My murderous thoughts were halted by another thrumming along the connection leading me to Mischa. It flared to life in an odd way, and I wondered what that meant, almost as if she'd been unconscious and was now awake. But bonds didn't work like that. Being unconscious was no barrier to them, so it had to be magic.
"I've got her," Louis said in a hurry. "She's projecting very strongly. I don't even need the bond between you two to follow the trail." He was staring at me now. "A bond which I'm finally starting to understand."
Great, because I didn't understand it at all. The only thing that made sense to me was the baby's essence connecting us, but somehow that just didn't feel right.
"You will explain all of this to me after we save her," I growled. There was no time to worry about it now, she was in trouble. We had to get to her before it was too late.
My boots smashed against the cracked ground. The land around us was barren, and not just because of the harsh winters here. Death lingered in the air and among the scrawny scattering of plant life, like something was leaching it of life.
None of us spoke, until Louis ground to a halt. "Where is she?" I said, my head swiveling as if I was missing something. There was still nothing here. For miles I saw nothing but plains of withered land.
"They are below us," he said, dropping to his knees. I felt the stirring of magic. I didn't have the same senses as the shifters. Their beasts were more innately connected to magic than vampires, but for one of my race I had always shown a strong affinity for the fey energy which was within all of us.
Louis' magic was so strong that even humans would feel the vibrations of energy he exuded. As he pressed his hands to the ground and magic started to sink into the earth beneath him, I took a step back as the dirt began to ripple and collapse. Of course my one step was pretty useless when most of the land around us plunged down, taking the three of us with it. I braced myself for the drop, not sure how far we would fall. It ended up being about twenty feet down. The light was dim down here, but not too dark for vampire senses. I saw the ground approaching, and landed lightly.
Braxton and Louis were right beside me. None of us had any trouble with the drop; it wasn't part of the security here. If Kristoff had been really trying to keep us out, the drop would have been miles down. Nope, this was just the first step to infiltrating his underground bunker, and now he definitely knew we were coming.
The connection in my chest intensified. It was almost as if I could hear her calling me with the faintest of whispers across my mind.
On my way, Misch. Hold on for me.
The area we were in now was a large cavern, filled with rock formations and scattered stalactites on the ceiling, stalagmites on the floor with flat tops. Water had dripped through these caves over the years, although it felt cold and dry.
"No wonder Kristoff was always in the pocket of the human leaders," Louis said. "This mine is filled with diamonds."
The single beam of light from the hole above, the one we'd just plunged down through, highlighted the gems scattered about. Everyone in Stratford was wealthy. We had plenty of mines of our own, and the trolls kept us well fitted with gold and gems, but this was so much more than that. This was enough to buy countries. No doubt Kristoff used it for many things.
Diamonds were also the key ingredient in lots of spells and curses. There was nothing more solid to use as a conduit.
Braxton was striding around, stepping into the shadows. His voice echoed back to us. "I always knew Kristoff was filled with secrets. His power is unstable."
"Which was why he tried to frame us and then get us killed. Power has sent him crazy," I said. "No doubt he was responsible for the supes we chased in the forest around Stratford. A distraction we were stupid enough to fall for. Then he could make sure there was a doorway there for the girls to stumble across. It called for them, and they answered."
Braxton strode back into sight. He nodded to the left. "There's a path over there. Goes for a long way. I couldn't see the end."
A path which had better lead us right to the sorcerer. "What's the plan? We know he's waiting for us. He has more than enough power to hide himself if he wanted to, so he wants us here."
Louis ran his eyes over me. "Do you still have the staff?"
I reached into my back pocket and pulled it free. The powerful relic was still masquerading as a small twig, a few inches long and scraggly like an offcut of a tree.
The sorcerer took a moment to stare between me and it. "It has connected with you. Maybe you will find it a symbiotic relationship, but if you notice at any point that it's starting to control you, you're going to have to let it go. Its power knows not good nor evil, it's all about the wielder, but it will try to influence you if you let it."
"You want me to use it here, take control of Kristoff? He surely will not expect us to have this staff."
Braxton clenched his fists. "There's no doubt this is a trap. He'll have a plan, and then a backup plan. Do not react without taking a second to think about it. Mischa's life is at stake."
"I know that!" I snapped, taking a step back, rubbing my hand across my face, trying to quell my fury. Shit. Damn. Fuck. Yes, I knew that I needed to be calm when we made it into his prison, but something about the thought of Mischa and our baby being here with a crazed male … not knowing what he had been doing to her. My mind was partly gone already and I was going to be hard pressed to keep my cool at all.
"Don't let me do anything to get her hurt, man." I swallowed my pride and admitted what everyone here already knew: "I would never directly hurt her, you know that, but I won't be able to stop myself with Kristoff, and when magic is involved … I can't stand the thought that she might get caught in the crossfire."
Who knows what magical backfire this bastard was planning.
Braxton dropped his hand on my shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. "Mischa is part of our pack now. She's important to us all. Plus Jessa would kill me if anything happened to her sister. We won't let him win, he won't take her from us, and he will pay for what he's done. I can promise you this."
"I can also," Louis said, no inflection in his tone. "I've picked up his magical trail. Stay close."
Just like that we were moving again. I blanked out my mind, allowing it to settle into a mild hum of fury, the twig-size staff of Gradiella gripped in my right hand.
The scenery didn't change as we stepped silently with a brisk pace. Dull lighting, icy and untouched rocky cavern, visible tendrils of dark magic. I couldn't tell what these tendrils were doing, but no doubt they were part of a security system. Louis took care of them. He was in the lead, doing something with a wave of his hand to break the bonds.
"By breaking them, are you letting him know how close we are?" Braxton was half shifted, so his words were very low and rumbly. "I'm not sure shouting our presence so loudly is a good thing. A slight element of surprise could really help here."
Louis grinned; his teeth shone in the half-light. "For most sorcerers they'd have no choice but to break them. These securities are strong. I'm not breaking so much as pausing them temporarily. He would have to be paying very close attention to even notice. It's just like each of these magical pulses are skipping a beat or two before resuming."
Braxton and I exchanged a wry smile, definitely thinking the same thing. Thank God Louis had adopted Jessa. We needed his experience. Even though Tyson would rival him one day in power, he didn't today. We were too young. It was frustrating to realize there was nothing we could do to speed up the aging of our powers. Despite the current wicked levels of energy we wielded, for our full potential to be reached, only time would help.
The temperature did a rapid plummet then. The staff responded by heating and growing larger. "I think we're close to the spider's lair," I murmured.
All of us remained focused, our footsteps barely audible as we crossed the final part of the cavern. We found ourselves staring at a pair of large wood and iron doors, twenty feet tall, which seemed impossible considering how low the ceiling had been at times in here. But clearly Kristoff had found a way.
"This reminds me of the cave where Larkspur's doorway was," Braxton said as he reached out and brushed against the door. "There's silver, iron, and fey crystals embedded in this metal. It's going to be hard to break."
He grinned then, and bringing his hand back I noticed it was partially shifted into dragon claw. He swung and smashed into the lock as hard as he could. I expected a massive clank as he hit, but Louis' sent out a spell at the same time that deadened the noise – a spell which brushed past me with a real kick of power, adding strength to Braxton's dragon swing.
Whatever they did worked. The metal lock shattered and the doors swung silently open. Braxton and Louis took a second to observe the other side.
I was done with waiting. Staff in hand I strode through the opening. Louis was right on my heels, and as energy whooshed past me, I knew he was using his power to check for traps. Trusting my team, I continued to trek through what looked like a courtyard. Unlike the underground tunnels, this area felt almost like we were outdoors in the Middle-Ages. Cobbled ground, large fires burning in round concrete containers scattered around, even some animals roaming; chickens and ducks were scampering about. The illusion of sunlight and warmth was strong, but I saw through that. It was still rock above us. We were far beneath the Russian sky.