Page 50 of Commanding Chaos

“No, she has not.” Ember stomped behind him. “My sister would never be so stupid.”

I grinned, giving her a hard time. “Cinder did it. I don’t see why I couldn’t.”

“She went to find Mom and Dad, not to visit a demon.” I could practically feel the pain in her jaw as she spoke through clenched teeth. “Ahh!”

I spun around in time to see her rip a rat out of her hair and fling it into the water. She shined her light at the ceiling, revealing a swarm of rodents on the ledge above her, and she squealed. Rushing forward while looking up, she slammed into Chaos. Her foot slipped off the walk, and she fell knee-deep into the sludge.

Chaos caught her before she went in completely, and he laughed as he tugged her back to safety. “I’ve seen you battle a hoard of imps, a shedim, and a basilisk without flinching, yet you’re afraid of a harmless rodent.”

She huffed and jerked from his grasp. “Rats are not harmless. They carry the plague and who knows what else.”

“A kid at school found a dead one on the playground and dropped it down the back of her shirt when they were in third grade. She never got over it.” I shined my light to the right where I felt the tug and found a narrow tunnel dug into the wall. Crumbled bricks lay scattered around the opening, and a pile of dirt stood to the right.

“This looks fresh.” I kicked the earth. “We aren’t the first people to find this place.”

“No kidding, Captain Obvious.” Ember kicked her leg, throwing sludge off her boot. “This is where I say, ‘I told you so.’”

Scraping that sounded an awful lot like the manhole cover being removed echoed behind us, and a beam of light flashed into the tunnel. Boots thudded on the walk, and we killed our lights, pressing our bodies to the wall.

“How many shadow spells do we have left?” Ember asked.

“Two. Come on.” My heart racing, I slipped into the tunnel, and Chaos followed. “Hopefully they’re workers, and we can hide out until they’re done.”

“It just had to be in the sewer, didn’t it?” a woman asked. “No telling what we might catch down here with all these rats.”

“See?” Ember whispered and joined us in the tunnel. “It’s not just me.”

“How are we going to make this thing do our bidding?” a man asked.

“We’re setting it free. It’ll be in our debt,” the woman replied.

“Crap. Not workers then.” I inched deeper into the tunnel. This was so not me, going first without checking for hexes or wards. I stopped and turned around, hoping to make my way past Chaos to let him lead, but the passage was narrow. I couldn’t get around him.

“Do you sense anything?” I whispered. “Demons? Trolls?”

He shook his head. “Do you?”

“No.”

“Keep going,” Ember said. “They’re almost here.”

“Wait.” I recited a quick revealing spell. Sparkles clung to the walls and drifted into the darkness. “There was a ward, but someone broke it. I can’t see the rest without light.”

“Just go,” Ember said. “I’d rather face whatever is in here than dark witches. They don’t fight fair.”

An image of poor Ginger flashed through my mind. Ember made a good point. With my hands stretched out in front of me, I carefully trod down the path until a ray of light slashed through the darkness from above.

“We’re right below a storm drain.” A ceramic container lay shattered on the ground, my spell clinging to it, revealing a shroud. “Damn it.”

Roots protruded from the wall on the left, and a dead beastie hung tangled, a machete penetrating its heart. It stood at least six feet tall, with green skin stretched tightly over bulging muscles that gave Chaos a run for his money in the beef department.

My demon stood in front of it, clasping his hands behind his back. “That is a proper guard.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“A goblin.” He turned away from the carnage. “A troll’s meaner, more aggressive cousin.”

“I thought light witches didn’t mess with demons.” I spun around to find a woman with curly blonde hair sneering, twirling a knife in her hand. “Step aside. This one’s ours.”

---