Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 180 - A very easy break and enter

Chapter 180

It was decided it was too risky to stay so close to the Spider den for too long. That night Fletcher, Tanith and the Dead Men prepared themselves and left to go into the mountain. It was far colder than in Las Vegas, reaching minus one degree Celsius in the evening when they began walking and predicted to get significantly colder into the night. Even Fletcher stayed quiet, wearing a new coat Ghastly had made him quickly that was protective. It looked good and the others had complained that they hadn't gotten the same treatment. Then Ghastly had called Fletcher their 'get away boat' and Fletcher hadn't been so happy about the gift, but the others thought it was funny.

The road they took was nonsense and not a real road. Crux seemed to have no idea where he was going on the two occasions he had travelled to the Spiders and instead had roamed until he ended up where he was meant to be. They still chose to retrace his steps on the off chance he had actually had some plan though it didn't seem that likely. A small part of them thought that he potentially knew how to evade being noticed by the Spiders on his way there, which was why they wanted to copy his steps, but Valkyrie felt like a wild goose chase.

With no real intel other than Crux's mind, they had trusted the Sensitives and taken their word on what Crux had experienced. The first location he'd visited had been busier, and the second mostly quiet. With that in mind, they went to the second place he went so that they might get around easier – and that was assuming it was all connected underground, which it may not be. But they had all spoken and voted that it must be for ease of staying hidden from mortals as well as sorcerers, plus it aligned with that they knew of other large Spider dens.

The main thing they didn't know was how many Spiders lived in the mountain or how well they could detect and fight intruders.

"Are we nearly there?" Fletcher asked.

"Think so," Valkyrie answered very quietly. She held the map, just a sheet of paper out of a map book with a drawn-on line that they were following. "Right around this rock."

They hunkered down and, after Ghastly checked the area with the air and indicated where the entrance should be, Valkyrie crept forwards with Dexter to find the opening. It was just a rock, but Dexter's keen eyes found a small signal on the edge and pressed it, and the rock faded away. The entrance was just dark, no lights or sounds at all. The others came closer and they all walked in, looking closely for signals on the wall that could alert the Spiders or set off traps.

Dexter put an arm out and stopped her from stepping on a signal, and she stepped back to let him and Ghastly deal with it. It didn't take them too long, but after that came several more they needed to stop for. Ten minutes after entering, they came to a room, a round opening with several doors and arches leading elsewhere. Saracen pointed and they went where he said. Through that corridor and further downwards, hiding behind a corner as two people went from one room to another and closed the door. They continued, going right, and then left, leaving their fate entirely in Saracen's hands as his magic guided them somewhere they needed to be.

This left them in a small room they closed behind them, not able to move without touching at least one other person.

"Where are we?" Fletcher whispered.

"I don't know," Saracen replied quietly, "but there's a gathering."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know," he replied again, "but I do, so shut up."

Valkyrie cracked a smile as Erskine finished picking the lock of the next room and they very quietly tiptoed onto a balcony, pressing themselves against a wall and staying quiet. Spiderwebs were freely displayed in here unlike the hallways they'd been in so far, but no spiders or Spiders were on them. Below was a quiet commotion. Valkyrie crouched down and lay flat, pull herself to the bannister with barely a rustle to look below.