Chapter 13 #2
With a bark of surprise and warning, I fall through the floor, hitting something hard before I tumble downward.
Stairs. It feels like I hit every single edge as I scramble to stop my momentum.
Shouts and flashes of gold and blue come from the shrinking hole above.
I curl into a tight ball as the stairway spits me out into another room.
Luckily, this floor is covered in even deeper sand, and I land with a huff, spitting grit off my tongue.
As I stand, I shake out my fur and peer into the darkness, surprised when my night vision kicks in, because it should be too dark for even my animal sight down here.
Night vision is incredible, but it still requires at least a tiny bit of light.
I tilt my head back, look up, and there, in the center of the ceiling, is a pinprick of moonlight spearing through a hole the size of a marble.
And the hole is right in the eye of a painted depiction of Sobek.
Boom!
Sand mists down from the ceiling, and I glance at the staircase I just fell down as Rian shouts something, and Sadie yells back.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and a skittering sensation like spiders crawling down my spine makes me shiver.
I turn my head, almost pulled like a magnet, to look at the far wall.
I move closer, the sand scratching between the pads of my paws.
I sniff the air, wary of traps, but as I get closer, I see it, the same carving that was in the column, but this one is ten times larger.
A lion on its back, mouth open, something stabbing its belly.
But unlike the carving above, this one has something embedded in the wall.
I quickly shift back to human, because I need the height to reach, but I keep my claws out.
I scratch at the space around the gleaming white tooth, trying to carefully extract it from the wall.
My hands shake with excitement, and my claw slips before I take a slow breath and go back at it.
Sadie shouts from above, “Amri!”
“Down here!”
Blue light flashes, followed by a gold burst of magic.
Crack!
I hope they’re alright, but I refocus on my task. Little by little, I work at the large ivory tooth, gasping when it pops free and into my hands. There’s a filigree gold cap at the wider end, and the tip of the tooth gleams sharply even in the dim light of this chamber.
I can’t believe we found it!
My heart races with adrenaline as I turn, ready to run up the stairs, but I stumble, almost losing my footing as the entire room shakes.
I look up but realize the shaking didn’t come from the attack above.
I whip my head around, panic stealing my earlier excitement as I imagine a giant boulder rolling from some hidden chamber to crush me.
But instead, a section of the wall to my right sinks into the floor, and beyond …
I crash into Bodi’s mind, not bothering with finesse as I shout through our Zodiac mind-speak, “I have the tooth! And there’s a way out!”
The alpha doesn’t respond, but a second later, a brilliant light of mixed golds and blues nearly blinds me. The room shivers. Sand spills from the ceiling as pounding footsteps thunder down the stairs. I brace, ready just in case it’s not my friends barreling towards me.
Sadie nearly tumbles into the room, windmilling her arms to keep her feet under her.
Alexandros sprints into the room after her, sweeping his arm around her waist to steady her.
I point at the opening in the wall and the stairs leading up.
Alexandros grabs Sadie’s wrist and pulls her across the room and through the new door.
Kat comes next, her hair wild and dusty, her fingers still glowing with blue magic.
Rian enters silently in his panther form, his giant beast tense, tail flicking, green eyes alert.
And finally, Bodi runs down the stairs, a bloody scorch mark quickly healing on his shoulder.
He meets my gaze. “You got it?”
I hold up the tooth with a grin.
Bodi’s shoulders drop a fraction, and the smallest smile lifts his lips. “Thank the stars.”
I glance over his shoulder. “The hunters?”
“Down for the count, but I’m sure more are on the way.”
I jerk my head towards the opening where Rian is already nudging Kat up the stairs, and I say, “Then let’s get the fuck out of here.”
We sprint up and out, and though I’m not winded, I can’t help but gulp in giant breaths of fresh air as I burst out of the tunnel. Kat stands off to the side, bent over, hands on thighs, breathing hard. Rian, back in his human form, pats her back with a grin.
Sadie whirls around to face me. “You got i?—”
Her face turns tomato-red, and she quickly averts her eyes.
Oh yeah, I’m naked. I toss the tooth at Bodi, who deftly snatches it out of the air as I quickly summon my clothes, the concealment stone still tucked into my pants pocket.
Being a smaller animal has its perks, like not shredding your clothes every time you shift.
Rian clothes himself as well, then we all gather around Bodi, staring at the ivory tooth in his hands.
Alexandros breaks the relieved silence. “Now what?”
I hold out my palm, curling my fingers with sudden impatience. “Sadie, give me your phone.”
She’s quick to slap it into my hand, and I open the map.
I type in the coordinates to my home in Morocco and pass the phone back to Sadie.
“Go there.” I weave hand signs to dismantle the alarms I have set up all around the property.
“The code to the gate is Shenanigans, with both S’s capitalized and a 3 for the E. ”
Sadie taps on her phone and nods. “Got it.”
“Put every ward and protection spell you know on the place. You’ve got a few hours of starlight left. Use it. And there’s a garden on the roof and a park three blocks south. Drain them if you have to.”
Rian shifts his weight. “Where are you going?”
“I—”
“Tell Malik we love him.” Bodi’s deep voice snaps my attention to him. He spins the tooth in his large palm as he stares at me, tilting his head as if he’s trying to work out a puzzle.
I drop my gaze from his assessment as I nod. “I will.”