Page 74 of Curses and Casualties
We wait in tense silence, listening to our friends fight our battle. Each howl, each scream, each thunderous crash of power makes my wolf strain to join them. But we hold position, two figures in ceremonial robes while war rages around us.
“Now,” Amara says suddenly. “They’ve committed their forces. The cave will be as clear as it’s going to get.”
The portal shimmers to life, showing a glimpse of dark stone tunnels.
Georgia takes a deep breath, straightening her shoulders. “Together?”
I hold out my hand for her to take. “Let’s finish this.”
We step through the portal as one, leaving our allies behind and entering the place where we began, the darkness of the Soulcave.
Chapter 27
Georgia
The portal spits us out in darkness so complete I can’t see my own hand in front of my face. My knees hit stone hard enough to bruise, and I bite back a curse. The sound of dripping water echoes off invisible walls, and the air smells of minerals and age—deep earth scents that my geology brain automatically starts categorizing even as my heart races.
“Ryan?” My voice sounds small in the vastness.
“Here.” His hand finds mine, warm and solid. “Fuck. These aren’t the tunnels I know. This isn’t anywhere near the main chamber.”
“Amara said she could only get us into the system, not to a specific location.” I stand carefully, one hand trailing along the rough wall. “But it’s OK. I can feel them—the heartstones. Luna seems to know where to go.”
We move carefully, hands linked, trusting our enhanced senses to guide us. The ceremonial robes are completely impractical for cave navigation. The silk catches and tears on every projection, and more than once I hear Ryan curse as he bangs his head on low-hanging rock.
“Last time I take Amara’s fashion advice,” I mutter, yanking my hem free from yet another snag.
“Shh.” Ryan stops, placing his arm in front to halt me too. “Listen.”
The sounds of battle filter through tons of solid rock—muffled but unmistakable. Snarls and howls, the crack of magic meeting magic, and underneath it all, screams of pain. Our friends are up there, fighting and dying while we’re stumbling around in the dark.
“We must be getting closer.”
“We are,” I whisper, feeling Luna’s pull. “Left here. Then down. We’re going deeper.”
The descent is treacherous. Natural cave formations give way to carved passages, ancient work that predates the pack by centuries. The darkness becomes absolute—even our enhanced senses can’t penetrate it.
“I can’t see anything,” Ryan says, his arm around me as his hand trails along the wall.
Allow me,Luna offers, and suddenly my skin begins to glow with soft silver light. Not the intense flare of arousal or fear, but a steady illumination that pushes back the dark.
“Handy,” Ryan murmurs, and in the Luna-light I can see him smile.
My fingers trace symbols worn smooth by age as we descend. The carvings are beautiful and alien, depicting wolves and moons and intertwining patterns that I’d love to stop and study, but I don’t have the time.
“What is this place?” I wonder aloud.
“I don’t know,” Ryan says. “I’ve never been down this far. It’s older than the pack, though. Maybe older than any pack we know of.”
The tunnel opens gradually, walls widening until we can walk side by side. A faint glow appears ahead—heartstone light, unmistakable in its rainbow brilliance.
“Wait.” Ryan pulls me against the wall, his body tense. “We can’t just walk in there. It’s too quiet.”
He’s right. The main chamber should be guarded, especially now. But there’s no scent of wolves, no sounds of movement. Just that steady, pulsing glow and?—
“Ah, seems our honored guests have arrived. Don’t be shy. Come on out.”
The voice echoes off stone as we step into the sacred chamber. My blood turns to ice. Elder Gray stands in the center of the space, looking exactly as he did the night he declared me unworthy—cold, old, utterly sure of his superiority. But it’s the chamber itself that steals my breath.
