Except . . .
I cocked my head to the side. Surely it couldn’t be that simple.
Could it?
“Lily?”
I pulled my knife back out, and as Deacon watched, I sliced my palm, wincing only slightly as the blade cut through flesh. Then I crawled to the edge of the acid stream, held my hand over the churning water, and let the drops flow from my hand into the acid.
I flinched when the first drop hit, expecting a flurry of smoke and the fizz as my blood burned in the acid water. But there was nothing. Just a red stain that slowly dissipated as the acid diluted my blood.
I met Deacon’s eyes, suddenly smug. “My blood,” I said. “It’s wicked cool.”
Not that this newfound knowledge about my blood did me a lot of good right off the bat. Because I had a feeling it wasn’t me, but rather my blood, that was the magic elixir, and to test that theory, I plucked a strand of hair, then watched it fizzle and pop as the acid consumed it.
Damn.
Carefully, I used my knife to slice a thin strip of skin from the pad of my thumb. I dropped it into the acid water, too, and it was consumed even before my palm started to heal. Damn, damn, and double damn! How the heck was I supposed to get to the box if the acid-proof blood was hidden away inside my skin?
“Am I supposed to let it burn off my skin? My muscle? All the way down to the bone?” I looked up at Deacon, certain he could see both the disgust and the fear in my eyes. “I heal, so—”
“Give it up, Lily,” Deacon said. “It isn’t meant to be.” As he spoke, a low buzzing seemed to fill the chamber, and across the stream, the stone guards shifted, moving their swords into attack positions.
“Deacon,” I said, warily. “Did you see that?”
“We’re running out of time. We need to get out of here.”
“Screw that. You heard Johnson. Rose’s life depends on me.”
“You really think Johnson’s going to let her live? You rely on a bargain with Johnson, and your sister is already dead.”
“I am not leaving without the relic.”
He shot a significant look at the stone warriors, all four of which had taken a step toward the stream. “Then you may not be leaving at all.”
“Then help me, dammit.”
He frowned at me, then turned and looked back over his shoulder, at the source of that loud humming, almost like the thrum of an electric generator. When he turned back to me, I could see harsh resignation in his eyes. “This isn’t over,” he said. “I help you now, you have to help me. I want to find the key. The key to lock the gates, not open them.”
I licked my lips, then nodded. “I don’t know how I’d have any more luck searching than you, but I’ll help. I’m not taking any risks with Rose’s life, but I’ll help you look.”
He glanced at the stream. “Give me your arm.”
“What are you—”
“Hurry!”
I complied, and he sliced my forearm as I cried out in pain and surprise. “What the fuck?”
“Wait,” he said, squeezing my flesh, drawing blood to the surface.
“Oh, shit,” I said, realizing what he was doing. “That’s brilliant.”
“I hope so,” he said, as he began smearing my hand and arm, painting me in a protective armor of my own blood. “Now,” he cried, and I plunged my arm into the water, my teeth clenched as I expected the worst.
The worst, however, didn’t come, and my hand closed around the jade box. I lifted it, drew it out, then opened the lid to reveal what looked like a sparkling gold chain necklace.
Across the stream, the warriors sprang fully to life. Beside me, Deacon rose, his weapon at the ready. “Take it,” he said, “and let’s go.”
Going, however, wasn’t an option. Because even though I drew out the chain and slipped it over my head, there was no portal to take us back. We were stuck. And that meant that we had to fight.
“Clarence!” I screamed uselessly, pressing my hand over the tattoo. “Dammit, Clarence, I have it!”
I thrust my arm up into the air and saw that the tattoo of the second location was now raised and burning like the first. Even the third tattoo felt prickly, burning even more than the second one did at that moment.
We were ready to move on, but we couldn’t, and I really wasn’t keen on being stuck down there forever. Especially since for me, forever was a literal thing.
Even as I was pondering how those soldiers’ swords could easily slice me into a bunch of small, eternal pieces, the soldiers themselves leaped over the stream, swords ready. I rolled to the side as one came straight at me, then turned around to stab it in the back with my knife.