Page 92 of A Light in the Darkness
There are a few lights on inside windows—including a neon ‘open’ sign inside the ‘trading post’ window and a beer sign lit up inside the inn.
“Shit’s creepy.” Michael grumbles, drawing closer. On my other side, Rook has his gun at the ready, his eyes taking in everything that there is to see, which isn’t a ton.
I don’t know whether the residents here are asleep or if they just stay indoors at night. Or maybe they just have the sense to stay away from us, because I certainly wouldn’t open the door to inquire about a group of strangers toting guns through town.
The ground slopes as Kent leads us downward, and I consciously keep my finger away from the trigger as I try to maintain my balance, suddenly grateful for the boots. Maybe Remy knew when it came down to it, he couldn’t leave me, even if itwasthe better option, which it isn’t.
The combined glow of all their lights illuminates the rock side, but I wouldn’t have noticed the former point of entry if Kent hadn’t drawn up to it. It’s barely bigger than him, an opening in the middle of the stone that is trimmed with wood beams and sealed with a thick plank of more wood.
I watch him examine the surface, running a hand over it looking for something. Whatever it is, he finds it, and then a moment later, pops the barrier open. It swings on hidden hinges, creaking open to expose a dark tunnel that makes my stomach clench.
A small part of me regrets this decision to come as I face the idea that this is where they’re headed. If I balk now, Remy will stay behind with me, and I’ll disappoint them all… not the least of which is Kent’s wife, who was stolen from him and erased without a single trace of her left. If she can face whatever horrors awaited her in this place alone, I can face it with these men at my back. And that’s exactly what we do.
The only hesitation comes from Michael, who sounds like he may throw up when he says, “We’re going in there?”
“Afraid of it collapsing?” Rook teases, brushing past him to shine his light ahead, illuminating a path for Kent.
“Or is it the small space you don’t like?” Rich joins in, smirking.
“No.” Michael swallows thickly, reaffirming my fear that he may toss his cookies out here. “It’s the mine spiders.”
“Mine spiders?” I hate how terrified my voice sounds when I repeat his words, and part of me wants to suggest that Michael and I can stand guard out here just so no one comes and seals us in there.
“He’s joking.” Remy assures me. He sounds confident in that, but when I catch Michael’s pale face, he shakes his head no.
Fucking mine spiders? I don’t know what that is, but anything with the word spider attached sounds awful in its own right. I suck in a steady breath through my nose, and then Remy ushers me ahead of him. “Remember what I said about shoot first, ask questions later?”
I nod, focusing on the back of Kent’s head rather than on the walls of rock closing us in. “Yeah, forget that. Safety on, and don’t shoot unless it’s necessary. We don’t want this thing collapsing on us.”
I nod again, because it’s all I can do with my mouth as dry as it is. All the possibilities of being in an abandoned mine hadn’t even occurred to me, but on top of the spiders and snakes and the humans that may be here, I have to worry about itcollapsing?
Fuck. If it does, Rhea will lose us both.
“Here,” Remy says, his breath tickling the back of my neck and sending chills down my arms. I reach up without turning, worried if I take my eyes off Kent, we’ll lose him. Although, there don’t appear to be any other places for him to go. The mine is a straight path forward, lit only by our lights. The tracks are wide enough that so long as we stay in the center of them, they’re not a tripping hazard.
Remy places something heavy and cold in my hand, and when I look at it, I laugh. I don’t know why I do, because there’s not reallyanything funny about our situation. But the glossy cheetah print on the stainless pocketknife is so absurdly out of place, I can’t not giggle at it.
“Did Elaine tell you one was missing?”
“I found the cheetah print one in my guest house covered in blood and put two and two together. Personally, I like the zebra one, but…”
I stifle another laugh, testing the release for the blade and seeing that that too has a print on it… and a wicked edge. I switch it closed and store it in my pocket, grateful for a more familiar source of protection. I also switch the safety off of the revolver, idly wishing I had a holster for the thing. I’m not opposed to carrying a gun, but literallycarryingit is kind of annoying.
His surprise gift served as a nice distraction from the fact that we’re walking constantly deeper into the dark, the cold getting more prominent. I’m not sure if that’s what has me shivering, or if it’s just the nature of where we are and what we’re doing.
Other than Michael’s stream of complaints—he’s cold, his feet hurt, it smells and when we get out of here, we should stop at the inn for a beer—we’re quiet as we follow the tunnel… until Kent comes to a stop at a fork in the mine.
Michael bumps into Rook, who knocks into Remy, and I absurdly want to giggle as I think of the little dwarves from the cartoon I used to watch. There were seven of those, though, and only six of us. I stifle the sound, but not the grin, which seems to concern Remy, who watches me with suspicion for a moment.
I don’t know if the air is thin down here or if I’m just slap happy on the adrenaline, but it beats being scared, so I reign it in and focus my attention on Kent as he looks among us.
“We split up. Rich, Remy, and Claire to the left. Michael and Rook can come with me to the right.”
“Bad idea.” Remy shakes his head. “We stick together, and then we can backtrack.”
“This is my mission, Boudreaux.” Kent argues. “We may have already given away our presence. If we don’t split up and we choose the wrong path, then by the time we backtrack, we could lose our only advantage.”
“He’s right.” Rich says from somewhere over my shoulder. “We left the jet a good distance away, but if anyone saw the lights in the sky, I’m sure they’re already suspicious enough.”
