“Here.” He pointed to a broken branch and some smushed grass. “Tracks.”
I couldn’t make out a footprint. “Couldn’t that have been a bear or something?”
“No. Those are human tracks.”
There was no way that was possible. “I thought no one knew the way.”
Lucas squatted to sniff the supposed track. “Human. They smell familiar, but not.” He stood up. “We have to be careful. No running. You stay behind me.”
Maybe people had been here recently, but that didn’t change what I needed to do. “I don’t need to be protected. I have plenty of magic of my own.” I brushed past him and closed the distance to the temple.
As soon as I stepped inside, the most foul smell ever hit me. I covered my mouth and nose as I gagged.
The temple’s entry was one massive room. Along the far wall, a corridor led off to elsewhere. An altar made of three huge slabs of stone stood between us and the corridor. A bowl of fire burned on its surface.
I stepped toward the altar. “What is that—” I stopped myself. I didn’t need to ask the question. I knew that smell. Only one thing was that disgusting.
“Vampires,” Lucas spat the word.
Standing in front of the walls, frozen like statues, were vampires.
Hundreds of them.
“Oh God.” They weren’t moving, and if they were really alive, they would’ve attacked by now. But if something changed, we were toast. There was no way we could fight this many. I didn’t have enough magic left. And no matter how strong an Alpha Lucas was, he was only one wolf.
“Whatever you do, don’t move,” Lucas whispered. “You could set them off.”
“Oh God.” My throat was suddenly tight. I took in the room with wide eyes, trying to come up with something—anything—that could help us.
What was I supposed to do now? Whatever I needed was surely inside this temple, but one wrong step and we’d both be worm food.
Just the two of us against an army of vampires… We didn’t stand a chance.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Why would the white mages have vampires in here?” My voice was tight with fear, as I stood there, taking in the surroundings. There had to be hundreds of them.
“I’m not sure. They’re frozen now by some sort of spell, but I don’t know what—if anything—would release them.” His aura flared bright as he paused. “Maybe we don’t meet the criteria. Maybe you have to do something the mages wouldn’t like to set them off. Or practice evil magic? Or maybe if one of us steps on the wrong tile, they’ll swarm. It could be anything.”
Perfect. Nothing was ever easy. Not for me, at least. “You don’t have to come in with me.”
“Like hell I don’t.” His voice was a little more gravelly than normal. His wolf must not like being in here. “Where you go, I go.”
I turned slowly, not wanting to set off the vampires, and faced him. “This could be really dumb. I don’t want to be responsible for your death. You’re a pack Alpha. You have more than just some witch on a quest to worry about.”
“You’re not just some witch.” The gravelly tone was getting thicker.
He stared me down until I looked away. If he wanted to go in, there wasn’t any way I could stop him. And part of me was relieved. I didn’t want to go in there alone. But the rest of me wanted him safe. I didn’t want my mess to cause anyone else any more harm. “Fine.” I held my breath as I took one step, and then another.
A fine coating of dust covered the ground. It kicked up in the air as I walked, tickling my nose. The walls might’ve had something on them, but I couldn’t see past the vampires. I was doing my best not to look at them. I passed by one, and glanced at it quickly. Its straw-like hair and half-rotted body, gave me the creeps. It wore all black with a long, frayed duster that touched the ground.
I stood close enough that it could have reached out and grabbed me. I held my breath as I stepped past, focusing on the floor, but nothing happened. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad? “Let’s head to the next room.”
Lucas motioned me forward. “You lead the way.”
I wiped my hands on my pants. “Okay.” I took even, measured steps, half expecting the vampires to charge as I walked around the altar.
As I made it closer to the door on the other side of the room, I started to breathe a little easier. If there was a booby trap, we hadn’t set it off yet. We had a ways to go before getting out of here, but maybe Lucas and I didn’t meet the mages’ criteria for enemies.
Lucas had to help me push the carved wooden doors open. They weighed a ton, and once they got moving, there was no stopping them. I winced as they slammed into the walls, and then glanced back at the room, but as far as I could tell, none of the vampires had moved.
I sent Lucas a wide-eyed look, but he just shrugged. “Seems okay,” he said.