Page 56 of Welcome to Bone Town

With a sigh, I determine to help her any way I can moving forward. I’m still not sure how to tell her I’m hermate, or if I’m brave enough to face her rejection when I do, but I’ll do anything to make sure she doesn’t feel broken. Even helping her search for a solution that may not exist. I don’t want her to feel like she doesn’t have options, and if this is the option she wants to pursue, I’ll support her in that.

Whether or not this relic will do what she hopes is yet to be determined, but a couple days down here won’t kill us. And she’s right about this being a rare opportunity. When will we ever have the chance to explore Lunara’s temple like this again? Once we find our way to the surface and reveal this discovery, the powers that be will take over, securing the site from any outsiders and demanding we follow protocol that could dredge on for years. If we’re careful not to destroy anything, this is a once in a lifetime chance to see history raw.

A sharp clang echos off the temple walls, ripping me from my musing and spiking my adrenaline. The sound is emanating from the darkened hallway to the left, behind the pools. Archer and Cora are hunched over the book, searching for any clue as to where the relic might be—if it’s even in the temple at all. Bear is roasting the snake. But Jax… where the hell is Jax?

My brows furrow as I lock eyes with Bear across the campfire. Another clang rings out, and we both jump up.

Without saying a word, we run from the fire, aiming for the tunnel. Sounds of rustling indicate Cora and Archer have scrambled up to follow, but I don’t look back to confirm.

When we round the bend in the hall, my mouth dropsopen in horror. Jax is slamming what looks to be a pick-axe into a solid wall.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I yell once my initial shock has worn off.

Jax pauses, looks at me over his shoulder, and casually admits, “I’m tearing a hole in this wall,” then he goes right back to it.

“No shit, but why?” Bear asks. He’s a little less irate than I am.

Jax strikes the wall again, never taking his eyes off his project. “Noticed a hole between the bricks here. You can feel cool air being sucked in by the humidity from the hot springs, which means it isn’t just dirt on the other side. Could be a room, or another path we can access, maybe one that leads to our girl's necklace. I know I wouldn’t keep something like that out in the open. Besides, I got a sixth sense about these kinds of things. So I figured I’d take a look.”

“By destroying the temple?!” I yell even louder. My blood pressure is rising by the moment as I watch him tear apart history so crassly.

“Not destroying. Renovating.” Jax throws back with a cocky grin.

Bear rolls his eyes at him, but doesn’t say anything else. Just as I’m about to step in, something loosens and half of the wall gives way. The treasure hunter goes flying forward, dropping out of sight, and Cora lets out a soft scream. Scrambling forward, I breathe a sigh of relief when Jax stands up, brushing off his jeans and running his fingers through his hair to shake the dust out. I may not love the guy, but I don’t want him to die.

“Jax! Are you okay!” Cora cries as she stumbles over the rubble to get to him. Right when she makes it to him, she loses her footing and falls, but Jax catches her.

“Whoa, slow down, love. We don’t want you to hurt yourself,” he croons at the omega as he sets her right.

“Holy Hell.” Archer draws out the words in an awed voice as he takes in what Jax quite literally stumbled into. What looked like a solid wall turns out to be hiding a set of stairs that lead further underground. It was likely a hidden door that required someone to know how to open it, but of course Jax bulldozed his way through like a hippo on a rampage. He’s lucky the whole damn temple didn’t collapse on us.

“Bear, can you get us a torch?” Cora asks.

With a nod, the big man jogs off, returning moments later with a lit torch he swiped from our little campsite. Knowing Cora is too short to reach, he lifts the torch, touching it to another one on the wall. The flames catch and spread lighting the passageway with a soft glow.

“Do we…go down?” Archer asks when none of us move. Jax shrugs his shoulders, turns on his heel, and begins descending the stairs. Cora follows him, and the rest of us trail after her like lost puppies.

It’s colder here than the room we just left, and the juxtaposition between the stairwell and the warm oasis of the pools is eerie. Cora wraps her arms around herself, rubbing her hands up and down her biceps as if warming them up. Bear notices and pulls her against his huge body. I’m sure the man radiates heat like a furnace.

“Are you cold, honey?” he asks her softly. She shakes her head, biting her lip before answering.

“No, I’m fine. Just a little nervous, maybe?”

When he reaches a plateau, Jax spins around, aiming a wide smile in her direction while continuing to walk backward. “Are you scared, little mate? You know I’ll protect you from any ghosts or creepy crawlies down here.”

“Watch where you’re going, asshole.” I growl. The last thing we need is someone falling into another hole because they weren’t paying attention.

Cora glares at me, and I sigh. I’m about to attempt an apology for snapping at Jax, when I hear a scraping sound. Jax freezes, looking down at the floor with wide eyes. The stone he’s standing on is slowly sinking under his weight. Before he can jump off, it settles with aclick.

My chest is tight as we all wait, poised for something to happen. When nothing comes flying out of the wall or crashing from the ceiling, Jax lets out an awkward chuckle. “Ha, uh, oops?”

“Guys.” Cora’s voice is strained. She’s staring at the floor. A trickle of softly glowing water is snaking between her feet, small at first, but growing thicker every second.

“Bear!” Archer calls out. He’s pointing at the wall, where more is flowing through small holes we didn’t notice. “I think it’s coming from the pools!”

More and more holes seem to open in the walls and ceiling. Bioluminescent water pours out, gathering in the stairwell.

It isn’t draining.

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