Page 33 of Let's Talk One True Mate

The woman scowled. “What are we going to do with him now?”

Part 2—The Templum

Twenty minutes later, Number Six sped away in a black SUV with Boe still unconscious and bundled into the back seat, the woman in the passenger seat, and the two mice on the dashboard running back and forth. The woman held a miniature replica of the black SUV in her lap. She cupped it in her hands, with one hand held over and one hand held under, chanting quietly to herself. Spherical layers of haze and light grew around the replica until it hung suspended within them.

“Better call our contact with the Vin Boesons,” she said quietly, her eyes on the replica, her hands still moving around it.

“An’ tell ‘im what?”

“Tell him that Boe made it out of the Pravus, but there’s been a hitch and they can’t take him out of Serenity now, maybe not ever. You’ll call when we know more.”

Number Six grunted agreement and used voice commands to make the phone call.

“Yeah,” a male voice answered.

“Plans’ve changed. Meetup cancelled. The package’ll be stayin’ in town for now. More later.”

“Got it.” The male hung up.

Number Six grunted and tapped the brakes, making the woman look up at the road. A police car was coming their way, lights flashing silently. She pulled the covered replica in close to her chest and whispered urgently to it, then said, “They won’t see us.”

She gestured to the forest across the road, splaying her fingers out, whispering unintelligible words.

A luminous fox ran from the underbrush near the roadside, then weaved through some bushes. The police car pulled over and an officer got out. He pulled a flashlight from his belt, said something into his radio, then followed the fox into the bushes.

Number Six laughed, the sound grating like a chainsaw, and then the road curved and they sped away down the winding road. They reached the river and took a left, following the road a short way, then taking another left onto Morning Bluff Drive, then a right onto Morning Woods Drive, which switch-backed up Morning Bluff through thick forest. They drove in silence for several moments and passed no other cars. The woman tucked away the miniature vehicle with its layers of protection into an inner pocket of her cloak. She turned in her seat so she could see Boe in the back. She stayed that way, staring at him, her face set in lines of deep concentration.

The road widened and a large sign appeared on their right. It was a stylized sun rising through evergreen trees. Bronze letters proclaimed:

THE MORNING WOOD INN

HOME OF THE STATE’S BEST SUNRISE

Est. 1944

Wolves shot on sight

“Roof, passage, or bluff face?” Number Six asked.

“Roof.”

Number Six grunted acknowledgement and drove past to a hidden road. He put the vehicle in four wheel drive and followed the road for a short way, then turned left and plungeddirectly into the forest. He stopped at a dark clearing and turned off his headlights, then rolled down his window and pointed to one of the mice. It ran to the window, outside, up on the roof, and then jumped to the closest tree and scampered down a limb toward the trunk. A moment later, a bush near them moved mechanically on hidden tracks, revealing a dark, covered stall. Number Six drove into it, creeping to a stop, then he and the woman got out in near-total darkness.

Number Six turned on a red-filtered flashlight and led the woman out and around to the back of the stall to a trail. They followed it to a collection of boulders, all bigger than a man. The front boulder was fake. Number Six went straight for it, bending to unlock hasp locks on all sides, then he heaved it up and out of the way on hydraulic tracks, revealing a trap door into the ground.

The woman hurried under the fake boulder and Number Six sprinted in front of her to pull open the trap door, then he held her hand as she stepped in and down. She took several steps down, let go of his hand, grasped a handrail, then spoke.

“Bring him.”

Number Six ran back to the vehicle. The woman descended the steps slowly and carefully into a dark cavern, with small points of light all around.

“Molofi!” she commanded, the word echoing.

The points of light flared brightly, revealing that they were torches set into sconces on cave walls.

“Evincifi!” she called out, stopping to watch.

A curtain of burning light blazed through the area for a moment, ceiling to floor, revealing a large cavern. Pools and tendrils of smokey haze spread across the ground and collectedin the corners. There was one circular, brick well set in the middle of the area with a thick metal chain running from the ceiling and dropping directly down into the well. A beam of light shot upward from the depths of the well, casting an unnatural spotlight on the ceiling anchor holding the chain in place. The chain vibrated and shook, dancing in the light, calling attention to an occasional low rumble drifting up, sounding far away. A transparent pipe ran up the length of the well, then to the wall, where it disappeared into a hole. The pipe was filled with gray smoke and crackling red lightning. This electric smoke moved swiftly along the pipe into the wall.

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