I ducked under a clump of roots that hung from the ceiling. “If I remember correctly, you were the one that suggested this.”
Oliver harrumphed. “That was before it started raining buckets.” The storm had rolled in while we’d been at Bishopcourt.
I fingered the hilt of one of the daggers strapped to my side. I’d told Andre I would only visit Decima alone. Initially he kicked up a fuss, but as pushy as he was, the man couldn’t deny me much, and what I wanted was a frank conversation with the fate. The weapons were his compromise: Go in without me soulmate, then you’ll go in armed to the teeth.
Now Andre waited for us at the tunnel’s exit. My last glimpse of him had been his controlled pacing. He reminded me of a leopard I’d seen once at the zoo. It had prowled the wall of its cage with the same agitation.
“Shhhh,” Leanne said from behind Oliver, angling the flashlight on her phone around him to see far into the tunnel.
“Why are you shushing me?” Oliver looked over his shoulder to catch my eye. “Why is she shushing me? Who could possibly overhear us?”
Not three seconds after he spoke we heard a distant hiss.
“That’s why,” Leanne said.
Oliver huffed, but fell silent … for about a minute.
“So … our baby girl is no longer a virgin.”
I bit back a groan.
“Be thankful it took him this long to bring the subject up,” Leanne said.
“It’s not like he hasn’t tried,” I said, remembering how Andre manhandled him back at Bishopcourt. God, my life was a clusterfuck of unreasonable people. I wasn’t even going to exclude myself from that group either.
“True.”
“So,” Oliver said, “tell me: how hung is that man?”
“Oliver!” both Leanne and I said.
Off in the distance we heard another hiss.
“For the record,” Oliver said, “if that thing comes at us, I’m blaming you two.”
I listened a little longer, but wherever the creature was, it sounded as though it was moving away from us.
“Bet he’s huge,” Oliver said. “Lucky fuck.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can we not talk about this?”
“Ugh, Leanne, she’s still a prude.”
“There is a distinction between a prude and refusing to kiss and tell,” Leanne said.
“Fine, gang up on me you two.”
A thoughtful silence descended on us.
“So, did he bite you while you were going at it?” the fairy asked.
“Oli-ver,” I said.
“Okay, geez. Forget I asked. Someone clearly needs to get laid again,” he grumbled.
The puddles became more frequent and bigger.
“We’re slogging through a mote here,” Oliver complained. “Another beautiful pair of shoes ruined.”
Leanne and I ignored him. Ahead Leanne’s light shone eerily on a patch of wall still cast in darkness. Another passage.
“That’s where we leave you,” Leanne said nodding to it. “Right Oliver?”
“Yea—wait, we’re not going with you, Sabertooth?” Oliver asked.
“You and I are going back to our rooms,” Leanne said. “We have appearances to keep up.”
Oliver looked at her like she was mad. “Appearances? You want me to show up in my dorm looking—and smelling—like a hobo?”
“No one will notice you.”
“Like hell they won’t. I got suspicious written all over me.”
“If anyone asks, you’ll just tell them you met up with the chief constable of the Politia for some late night lovin’.”
“Wait, Chief Constable Morgan? As in, my former boss?” I put up a hand as soon as I spoke. “You know what? I don’t want to know.”
“That’s right you don’t,” Oliver said. “You can’t handle my love life!”
Truer words had never been spoken.
“Gabrielle,” Leanne said, turning to me, “This tunnel will take you to the library.” She nodded to the darkness that branched to our right.”
I pulled out the phone Andre had gifted me earlier this evening and shined its built-in flashlight down the dark passage. I could hear a skittering sound somewhere beyond my sight.
Just what I wanted to be doing at the beginning of my night. “Wish me luck.”
“You got this, Sabertooth. And if you don’t, just glamour the shit out of that woman.”
I didn’t bother telling Oliver that fates couldn’t be glamoured.
“Good luck, roomie,” Leanne said. “Call me later and tell me how it went.” It was strange to hear her ask for news that a seer would normally foresee.
“Will do.” I left them there, watching me descend into darkness.
My boots splashed through the water. I heard a rustling sound. I aimed the beam of light towards the noise, only to see a rat scampering away. I grimaced but didn’t slow. Vermin were the least of my concerns at the moment.
The farther I went, the deeper the puddle became, until it went up to mid-calf. Even the boots I wore couldn’t prevent the grimy water from seeping in.
I could hear rhythmic dripping from the earthen roof above me. I wiped away cobwebs and scrunched my nostrils against the musty smell of the passage.
A chilled breath brushed against my ear. I flinched and turned, dragging the beam of light with me. Nothing was there.
I gripped my phone tighter, afraid to drop it. I was getting spooked at nothing.
A creature howled in the distance. A normal person would’ve turned tail and ran. I, however, exhaled, my body relaxing.
A minute later, Scooby materialized ahead of me, his ruby eyes gleaming in the dim light. I reached a hand out and scratched him behind his ears.
“Who’s a good demon doggie?”
He whined happily.
“Yes, you are,” I cooed. I was beyond caring that I sounded like an idiot. Scooby saved me from myself.
When I began walking again, he trotted ahead of me, his tail wagging. His paws didn’t stir the water, reminding me that while I might be able to touch him, he couldn’t interact with the physical world for the most part.
A short distance later I came upon a severely rusted ladder. Above it someone had already opened a trap door set into passage’s ceiling.