Page 308 of Caelum

There was a reason Frazer always put himself at the forefront of any danger. It wasn’t because he was a danger junkie, or because he wanted all the glory after the battle. It was because he was a protector. Through and through.

He’d die before anyone he loved was hurt on his watch, and Eve putting herself in the front was going to be agony for him.

Especially if something happened to her.

I raised my hand and pressed it onto his shoulder, squeezing down and shooting him a look I hoped would ease him a little. I could sense his disquiet, knew he wanted to argue with her, but logic alone told him he couldn’t. She was right. She made sense.

Without her to guide us, we’d be stuck in this cramped space, with its too low ceilings, rounded walls, and craggy steps that led to only the fuck knew where.

If this was considered a Ghouls’ paradise, then they could fucking keep it.

I wasn’t claustrophobic, but I had a feeling that after this was over, I would be.

Thinking about how narrow everything was just made me feel antsy, and as we traipsed after Eve who appeared to be the only comfortable oneamong us, because she was shorter and less bulky than the rest of us, I felt myself grow more and more miserable from the tight confines.

Of course, my Vampire just happened to love it.

Even though the glow emitting from the wall where Eve touched it was enough to guide our path, to let us view the kind of hobbit rooms the Ghouls had been living in—there were signs of bags of Cheetos and cans of Coke littering some rooms, a Playboy magazine in another, and even a cell phone that was buzzing when we entered a bedroom—my creature appreciated the darkness. The Vampire loved these conditions, fought best in them.

In fact…

As the thought swirled inside my brain, it made me queasy with disquiet.

All our creatures functioned well in this environment.

Almost like we’d been made to fight in tight spaces and darkened pits.

Shaken, I pressed my palm to the wall where Eve had touched moments before and was bewildered by the warmth that lingered there. It wasn’t boiling, not hot enough to sting, but it was comforting against my digits.

“What is it?” Dre asked from behind me.

“I was just thinking,” I rasped, “how these are ideal fighting conditions for us.”

He snorted. “Think again. My bear?—”

“Would fit.” He wasn’t the largest species of bear out there, and the grizzly didn’t exactly needroomto maim and kill, did it?

“Shit. That has to be a coincidence. Right?”

“I don’t know,” I rumbled, “but I don’t like it.”

His hum told me he felt the exact same way.

As we headed into the depths of the cavernous network, it was impossible to avoid the sight of the thousands of piles of ash that lingered here and there.

Though we’d seen proof in the cities above ground, the wind had swiftly done away with them. Here? They’d rest for eternity unless something, vermin or whatever, disturbed them.

“I wonder how many lived in the temple,” Reed commented from in front of me. “If there were that many there, then Jesus.”

“I wonder why Drekavac didn’t live somewhere similar,” Dre mused.

“He probably did. Remember, the clue said he lived in the mountains. He only came down because we drew him out.”

“The people living here had to be important. They were his inner circle,” Reed postulated. “Erlik has to be pissed at being left alone.”

“Unless he has already escaped.”

“He hasn’t,” Eve stated, her voice as calm as anything.

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