A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(62)

We started backing up into the tunnel behind us, but another, this one slightly bigger, bounced into the path. Seconds later, two more came, each blocking the remaining two escape routes. I braced myself for attack, but none of them made a move. Instead, they stood, blocking our path and roaring.

“Why don’t they attack?” I covered my ears and yelled over the noise. It was like the damn things were singing a chorus of ick.

Dad grabbed my arm and yanked me hard as a piece of the wall crashed down on the spot I’d been standing. Good thing, too. It was covered in Vile Root muck. “They are attacking,” he screamed.

“We need to—” The rest of what Mom was about to say was lost when a chunk of rock winged her left shoulder. It was small enough to not do serious damage, but large enough to send her off balance. She went down on one knee, wobbling slightly, then hit the ground when another piece, this one slightly bigger, crashed across her back.

Dad dived for her, but with the chimera still screaming like banshees on crack, the entire place was coming down around us. Lukas hollered—I couldn’t hear what—and in an instant I was zooming backward and the ceiling, instead of being above our heads, was on the ground.





Chapter Twenty-Five


“Are you okay?” Lukas dragged me to my feet and pulled a piece of debris from my hair. The chimera had brought the ceiling down on our heads—Dad had pushed us to safety. We were trapped on all sides, but alive.

“I think so. Ma? Damage report?”

No answer.

“Ma?” I turned and squinted against the darkness. The faint red glow coming from the Vile Root muck was just enough to see that Lukas and I were the only ones here. My heart started to pound erratically. A cold sweat broke out against my neck. “No!”

I shoved Lukas aside and threw myself at the rock barrier. A little voice inside screamed that this was suicide—I could bring the entire thing crashing down on top of us—but I ignored it and began yanking rocks from the pile. A set of strong arms pulled me away, and even though I struggled, it was only halfhearted because I knew he was right.

“Jessie,” he whispered against my ear. “Please, stop.”

I pulled free and went back to the wall, and narrowly avoided sticking my hand into a smear of Vile Root crap. “Can you guys hear me?” There was no answer, and my heart skipped a beat. Knowing they were in there, powerless, and possibly crushed, was sucking what little air there was from the small space. “Dad?” I tried again.

A few more minutes passed. Some of the most agonizing of my life. But finally, Dad called, “Jessie?”

The air rushed back into my lungs. “Oh my God. Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine,” he said. “You two?”

“We’re okay,” Lukas answered. “But trapped. No sign of the chimera.”

“We killed the one on this side. The others probably ran off. The wall between us has too many large rocks. Can you dig yourselves out into one of the other tunnels?”

“Look,” I said, dropping to my knees. There was a small opening with a brighter red glow coming from the wall across from the one that separated us. “I bet we can make this big enough to slip through.”

Lukas nodded and went back to the rocks. “I think we can get out, Damien,” he called to Dad. “What about you? We don’t have the weapons.”

“We have them,” Mom confirmed. “The ceiling only caved in on this side. We’re free to continue down one of the paths.”

I was on my feet and at the barrier between us in a second. “I don’t like it. Splitting up is a bad call.”

“Fine,” Mom said from the other side. “Supply us with an alternative, and we can go from there.”

Damn her and that stupid voice of reason.

“Nothing’s changed, Jessie. We came here to get the prison, and we still need it.” Her voice was a bit louder. She must be leaning against the rocks.

I placed a hand against the cool stone and took a deep breath. I trusted Dad to have her back, but it wasn’t the same. I knew her moves. Her strengths and weaknesses—the few there were. It should be me by her side.

I sighed. There was no choice. “I guess we’ll tunnel out and meet you outside.”

“Be aware of everything,” Dad said. “Remember what I told you when you were younger. Everything in the Shadow Realm is out to kill you. This cave is no exception. It will prey on your weaknesses. Your fears.”

I nodded, even though he obviously couldn’t see me. “Be safe.”

I heard their footsteps fade as they walked deeper into the cave, and turned back to Lukas. He’d already started moving some of the smaller rocks from above the opening I’d found. “They’ll be all right,” he said, lifting a chunk of rock and taking care not to touch the patch of Vile Root fluid. “Damien knows his way around.”

“He’s human. Just like Mom. Just like me.”

Lukas rolled his eyes. “He’s not human.”

“Might as well be.” I took the next rock from him and set it down at my feet. “Remember, he told us this place strips you of your demonic mojo.”

He stopped moving rocks and turned to face me. “Your parents are two of the most capable people I’ve ever known. Klaire is intelligent and resourceful, and Damien is smart and careful. Even without the use of his demonic abilities, I still believe him to be lethal.”