Circle of Desire (Damask Circle 3)

“Nothing in this room,” Ethan said quietly. “You find anything?”

“Yeah, a zombie in the damn way.”

He stopped beside her. “So why not kill it?”

She gave him an annoyed look. “Contrary to popular opinion, I do not run around killing zombies willy-nilly. Besides, if I kill any of these things right now, the person who raised them will know.”

“Then let’s move it, so we can check out the door.” His voice held an edge of impatience. Or maybe it was annoyance.

“I’ll move it. You touch it, and it might just wake.”

She directed a thick lance of kinetic energy at the zombie, carefully moving it closer to the window. It stirred, tearing at her kinetic hold. Hot lances of fire burned into her brain, and she bit her lip, blinking back tears as she eased the creature back to the floor.

Ethan had the trapdoor open and was squatting near the edge, peering down into the darkness. “It smells damp. Musty.”

She nodded. At least the air coming up from the darkness was free from the scent of death—for the moment, anyway. “I’ll go down first, check that it’s okay.”

He glanced at her. “What if we’re attacked?”

She slipped off the pack and opened it, grabbing the stakes and zombie deterrents. “Use these,” she said, offering him a set.

He just looked at them. “Thanks, but I’ll stick to my gun.”

“A gun’s not much use in a situation like this.”

“I’m sure they’ll stop if you shoot their damn brains out.”

“They would, but it would also make far too much noise.” But she put one set of weapons away. He was obviously determined to stick to his gun, and noise be damned.

She handed him the pack, then peered into the hole. It was as dark as hell down there, but the breeze was coming from the right. She looked up at Ethan. “Just how good is your night sight?”

“Wolf keen.” He frowned. “I was under the impression your sight was pretty damn good as well.”

“It normally is, but I can’t see squat down there.”

“Then I’d better lead once we’re down.”

She nodded and climbed in, dropping lightly to the stony ground. For several seconds she did nothing more than listen. Everything was still—silent. Almost oppressively so.

She met Ethan’s gaze. “It’s okay.”

He jumped down, then caught her hand, his fingers warm against hers. “Nothing?”

She shook her head. “Nothing dead, at any rate.”

“Good.”

He tugged her forward. The chill in the air increased, and the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the darkness was so deep it was hard to be sure. The tunnel was narrow, tight, and her breath caught as she imagined the weight of the walls and the roof bearing down on her. She had only to straighten her fingers and she could brush the cold stone. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and she bit her lip. Damn it, why couldn’t she see? It was odd, to say the least. Especially when Ethan obviously could. She would have thought a raven’s sight to be nearly as good as a wolf’s, but obviously, it wasn’t. Or maybe it was just the fact that they were under the ground rather than above it.

Ahead, moisture dripped, lending the darkness a steady heartbeat. The dank smell increased, until it almost felt like they were breathing in liquid.

“I’d say there’s a river overhead.” Though his voice was soft, it seemed to boom through the tunnel, echoing loudly.

“I can’t hear water running.”

“You probably wouldn’t, with the amount of rock above us.”

Right now, she didn’t need to be reminded about the weight above them. She swiped at a trickle of sweat and peered past his shoulder. Something glowed up ahead. “Is that light?”