Page 81 of Tortured Soul
“As you can see,” Carrie continued, still oblivious, “there’s a whole area that doesn’t have traps, forming kind of a large path in the direction of the stone forest and up to the canyons.”
There was. The map was incredibly detailed.
“We believe they have their operation center or the prison in that area.”
With the tip of a pen, she circled the canyon I had to avoid on my way here from Nevada.
During the war, a large group of Immortals had taken refuge there, using caves and caverns, connecting them with narrow underground corridors to stay hidden.
Humans, not understanding the principle of being an Immortal, had tried various methods to drive them out, including poisoning the Colorado River, and killing thousands of their own in the process.
That river was now long gone, used by a few elemental warlocks and witches to retaliate. They absorbed it’s entire essence, saving the land it ran over from completely putrefying, and made it rain, containing the damages to the whole state.
Most humans died from their own poison, but it killed the fauna and flora too, turning almost every mortal thing to rotting stone.
The scorching heat had somehow stopped the rot, making the whole state a desert covered with stone forest and cracked floor.
And the canyon, which previously hosted part of the river, was now just dry land surrounded by menacing mountains and cliffs.
“You think they settled in the old caves? Are they safe with everything that happened?” Dimitri asked, leaning to study the map.
“They might have built around them or in the dead river bed,” Carrie said, bringing the pen to her mouth to nibble on the cap. “Oryeah, maybe they secured the caverns and caves to stay hidden from sight.”
“Why not send someone who can teleport there?” I asked.
Arc shook his head, closing his eyes briefly.
“There’s something there that prevents us from pinpointing it. Everyone who tried to land here”—he placed his finger on the canyon area—“ended up somewhere else a few miles away.”
My brows scrunched down.
“Humanscan’tdo things like this,” Dimitri cut in, obviously as confused as I was.
“That’s why we believe there are Immortals, too.”
I let myself fall backward until my back met the back of the chair. Arc said that to me yesterday, when he mentioned the threats he was receiving. But it seemed ludicrous to picture Immortals working alongside humans to harm others of their kind.
“We also found this in a few cabins.” Carrie leaned to the side to grab something from the floor, between her and Arc.
She placed a familiar device on the table, right in the middle of us all.
Familiar because I’ve seen this once before, and once only.
Just about a couple of weeks ago, when I was attacked on my way here.
“It’s—”
“A tracker,” I interrupted her.
Oh, how my little excursion outside the time I went into the cabin could have goneverywrong, if that weasel had had a mind and actually used it.
“You’ve seen this before?” Arc asked at the same time Dimitri said, “How do you know what that thing is?”
“I-I,” I stuttered, trying to remember through the fog that was my memory.
I’d burned that thing with the bodies that night, but I remembered the look on their faces as they pointed it toward me and it blinked like a christmas tree.
“It’s uh—yes. I was attacked by humans on my way here, and they had something like this.”
