He took my hands in his. “First, she doesn’t hate you. Second, I won’t let her ditch you because I want you here.”
My heart skipped a beat, and then rushed the next ten. Oh, the mixed signals again. I couldn’t take that. Not now.
Averting my eyes, I pulled my hands away. “We should finish getting ready.”
However, he didn’t let me and held on to my hands more firmly. “Nadine, there’s something I need to tell you.” Not trusting my voice, I just stared. He inhaled. “I—”
“There you are,” Morgan said, appearing in the doorway. “Lady Ceris and Lady Izaera are here. We are ready to go.”
Saved by the bell. I took a step back from Micah. “Good. Let’s go.”
I started after Morgan. Micah’s fingertips caressed my elbow. “Nadine …”
I shivered from his touch, briefly ensnared by the way he said my name.
“Come on,” Morgan called, going back to the living room. “They are waiting.”
I paused but didn’t look back. “We should go,” I whispered.
I rushed out the door before Micah could say something else that might make me cry. Like telling me our kiss had been a mistake. Or worse—that he wanted more.
29
Ceris and Izaera took us to an opening on the volcano's side, supposedly halfway to the top.
Hugging myself against the cold air, I glanced around. The damn volcano was huge. Like gigantic. The view of the surrounding area, though mostly white because of the snow, was breathtaking. I closed my eyes for a minute and tried to imagine how it would be with the sun shining high. Sadly, I had never seen the sun outside of my visions, but I hoped I would see it someday. We were getting closer and closer to that. I would see it even if for only a second before the Soul Oath claimed my soul.
“This is the only entrance we discovered,” Ceris said, pointing to the opening. It looked like a normal cave from where we were.
“We didn’t explore it, though,” Izaera said.
“Once we sensed the scepters and checked the area for demons, we went back to get you,” Ceris explained.
“How about we talk about this inside? It’s cold here, you know,” Micah said, his teeth chattering. “Don’t want to waste time.”
“Good idea,” Zelen said, taking the first step toward the entrance.
“We can sense old magic in this place,” Ceris said, following the forest protector. “Be careful and don’t touch anything. When we find the scepters, let Levi and Mitrus get to them first. Understood?”
Everyone mumbled a half-assed, “Yes,” turned on the flashlights, and she took us inside.
Once I crossed the entrance, I felt the power in this place. It hummed along the walls and brushed against me, against us, not good, not evil. If I could feel it this strong, I wondered what it felt like to Ceris, Izaera, Zelen, Victor, and Micah.
We walked along a narrow corridor with no openings in sight.
“We have only one way to go,” Ceris said, at the head of the line. Victor was second, Morgan third, Zelen next, and then Keisha and me followed by Micah.
We walked a linear course for over ten minutes toward the middle of the volcano; the only sound was our boots on the stones.
“I see an opening,” Ceris shouted after a while.
I sighed in relief.
We crossed the archway into a large, round room. The walls were smooth, like someone had sanded the stones. The ceiling was like a dome, high and curved with the symbol of The Everlasting Circle carved in its peak, and there was some kind of altar in the center, three feet high, with holes around its perimeter.
The power was even greater here, dancing and hopping around the room like a charged bunny. If I read too much into it, I would say it was waiting for something.
Ceris rushed to another opening across the room. She peeked into it. “Another corridor, but it’s short and ends in a stairwell. One staircase going up, another going down.”
Victor reached her first. “Separate, then?”
“I don’t think we should separate,” Zelen said.
“I don’t like the energy here and would appreciate if we could speed things along,” Izaera said.
Micah nodded. “If we go to one first, then the other, we’ll be wasting time.”
“All right, let’s separate the group then,” Ceris said, stepping to the side.
Izaera stepped to the other side. “If you’re going up with Levi, I’m going down with Mitrus. If anything happens, each group has a full goddess.”
“Good thinking,” Ceris agreed. “All right. So”—she looked at us—“Zelen and Keisha are coming with us.” They stepped closer to Ceris. “And the rest of you go down with Izaera and Mitrus.”
Micah glanced at me, offering me a satisfied smile. With a smile of my own, I shook my head.
Izaera turned around to us. “The plan is to go down or up, find the scepter, and come back to this room as fast as we can so we can get the hell out of here. Everyone fine with that?”
We all nodded.
“Good luck,” Ceris said.
She stepped into the stairwell. Victor, Keisha, and Zelen followed her.
“Here we go,” Izaera said, taking the lead. Morgan went after her, then Micah and me.
The stairwell was almost as narrow as the corridor, fitting only two people side by side. It was uneven and high enough that Micah brushed the top of his head on the stones every few steps.
After eight flights of twenty steps—I counted—Morgan spoke up. “Whoever designed this needs to go back to architecture school.” We chuckled. “Hmm, if it was you, Lord Mitrus, please forget what I said.”
Micah laughed, and it sounded close to me. It brought goose bumps to my arms. “It wasn’t me.”
“I think the Everlast energy carved this place,” Izaera said.
How was that possible?
We stayed quiet, and I wondered if these steps would ever end. I had counted them to one hundred four times and then given up because I didn’t really want to know how many there were or I would hate it more than I already did, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Iz,” Micah said from the back, startling me. Iz?
“Yes?” Izaera said from the front.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and by his steady, solemn tone, I knew he meant it. Which made me more curious. Micah was sorry? About what?
“I know,” she said. “Apology accepted.”
Morgan glanced back with a what-the-hell-are-they-talking-about look, and I shrugged.
“Iz used to have a pretty garden inside the Clarity Castle,” Micah explained. “She kept a sample of the rarest plants on Earth there, the ones in extinction, and the newest ones so she could study them. On the day prior to my death, we argued about humans and their belief in us. During the argument, she brought up Levi and his ideas and how great he was and that we should follow him blindly and such. I lost my temper and burnt the entire garden.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure if there was anything else to say.
“Mitrus’s temper has always been a problem.” Izaera glanced back. “Perhaps it isn’t anymore.”
“I’m still not sure about that.” Micah sighed. “Iz, I promise I’ll help you build it again. And I’ll even help you care for it.”
Izaera snorted. “That’s something I’ll only believe when I see it.”