Deathtrap (Crossbreed Series Book 3)(43)

Niko reached over his shoulders and touched the handles of his katanas. “Then we should divide ourselves by who can see in the dark. Christian, you go with Blue. I’ll stay with Viktor, and Raven go with Shepherd.”

I wondered at first why Blue and Niko didn’t stay paired since they were partners, but Niko could see energy in a way that none of us could, and we needed him to protect our leader.

A candle flickered in the distance.

Viktor lowered his voice. “Does everyone know the way?”

Christian and Shepherd nodded.

“Be careful. Eyes and ears.” Viktor and Niko disappeared into the inky shadows of one tunnel.

Christian took Blue’s arm and led her to a metal ladder. “This way, lass.”

She glared up at the opening. “Are you sure?”

“Have I ever lied to you before?”

She narrowed her eyes. “When you said you didn’t wash my red dress with all my whites.”

“Okay, that wasn’t my fault.”

After they climbed the ladder and were out of sight, I followed Shepherd down an adjacent tunnel, staying a pace behind and focusing my Vampire eyes on shadowy corners. The smell changed from an earthy scent to stale air and mold. The walls glistened with a clear residue that looked like the slime trails that slugs leave behind. Shepherd stopped at a metal door marked 12. He placed his fingers on the door, tracing them down to the knob.

“Nothing,” he said. “You sense anything?”

I shook my head.

“Why does that make me nervous?” He took a deep breath and gripped the handle. “Do me a favor and stand back for a minute.”

I stepped aside. To have quick access to my weapons, I removed the button-up shirt I wore over my tank top.

The hinges made a terrible screech as Shepherd pushed open the door. With heart-stopping speed, he suddenly dropped to the ground. I jumped back a step when something whistled by me. A crack sounded, and on the wall opposite the door, a steel arrow had split the stone in two.

Shepherd, still on his back, locked eyes with me. “Booby trap.”

I held out my hand and pulled him up. “Maybe you should let me go first since I’m the immortal.”

He wiped the sweat off his brow. “This place is a deathtrap. Watch out for floor levers. The firing mechanisms might release anything from a landmine to an arrow.”

I peered inside to see what he’d stepped on, and all it looked like was a broken section in the cement floor. The expansive room had pillars, and pieces of rubble were piled in places where the ceiling or walls had partially collapsed.

Shepherd moved stealthily, a serrated knife in his hand. His leather jacket not only held weapons but offered some measure of protection against knife attacks. We veered farther right before he began walking a straight line. A broken wall beside us revealed another room, but it was small, and after poking our heads in, we continued toward the back where the tunnel light couldn’t reach.

My Vampire eyes didn’t work as well as a pureblood’s, but I could see just enough to keep from falling. I noticed Shepherd struggling in the dark, his hand extended, so I stepped in front of him as a guide. He pinched a loop on the back of my jeans and followed my lead.

I came to a stop.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, staring at the floor ahead of me. “I thought I saw something.”

“What did it look like?”

I backed up a step and crouched before standing up again. “Like a straight line that goes across the room.”

“This is a clusterfuck,” he muttered. “Does it look like a trip wire?”

“I don’t know, Shepherd. I’ve never seen a trip wire before.”

“Don’t be a smartass. How high is it?”

“Oh, about to my waist.”

“We’ll crawl.”

Shepherd got down on his hands and knees, putting the blade between his teeth as he flattened himself out and propped himself up on his elbows.

I knelt to do the same thing but suddenly grabbed his belt. “Stop!”

He froze.

When I got a little lower, I saw it. “There’s another one close to the ground. We can’t crawl.”

On his elbows still, he scooted himself backward and stood up. “I’m guessing this isn’t the way he comes in every day. Does it go all the way across the room?”

I leaned back and squinted. “Looks like it.”

“Anything we can stand on to jump over?”

“Nope.”

“Lead me to the wall on the right.”

We walked a short distance and stopped.

“Is the floor clear of debris?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He felt the wall all the way down to the floor. “Anything on the other side… like a pillar?”

“No.”

He continued, his questions rapid-fire. “Any holes in the floor?”

“Exactly what’s your plan?”

“Lead me a foot from the wires.”

I did as he asked, convinced we would be forced to retreat and search for another way inside.

Shepherd locked his fingers together and bent over. “Put your foot in there. I’m going to hoist you over.”

Without questioning his plan, I put my foot in his makeshift stirrup and flattened my hands on his shoulders.

His body tensed. “Are you ready? One… two… Geronimo!”

Shepherd lifted his arms, and I sailed over the wires and slammed against the concrete with a thud.

I wiped the dirt off my face and sat up. “Geronimo? Whatever happened to three?” After giving the room a quick scan, I stood up and rubbed my sore shoulder. “And how the hell are you getting over here?”

Shepherd placed both hands on the wall and then took large strides backward at an angle. “On a wing and a prayer.” He slid his knife across the floor, and it skidded past me.

My eyes widened when he charged toward the wall. Once his hand made contact, his legs rotated as if he were doing a cartwheel. Shepherd spun right over the wire, defying gravity as he hit the ground and rolled to safety.

I stared down at him in disbelief. “You are one crazy-ass Sensor with a death wish.”

Without a word, he found his knife and stood up. We continued at a slower pace so I could focus on possible traps. When we reached the far end, I slowed down.

“Door,” I whispered, wondering what this place had originally been used for.

“How many?”

I examined the long wall in front of us. “Just one.”

He cursed under his breath and moved around me. “How much can you see?”

“Very little. It’s too grainy, and I can only make out shapes.”

Shepherd inspected the door, pushing his fingers beneath the crack at the bottom and feeling all around. “Well, here goes nothing.” With a hard jerk, he shoved the door open and flew back.

We both stood with our backs against the wall, waiting for something to blow up or fire at us.

Nothing.

“What if it’s a room full of spiders?” I said quietly.

“You’re not helping.”

I peered inside and then took his arm. “It’s clear.” The moment I stepped inside, I felt myself falling.

Shepherd caught my arm at the elbow, and I almost slipped through his fingers. With my legs suspended in midair, I stared down and into the abyss. It was a hole in the floor, and God only knows how far it went.

“Pull me up!” I shrieked. “Back away!”

He stumbled backward and dragged me to safety. “What the hell?”

I panted hard, my arms now wrapped around his thigh. “There’s no floor. It’s a big hole.”

“Why don’t you unglue yourself from my crotch and I’ll check it out.”

I crawled to safety and then stood up. Meanwhile, Shepherd lifted a rock and tossed it into the hole. When it never hit the bottom, I shuddered.

He kept tossing pebbles all around until they tapped on the concrete. Finally, he tucked his knife back in its sheath. “Five feet.”

“Don’t bother locking your fingers together. I’m not jumping over that hole. We should head back and follow behind Viktor.”

“Son of a bitch. If the door opened the other way, I’d take it off the hinges and throw it over the hole.”

That was an interesting idea, assuming he had a screwdriver on him.

He tossed more pebbles to the left and right. “Looks like it’s only in front of the doorway.” Shepherd gripped the top of the door with his left hand, held the knob, and then kicked off so it swung inward with him hanging on.

I poked my head through the opening and watched him drop safely to the floor on the far left.

“You’re next,” he said.

“Wait a second. You spend all day doing pull-ups. And besides, I can’t reach the top of the door.”

He stood up and dusted off his pants. “Improvise.”

My jaw set as the door swung toward me. “Improvise, he says. Fall into a bottomless hole that goes straight to hell. It’s probably filled with spiders. Sounds like a plan.”

“Will you quit talking about spiders? You’re going to give me fucking nightmares.”

Tempted to jump to reach the top of the door and hang on, I opted against it. No sense in accidentally falling into a portal to hell. Could I jump the distance? And if so, was the ground on the other side stable? It wasn’t worth the risk.

So, as Shepherd suggested, I improvised. I squatted down and grabbed the doorknob on each side with both hands. Once I had a firm grip, I clamped my thighs shut with the edge of the door between them and kicked off, the door swinging in his direction.