Caspian follow suit, keeping quiet.
I hang back. Maybe I can slow them down, give Madi enough time to find the library if it’s not right at the bottom of the stairs.
I really hope it’s not far, though. This has got to be it.
Hidden, secret, just like the records said.
Madi and the rest of the group round a curve out of sight. I shine my flashlight back the way we came, waiting.
Branson comes down first.
“Where’s Madi?” he asks as soon as he spots me. Is that actual worry in his voice? His eyes dart around, neck straining as he tries to see past me, eyebrows pinched, and lips tipped down.
“She’s none of your concern,” I answer calmly.
Carter and Rodrick growl from just behind their pack alpha.
“She’s my omega, so yeah,” Branson steps down so he’s only one step above me, “she’s my fucking concern.”
A growl bursts from my chest. “She’s not yours.”
Branson laughs in my face. “You think she’s yours? You’re what? Fifty?” he mocks.
His guess about my age is inaccurate and more than a little insulting, but it’s the arrogance and the way he talks about Madi that really sets my blood boiling. I curl my fingers into a fist, but force myself to stay still.
“Do you have any idea how insatiable she is during her heat?” Branson pokes my chest and sneers. “You’ll never keep up, gramps.”
“Yeah, she’s a fucking slut when she’s got the fever. Couldn’t get enough of our dicks.” Carter leans over Branson’s shoulder like he’s telling a secret. He laughs, and my ears ring.
I tighten my fists, nails biting skin.
Branson watches me with narrowed eyes, a smug grin lifting his cheeks. He knows I can’t touch him.
Carter squeezes onto the same step as Branson, getting right in my face. “This one time she was on her hands and—”
Fuck this. Before I can think things through, my fist is flying. Branson’s head snaps back as I make contact with his jaw. The force is enough to push him into Carter, and both men stumble. Rodrick steadies them from behind.
“What the fuck?” Branson yells.
“Talk about her like that again, and I won’t stop at one hit,” I say through gritted teeth. My alpha wants to tear them apart right here and now, but as it is, I’ll probably face assault charges just from that punch. The Prescott pack is the type to file them.
Fuck, Madi’s not gonna like that.
Branson rubs his jaw, but to his credit he doesn’t punch back. “You’re gonna regret that,” he sneers.
He’s probably right, but right now, I don’t fucking care. It’s about time someone taught this asshole a lesson.
“Out of our way.” Branson shoves me to the side and stomps past.
I chase after him with Carter and Rodrick at my back.
When we reach the bottom my pack is nowhere to be seen. There’s just a solid wall. Or I think that’s all there is, until it slides upwards.
Madi stands there with her hands on her hips and a triumphant smile on her face. “I win.”
She steps aside with a flourish, revealing a dimly lit room beyond the entry.
I can only see part of it from my position, but it appears to be a round room with shelves carved into the stone walls.
Books and other trinkets fill the space, and I can’t wait to get rid of these idiots so we can truly explore.
“Thanks, omega,” Branson pats her head like she’s a fucking dog. “This is without a doubt gonna get me published in Archaeologia Oceana.”
“Like hell it will,” I growl. “Madi won, fair and square.”
“And no one but us will ever know it.” He grins like the cat who caught the canary, and I want to punch him again.
Phoenix beats me to it, and a second later Caspian is charging Rod and the five of them are in an all out brawl. Madi screams at them to stop.
None of them hear her cries or the menacing growl from the stairs.