Spurned Queen

Chapter 17: The Tunnels

Lexi

The warlock slipped something from his pocket.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"I'm taking this information. Please hold the light steady."

I watched and waited impatiently as he held the penlike device over the sheets. It shone a blue light onto the papers, scanning and copying the information. The best part was that it was fast; he only had to hold it over a page for a few seconds and that was copied.

"Okay, now we have to find a way to get out of here," he murmured. "Do you think he can hear us up there?"

"I'm not willing to take the chance," I said.

I heard the closet door open. We froze. We listened with bated breath as Jacden shuffled around in his closet.

Rowan's silver eyes looked sadly at me. "He's coming down," he mouthed. "Shall we fight?"

I slowly, silently picked up the piece of paper that had the map of the tunnels. I nodded at him.

"Make no sound," I mouthed back. "Do as I say. Get in the tunnel. Now."

There was no time for hesitation. He climbed noiselessly in, and I followed, putting out the torch. "Hurry," I whispered.

We didn't get far before the trapdoor opened. We heard the vampire walk down the steps only to freeze. We hardly dared breathe, and I cast a cloaking spell, hoping he wouldn't find us.

"Oh for crying out loud," he muttered. More shuffling. "Rulin! Where the hell is the key?... I don't care about that! It should have been here yesterday... Oh, of course you did... I don't care if the messenger fell into one of the pits! What, do you think I'm in this for shits and giggles? I must have that ledger by morning, do you understand? I swear if Ice returns before I have it, heads will roll... We all work to survive, Rulin; I can't let him find out or I'll be killed for treason... I don't care! If you have to get your fine-robed ass into the diggings, that's your problem. I'm not the one who told you not to copy it... Oh, you'd better. I'm keeping an eye on your kids so don't you fuck this up... I won't. Unless I don't have that ledger by morning, of course... See to it."

The call ended. We held our breath.

Jacden's footsteps on the steps was a relieving sound, until he stopped halfway.

He came down again. "What is this," I heard him mutter. A cruel chuckle filled the underground space. "Oh, hello, little Witch. To what do I owe the pleasure of having you sneak into my hideout?"

Shit, how did he know?

"Go," I whispered to Rowan.

We began crawling as fast as we could down the tunnel.

"Awww. Are you running? How pathetic. This is your last day, little Witch. You can't escape."

Rowan couldn't see. I could, with my werewolf eyes, but he couldn't.

We couldn't outrun the vampire. He was just letting us crawl to humor us. I grabbed Rowan's hand and forced the map into it. "Go," I whispered. "Use that pen as a light. I will handle Jacden."

"How will you get out?"

"I'm the Elemental Witch. I will find a way. Go. It's an order."

He stared at me for a second longer. Then he clasped my hand firmly in the darkness. After a short squeeze, he whispered, "Don't die," and crawled away.

The bat with glowing green eyes flew into me less than a minute later. He shifted back into his humanoid and glared at me, eyes back to brown.

"A Witch to kill," he said, hatred lining his tone. "I will enjoy this greatly."