The Immortal's Guide to Supervillainy Vol. 4: A Men's Fantasy Adventure Novel by M.E. Thorne

Author:M.E. Thorne [Thorne, M.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The sides of the borehole were smooth. Fernanda’s flames had seared the rough bedrock into a glass-like consistency. I drove pitons into the wall, to create handholds for the others, as I led the way.

I had convinced the UN and UK representatives to go back and wait in the subway station lobby. It wasn’t hard to talk them into it when I mentioned The Widow’s fondness for traps and melting people’s bones from the inside out.

As we descended, we passed bits of wreckage, buried ruins from London’s forgotten past. There were collapsed tenement buildings, chunks of Roman concrete, and debris so old that it possibly predated human memory.

And yet we kept going deeper and deeper.

“I wonder if we’ll see any dinosaur bones,” Ari joked weakly.

The tunnel eventually leveled out. Ahead, I could make out a faint, azure glow.

“Be ready for anything,” I told my lovers. “I don’t believe in ghosts, but if there’s a way to bind and control the spirits of the dead, I’m sure The Widow knows it.”

Jenn shivered; I didn’t think it was for show.

The cavern was just as Carolyn’s footage had shown. Clusters of crystals were embedded into the ceiling, casting rays of blue light downward, illuminating the lost neighborhood.

When The Widow had sunk her mansion, she had taken all her neighbors' houses with her. They were heavily damaged; I could see where masonry had cracked, and foundations had crumpled when the sinkhole had consumed them. The old buildings leaned drunkenly, apparently seconds away from collapse.

Ari thought it was safe though. “See those runes, there? Someone came in after the fact and reinforced the buildings to keep them from falling over.”

We crept forward, but like the thief before us, we didn’t spot any traps or alarm systems. The only evidence of activity was Carolyn’s infiltration—the footprints she had left in the dry, lifeless soil.

And even they were fading, erased by the same magic that kept the place sterile and clean.

“Are you sure about this, Mi Amado?” Fernanda whispered.

I nodded. “Positive. For our entire, contentious feud, I’ve never understood The Widow’s motivations, what drives her murderous goals. I am sure there are secrets here, facts that will not only shed light on her origin but the endgame she is looking to enact.”

Emma had worked hard to erase her past, vanishing from official records and destroying even anecdotal evidence of her existence. She had truly become a figure of legend, a nefarious shadow the criminal underworld feared almost as much as they feared me.

There had to be some hidden truth, some kernel of weakness we could exploit.

We reached the front gate of The Widow’s manor. The ivy and vines along the walls had withered, but I was instantly taken back to my younger days. I could almost remember the servants—thralls, though I didn’t realize it at the time—escorting me inside to meet their mistress.

There was just a simple padlock holding the gate shut. Ari used her powers to rip it apart. The gates creaked open on rusty hinges.

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