Jonas (Darkness #7)(20)

“She’s not as close as Nathanial, and my directions were probably not very helpful.”

Jonas moved his hand up to her face slowly. He touched her cheek as their gazes held. In a soft, reassuring voice, he said, “She’ll find a way in, and she’ll blow this bitch sky-high. I have the best mage on this planet because she is a true survivor. And I have the best leader, who will run circles around Nathanial. We just have to stall. Show me around this place, and I’ll keep it lively until reinforcements come.”

Tears glossed over Emmy’s eyes. One stray tear released and wobbled down her cheek before he wiped it away with his thumb. He bent, slowly, and lightly touched his lips to hers. He felt her hands wrap around his middle.

“Some warrior,” she said in a low tone. “I’m scared shitless.”

“That’s just because you’re thinking about it. C’mon.” He kissed her harder before stepping away. With a quick jerk, he swung open the door and prepared to rush a crowd of males with swords.

The dingy hallway waited, sleepy and empty.

He smirked back at her. “See? So far so good.”

“You don’t feel pain, and you’re not afraid of anything. What are you, Superman?” Emmy tiptoed around him on silent feet and peered to the right. A few bare bulbs dimly lit the old, stone hallway.

“I’m Superman’s kryptonite.”

Emmy huffed and took off at a jog to the left. “Well keep up. I assume you can run.”

“When I have to. I don’t make a sport out of it, or anything.”

“This is a serious maze down here. They mapped it out a long, long time ago, but very few people ever come down here. I bet I’m the only one that really knows how to get around.”

“What did this place used to be? Why is it here?”

Emmy shrugged as she turned left into a dark maw. She slowed to a fast walk. “I got the human affinity for the light, so I don’t have great night vision. Bear with me. Anyway, this was built by the Europeans a long time ago, I think. Like, first settlers era. Your race, obviously. To hide from the human settlers and whatever else. I think this below area was the dungeons, and then all the stuff above is for living. The stuff above has seen a lot of makeovers, but down here—well, who cares about prisoners, right?”

“And you’ve spent a lot of time in this place?”

They turned left and then right. Only one bulb every twenty yards lit their way, now. The darkness encroached on Jonas’ visibility, blurring the once-sharp lines. Emmy spread one hand in front of her, and one to the side, lightly skimming the wall with her fingers and hesitantly advancing. She probably couldn’t see much at all.

“I go where Nathanial goes,” she explained in a hush. “He visits this place once every couple years to check in with… whoever. People spying at the Council, mostly. I often acquire a captive, and spend the rest of my time wandering down here. Solitude is better than sneers or belittling. Hence my knowledge of the tunnels.”

“I take it you found one of the maps.”

“Yup. It was in the library. I took that, and a map of the surroundings. I have an American passport, so the idea was to eventually get free and disappear.”

“How’d you get—“ Jonas cut off as Emmy stopped in a drafty, dark void. She reached back blindly, groping for him. He took her cold hand and immediately threaded his fingers into hers. Electricity surged up through his arm and coursed through his body. An erection sprang to life, begging him to pull her onto his body. Instead, he took a deep breath and finished his sentence. “—a passport.”

“I’m not afraid of your contact. I figured I’d be scared of all males for… a great long time. It’s nice to know I’m not as screwed up as I thought I was.”

“That makes one of us.”

Emmy huffed and started walking at a right diagonal. “Can you see better than me?”

“Rough outlines.”

“Okay. Well, there is a tiny hole up here that leads into a different tunnel. I think someone must’ve gotten lost up here once upon a time and blasted their way through. It wasn’t on the map.”

“Secret tunnel?” Jonas saw a rough wall reaching to either side of them. The very faint light from a bulb distantly behind them lighted on the pockmarked and jagged stone that should’ve met at a corner. The hole was somewhat oblong and made a divot in the ceiling. “Never mind.”

“My dad was American and a doctor. He made up a birth certificate and got me a passport. It’s outdated, but… I’m a citizen.”

“What happened to him? Your dad?” They inched along five feet of pitch black. Jonas was as blind as Emmy was until they stepped around a corner and another distant light softly glowed down the corridor.

“Disappeared. He was here most of the time I was—he lived in the area, I think. He wasn’t a prisoner, or anything. I think he loved my mother. But soon after he gave me the passport he… stopped coming here. My mom was transferred out. I haven’t seen her since, either. Nathanial cut me off.”

“What’s the story with that guy? Why the obsession with you?”

Jonas could feel her hand trembling in his, but she kept silent. If she knew, she wasn’t willing to share. He could respect that, but he couldn’t stop a kernel of rage burning at what this monster had done to her life.