Chapter 131
The tunnels seemed to wind on forever. So far, Jo had followed behind Christian without questioning where they were going or why, but she was beginning to wonder if maybe he was just leading them around in circles, trying to see exactly how long they would follow.
Time was different inside of the portal. That was something Jo had been told for years. She didn’t quite understand what that meant until she was inside of the tunnel herself. It was impossible to keep track of how long they had been traveling. In some respects, it felt like only a few minutes. But in other ways, she thought it might’ve been hours. Maybe even a full day or more.
“Where are we going?” Cassidy finally asked. It wasn’t a surprise to Jo that she was the one who asked first.
Christian paused to shoot a monster. So far, they hadn’t been attacked by more than one or two of the dark beings at a time since the last major attack in which Ryker took the opportunity to apparently Transform into a Guardian, a feat that should’ve been impossible, and yet, it had happened. “This way,” Christian said in response to Cassidy’s question.
“Do you even know where we’re going or are we just walking for walking’s sake?” She didn’t seem to mind pushing the subject.
All she got in response was a growl.
The tunnels all looked the same. Jo didn’t understand what Christian was doing either. They’d walk down a tunnel, come to the end, walk around the outer circle, and then into another tunnel. Eventually, they’d end up in the center of the portal again, the large circular area where the major attack had taken place, and then Christian would walk into another tunnel.
It was nonsensical.
And yet, they were following him.
“I already told you guys, the place we need to get to isn’t in this portal. We have to go through another opening to get there.” Christian was clearly annoyed by their inability to understand his answer that didn’t make any sense.
“Does anyone want to try going a different direction to see if maybe we shouldn’t be following the same person who lied and said this place didn’t exist in the first place?” The Hybrid wasn’t giving up.
“That was twenty-five years ago!” Christian shouted, turning around, his gun over his shoulder but his swagger showing that he might decide to aim it at Cassidy anyway.
“And yet you expect us to trust you in here--why?” she shot back.
Christian’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t care what the hell you do. But I know the best way to find the portal opening. I’ve done it before.”
“What way is that?” Cassidy asked. “Wandering around aimlessly for fifty or sixty years?”
Christian’s glare intensified. “Time is different in here.”
Swearing under her breath, Cassidy said, “I swear you said you knew where she was. So why the fuck is this taking so long?”
“I do know where she is!” Christian fired back. “I just need to find the way to get to her!”
“That doesn’t even make sense!” Cassidy was so angry, her hands were starting to glow blue.
“Enough!” Jo finally said, standing between them, putting her hands up between the two of them, as if she might have to physically keep them apart. “We’re not doing this! It isn’t helping us find Mom, and it’s not productive!”
Both of them were staring at her like she was the one with the problem. Jo took a deep breath and slowly put her arms down. The rest of the group seemed to relax, too.
“Why don’t we split up?” Zane suggested. “I know it’s probably not as safe that way, especially since we only have one Healer, but if we stay together, the two of you might just kill one another, and that would be equally as unsafe.”
It wasn’t like him to interject himself into an argument. Jo didn’t want them to have to split up. She did think it would be safer if they were together. Their IACs seemed to work fairly well inside of the tunnels, but sometimes it was difficult to find someone, even if they were talking through their IAC. Every tunnel seemed to look the same. They were numbered on the ends that led into the circle, but some of the numbers were a little faded. Jo wasn’t clear what substance had been used to create the numbers, but when she’d looked closely at one of them before, she’d thought it looked like blood. Old bloody numbers on one end of a black tunnel were not the best way to find someone, especially in a hurry.
“Yeah, I think we should split up,” Jo agreed.
“Two groups of three or three groups of two?” Scott asked.
Jo weighed her options. She wasn’t sure what the answer to the question was.
“I don’t give a damn what you do,” Christian said. “I’m going.”
“Wait!” Jo said, reaching out and grabbing his arm. She didn’t want to rely on him for anything, but she would rather put her trust in someone who should know what they were doing than go off on her own in a place that was full of monsters at every turn.
Christian stopped, turning back to face her, his face the picture of boredom.
“Cassidy, why don’t you and Scott and Ryker go together, and Zane and Christian and I will go together, okay?”
“Why are you sending me with them?” Ryker asked, choosing an odd time to speak up.
“What do you mean? You don’t want to go with me anyway. All we do is argue.”
“I think you’re sending me with them because you think I’ll get hurt if I’m not with the Healer and the lady who throws the screens.”
Jo swore under her breath. “I don’t give a rat’s ass who you go with. I was just trying to split us up into evenly matched groups. You wanna come with us? Fine.”
“Well, I don’t want to now,” Ryker hissed.
“Let’s go,” Cassidy said, her hand shooting out and grabbing hold of Ryker’s arm. She yanked him behind her as she started walking back the way they’d just come. She didn’t need to pull Scott along. He was already following her. But his eyes were on Jo.
“Be careful, please?” he said in her head. “I don’t trust Christian. And this place is unbelievably dangerous.”
“I’ll be all right,” Jo said, giving him a reassuring smile before he disappeared down the dark tunnel with Cass and Ryker.
“Can we please go now?” Christian said, his eyebrows raised so high, they were almost on the back of his head.
“Yes. Let’s go.” Jo took a deep breath and waited for the Guardian to turn around and start walking. He only took about three steps before he fired his gun four times into a large bear-like creature, which fell to the ground with a thud that shook some rocks loose from the ceiling.
“Shit,” Jo muttered. It was like he saw them before they were even there. She hadn’t picked that skill up yet, and it made her nervous. Zane was behind her. What if something came from the other direction? It would be on top of him before he even knew it, and then….
She’d just sent the Healer off with her aunt to settle an argument.
Not a smart move.