The Last Descendant by Kristina Kairn

Author:Kristina Kairn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-73341-330-5
Publisher: Kristina Kairn

25

Really Bad

The dull pain radiating from the left side of my face was the least of my worries. My restraints had been cut and I had two escorts, one on each arm, and a hood pulled over my face, making it impossible for me to see. They had asked me to remove my clothing and had handed me a white robe. They’d stuffed my mouth with a rag, that’s when I knew this wasn’t one of Nate’s pranks. I had learned the hard way that screaming wasn’t a good idea. It triggered my gag reflex and I had come close to choking to death twice.

The chill from the cracked tile floor bit my bare feet with each stilted step. They forced me to take a right turn, another right, and then a left. We went down a smaller set of stairs, twelve steps, where the hall had grown narrower. The ground had become uneven and coarse, rich with dirt and deterioration. Wherever we were, it was dark.

Cemetery dark.

The tour abruptly stopped, and my hood was tugged off. I blinked quickly, forcing my eyes to accept what little light they could catch. A large wooden door as old as a monastery and as solid as a chastity belt loomed ahead. Two guards flanked the door. Both males of equal height and build, roughly five-foot-ten and one-hundred-seventy pounds. They wore nondescript black uniforms and they looked remarkably alike, not identical but brothers. Where had these people come from?

Although the odds of me successfully running were slim to none, I turned to assess which direction to go. The only source of light burned from oil lamps mounted on the slate walls of the hall. The glow from the lamps illuminated a two-foot arc and the oil lamps were spaced fifteen feet apart. Eventually, the small cones of light disappeared into an obsidian abyss.

I was in an underground tomb, deep in the world of the dead, with an irrevocable invitation.

This was the risk I had not assessed when I agreed to help James. This was the risk of pretending not to be involved in something dangerous. This was the risk of helping a monster. I had failed to calculate what was really at risk.

One of my escorts stepped ahead and pushed against the dense wooden door. It opened to reveal a softly lit chamber.

Wasps of apprehension buzzed beneath my skin. This wasn’t like what had happened when James was upset. This was the alarm of clearly realizing I wasn’t going to make it out of this room. The same.

Shoved from behind, I stumbled over the threshold, landing on my hands and knees.

My two escorts aligned themselves against the interior doorframe and stared straight ahead. I awaited instructions, but their dark eyes were vacant and empty of life. My unsteady breath clouded from my mouth. I wasn’t sure what to say, what to ask, or what to scream. The full moon shone through a circular opening in the ceiling. It gave the impression of a large eye, watching my every move, even the invisible ones.

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