The smell was almost unbearable. My nose was twitching as I fought against the urge to throw up or growl. The six of us stood silent, waiting to see if our entrance had been detected. It was really dark under here, hard to see our surroundings even with help from my wolf. The sewerage area we were in was small and narrow. The boys had to crouch to not hit their heads. Maximus had said that this was just an offshoot, not the main thoroughfare.
Before we’d started this mission, the Compasses had explained the general layout of the prison. There was a large circular room right in the center which acted as a mingling zone. Every day for a few hours the five different supernatural races were allowed out for shared lunch, and to interact and have exercise time. Spanning off this area were five thin tendril-like zones. They formed the prison cells for each group. There was no mingling between different races in the cells; this was strictly enforced – vampires were only with vamps and so on. There were very specific protections on these areas. They catered to the weaknesses of each supernatural race. If I had to guess, judging by the wolfsbane, silver and blood-sacrifice power that I could see threaded through the stone structures above our heads, the spot we had entered seemed to be underneath the shifter zone.
After a few minutes of silence everyone let out the breath they’d been holding. We seemed to be in the clear. Well, no one had followed us through the wall, which indicated we had not been seen.
Braxton started to creep his way along the tunnel, bent almost in half to fit. “Follow me,” he said.
It took about ten minutes for us to emerge into what I would say looked like the central sewerage line.
Braxton stayed in the lead, giving us a quick rundown. “Nash told me how to find the area he slept in. It’s in between the shifter and vampire section of the prison. These are the sewerage systems he uses to get around.”
“So this area is not really accessible from the main prison?” Mischa asked.
Braxton nodded. “I don’t think so. I did a reasonable amount of exploring but never could quite figure out how to get into this eastern section of Vanguard. Nash sort of clued me in on how to do it.”
We started walking again, sticking close to the wall. On the other side of us was a semi-circle dip in the stone which contained whatever disgusting muck ran through a sewerage system, and I was very grateful to not only be wearing shoes, but to also not have to go into that shit.
After about ten minutes, Braxton stopped. “We’ll go up here.” He reached out and rested his hand on a metal ladder that hugged the rock walls. I hadn’t even noticed it until right then. “Let me go first and make sure the area is clear.”
Just like that he was gone, scaling the heights in seconds. The others stood around chatting, but I stayed right near the bottom rung, staring up, waiting for him to return. I was about eight seconds from saying ‘screw-this’ and following his path, when his voice echoed down to us.
“All clear.”
I was four rungs up when Maximus plucked me off the ladder and set me back on my feet.
“I’ll go first, just in case it’s a trap.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. I knew they protected because they loved, but still … give the Superman shit a rest, boys. It must be itchy under all of that spandex.
I ended up following Maximus, Mischa right behind me, and the other two bringing up the rear. It was a lot higher than it had looked from the ground, and unlike Braxton it took me quite a few minutes to make it to the ceiling. There was a small dark opening, I slithered up through the gap into the next space. The room was narrow with no natural light at all, just a few wizard stones embedded high in the wall. They cast the blue tones of fake illumination and I hated trying to see in it. It messed with my eyes.
We had to walk single file. The Compasses were almost brushing the walls with their broad shoulders. Braxton and Maximus, in front of me, had the tunnel pretty thoroughly blocked, and I hated that I couldn’t see anything. But I wasn’t afraid, despite the dark and eeriness of our surroundings. No one spoke and I took this as a sign to keep my mouth shut. Although, as we continued our trek, I was starting to wish I’d asked for more information before we got in here. Like, how big was this freaking prison?
I was just about at the end of my limited patience when Maximus came to a halt. Of course I ran straight into his back, and Mischa smashed into me. Which did not move him even one inch.
I heard the grating of what sounded like a rusty door and we were moving again, pivoting to the left and through a metal opening. The rusty door was apparent now, shoved back against the wall, showing signs of pockmarking and corrosion. Finally, we entered a larger room. The quads spread out to the side and I could finally see around their broad shoulders.
My heart stopped beating. Or the world stood still.
Holy fucking hell!