Page 40 of Broken Fate
Except he never emerged.
Huh?
I waited a few more seconds, then started to make my way under the log into the shallow valley it had fallen across. There was no sign of Kiel. Curious about how he’d managed to disappear, I sniffed at the air, locating his scent. It was strong, and I followed it easily.
Right into the ground.
Tucked beneath a boulder, cleverly hidden unless approached from the perfect angle, was an opening. I followed Kiel’s trail into it and through a long, winding cave that continued well past where any natural light could reach. I slowed, but Kiel’s scent was undeniable. He’d been through there just before me. It was barely wide enough to accommodate my wolf. Kiel must have been quite uncomfortable pushing his way through it.
I trotted on until the rock squeezed in so close that I began to panic. It was too tight. If I hit a dead end, I wasn’t turning around. I would be stuck, left to die underground. Far from where anyone could hear me. I would slowly starve to death.
Just as the weight of all the ground above me closed in oppressively, the cave abruptly widened. Torches appeared on the walls, light flickering steadily, showing me the way forward. I picked up my pace. WherewasI? Some kind of hidden tomb or grave? Why had Kiel brought me there, of all places?
“Jada.”
I skidded to a stop as Kiel appeared out of a side corridor. He was in his human form, clad in simple sweats. Gesturing, he pointed for me to enter where he’d just left.
I did and found a little room with carved cubbies stocked with various outfits. Shifting back, I picked out ones that mostly fit and got dressed. Kiel waited for me outside.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“Home,” Kiel said quietly, striding ahead.
I hurried to follow. That was not a place I wanted to get lost in.
We rounded a corner, and I came to a halt.
“Wow.” I let out a slow breath, trying to take in the scope of what I was seeing.
The path we’d taken had let us out on the very top lip of agargantuancavern. It spread wide and far, descending a half-dozen or more levels below before reaching the ground floor. In the center, a giant stalactite tapered as it dropped. At its midpoint, halfway down the cavern, it started to widen again. A central stairway was mounted to the feature, and rope bridges attached to it in a crazed spiderweb pattern, providing access to the various cave entrances I saw dotted throughout the levels, each one marked by a pair of flickering torches, just as ours was.
But more than the size. I was astonished by the sheer number of shifters I saw moving about. At the manor, there had been no more than two dozen, I was fairly certain. Perhaps less. In the first thirty seconds of standing there, I counted upwards of forty, and there were more still, coming and going too quickly to count.
“Children?” I questioned as I noticed a group of young darting around one of the balconies two levels down.
“Yes,” Kiel said. “As I said, this is home.”
“Not much of an answer,” I said softly.
“Come, we must see who else has arrived.” Kiel walked out onto the rope bridge, heading straight for the stairs.
I went after him, trying to convince myself that the sudden case of nerves causing my heart to flutter was because of the heights and not my fears about who may—or may not—have escaped from the manor.
We descended to the ground floor and hurried toward the largest entrance on that level. Kiel left me, moving to talk to a tall, stern-faced shifter who looked like he never smiled.
“Excuse me.”
I turned to see a female shifter trying to get by and into the tunnel entrance.
“Sorry,” I said, noting her overbalanced load of clothing and other items. “Do you want a hand?”
“That would be great, thank you,” she said, unloading two of her bags.
I followed along. “What’s all this for?” I asked.
“The others.”
“Others?”
