17. Violet

17

VIOLET

"Guys," I ask into the darkness. "Is this worth it? I mean, what are we even fucking doing here?"

Thorne takes my hand. My eyes are adjusting to the all-consuming darkness, and I can make out his features with my vamp-vision. "It is worth it to get answers about who you really are and ways we can stop the Order from coming after you. We need to know how to fight."

"Okay," I whisper, nodding, even though I know he can't see me.

"So, you are the only one with any abilities right now, Vi, so you have to lead us out of here. You will be able to see where you're going. We can't."

"Uhm…"

"He's right," Flint says. "We are totally blind."

"And I'm getting hellishly pissed off," Caine grumbles .

Thorne moves me around so I'm facing front. "Can you see?"

"Yeah, my eyes are adjusting the longer we stand here."

"Are we good to go?"

"I think so." I take a tentative step forward, keeping my eyes peeled. My gaze is whizzing around the passageway, making me feel a bit dizzy.

Thorne grips my hand tighter and brushes his lips over the side of my neck, right over my jugular, sending a shiver of arousal over me. "You've got this," he whispers.

"One step at a time, Vi," Thorne says from my other side, right behind me.

I snap my head to the side. "Thorne?"

"I'm right here, princess."

My blood freezes, and I stop moving. "Did you just kiss my neck and tell me I've got this?" I ask, dread welling up.

"No."

"Tell me you're joking," I plead as real, honest to god fear drops over me.

"No, why?"

"Ah!" I shudder and drag my hand from Thorne's. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

"Get what off you?" Flint's panicked voice hits me, causing me to freak out a bit more, slapping my neck and waving my arms about until I hit Thorne in the face .

"Oof," he grunts. "Violet, what is going on? We can't see shit."

"Ghosts! I can't do ghosts! I've been scared of them my whole life. Something kissed my neck and spoke to me! If it wasn't you, it was a ghost!"

"Violet, calm down," Thorne says, snatching at the air until he grips my trembling hands. "You're safe. We're here."

"Fat lot of good you all are if you can't even see me , let alone the ghost!"

"Let's just take a breath and figure out what happened," Caine states in that usual no-shit, business-like way.

"Something kissed my neck and told me I've got this, that's what happened! If it was none of you, then it had to have been a fucking ghost!"

"Not necessarily," Flint says. "It could've been any number of things."

I gulp. "Like what?"

"Like never mind this," Thorne says. "We need to get out of this passageway. Violet, can you lead us out of here and we will talk about it afterwards, okay?"

Easy for him to say. He isn't deathly scared of ghosts.

"Sure," I mutter and turn back to face the front.

I focus on the passageway, keeping my eye out for ghosts or anything else. It's a narrow corridor that can only fit us down single file anyway, and someone has to get us out of here. I can see everything in greyscale. It's strange but pretty cool, really. It's the first time I've ever had to use my enhanced vision to this extent. Taking a step forward, I gain confidence when no more weirdness happens, but then I see something move up ahead.

Stopping dead so that Thorne crashes into me, I shout, "Duck!"

The inky black thing whooshes towards us as we all crouch down, and it sails over our heads.

My mouth goes dry. "What the hell was that?" I mutter.

"Nothing benevolent," Flint replies.

"Well, how observant of you, bat-boy," I snap and straighten up, checking for more smudges heading our way.

"Hey," he snarls. "Call me that again, and you will be in for a spanking."

"Promise?" Caine asks hopefully. "I want to see that."

I growl at both of them. "I don't like this. I want to get out of here. We don't even know where this leads to."

"Agreed," Caine says, also standing and leaning on his cane. "We need to find out more from your cousin about what is actually down here."

"I trust him," Thorne says defensively.

"We know," I say, taking his hand again. "But this is too wild for me."

"Let's just keep going," he says. "It's not like we can turn back anyway."

"True," Flint says. "And seeing as we are already down here, we might as well see what we can find."

"Blackthorne is going to hand our arses to us when we are all late for lectures," I mutter, and that, if nothing else, spurs me forward. I have already caused him a lot of grief, so I don't really want to push my luck.

"Well, rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission," Caine states matter-of-factly.

That gives me pause. "Do you employ that a lot in your life?"

"Let's just say it made growing up in the Ice Kingdom a lot easier and way more fun."

"Can't wait to hear about it," I murmur.

We go quiet again as we edge forward. The passage narrows even more, and the ceiling becomes so low that we have to crouch to move forward. The air grows thicker and harder to breathe. It's heavy, with the scent of damp stone, which is not olfactorily pleasant.

"Something's not right," Thorne mutters, his voice tight with concern. "It's like the air is being sucked away."

We keep moving because I can't see anything out of the ordinary, but then I feel a tugging sensation. The air is moving, being pulled towards something ahead of us. The pull grows stronger, becoming a fierce wind that is trying to drag us along with it. My hair whips around my face, and I have to squint to see.

"What's happening?" I yell over the howling wind.

"Some kind of vacuum trap!" Thorne shouts back, his words nearly lost in the gale. "We need to find the source and stop it!"

We struggle forward against the wind, which is now so strong it's lifting small stones from the ground. I can feel myself being pulled off my hands and knees, my vampire strength barely enough to keep me grounded; the passageway widens, and suddenly, we are immersed in a faint blue light coming from somewhere.

"There!" Caine points to a small opening in the wall, where the wind seems to be strongest, and we see the blue light pulsing. "That must be it!" He forces his way to the opening and peers inside, then looks back at us, his face grim. "There's some kind of mechanism in here. I think I can jam it!"

He reaches in with his cane, his face contorted with effort. For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happens. Then, with a grinding sound that vibrates through the stone beneath our feet, the wind dies down.

We slump against the walls, exhausted. My limbs feel like jelly, and I'm pretty sure I've got about half the tunnel's worth of dust in my bird's-nest hair.

"Is everyone okay?" I pant. They all look as battered and dishevelled as I feel.

They nod, looking windswept but unharmed.

"Was that a death trap or something else?" Flint asks.

"Maybe a bit of both. It's protecting something very important," Thorne replies grimly. "We must be getting close. Whatever's down here, Morgan clearly didn't want just anyone finding it."

"I really wish your cousin had given you a map," I mutter .

"That makes two of us," Thorne replies grimly.

We press on, our nerves frayed but our determination unshaken. The passage widens again so we can walk four abreast.

As we round a corner, we find ourselves in a circular room. It's empty save for a pedestal in the centre, which is empty. The walls are bare stone, unmarked by any of the symbols we've seen so far. The bluish light seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"What?" Caine says, looking around in disbelief. "We went through all that for an empty room? There's got to be more to it than this."

But something doesn't feel right. The air here is different, charged with a strange energy that makes my skin tingle. It's like the feeling I had in the forest, but stronger, more focused. I approach the pedestal slowly, drawn by an instinct that scares me.

As I near it, the air above the pedestal shimmers. It's like looking at heat haze rising from hot pavement, but in reverse – the air seems to be condensing rather than expanding. I reach out, my fingers brushing against something invisible but unmistakably there.

"It's hidden," I breathe, excitement and trepidation warring in my chest. "There's something here, we just can't see it."

I close my eyes, focusing on that strange energy. Without thinking, I place my hand flat on the pedestal.

"Violet, no…"

There's a flash of light so bright I can see it even through my closed eyelids. A surge of power races up my arm and through my body, like lightning in my veins. It's exhilarating. When I open my eyes, the room has transformed.

The walls are now lined with shelves, filled with ancient books and strange artefacts. Symbols and diagrams cover every available surface, glowing with an inner light that shifts and changes as I watch. The air is thick with the scent of old paper and something spicy and exotic.

The book is now visible on the pedestal. Its cover is made of a material I've never seen before, shimmering with colours that shift and change as I watch. It's beautiful yet slightly alien, and I can feel the power it holds.

"Okay, that was unexpected," Flint whispers.

Thorne looks all around. "This is it," he says, his voice reverent. "Morgan's hidden library. The knowledge of ages."

"Do you think anyone else knows it's here?" I whisper.

"Probably Blackthorne, if anyone."

Nodding, I reach for the book on the pedestal with trembling hands. As my fingers brush its cover, I feel a jolt of recognition. This book and this knowledge have been waiting for me. For us. It's like coming home to a place I've never been before.

"Well," I say, looking around at the guys, my voice shaky but determined, "I guess we've got some reading to do. "

I open the book, and the symbols on its pages glow. We've just taken our first step into a much larger world and maybe I can get some answers to questions, I'm not even sure I have yet.