Page 107 of White Hot Kiss
Part of me wanted more of an explanation than that, but then I’d just be delaying the inevitable, which was my head going under whatever this stuff was. When the darkness reached my shoulders, I shuddered. It was like stepping through thick fog that had substance you could feel but couldn’t grab on to. My gaze flicked up, meeting Roth’s, and he smiled reassuringly. Out of habit, I held my breath as I slipped under.
The crashing weight of thousands of gallons of water didn’t come down on me. My hair was still a dry, wavy mess falling over my shoulders and down my back. I inhaled through my nose and didn’t choke on water. There was a wet, musty smell that tickled the back of my throat.
“Open your eyes, Layla.” Roth’s voice was close to my ear.
I pried one eye open and my jaw dropped. “Crap on a cracker...”
He chuckled as he let go of my hand. “Elegantly put.”
We were inside the reflecting pool, or at least that was what I assumed, but it was like being in a different world.
Lit torches lined the tunnel every few feet on both sides, casting flickering shadows over the damp pathway. The roof above us wasn’t really a roof, just the bottom of whatever the substance was that we’d come through.
“I’m going to hazard a guess and say we’re on the right track,” I said, smoothing my damp palms along my jeans. “Or we drowned and are hallucinating.”
Roth’s chuckle was as dark as the tunnel. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
We started down the tunnel, our footsteps echoing off the cement walls. Roth was humming what I now thought of as his song. Walking for what felt like forever, we had to be nearing the museums when we came to a spot where the tunnel branched off into two sections.
“Too bad there wasn’t a map we could’ve picked up for this,” Roth joked as he started toward the right. About six feet down, he stopped and backtracked. “This door is cemented over. So I’m going to hope that’s not where we’re heading.”
Left with no other option, we chose the tunnel to the right. Wrapping my arms around my chest, I shivered in the cold and damp air. Another block or so down the corridor, it curved to the right. Up ahead was an old wooden door. With its wide wooden planks and steel joints, it looked like something straight out of medieval times.
“Any second, a Knight Templar is going to come barreling out that door,” I said.
Roth’s lips curved up at the corner. “That would actually be kind of entertaining.”
“Wouldn’t it be? And then he’ll ask us to choose—”
A gust of wind whipped down the tunnel, lifting my hair and causing the torches to flicker in a mad dance. All the fine hairs on my body rose as I twisted around. “Roth...”
The sound of something clicking on cement rose in a crescendo, like a wave of superfast tap dancers. I took a step back, my stomach sinking to my toes. The clicking grew, drowning out the sound of my pounding heart.
“LUDs,” Roth said, hands curling into fists.
“What?”
“Little Ugly Demons,” he explained. “You’ve seen The Princess Bride, right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Roth grimaced. “Remember those really big rats in the dark woods?”
My eyes popped wide. “Oh, dear.”
“Yeah, so try to get that door open. Like real fast.”
Spinning around, I darted toward the door and let out a ripe curse. The thing wasn’t locked, but it had a steel bar across the front. Wrapping my hands around the bottom, I tried to lift it. Even with the demon and Warden strength in me, the thing didn’t budge.
“Uh, Roth, this isn’t—” The words faded as the clicking gave way to chattering. I turned, seeing shapes barreling down the tunnel.
A scream got stuck in my throat as Roth cursed.
Rising about three feet in the air, LUDs were like rats that walked on two legs. Their long snouts gaped wide, revealing mouths full of shark teeth. Beady red eyes gleamed in the shadows. Clawed hands outstretched as their tails smacked off the ground.
“Good God,” I whispered, backing up.
“This is about to get real ugly,” Roth said, all kinds of Captain Obvious.