49. Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter 49
T he stone wall in front of Dante moved, instantly rearranging the room. Another time he would have admired the masterfulness of the design and the foresight. Today he wanted to murder the mastermind.
“Is anyone else getting annoyed by the puppet master?” Talik jumped back as a wall sprung up from underneath him. “This is fucking insane.”
Dante moved to the left, narrowly missing the gaping hole that had just appeared. Dust particles exploded as the new wall settled into place. He pushed at it, trying to see if it would move. It didn’t budge.
The numbness that had been so much a part of him was slowly dissipating, replaced by emotions that made him want to fall to his knees—fear, rage, and love. The intensity threatened to overwhelm him. For the first time in his life, he could taste the cold tendrils of fear wrapping around him.
Laughter echoed through the tunnel.
“The wayfarers,” Chaucer quietly stated.
Khalida snarled, her yellow eyes tinged with an animalistic glow and the blades of her swords untouched by the dust. “Aadya was not forthcoming about how to kill them.”
“You don’t,” Chaucer said flatly, a dull sheen on his face as he shook his head. “They survive like parasites as long as the O’hurani live.” He looked at Dante. “Kill the king, and they all die.”
“Suddenly talkative, Chaucer,” Talik said as he walked around Khalida, close enough that he brushed up against her. “How do you kill the king?”
Chaucer let out an exasperated sigh. “You can’t. Not without killing a quarter of the Atlantean population. If you carry a drop of their blood, you die.”
The pendant under Dante’s shirt continued to pulse, alternating between ice cold and scalding hot. It was as if it was trying to brand him. It was too late. Rieka had already embedded herself within him, had filled a piece of his soul he hadn’t realized he had been missing.
A high-pitched beep emitted from Talik, followed by a grimace as he looked at his watch then to Dante and Khalida. “The good news is that we have contact with the surface level.”
“And the immortals?” Khalida asked. “They should have entered by now.”
Dante had known Talik long enough to know that the good news never outweighed the bad news.
“But?” Chaucer prompted.
“Sensors are picking up a substantial number of heat signatures that appear to be converging toward us. They also seem to be part of the moving labyrinth.”
“Atlantean or human?” Khalida asked.
Talik grimaced. “Neither. If I was a gambling Atlantean, I would say they looked like serpopards.”
“How many?” Dante asked. Even with the immortals’ help, they were likely to be outnumbered. The labyrinth had been herding them to a central location, a likely ambush.
“At least twenty. I don’t know if each of the heat signatures signifies an individual or a pair.”
“Twenty beasts or forty—the numbers are significantly different,” Khalida muttered under her breath. “The immortals should be able to track us.”
Chaucer chimed in, “It is likely there are more out there. They can distort the heat signatures relatively easily. They control their body temperature,” Chaucer added. “Unless the matriarch is with them, they have a herd mentality and decimate anything that moves.”
“Well, aren’t you the fount of good news,” Talik growled. “Anything else you want to share?”
Chaucer narrowed his eyes at Talik. “Nothing else that would interest you.” He glanced at Dante, his gaze darkening with emotion. “Or help us. Idris didn’t offer his information freely.”
The situation was beyond fucked, and Dante was beginning to rely on nothing but hope. He snorted, earning a side glance from Talik. Hope had not previously been part of his vocabulary prior to meeting Rieka. “We need to find Rieka before they do.”
He did not quite trust Chaucer’s comment about the beasts guarding Rieka. They haven’t attacked her yet, but that could change in a heartbeat.
The walls continued to vibrate as they slowly moved into place. “It appears it wants us to change direction once again.”
Another wall speared through the floor with such speed he almost fell backward.
Talik swore behind him.
“It has boxed us in,” Khalida quietly stated as she knocked on the wall nearest to her.
“Do you still have comms with the surface?”
“No.”
This time the ground shifted, throwing them off balance as they dropped two feet and the walls inched closer.
Dante landed soundlessly as he took a step back, steadying himself as he surveyed their new location.
“Fuck,” Talik eloquently stated as he scrambled to keep his balance. “I didn’t think it could do that.”
Khalida remained crouched low on the ground. Her swords caught the pale-yellow light, glittering in the darkening room. She pointed to the bottom corner of the wall. “See this?”
Dante moved in Khalida’s direction, crouching next to her. “Is it a flower?”
If it was a lily, they were on the right path.
“No,” Khalida replied. “But if I am not mistaken, that is a stone version of the pendant Rieka wears.”