Page 51 of The Devil Went Down to Laughlin
They walked for what felt like a hundred yards or so, although he hadn’t been counting. Abruptly, the passageway opened up into a cavelike space, but Caleb guessed it was just as manmade as the tunnel they’d traversed.
Carved into the walls at what he guessed were the four points of the compass were more of the witch’s knots. Although they’d been relying on the small beam from Ty’s phone to guide them along, there was no need for that light here, since the chamber was illuminated by the warm glow emanating from those knots.
“Yes, this is the place,” Ty said. He moved a few paces farther into the earth-walled room, and his blue eyes narrowed for a moment, as if he was trying to sense something. “It’s a portal, something the Sanchez family would have had every reason to protect.”
“‘A portal’?” Pru echoed as she looked all around the chamber. “I don’t see any doors.”
Ty smiled, although there didn’t seem to be anything indulgent in his expression. “A portal between worlds…a doorway between realities. The barrier here is very thin, which is why I think August Sellers wanted to use Delia to find this place.”
“What does he want to do with it?” Caleb asked.
The half angel now looked almost condescending. “Think about it. What is one overriding goal that almost all demons share?”
Well, that was easy enough. “They want an easy way to get to Earth.”
“Exactly. And if August Sellers found out about this spot, then I think his powers would be sufficiently strong to open a portal and bring as many of his friends here as he likes.”
Pru had stepped toward Ty, her face a study in confusion. “I thought the demons were already here,” she said.
“Some of them,” he replied, his tone still gentle. “There are always a few who find their way to this plane. But unless they work very hard at it, they can’t stay very long. With this portal open, hundreds or even thousands of them could come through…and remain here for as long as they liked.”
She swallowed, and Caleb guessed she was beginning to understand the implications of having hordes of demons free to roam around the planet. Probably not completely, just because she didn’t have the same knowledge of demon-kind that he did, but enough so she could see this would be a terrible outcome.
“What can we do?” she asked.
“It’s more what Delia can do,” Ty said. “She has to work as hard as she can to prevent August Sellers from fully tapping into her powers. The longer she can block him, the better the chance that we can find her before Sellers locates this place.”
Easier said than done. Caleb hated this sensation of impotence, of knowing Delia was out there somewhere but having no idea as to her true location.
She was strong…and yet he knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out forever, not with a powerful demon bending his will upon her.
He looked away from Ty, his gaze scanning the chamber where they stood. It seemed very plain, with those four knots engraved into the walls its only real decoration.
But….
“I think there’s something funky with that one knot over there,” he said, and tilted his toward the witch’s knot that he thought was supposed to designate true north. “The center of the design is glowing brighter than the other ones.”
“I think you’re right,” Pru said. “They’re all bright enough that I’ve been trying not to look at them directly, but it’s definitely a little different.”
Ty was closest to the engraving in question, so he moved over to it and placed his hand against the brilliant flare of the circle at the center of the knot. It flickered…and in the next moment, a folded piece of paper fell in his hand.
“What is it?” Caleb asked as he and Pru went over to see what the half angel had found.
“A map of some sort,” Ty replied as he unfolded the paper. It wasn’t parchment or anything so fancy as that, only what looked like a large piece of art paper, since one edge appeared slightly rough, as if it had been torn out of a sketchbook or something. “Look — it’s the Colorado River here in Laughlin. It has several spots that are starred.”
“Why?” Pru asked, leaning closer so she could get a better look at the thing. “What’s so special about those places?”
“I’m not sure,” Ty said, and his brows drew together as he inspected the map once more. “There’s no legend or anything to show what these stars mean, or why they’re different sizes. I suppose the people who made it — and anyone they would have left it to — would already know.”
“Then how helpful is it?” Caleb demanded. He was getting tired of half-clues and hints. He wanted something concrete, damn it.
“Well, it’s a piece of information we didn’t have a few minutes ago,” Ty replied calmly. “And if I can take some time to analyze it, maybe I’ll be able to figure out why those particular locations are starred. It’s clear this was made long before Laughlin was really developed, since there’s nothing here to show where any of the casinos are located.”
So maybe they could set a current map of the city next to this one and see if there were any correspondences.
“Is there anything else here?” Caleb asked, and Pru glanced around the chamber.
“Nothing that’s noticeable,” she said. “But we should probably take another good look, just to be safe.”
