Page 115 of A Drop of Anguish
“Just peachy,” I say. My vision is beginning to adjust, just like Jarron said, and I can see the faint shadows distinguishing some rocks from others. It’s not enough to be able to walk without dying, but maybe enough not to trip when someone else leads me through.
Our small group piles in close to each other, but then everyone stills, and I have to wonder if there was some message for everyone to stop that I couldn’t see or hear.
Being human among supernaturals sucks.
I can feel the others near me, though, so I don’t feel alone, and I suppose that should be enough. Fingers dance along the nape of my neck.
Jarron’s touch sends chills down my spine and terror into my bones.
I followed the note’s instructions to follow my tattoo rather than tracking the card. That means I believe there is some validity to the note.
If so, my sister could be alive. Somehow, after almost a year—
I shake my head. They found her body. This is just another trick of the games. Mr. Vandozer trying to get under my skin and push me away from Jarron.
Jarron, who seems to have noticed my unease and is sliding his arms around me. His warm hand slips over my stomach, the pads of his fingers under the hem of my shirt.
Here in the darkness, I am cocooned by a demon.
And I am utterly terrified. Not that he’ll hurt me, but that this will be the last time he touches me like this.
Because if Liz is alive, then the note was right all along.
He’s not mine.
He was never mine.
45
Welcome to the Akrasia Games
Our small group inches through the tunnel, step by step. Lola huddles on my chest, and I hold a hand gently over her to ensure she’s never crushed by an accidental collision with a wall.
Walls and I are not currently on friendly terms.
Janet grabs my arm and pulls me back from what I assume would have been another hard collision, but she doesn’t release me. She stands still. So, I wait.
“There’s a cavern on the other side,” Janet whispers. Jarron’s chest brushes up against my back to lean over me and press his palm against the stone.
“I don’t feel anything,” Jarron says. “Can you tell how big? How far it reaches?”
There’s a pause while I assume Janet uses her senses to get an answer to those questions. “Very large. Hundreds of feet each way at least. I don’t know how far or how to reach it.”
“Let’s keep moving then. Keep an eye on it, please. That might be where they are.”
We continue moving again, slower this time. There’s a slight scraping sound of fingers against the stone. I don’t know much about troll abilities, but maybe Janet needs physical contact with the rock to sense where things are.
We walk for another couple minutes before Janet gasps and we all stop.
“Here,” she whispers. “There’s… magic coming through here.”
Keep walking,a voice whispers.
I lift my chin. “Did someone say to keep walking?”
There’s a pause. “No,” Janet says uncertainly.
“I heard a voice,” I say, realizing that may make me sound insane. Then again, the supernatural world isn’t quite as sensitive to those kinds of things.
