Page 15 of Tangled Fates

We all desperately needed a shower, these two weeks consisted of washing ourselves in the small river that ran in the middle of the gorge. We tried washing ourselves and clothes as often as we could but we were all paranoid of being caught with our pants down—literally.

“I don’t know, this place feels like it was purposely made to be dangerous so that it would keep people out or kill them if they got in,” I said, still on high alert. “Something is hidden here, and I have a feeling if we find it, it's going to make us very rich.”

“I agree, it's the only thing that makes sense. Someone would have mapped this place out already or we would have heard of this before today.” Gray walked up next to me. “This isn’t natural. Something is here, but the longer we are here the less I think we are going to find it.”

“Then let's not find it and just get the hell outta here so we can return to our mission and get what we need.” Ryder pulled a black shirt over his chest, before putting on his vest, checking all his pockets. “Let’s go, but let’s make sure we don’t run into those again.”

We took off running as we heard another snarl coming from behind. If we could just keep going, maybe the animal would get tired. It only took another minute before the animal grew tired and we were able to relax.

“I hate coming here.” I heard a voice in the distance.

“Come on, let's get going before one of those spiders comes around,” another person said.

“Hurry up, you fools,” a woman’s sharp voice snapped.

Gray glanced over his shoulder as we slowed down.

“There’s no sense in rushing,” a man snapped. “I’m sure you could demolish this entire chasm.”

“Excuse me?” she shrieked.

We slowed down when we spotted them, hiding in the overgrowth of grass and vines.

“You heard me, pull that thong from your ass, so you can quit being a bitch,” a man growled as he opened a portal.

“If we run quick enough, we can make it,” I whispered.

“Yeah, but what will they do to us when we do?” Gray asked.

“At least we will be out of this godforsaken place,” I growled.

“I think our best shot is to run after them. Once we get through, one of you can carry me out and we can make our escape,” Ryder said, slowly inching towards them.

“This could end badly,” Gray hissed. “We don’t know who these people are and what if they use another spell against our powers.”

“We don’t have a choice,” I said, seeing the last few people come up to the portal.

My body shot forward ready to go through the portal when a fucking pain in the ass cat blocked my way. I hesitated for a moment. He was focused on the other people when I snapped his neck, but just those few seconds robbed us of our way to get out.

The portal closed just as I was getting close to it.

“No!” I yelled.

“Shit,” Ryder snarled, looking around like we might get lucky for another portal to reopen.

I looked up, trying to calm my rising anger, but that felt like it was our only opportunity to leave. I walked to the mountain to the left of us, ready to punch the shit out of something. This piece of the mountain was covered in vines, and I wished for a moment climbing was an option.

I put both hands up to the mountain, but when I thought my hands were going to hit rock, I fell through into a cave. I was about to lose my shit when I realized I was in a cave in the mountains. I walked through the cave moving some vines, realizing I was in the middle of a mountain range with a large tower in the middle of a big piece of land and a waterfall off in the corner.

“Shit,” I whispered. “Did I just find what we were looking for?”

The description Ryder was able to get from that man was identical to what I was looking at. Movement to my left had me hiding behind a nearby tree. A woman was walking back to the tower with long, beautiful hair. The smell of sunflowers and lilies traveled to me, making my mouth water immediately. It was oddly familiar, but it smelled like the best and most comforting scent.

My chest felt tight, the need to follow her overwhelmed me. Was this what the gorge protected? Without thinking of the consequences, I used the darkness to move around worried there would be an army of people protecting her or whatever was here.

She got to the entrance of the tower looking around like she knew that I was watching. I was behind a tree peeking around it to keep an eye on her when she looked in my direction. My chest tightened again, feeling like it was too much pressure. I inhaled her scent again as she opened the door disappearing inside the tower.

I didn’t care, so I made a mad dash for the door, hoping she hadn’t locked it. Luck was on my side when she continued up the steps without a backward glance. Waiting until she walked further up the stairs, I opened the door slowly, hoping it didn’t make a noise.

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