Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series) (29 page)

Wondering why Dacer had left me a note and then not come, I decided to spend a little time in Artle’s workshop before I went to Tactical. Dacer might just be late, I reasoned, although that wasn’t really his style. But I was there, and there was always more to practice, so I thought I might as well take the opportunity.

A prickle of fear ran down my back, but I tried to ignore it. It was fine, I told myself. He was just late.

I had grown adept at suffocating the practice balloons I used, but now I was working on releasing them into the air as moving targets, then trying to hit them with my spell. It was far more difficult, and there had been more than a few nights when Keller had come in from his own practice to find me using words my mother certainly wouldn’t have approved of as I vented my frustration.

Artle’s workshop looked just as I had left it, and I settled in on one of the old stools that sat against the worktable wall, telling myself to relax. I kept a supply of practice balloons in a long box on the workshop table, and now I picked one up and started to fill it with air. Once Dacer had heard that I wanted to practice what he had suggested, he had found the balloons for me. I had no idea where, probably some random Halloween costume shop that he secretly went to all the time, but they were immensely useful. The stool was sturdy despite how old it was, and I soon settled in to work.

I blew up three balloons in a row, the air making a high-pitched sound as it filled the bag. I was so immersed in my work that at first I didn’t notice the lights getting dimmer. What’s more, the floor, which was covered in dust and creaked when I walked, also started to rock gently back and forth.

After the fifth balloon I was lightheaded. Blinking several times, I finally noticed that what little light there was in the room had nearly gone out. There was nothing to keep me company but shadows, and even as I looked at them they disappeared like vapor.

A crack of lightning threw relief into the darkness for a second, illuminating what looked like a silhouette by the door, but then the room was plunged into total darkness. The crack of thunder that immediately followed the flash of lightning made me jump, and I nearly tumbled off of my stool to get away from the person in the doorway. I stared hard at the door, but the shadow was gone. Either it had never been a person to begin with, or whoever was following me was in the room with me now.

I had to accept that Dacer wasn’t coming. The note left for me at Astra had been a trap, and I had walked right into it.

The door to Artle’s workshop swung closed. The movement was slow, a controlled motion instead of what would have happened if someone had just grabbed the wood and slammed it.

No one knew where I was. The Building was in darkness and I wasn’t alone.

I moved as far from the door as I could and waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light. I didn’t want to use my powers until I absolutely had to.

Something black and powerful darted in front of my face, so close I smelled the smell of sweat and wet hair. It was like a dog—or hellhound—on two legs. A shiver of fear ran down my spine.

A low growl from the opposite corner echoed around the room. It couldn’t possibly be human, but it didn’t really sound like a dog or a hellhound either.

With sudden realization I knew that whoever or whatever this was, it was the same thing that had attacked Sip. My friend had said it was a monster, not entirely human, and here it was again. Fear gripped my heart and squeezed until I wanted to cry out or whimper.

With difficulty I managed to do neither.

The shadow in the corner moved as if it was coming at me. The smell of wet hair was so overwhelming that I pressed myself back into the wall, getting as far away as I could.

I tried frantically to figure out what to do. I couldn’t stay here. Whatever the thing was, it knew exactly where I was hiding, and it wouldn’t have come into the room if it had been afraid of me. It was here for me; this was no accidental encounter. Whatever it was, it had lured me out here all by myself.

Knowing that I had to act now or die, I darted toward the door.

I wasn’t nearly fast enough. The thing in the corner let out a roar and charged, blocking my path. I fell backward, almost colliding with whatever it was that was keeping me prisoner.

Throwing myself backward had been a good idea in theory, but in practice I couldn’t keep my balance after I did it. With a cry I landed hard on my left wrist and knee as the thing came at me again. Scrambling to my knees I made for the only place I thought might give me a way out: the blast hole that Artle’s experiment had left in the floor.

All the time we had spent in the workshop, we had just skirted around it. I hadn’t even looked down into; all I knew was that it had blasted a hole in the basement level that I was supposed to keep away from.

Escaping that way might still have been a good idea under the circumstances. Unfortunately, I couldn’t manage it safely.

Just as I shoved myself into the hole with a cry, the thing that was after me snarled. I felt dust, dirt, and hard rock slam into my arms and shoulders as my fingers desperately clawed against the jagged walls to try and stop my fall. But there was no stopping it. With a cry I fell and fell, finally landing on the hard dirt floor with a thud. For a second I didn’t move, I just felt my bruised cheek and tried to breathe. From high above I heard another snarl, and looking up and up I could see two glowing red eyes glowering down at me. Vaguely I wondered why the thing didn’t give chase, since it was obviously faster and stronger than I was.

There could be only one reason. Whatever was in the basement that Dacer wanted me to stay away from was worse—way worse, even for the monster that was chasing me—than not catching me.

I groaned and rolled over.

Now I was in real trouble.

I huddled in the dank basement, afraid to look up and afraid to move. The howling from above went on for a long time; it was so loud that even covering my ears didn’t work to block it out. What could I possibly have been thinking by coming here alone?

If I had been under any illusions about whether the Shadow was human, they were gone now. My heart pounded in my ears.

I had just started to get used to the howling when it abruptly stopped. I held my breath, wondering what would happen next. If the Shadow was going to jump down into the hole with me I wanted it to get on with it already. Instead, the silence stretched until that was almost worse. At least with the howling I knew where the Shadow was. Now I knew nothing.

Carefully, so that I didn’t alert the Shadow to my location, I unfolded myself from the corner. The wall was cold and unyielding, but at least it had offered a little protection from attack. I didn’t want to spend another second in this basement. I had to get out.

I felt my way along the cold stone. There was no way for me to know which direction I needed to go in, so I just guessed and hoped that my guess was right.

There were no cracks of light anywhere, no hint of a way out. Most rooms underground I associated with dripping water that hinted at tunnels. Here there was nothing but silence, as if I was locked in a sealed room with the lights off.

Now that the howling had stopped, I wasn’t even sure where the hole was that I had fallen through. I was surprised that the wall my hands touched was made of stone, because I would have expected concrete. Then again, I reminded myself, the Building was very old.

I took another step and my leg hit something solid and wooden. Flinching, I bent down to rub my bruised shin. The throbbing in my leg only intensified my fear. Feeling along the object I had run into, I made out the shape of a cage. Barely breathing, I touched the front of it and found the cage door open. Whatever had been in that cage was either gone . . . or loose in this room.

I straightened up and forced myself to start moving along the wall again as terror coursed through me. So many times I wanted to stop and curl up into a ball and hide, but there was no place to hide. All I could do was keep going, so I did.

There had to be a way out of there, there had to be.
Please
, I whispered silently, not knowing who I was petitioning. I tried not to let panic choke me, or the thought that I might never see daylight again.

I kept feeling my way along the hall, even more carefully now, but there were no breaks in the stone. The hand that tracked on the wall was shaking so badly that it was becoming grimy just from the motion.

Moving silently, I finally heard a distant rushing sound, like an underground river. But when I stopped to listen, I couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from.

I hadn’t wanted to use my ring, because I didn’t want to help anyone or anything track me. But I needed light, or I was never going to get out of there.

“Alright,” I muttered. “Ring time.”

Taking a deep breath, I called my power into my ring, asking the blue stone to blaze to life. In an instant, not only did the hallway light up as if someone had just started a roaring fire, but the light from my ring banished every shadow so that I could see into every curve, crook, and turn. Unlike up above, where the Long Building was broken up into different rooms, this level was just one long corridor that stretched further than the eye could see. There wasn’t much room, only a couple feet on either side of my shoulders, and I now saw that the hard ground I felt under my feet was black dirt.

The light confirmed one other thing. I was all alone in the catacombs of Public, until the Shadow found me.

From somewhere, almost like one of Sip’s low growls when she was in werewolf form, he was coming.

I saw no doors in the endless hallway, but since I didn’t have another option I headed forward again, determined to find a way out.

I led with my hand as it blazed with blue light. If I needed any more proof that I was elemental, my ring was it. The beautiful carving had lit up when I called to it, protecting me from danger, and now, if only I could get in touch with Sip and Lisabelle . . . or Keller. . . . The very thought of them reminded me that they were going to be furious with me.

A thud behind me made me jump. Also, the growling had returned, and it was getting closer. When I saw two red eyes staring at me up ahead, I stopped wishing to see any sign of light. That was not the sort of light I wanted. I stumbled to a halt, in a blind panic that whatever was behind the eyes would attack.

This wasn’t the Shadow, I realized; the Shadow didn’t have red eyes. This was something else, a creature that lived in the catacombs of Public and fed on the inky darkness.

The red eyes didn’t move. Neither did I. We stared each other down.

As we did so, seemingly stalemated, I tried to run through the list of creatures Dacer had said might live in the catacombs. But I hadn’t really been listening carefully at the time, I had thought he was silly for trying to tell me about creatures I was never going to meet. Now I regretted my inattention. The only one I remembered was Slime Dweller. Dacer had said there were lots of those.

Suddenly, from the hallway ahead, I heard footsteps running. Paralyzed, I waited. The eyes still weren’t moving.

Then I knew: Public’s Shadow had found both me and the red-eyed creature. Unsure what to do, I waited. I couldn’t go back the way I had come, because I knew there was nothing for me that way. I had to keep moving, even if it meant going through the Shadow.

Then the red eyes disappeared. The Slime Dweller—that’s what I was going with—had blinked.

But before I could even wonder what he was doing, he charged. Forget not going back the way I came, I turned to run without even thinking about it. When I had moved slowly down the wall I had largely avoided the large crate sitting there, but now that I was trying to get away I slammed into it, re-hitting the exact place on my shin that I had bruised a little while earlier. With a cry I fell to my knees. That was all the opening the Slime Dweller needed.