Page 309 of Caelum

“Can you hear water?” Reed inserted before I could utter a word.

I tilted my head to the side and focused on anything other than the scrape of our feet against the rocky floor. “Yeah. I can.” My brow puckered.

Frazer asked, “Where is it?”

I thought about the maps of the underground city I’d studied, and even though this part was probably uncharted, I had to figure it was built on a similar premise. Every few rooms, there was a large ventilation shaft and a water access point. But this sounded more than just a well… that flushing sound?

It was a river.

Impossible.

Surely?

Uncertain whether I was concerned or just bewildered, I shook off those thoughts because they were getting me nowhere and carried on, with one foot in front of the other, growing more and more miserable as we passed an endless array of small rooms, rounded ceilings, and walls that had the names of thousands carved into them—ancient graffiti. Who could beat it? And behind those walls? The throbbing power of water.

Disconcerting?

Very.

We walked for ages. It felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes; still, my misery added to the time. When Eve rasped, “This is it,” I wasn’t sure whether to be elated or more despondent.

Our time of reckoning had come, and this might very well be the final moments I had with my Pack intact.

A nauseating thought, and one I didn’t need to contemplate. These people were my family. They would never replace the one I’d left behind, but they didn’t need to. With time, I knew my Pack would help me break free from my parents and brother and sister, because they already had.

Even amid the chaos, I hadn’t had time to think of them. Hadn’t worried about them because I had enough on my plate without fretting about them.

Only my Pack and Eve could have managed that, and yet, here I was, heading into a situation that could mean the end of us all.

Fun times.

Not.

This part of the cave was wider, almost like it had been broadened for heavy traffic. We fanned out and saw why Eve hadn’t moved on.

There was a stone door, but it was circular and needed rolling to open it.

My mouth gaped at the ingenuity of the people who’d originally built this city. I couldn’t make out how it worked. With the temple either. Had ancient people built this city and that place of worship? Had the Ghouls overtaken them as their own? Or were they the ones who’d built them? Adding to them as their numbers grew?

It didn’t really matter, but I found myself fascinated nonetheless.

Reed, Nestor, and Dre headed to the door. As the Shifters, they were the strongest, and my ego wasn’t that wimpish that I needed it stroked by attempting to shift a boulder that required some heft behind it.

As they began to move it, though, Eve blurted out, “Wait!” When they froze and turned to her, she whispered, “We don’t know what’s beyond there. We don’t know what we’re facing or if the light even managed to get into this part of the city. We’re deep, the door is solid, and there could be a thousand more Ghouls hiding inside…” She gulped. “I-I just wanted to say that…”

“No,” Stefan grated out. “This isn’t goodbye, Eve.”

Eve’s bottom lip quivered. “We don’t know that. We don’t know what’s going to happen, and I just—” She blew out a breath, took a second to compose herself, and whispered, “I love you. I love you all.” She began flittering about the circle we’d inadvertently made around her, since her safety, as always, was paramount for us.

As she neared me, she whispered, “Thank you for doing the dirty work, for making yourself a target to protect your brothers.” She reached up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I love you for that, and I love you for needing us to be safe.”

She didn’t let me cling to her, didn’t want to be stopped.

At Stefan, she kissed him then whispered, “Thank you for keeping us together, for making me a part of this strange family, and welcoming me and coming to care for me even though I was something to be feared.” Another kiss. “I love you for that, and I love you for loving me.”

Eren came next, and after she kissed him, she said, “Thank you for teaching me the whacky things in this world. For being gentle with me even though I must have been irritating.” She sucked in another shaky breath. “I love you for that, and I love you for letting me see the real you.”

With Frazer, she pressed her forehead to his. “Thank you for guiding us. For not being afraid to take the lead and doing what has to be done to get us where we need to go.” She sighed, kissed him gently, and whispered, “I love you for that, and I love you for needing me.”

---