Page 28 of Shadow's End

Not wanting to dwell onthat, I spun and walked back into the canyon. Aiden stepped in behind me, then the others followed in single file. I stopped when we reached the smaller cavern’sentrance, once again checking for any sign of magic. The place remained silent and empty.

I wished I could say the same for the larger cavern.

The ghosts were moaning. Loudly. It was as if they sensed salvation was at hand.

I glanced around at Belle. “They’ve practically got a choir happening in that other cavern—are you going to be okay?”

She nodded, though sorrow haunted her silver eyes. “Their emotional weight rests heavily on the air, which will affect you more than me. I’ll be fine as long as I don’t connect.”

“You’ll have to connect to help them move on, though, won’t you?” Monty asked, with a frown.

She hesitated, tilting her head slightly sideways as she listened to her spirit guides. “It’s apparently possible to do a bulk ‘move on’ spell without connecting, as long as the souls are confined to the one area.”

“And the souls that refuse the call?”

“Will remain in that cavern. I cannot alter that. I’ve never been able to.”

It was rare for souls to refuse moving on, but there were always some outliers who couldn’t accept their death, or who wanted to remain close to those they’d loved, even if only in spirit form. We’d certainly come across a couple over the years.

“Why would any soul want to remain in such an awful place?” Monty asked, then touched Belle’s arm lightly. “If you need to stop at any point, just shout.”

She nodded and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t so certain, and the quick look she cast me suggested she was worried about us both. I frowned down at the threads on my wrist; the whispers had fallen silent, but the buzz of their power skated across the back of my thoughts. I reached out, trying to connect with them mentally, and felt a slight pop in thepower stream. An acknowledgement of my attempt, perhaps? I had no real idea, but it didn’t hurt to try.I need Belle’s help to cleanse. You have to stop blocking her.

The request seemed to echo across that band of static but there was no immediate lifting of the barrier that had cut us off.

I cursed silently and stalked toward the tunnel. It turned out to be man-made, and the heavy wooden beams supporting the ceiling and walls in this section looked in surprisingly good condition. I doubted it would stay that way, given the steady trickle of water I could hear running deeper within the tunnel.

Monty’s light sphere bobbed above our heads, its pale light washing across rough red walls that still bore the pick marks of those who’d carved it into existence. It was easier to move through than the crevice had been, but I nevertheless walked on cautiously. Just because all I’d sensed were the ghosts and Maelle’s demon didn’t mean Marie or Jaqueline hadn’t left another surprise for us.

The deeper we moved into the tunnel, the louder the moaning became. Thick waves of agony and fear washed across my senses, making it increasingly harder to force my feet on. My shields were on high, but without Belle running interference?—

The connection between us flared to life with a suddenness that had me blinking back tears of relief. The Fenna had finally acknowledged my need and lifted the blocking shield. Their static still ran through the far reaches of my mind, though their voices were now a distant murmur I couldn’t really understand.

Maybe the fact that I wasn’t naturally telepathic meant that I could only mentally deal with one connection at a time.

Possiblecame Belle’s thought.Have they gone completely?

No, and I suspect they’ll break our connection again if they have something to tell me.I paused.You can’t hear their static?

No, but I haven’t got the right blood in me. Whatever the reason for our reconnection, I’m glad it happened. Aside fromthe fact your absence felt plain wrong, we’ll need to pull on each other’s strength to get through what awaits.

That was a certainty. And probably why the Fenna had, in fact, relented.

We were deeper into the tunnel now and it was becoming increasingly degraded. Water dripped from the ceiling, and the rock underfoot was slippery with slime. Rubble scattered the floor and, up ahead, barely visible in the sphere’s pale light, a ceiling support had partially collapsed, spilling rocks across the ground, and narrowing the tunnel considerably. Moss hung over the uprights and the cracked half of the ceiling support that remained lodged in the wall, suggesting it wasn’t a recent fall. But the smell of rot now vied with blood in the air. One wrong move, and this whole tunnel could come down on top of us.

“I’m thinking thisisn’tthe tunnel they used to bring their prisoners in,” Monty said. “There’s no way they could herd frightened people through here without causing an accident.”

“That’s presuming their captives weren’t spelled into submission,” Ashworth replied. “Or that vampires capable of transport spells would be bothered walking their dinner into whatever dining room they might be using.”

“According to Jaqueline, they stopped using this one,” I said. “I also asked her to stop killing. She refused.”

“She’s Maelle’s daughter, so that’s also unsurprising,” Monty said.

“Maelle doesn’t kill her feeders,” I replied.

“As far as we’re aware,” Monty said. “But given what we now know of her, I doubt that was always the case.”

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