Veiled Enchantments by Deborah Blake

Author:Deborah Blake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2018-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

Twenty minutes and a brisk hike later, she wished she could take the words back. The top of a cliff was starting to look pretty attractive in comparison with the hole in the ground she was facing instead.

“Caves,” she said in a dire voice. “Why is it always caves?”

Magnus grinned at her, knowing her dislike of dark enclosed spaces. “Not too late to turn back, ’Nata. I think my mom is baking cookies today.”

“Make up your mind, Witch,” Harald said, not sounding as though he cared one way or the other which choice she made. “In five minutes, everyone in this clearing is climbing down into that hole, making their way through the caverns underneath us, and coming out the other side. I’ve hidden prizes in the caves. The one with the most ‘gems’ wins for the day, but everyone who goes in has to at least make it out the other side or they fail the test.”

Crap. Donata absolutely hated caves. Hell, she didn’t even like the subway. But she’d gone spelunking a few times with her family, because her mother was a firm believer in getting in touch with Mother Earth in all possible ways. Donata much preferred sitting in a pretty park smelling the flowers to crawling around stalactites and stalagmites, which always made her think of giant teeth, but she also had a feeling that a dark cavern was the perfect place for a ghost to show up.

She figured she’d at least go inside and see how bad it was, and if it was too horrendous, she could always turn around and come back out. Thankfully, she didn’t have to pass the damned test.

“I’m going,” she said, setting her jaw.

She waited for Magnus to argue with her, but when she looked at him, she could see that he was already focused on the task, turning inward to access his connection to the bear spirit inside. She envied that a bit, since it would figure that bears would be more comfortable in caves than most people, but she was also glad he wasn’t being distracted by her presence. She’d worried a little that he’d be too busy watching out for her. Apparently he’d decided to trust her to take care of herself; he’d always been good about that.

When the others delved into their bags and pulled out small headlamps and gloves, she took out hers and put them on. There wasn’t much else in there: a coiled length of thin but strong-looking rope, a packet of jerky, and a flask of water, plus a couple of other small items. When Harald said they’d be traveling light, he wasn’t kidding.

By the time she was ready, most of the others had already headed down into the caves. She paused at the edge of the hole to send up a quick prayer to Hecate for strength and courage, then swung her legs down into the opening, trying not to think of it as a gaping maw getting ready to swallow her up.

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