Dangerous Games (Riley Jenson Guardian 4)

The pantry?

Yes.

I've seen it open. It's a real pantry.

His frustration swirled through me. Can you just do something I ask without arguing about it?

Don't think it's possible. I grinned as I walked across the kitchen. The pantry door squeaked as I opened it, and the sound crawled across my nerves. I see shelves covered with tins and stuff.

All of them?

My gaze slid down. There's three spare shelves on the right.

Squat down.

I obeyed. And?

Is there a button or lever on or under any of the shelves?

I shifted slightly, moving closer to the shelves. Dust stirred, catching my nose and making me sneeze. The force of the sneeze stirred several sheets of loose paper sitting on one of the half-empty back shelves, revealing a small dark handle.

Found something.

No odd symbols on or around it?

A couple of dead bugs and some sheets of paper containing recipes is about as odd as we get.

Use the lever, then. But be careful.

Tension crawled through my limbs. I rolled my shoulders, then placed the bottles of holy water in front of me and grabbed the handle. It didn't take much strength to move the lever down, and as I did, there was a harsh grating sound. The three shelves slid aside to reveal the darkness of a tunnel.

I peered inside. The tunnel was big enough to crawl into on all fours and shored up with wood, but the smell of dirt and mustiness hung heavily in the air. It was also long, dark, and scary looking. I switched to infrared, but it didn't help any. The tunnel curled to the left as it headed downward, and while infrared could see past walls, it couldn't pierce earth.

What do you smell?

The sudden question made me jump a little.

Dampness. I hesitated, sorting through the more tenuous scents coming up from the tunnel. Blood. Sulfur.

Sulfur is demon scent. How strong is it?

Not very.

If it's an old scent, it's probably from past summonings. He hesitated. Still, proceed with caution, and keep the salt and water handy.

just what the hell am I supposed to do with them?

Holy water burns when it hits them. The salt can act as a barrier they can't cross if you use it to create a circle around yourself.

If I have time.

If you have the time.

I blew out a breath, grabbed the bottles of holy water, doing up the loose top so it didn't spill before climbing into the tunnel.

Though there was plenty of room, progress was slow. Between tasting the air, sliding the water ahead of me, and trying to see where the tunnel was actually going, speed wasn't going to happen.

The gentle slope curved around to the left, then right, and the smell of dampness, blood, and sulfur increased. And with it came something else. Muskiness.