Echo Soul Seekers

thirty-three

Dace

I creep through the cave, relieved to find it free of undead Richters and demons—guess they were needed to set up the job fair—yet disappointed to find that I’m still in the Middleworld.

Another dimension of the Middleworld—but still a far cry from the Lowerworld I was hoping for. Though I’m sure it’ll lead there eventually.

The place is luxurious. Plush. With its rare antique furniture and priceless art covering the walls, it’s clear they’ve spent a great deal of time here. Plotting. Planning. Waiting for the entry to yawn open again.

Throughout history, whenever they managed to invade the Lowerworld, this is the place that served as their main point of entry. Once in, they immediately set out to corrupt the spirit animals by contaminating their land and stripping them of their power and light, rendering them incapable of guiding their human attachments. The loss resulting in horrific episodes of madness, chaos, and war across the Middleworld—and untold riches for the Richters.

Or at least that’s the story according to Leftfoot.

And its just one more reason why I need to kill Cade.

Then as soon as that’s done, Leandro is next.

With his sights mostly confined to ruling Enchantment, and not exactly interested in Cade’s broader goal of world domination, he may not be as dangerous, though he still has to go. If for no other reason than I can’t bear to look at him after knowing what he did to my mom. Despite what the elders say, keeping him balanced and contained just isn’t enough.

Not for me.

Never will be.

It’s time to redefine a few things.

Time to shake up the prophecy.

Time to make sure the whole lot of them dies.

This is so much bigger than my being with Daire.

And yet, while I know this is true, as I make my way through this long, hollow space, ultimately pushing through the far wall, where I find myself surrounded by sand, Daire is all I can think about.

I stop. Gaze all around. Remembering what Leftfoot taught me—to seek the truth that lies beneath the things that I see. To question my sight just as I should question all of the thoughts I’ve been conditioned to believe.

There is much more to this world than meets the eye. A whole other truth people strive to deny. Don’t be blinded like them. Look deeper. Think deeper. Allow yourself to go quiet and still, and allow the truth to reveal itself to you.

I close my eyes and do as he said, and when I open them again, it’s as though a path has been laid out before me. Seeming to end at the crest of a very large sand dune that, once reached, drops straight into the Lowerworld.

I slip through the earth, ultimately landing hard on my side. I’m quick to pull myself up and survey the place. Not having been here since my last hunt with Daire—I’m stunned to see how much it’s deteriorated in only a handful of days. The spirit animals, once happy and active, are now sluggish and listless—barely able to attend to their most basic needs. And the more I explore, the worse it appears. Every step revealing further corruption, spoilage, and ruin—all of it unfolding under an eerie hush that’s soon broken by the unsettling sound of branches snapping, trees toppling, and the amplified hum of animalistic grunting and huffing reverberating all around.

I dart behind a large boulder just as a flash of beige fur and red glowing eyes bursts into the space where I stood.

Coyote.

Cade’s coyote no doubt.

He skids to a stop with his snout pitched high, catching my scent. And it’s only a moment later when another coyote appears—its fangs and fur coated with blood and the slimy remnants of some unfortunate kill.

The second I see them I know Leftfoot was right.

While Cade may not be a skinwalker in the traditional sense, he is able to assume other forms.

My fingers snake into my pocket, in search of the blowgun Leftfoot once gave me that was given to him by Alejandro, a Brazilian jaguar shaman, who also happens to be the grandfather Daire never met. According to Leftfoot, the weapon was carefully carved from a rare wood found only in the Amazon rain forest. But before he agreed to hand it over, he forced me to promise that I would only use it for self-defense.

The coyotes crouch side by side—noses twitching, eyes darting—just seconds away from discovering the place where I hide.

So why let it get to that point?

Why wait for them to attack me—just so I can claim self-defense—when I can easily snuff them out now?

I reach for a dart, pinching it by its raven-feathered fletch as I load it inside.

Then I slide one eye closed, narrow the other in focus, lift the small tube to my mouth, and take aim.

Watching as Coyote snarls. Lunging in a flash of gleaming eyes, gnashing teeth, and hot rancid breath pelting hard against my cheek. His jaw widening, ready to take another chunk out of me—

When he falters.

Stumbles.

Collapsing to the ground and howling in pain.

I smile triumphantly, though the smile soon fades when I lift my gaze to find Cade looming naked and bloodied before me, bits of animal carcass clinging to his skin.

I’ve hit the wrong mark.

“What the hell are you doing?” He drops beside Coyote, cursing bitterly as he drags on the fletch, yanking the dart from his neck. And damn if he isn’t smart enough to know it doesn’t end there. He lowers his head to the hit, molds his lips around it, and siphons the poison I’d placed on the tip, before spitting it onto the ground. “You’re a real idiot, you know that?” He shakes his head and glares, watching as I reload the blowgun and take aim once again. “Trust me,” he says. “You do not want to do that.”

“You have no idea what I want.” I wrap my lips around the tube, inhale a deep, purposeful breath, and blow once again.

Blow with everything that I’ve got.

Letting loose my own stream of curses when Cade dances free of the dart’s path, and turns into a coyote again.

The other one now fully recovered, they stand in solidarity before me—shoulder to menacing shoulder.

Eyes blazing with vengeance, leaving no doubt it’s my blood they’re after. And before I can run, before I can reload and take aim—they descend on me in a frenzy of ragged claws and sharp fangs.