“Flying houses might be the least of our problems,” I tell her as huge, angry-looking storm clouds move in directly above us. Though no rain is falling, lightning is flashing and thunder rumbling. “You need to get out of here, Lily.” I give her a little shove back toward the car.
“And what? Leave you here? I don’t think so.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Then so will I, because I’m sticking right next to you.”
Scared for her, and for the man who has come to mean so much to me in so little time, I scream his name to be heard over the wind and thunder. “This isn’t safe. You guys need to get out of here.”
“I’m almost done,” he shouts back at me. “It’ll be fine in a minute.”
His definition of fine must be very different from mine. Because at that moment, a huge lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and slams into the earth only a couple of feet from where Declan is standing. The next thing I know, he’s hurtling backward through the air.
“Declan!” I take off running straight at him, Lily right behind me. Has he been electrocuted? What kind of shoes is he wearing? Is he—
“Stay back!” he shouts, sounding a little worse for wear.
Still panicking, I ignore him. But the closer I get to him, the more my feet start to tingle. That’s when I remember that I’m wearing boots instead of tennis shoes—the ground must still be holding on to some of the charge.
It doesn’t hurt, though, doesn’t burn, so I keep going. By the time I reach him, Declan’s pushed himself back to a standing position. I glance down at his feet. Thank the goddess. He’s wearing thick, rubber-soled hiking boots.
“I thought I told you to stay back,” he tells me even as he wraps his arms around my shoulders.
“Yeah, well, you aren’t the only one who doesn’t listen to directions.”
“Obviously.”
“What the hell have you done, Declan?” Lily yells from a few feet behind us. “Unleashed Armageddon?”
“Close enough,” he answers, reaching out for her wrist and yanking her—and me—behind him, just as another bolt of lightning strikes the garden. “Hold on.”
“What now?” Lily demands.
He doesn’t answer, just turns his back on the spot where he’d unraveled the safeguards, wraps his arms around us to shelter us. “You don’t want to know.”
“What’s that supposed—”
Before I can finish, a loud crack sounds, ripping through the night air. It silences the thunder, stops the lightning and the wind, even stills the shaking ground. Then, before Lily’s and my astonished eyes, the ground in front of us splits wide open.
Ten
“What. The. Hell. Is. That?” I demand, pointing to the gaping hole in the ground. “And how the hell has no one called the police on us yet?” Yes, it’s the middle of the night and this part of downtown is just about completely deserted. But still, there are a few people around. A few cars on the street. What I just witnessed is abnormal enough to have attracted the attention of anyone in the vicinity.
“They can’t see us, right?” After clearing her throat a few times, Lily finally manages to get her vocal chords working again. “Because of the safeguards.”
“I thought Declan unraveled the safeguards. Isn’t that what all this fuss was about?” I pull against the strength of Declan’s arms until he finally gets the hint and lets me go reluctantly.
“There are different levels of safeguards. Those meant to keep humans from discovering this place and those meant to keep witches out.”
“You left the human safeguards in place.”
“I did.”
Now that all the excitement has died down—and now that there’s a clear path laid out in front of me, the compulsion is stronger than ever. I walk straight up to the opening in the earth.
“Xan, wait,” Declan cautions. “You don’t know what might be waiting for you down there. Let me go first.”
What he says makes sense. I’m not one to hide behind a big strong guy, but these are extenuating circumstances. Goddess only knows what we’re walking into—especially considering the only thing I know for sure is that somewhere down there, somebody is dead. And not from natural causes.
I open my mouth to tell him to go ahead, but what comes out is, “No, I need to go first.”
There’s a long, narrow staircase leading down into the hole, and I head down it without another word. Behind me, Declan and Lily curse. But Declan, who has seen me in the throes of these compulsions before, knows there will be no arguing with me, no turning me from this course until I find what must be found.
“Aren’t you even going to ask what this place is?” he demands as he follows so closely behind me that I can feel his breath on the nape of my neck.
“Headquarters for the Arcadian Council of Witches, Wizards and Warlocks,” I answer.
There’s a stunned silence. “How do you know?”
“How do you know? More importantly, how did you get this place open? I’m not sure even my mom or dad could have done it.”
“They’ve done it before. This is where most ACW meetings take place, after all. Although, in those cases, getting in is a little different.”
“You mean because they’re invited instead of breaking in?”
“Pretty much.”
“Speaking of which,” Lily says from where she’s pulling up the rear. “Our entrance isn’t exactly what I’d call subtle. What’s going to be waiting for us when we get to the bottom of this staircase to hell?”
“It wasn’t subtle for us,” Declan answers, “because I invoked a couple of very powerful spells. But down here, they probably didn’t even notice.”
“How is that possible?” I turn to look at him. The light is dim down here, but there’s enough for me to see his eyes—and the grim smile he’s wearing.
“Because the ACW is nothing if not arrogant. They believe firmly in their own supremacy, so they can’t imagine that anyone could breach their security without them knowing.”
“Even you?”
“Even you, Xandra. You’re the reason we’re here, after all.”
I don’t really agree with that, considering he’s far more powerful than I will ever be. Still, the compulsion is riding me hard, making me walk faster, so I move on to other questions. It feels like I have a million of them, after all, and I’d like to get the most important ones answered before we get to the bottom of the steps. If we ever get to the bottom. We’ve already done about a hundred steps and there’s no end in sight.
“What about this staircase? They don’t know when it’s been activated?”
“This isn’t their staircase. It’s mine.”
“You mean, you built this?”
He inclines his head. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Huh.” I walk even faster. Without the compulsion, I never would have stepped foot down here—I don’t know how Declan and Lily are doing it—but knowing that Declan created this never-ending staircase somehow makes me feel better. It’s still a little terrifying, but I know—despite his darkness—that he’d never do anything to put me in jeopardy.
“How do they get down to the pits of hell?” Lily demands. “Their broomsticks?”
Declan laughs. But the sad thing is, I’m not sure she’s joking.
“Do you want to go back up?” I ask. “You don’t have to come down with us if it freaks you out.” She’s done more than enough for me tonight. I wouldn’t blame her if she decides that enough is enough.
But Lily just snorts. “Yeah, because what I really want to do right now is brave the Little Garden of Horrors all on my own. No thanks. You’re stuck with me for the duration of this.”