Chapter 63: Chapter 63 A Tunnel
Victoria
"Leo," I called, my voice strange even to my own ears. "There’s something else here."
He was beside me instantly, his presence solid and reassuring. "What is it?"
"I don’t know exactly." I moved toward the spot Ava was fixated on, letting her guide me. "But Ava’s going crazy. She senses something—below us."
When I reached the area, I dropped to my knees, running my fingers over the rough concrete. Nothing seemed unusual to the naked eye, but Ava’s certainty was undeniable.
"Here," I murmured, more to myself than to Leo. "There’s something here."
Leo knelt beside me, his larger hand covering mine as we both felt along the floor. Then—a subtle difference in texture, a nearly invisible seam in the concrete.
"Tiny," Leo commanded without looking up. "Get over here with the pry bar."
Within moments, Tiny was leveraging the heavy metal tool into the seam we’d discovered. With a grinding sound, a section of the floor shifted, revealing a hidden trapdoor.
"A tunnel," Leo breathed, shining his flashlight down into the darkness below. A ladder descended into blackness, the beam of light not reaching the bottom.
The air that wafted up from the opening was damp and carried a scent that made Ava growl—a mixture of fear, blood, and something else... something ancient.
"They must have used this to transport them," I said, peering into the darkness. "Marcus wouldn’t risk moving them aboveground where someone might see."
Leo’s expression was grim, determined. "Carson, stay here with the tech. See what you can recover from that memory card. Tiny, alert the perimeter teams about the tunnel—we need to know if it has other exits nearby."
He turned to me, his eyes searching mine. "Victoria, you should—"
"Don’t even think about suggesting I stay behind," I interrupted, my voice low but firm. "He’s my brother."
The corner of his mouth twitched in what might have been admiration. "I was going to say you should lead, since Ava seems to be sensing something the rest of us can’t."
My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but I quickly regained my composure. "Right. Sorry."
Leo’s hand found the small of my back again, his touch both possessive and supportive. "Never apologize for standing your ground, little wolf. It’s one of the things I love most about you."
The casual admission of love sent a jolt through me, but there was no time to dwell on it. Not with Enzo’s blood still fresh on the floor and an ominous tunnel stretching into darkness before us.
Ava surged forward again, her presence filling me with a strange, urgent energy. *Hurry,* she seemed to say. *Time is running out.*
I took a deep breath, clutching the flashlight tighter in my hand. "Let’s go," I said, and stepped onto the ladder, descending into the unknown depths below.
As I climbed down, the air grew colder, damper, the scents of earth and old stone surrounding us. Leo followed close behind me, his presence a comfort in the oppressive darkness.
"The tunnel looks old," I observed, my voice echoing slightly. "Older than the factory above."
"Mining tunnels," Leo confirmed. "This whole region was honeycombed with them before the modern operations began. Most were supposedly sealed off decades ago."
"Supposedly," I echoed with a grimace.
When we reached the bottom, the tunnel stretched before us in both directions, disappearing into darkness. Ancient support beams lined the walls, some sagging dangerously under the weight of time.
Ava’s pull was undeniable, tugging me toward the right passage with an urgency that made my heart race. "This way," I said, not waiting for confirmation before starting down the tunnel.
Leo fell into step beside me, his larger frame nearly brushing against mine in the narrow space. "Ava is unusually active," he observed. "Has this happened before?"
I shook my head. "Never this strongly. It’s like she knows something I don’t—something important."
"Trust her," Leo said simply. "The bond between you and your wolf is sacred. If Ava is trying to lead you somewhere, there’s a reason."
We continued in silence for several minutes, the only sounds our footsteps and the occasional drip of water from the ceiling. The air grew increasingly thick with a strange energy that made the hair on my arms stand on end.
"Do you feel that?" I whispered, almost afraid to break the heavy silence.
Leo nodded, his expression tense. "Old magic," he murmured. "Very old."
Just as he spoke those words, the tunnel widened, opening into what appeared to be a natural cavern. Our flashlight beams danced across the walls, revealing something that made me gasp—intricate carvings covered every surface, ancient symbols and depictions of wolves that seemed to move in the shifting light.
"What is this place?" I breathed, awe temporarily overwhelming my fear.
"These aren’t mining tunnels," Leo observed, his voice hushed. "They’re too deliberate. Too old."
"They feel... familiar," I whispered, my fingers tracing one of the symbols. As my skin contacted the etching, warmth spread up my arm, and Ava growled in recognition.
Leo watched me closely. "Your wolf knows this place."
"Not the place," I said slowly, understanding dawning. "The symbols. They’re fairy markings. My mother’s people."
In the center of the cavern stood a raised stone platform, circular like an altar. Dark stains marked its surface—fresh stains that made my stomach turn.
We descended deeper, the tunnel eventually opening into a circular chamber about twenty feet across. In the center stood a stone altar, its surface smooth from centuries of use. The walls were covered in the same glowing symbols, casting the room in ethereal blue-green light that made flashlights unnecessary.
"What is this place?" Leo breathed, his eyes scanning the chamber with wary respect.
I approached the altar slowly, drawn by an instinct older than conscious thought. "A meeting place. A... nexus point between wolf territories and fairy lands."
As my hand hovered over the altar’s surface, fatigue suddenly crashed through me like a wave. My knees buckled, and Leo caught me before I hit the ground.
"Victoria!" His voice seemed to come from far away as darkness closed in around me.