Page 105 of Ghosts of the Dead

Caspian hesitates beside me. His eyes flick to the shadows, and I feel him holding back. I can almost feel the fear clawing up his throat and threatening to paralyze him. Before I can reach out for him, he turns to me. His eyes meet mine and something shifts in them. “The ghosts. They’re not here anymore.” A small smile touches his lips, surprising me. “Turns out real monsters make the ones in my head seem less scary.”

“Are you going to be okay?” I ask.

He reaches for my hand, and his fingers intertwine with mine. “I’m going to be great. Ready to go?”

I nod, and Mars leads the way down with his knife held out in front of him. Caspian walks next with his hand still tight in mine, pulling me behind him. I follow behind, running my free hand along the cold, damp concrete wall. Jace follows next, leaving Lucy to stand at the top of the stairs for a long moment of hesitation while her face goes through a battlefield of emotions. Finally, she squares her shoulders and follows, with Luna right behind her.

The darkness closes in around us as we descend into the belly of the beast.

37

MARS

Ilead the way down as we descend into the unknown. Military training kicks in and I scan corners first, identify potential cover, and note all exit points. So far, there isn’t much, but I sweep my flashlight across every inch.

The air gets colder the deeper we go, heavy with the stink of rust and mold, and something else I can’t quite identify yet. Chemical, maybe. Medical, possibly. My nostrils flare and I catalog each scent.

The concrete walls are reinforced with metal plating in some sections, but the ceiling is rotting wood on a countdown clock. I press my palm flat against the wall and span the light out. Nothing here is decorative. It’s purely functional. This place wasn’t built to keep the elements out. It was built to keep something in.

This place feels like a goddamn tomb.

Standard protocol would be to retreat and reassess, but we’re past protocol now. We’re on a mission for Autumn, and I intend to see it through.

My knife stays loose in my grip, balanced perfectly for quick deployment. My fingers flex around the hilt, ready to stab something. I can’t yet, but soon enough I’ll slide thispiece of metal into Lucy’s brothers, and if I find out Lucy had anything to do with hurting Summer, then she’ll get the same treatment.

I turn my head to the side and glance at Jace from the corner of my eye behind me. We’d made a plan to take the three brothers by surprise and incapacitate them while Caspian sticks to Autumn’s side, in case this whole operation isn’t entirely a family ordeal. We need answers before we deliver justice to everyone involved. Clean, quick, and thorough. That’s the plan.

Twenty-three steps down. My boots hit the basement floor, and I pause to raise my fist in a silent command for the others to hold. Autumn bumps into my back. I stretch my arm out behind me to stabilize her, but my hand brushes against the soft curve of her breast in the darkness.

“Sorry,” I murmur, low enough that only she can hear.

“You haven’t moved your hand,” she whispers back with a thread of amusement in her voice.

Damn right I haven’t. I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face in the dark. I give her breast a gentle squeeze before pulling my hand away. “Stay close,” I tell her, feeling her warmth at my back. “I mean it.”

I pause to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness, scanning from right to left, taking in every detail. My flashlight is weak. The faint glow flickers from dying batteries. I should have replaced them first. Rookie mistake. The beam barely cuts through the shadows, but it’s enough to see what they’ve built down here.

Bars. Cages. Rows of them lining the walls like a goddamn prison block.

I take a step closer to inspect them, keeping my body between Autumn and whatever might be lurking. A shape shifts in the dark. A soft gasp. The shuffle of bare feet.

What the fuck?

I raise my hand in the dim light to signal the others tostay back while I address the figure behind the bars. “Easy. We’re not here to hurt you,” I say in the same tone I used to use when approaching frightened civilians in combat zones.

I sweep the flashlight around in an arc, illuminating dozens of faces. Most of them are women with hollow eyes and blood in various places on their bodies. Some press against the back of the cages, while others grip the bars between us, begging for help. I clench my jaw when bile rises in my throat, but keep my expression neutral. Never show emotion in hostile territory was drilled into me years ago. Me freaking out will only worsen the situation.

“Shit,” Jace mutters behind me.

Autumn lets out a sharp, shattered breath. I shift to make sure my body still shields her from any potential threats. Luna growls low beside us before pacing the short perimeter.

Lucy stumbles forward with shaking hands. “This…this isn’t…”

I watch her break when the lie falls apart all around her. I watch her face for the truth to present itself. Her shock seems genuine, but I’ve seen better actors.

One of the women in the nearest steps forward and her long, bony fingers wrap around the bars. “Lucy?”

Lucy gasps and runs up to the bars. “Samantha?”

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