House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(65)

“Did you see it?” I whispered, shifting my head to the side to find the glimmer again. “There’s something back there.”

With more caution, and staying quiet now, we shuffled forward. The cave widened considerably, and I reached out for Maya’s hand so that the four of us were linked—she was already holding Emma’s.

Warmth and energy filled me, and with that came a sense of calm. “Just in case we’re about to die,” Emma said, slight amusement in her tone. “I just want to say that I love you all. I’m grateful that we met.”

“Love you all too,” Maya added.

Callie sniffled. “Yes, same for me.”

Overwhelmed, I choked out, “Meeting you guys and Xander is the best thing that has happened to me.”

It hit me very poignantly then that a true friendship wasn’t always about the length of time you’d known another person. Sometimes it was the people who came into your life in the right moment and stayed for the tough stuff. We were new friends in some ways, but our souls had known each other for our entire lives.

Our bond thrumming between us, we took a step forward, and another, the far wall closing in on us. It was the end of the line. The last part of this cave. A round space opened up from the tunnel we’d been in, and I noted how different the rock in this round section looked. It was smooth and refined, almost manmade.

As the four of us stepped over the threshold into the circle, we all stumbled. It was only the combined grip we had on each other that kept me on my feet.

“Holy fuck,” Callie exclaimed. “The power….”

She sounded as breathless as I felt. My chest heaved up and down as I tried to suck air in. It felt like the energy in here was so thick the oxygen couldn’t fit.

“We need to find the stone.” I coughed, hunching forward.

All of us sucked in whatever air was left in the room, filling our lungs. With determination, we stepped forward.

“We can do it,” Maya chanted over and over.

I joined her, and then so did Callie and Emma. Our voices got louder and louder as we pushed through the power. It was only at the last second, when one of us put on the brakes, that we managed to stop before hitting the back wall. I didn’t think. I lifted both of my hands that were joined to my friends and slammed the bottom of our palms against the wall. The others followed; a ringing, like the ding of a bell, sounded around the cave.

Then the room fell silent.

The energy died away.

The rock before us slid across, like it was an automatic door, and light burst in from this new entrance. When my eyes finally adjusted, I was able to clearly see the stone rising from the floor.

“He literally buried it right at the equator,” I said, shaking my head. The stone would have been almost impossible to find had Laous not pushed us into this situation.

The four of us stumbled forward, crossing closer to the stone. It was huge, about the size of a loaf of bread in width, and two loaves in length. The color was next to impossible to determine, sort of opaque and opal, with shifting galaxies of stars inside it.

“We should pick it up together,” I suggested, hoping like hell the energy wasn’t going to rip us apart.

Callie cleared her throat, and I jerked in surprise when she removed her hand from mine in one quick tug.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, stepping back as she let out a flare of strong heat.

She shook her head a few times, her short hair falling forward across her forehead. “I … I don’t kno—”

Before she could finish her sentence, her flames burst to life. Emma, Maya, and I slammed ourselves back against the closest wall, barely escaping an agonizing death by flames.

“Callie!” Emma shouted, the roar of the fire was noisy inside the cavern. “What are you doing?”

Callie slowly lifted her head then, and I gasped loudly. Her eyes were glowing … and they were empty of all recognition as they brushed over us, looking right through us like we weren’t even there. She stepped forward and picked up the stone.

It felt like I might be in a little shock, because I just stood there openmouthed and stared at her. “What is happening?” Maya cried, clutching my arm.

I shook my head, refusing to believe what I was seeing. “This is not her,” I told them, completely sure. “This is not our Callie. Something is happening to her.”

Laous. This had to be him.

Callie started to walk toward the new opening. “Callie!” Emma screamed, straightening to go after her.

We followed, but there was no way for us to get close. Her flames were hotter than I’d ever felt before, the rocks on the walls around her turning red as she passed.

“We need the guys,” Maya said. “You two follow her, keep trying to get through to her. I’ll go get them—they’re going to be waiting for us to come back the same way we entered. They need to know about this new exit.”

I hated separating, but she was right. We needed help with this. Only Lexen and Daniel could touch Callie when she was burning like this, so we had to get them here now.

“Be safe,” I told her. “If you get to the front entrance and no one is there, do not step outside. We have no idea what Laous might have done.”

I knew that bastard had been up to something. Whatever was happening to Callie, it had to do with him.