Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“That was their heating system, back when this was a working grotto where people lived,” Hold explained. “Most of the residents of Tranq Prime are able to live here because they are sustained by geothermal heat—there’s a lot of volcanic activity underground and it heats the water, which they channel to run through their grottos and keep them warm.”
“Really? That’s fascinating,” Celia exclaimed. She frowned. “But this river doesn’t look very warm, though. I mean, it’s not steaming or anything.”
“No, it’s not.” Hold knelt by the side of the river and dipped his fingers in. He drew them out with a hiss and dried them quickly on his coat. “It’s barely above freezing. That must be why this grotto is abandoned—their source of heat went cold.”
“Well, let’s not stay in this fucking place any longer than we have to,” Fierce growled. “It’s fucking weird in here with all the shadows.”
For once Celia agreed with the Dark Twin.
“I know, right? It feels haunted.” She rubbed her arms and shivered.
“We’ll have to at least stay overnight unless we can find the jewel moss in under an hour,” Hold warned. “The sun will be setting soon and we can’t risk going back outside during the night—the temperature drops too sharply.”
Celia couldn’t imagine it getting any colder outside than it was. The tip of her nose and her fingertips were just now beginning to thaw—though her ears were warm, thanks to Fierce and his hot breath.
“Let’s go then,” she said. “Er…which way is it? Do we have any kind of a map?”
“We do—thanks to Commander Sylvan.” Hold nodded and dug something that looked like a kind of clear iPad out of the backpack he’d brought. He tapped it and it came to life, showing a schematic of the underground space with several lighted dots on it.
“Is that us?” Celia asked, pointing to the blue dot at the bottom of the map.
“Yes—that’s us,” Hold confirmed.
“Then what are the red dots, way up there?” Fierce demanded, looking over his brother’s shoulder to point at the top of the map.
“Those are the areas where Commander Sylvan thought it was most likely the jewel moss could be found,” Hold told him.
“I don’t know the scale of this map, but they look pretty far away,” Celia said doubtfully.
“Unfortunately, they are. I doubt we’ll get there and back again in an hour—but we can try.” Hold shouldered the backpack again and nodded at them. “Come on—let’s get going.”
“All right—you lead the way with the map and I’ll take the rear,” Fierce growled. “We’ll keep Celia between us for safety.”
Celia thought about protesting that she could take care of herself, but then she remembered that they were on an alien planet in an abandoned, possibly haunted cave and decided to keep her mouth shut. She fell into line behind Hold with Fierce bringing up the rear and they began their trek.
15
FIERCE
Fierce didn’t like the fucking grotto—not one Goddess-damned bit. Celia was right, he decided—it felt haunted.
They stuck mostly to the main corridor but Hold wanted to try a few of the domiciles, which branched off of it, just to be sure they weren’t missing the moss. Those were the places that really gave Fierce what he’d heard humans call “the creeps.”
Everywhere they went, they saw evidence of the people who used to live here. There were empty bowls and cups gathering dust on the tables, discarded clothes and toys in the corners, and blankets of dust on the couches and beds.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he kept thinking he heard something creeping up behind them. He lost count of the times he turned his head and scanned the passageway to be sure the three of them weren’t being followed. It was always the same though—nothing. Just dust and shadows.
Fierce hoped they could find the damn moss and get out quickly. He had a bad feeling about this mission and it was only getting stronger with every step he took.
16
HOLD
After the fifth domicile they’d checked without finding any moss, Hold decided to stick to the map and walk along the main corridor until they found the areas Commander Sylvan had marked for them. It felt too eerie to walk into places where long-dead families had lived and examine the abandoned spaces they had left behind.
Also, he could tell that Celia didn’t like it. Her scent was sharp with fear and she was jumpy, looking all around her and glancing over her shoulder constantly—as was Fierce.
We need to find the moss and get out of here soon, Hold thought.
He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this grotto—a sense of danger. And it was growing stronger with every step they took…
17
CELIA
Just as Celia was beginning to wonder if they would ever find the damn jewel moss, she saw a faint glow coming from a corridor up ahead, which branched off from the main hallway.