I chuckled.
“What?” he asked, nudging his finger against my back.
“I can’t imagine you caring for flowers and plants.”
“Well, you’ll see it.”
I came to a halt, and he bumped into me. I would have tripped if he hadn’t put his arm around my waist and held me with my back pressed to him.
I tilted my head to the side and looked up. His eyes were intent on mine, much like his tone had been, but there was something else there, something that made my decisions more difficult to carry out.
Why did he say that? Why did he look at me like this? He knew, better than anyone, that when the world reached that point, when they were in the Clarity Castle once again caring for flowers and whatnot, I would be long gone.
Besides that, I kept in mind the same thing I told myself after finding out what Victor really was. Micah was a god, and he would live forever. Even if I didn’t have my death day on a calendar, he would never waste time with a mortal. Yes, he was all flirty and knew exactly how to spin me around his finger. I didn’t doubt that in his long life he had had affairs with humans, but that was all. Affairs. I wasn’t an affair kind of girl.
Holy shit, what was I thinking?
A wave of rage coursed through me. I brushed his arm away from me and rushed down to catch up with Morgan and Izaera.
A new tension filled the crammed air of the narrow stairwell as we continued our descent. I blamed Micah for it.
Morgan asked, “Any idea how deep we are?”
“We’ve been going for forty minutes,” Izaera answered. “I would say two miles or so.”
“That’s a lot,” Morgan mumbled.
“Which means we should be almost there,” the goddess said.
Silence returned.
I hoped it didn’t take much longer because each time I realized we were deep inside the earth with no windows and no central air system, I felt panic building inside me. I had no idea how we were still breathing in here, but I hoped it didn’t change any time soon.
“We’re here,” Izaera said several minutes later.
“Here where?” Morgan asked, watching over Izaera’s head.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I just see a doorway ahead.”
I shifted to the side and looked past Morgan. The glow from the flashlight showed the faint contours of an opening about thirty yards down.
Eager to reach it, we raced down the remaining steps and crossed the doorway. Red-hot heat washed over me, and I gasped. The air was excessively stuffy here, and I felt dizzy.
“Oh God,” I whispered, glancing around.
We were in an underground chamber, not too tall, but wide and deep. Singed rocks lined the walls, the ceiling, and the ground. They lined everything except the lava river flowing forty feet from us. It surged up from the wall on the left and disappeared once again behind the wall on the right. Never before had I thought I would see real hot lava.
“Wow,” Morgan whispered, big eyes on the lava. “For some reason, I don’t really like being here.”
“Me neither,” I said.
Izaera closed her eyes. “Can you sense it? It’s stronger here.”
Micah narrowed his eyes. “Yes, I can.”
I glanced around once more. There was no other opening, no other door. It had to be here. But where? Other than rocks and lava, there was nothing.
Morgan paced in front of the doorway. “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” Micah said.
I took a few steps toward the lava. The heat increased exponentially with each step, and I wondered if I could be burned without touching it. Besides being deadly, it was a beautiful thing. Thick, orange magma, looking like creamy fire, flowing away like a wave.
A hand clasped around my wrist. “Careful,” Micah said, holding me back. “Don’t get too close.”
I glanced over my shoulder and found his worried eyes on me. Was he afraid I was still trying to kill myself and would jump in? “I don’t plan to,” I told him, halting. He let go of my arm but came to stand by my side. “Where could it be?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I bet my powers you’ll be the one to find it.”
I looked at him. “How come?”
“You’re the one who finds everything. Without you, we wouldn’t have done anything. We wouldn’t have gotten to Cathedral Rock, we wouldn’t have found out who we are, and we wouldn’t be here.”
I shook my head. “I’m sure Ceris would have found a way to help.”
“To help Victor, but not me.” Once more, his expression was solemn and his voice sincere.
I hated when he was serious. It was hard to be mad at him, to keep my distance from him.
“I can’t pinpoint the source of the power,” Izaera said, cutting through our trance. I lowered my eyes from his, noticing she was standing on my other side. “How are we supposed to find it?”
Micah nudged me with his shoulder, and I almost rolled my eyes. Almost.
Instead I decided to believe in his belief in me. I closed my eyes, imagining the scepter I had seen during my visions, and focused on it.
A current of energy replaced the stuffy air. I felt tendrils of power dancing around me. They twirled around us, and then shot around the room, zigzagging without any apparent pattern.
The tendrils formed a long line and disappeared through the ground, right behind us, taking its tangible energy with it. What the hell? I concentrated on it, calling it out. But it was gone.
I opened my eyes.
“Anything?” Micah asked in a low voice.
“I don’t think so,” I said, frustrated for disappointing him.
I whirled around toward the entryway and Morgan, and I saw it. The silver symbol on the ground, right where the energy had gone through.
I pointed to a large, broken rock a few steps from us. “There.”
Micah gave me a sidelong glance. “Are you sure?”
Hadn’t he just said he believed in me? “I can see your symbol over that damn rock, okay? It’s there.”
“Good enough for me.” Izaera approached the rock. “You don’t know what Mitrus should do, do you?”
I shook my head.
“It’s okay,” Micah said, going to the rock. “We’ll figure it out.”
Curious, Morgan and I got close to the rock too.
Micah placed his hand over the stone, and a black light shone from the broken slit. With wide eyes, Micah jerked his hand away and the light was gone.
“Oh,” Izaera muttered.
Without hesitating, Micah rested his palms, one on each side of the long slit. The shine came back, stronger this time. The slit grew wider and Micah smiled. He reached inside it and, after a few seconds of struggle, pulled his arm out.
He held the crystal scepter in his hand.
30
Micah scrambled to his feet, a big smile on his face. His gaze met mine, pride and realization shone on his handsome features, and I smiled.
The scepter was more beautiful than I remembered. A long, round staff, topped by an orb shining with a black light, all made of crystal. It probably weighed a ton, but Micah held it as if it didn’t weigh more than a rose.