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“All right,” Nadia confirmed. It was dark inside the air well, but she could see well enough, and their narrow space widened a bit before it separated into three tunnels in front of her—left, right, and straight ahead and up. The one to the right simply led to another air well. Sometimes people had to get in there to clean things out and they needed escape routes should anything collapse. The one to the left simply led air to the main tunnel they had chosen not to use.
Nadia had no trouble seeing the Bolts’ caution as sound. Even before she reached the end and the slightly larger grate there, she heard voices coming from the main tunnel. Voices and laughter.
She and Harmiston squeezed in beside two of the Bolts, while the last one and Kuryk waited back in one of the other sections. They’d seen this before.
The air well ended high on a wall inside the main tunnel, a last resort escape route if needed. Nadia had to press her face against the grate to see anything down there. The Bolts were right. The tunnel was guarded by hybrids. Under massive stalactites, they’d set up a checkpoint to guard the entrance to the surface. There, they sat around tables, chairs, and among other equipment, mainly weapons, from what she could see. Their laughter was halted by a greeting since three hybrids approached from further down in the tunnel.
Nadia had no doubt these were hybrids and not werewolves. She couldn’t smell anything from that distance, but it was all about their demeanor. The werewolves following Kassemyr all had hope of becoming something more. These guards had the self-assuredness only those who thought themselves invincible had. She watched in silence while the hybrids boasted and joked, even snarling at each other from time to time. It was all about bravado and strength in this place, and she saw no difference between the men and women in that regard. They all thought themselves powerful because of what Kassemyr had done to them. Nadia only saw terrorizing monsters.
The newcomers below finally left and began their ascent to the surface. Nadia wasn’t sure what they wanted up there, but it had to be something, and at the moment this was her only lead on the Wraiths. And if the whole thing should be fruitless in that regard, she needed to find out why hybrids were guarding the entrance and going to the surface, anyway.
Carefully, and well protected from audible detection by Harmiston’s shield, they all backed up until they reached the narrow intersection.
“So?” Jurnek whispered so softly, even Nadia had to strain herself to hear it. “What do you think?”
Nadia considered and saw the positive look on Harmiston’s face. He was hopeful. So was she, but she remained outwardly neutral. She wasn’t sure but felt hopeful too—if nothing else, something was going on here. It would be worth checking it out, regardless. She gave the Bolts a quick nod.
Jurnek twisted a little where he lay halfway inside the tunnel leading upward. He pointed in that direction and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
Nadia considered again but decided against it. This was not something done on a whim. “No,” she added at the sight of the slightly confused and disappointed faces. This meant a lot to them, but they had already told her they’d attempted to reach the surface but that the air seemed poisonous.
They wanted her to lead them, but that was not her duty. She was a Ghost now and hadn’t been lying in telling them how that affected her involvement with them. They were, however, young, and in need of some guidance and safety. That was something the Wraiths had always taken seriously, and so would she, even now.
“Let’s return to the city,” she told them, her whisper soft enough not to be heard by the hybrids in the cavern nearby. “I want you all safe. Then,” she looked at Harmiston, “we’ll see about reaching the surface.”
Chapter 7
“You know,” Victoria mused, while watching the Bolts roaming the large mansion. “I thought I’d have some children living here with me at some point, but not such quiet ones.”
“Oh, they’re not children,” Harmiston pointed out, face blank.
The Bolts had all come along to Stonewater Mansion, Count Elasatra’s townhouse, where he usually resided when not at court. At the moment, the nobleman looked around, bewildered at the dark-clad young Bolts who were quietly settling in, moving their equipment to the rooms upstairs that he and Victoria had hastily prepared. There were no servants in the house. They didn’t dare leave their own homes to go to work. The Bolts were used to simplicity, though, and the rooms were more than enough. They were used to sharing, too. None of these Bolts were old enough to have gotten their own private spaces in the Cube yet.
“Thank you both for doing this,” Nadia told Victoria and her fiancé.
“No need for that,” Elasatra said, despite his confusion at the complete lack of disorder and noise from the Bolts. Nadia remembered their life in the Cube. They weren’t always so silent in there, but then, the realm had been a safer place too back then. “Of course, we’ll help. Have you alerted the Ghosts of this yet?”
“No. And I was hoping you could do that. Harm and I have somewhere to be.”
“I thought finding the Wraiths was your primary assignment,” Victoria said and indicated said Wraiths with a wave of her hand.
“It is. And these children, as you call them, have done quite the investigating for me. I need to see if they’re up there.”
“The surface is impossible to live on. If they were brought there after the attack …” Victoria visibly shuddered. Many of the Wraiths were her childhood friends. “It’s been weeks, Nadia.”
“I know. But I have to at least try.”
“The surface … I’ve heard horrible things,” Elasatra chimed in. “It’s supposed to be impossible to breathe, too warm, no food, no … well, anything.”
“A desolate place for certain,” Nadia agreed.
“Sounds like a lovely trip we’re preparing for,” Harmiston said with a resigned sigh. He gave Nadia a wistful smile. “But what can you do?”
“Wear gas masks for one,” Nadia said. “We’ll need to stock up on supplies. Going up there unprepared isn’t a good idea.”
“That might happen faster than you think.” Elasatra’s gaze flicked to one door across from the front doors in the grand foyer of the mansion.
“How so?”
