A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

I
whispered to Aidan. He shook his head and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I
spun slowly as I gazed into the pitch black at yet more trees to each side. Why
had we stopped in the middle of nowhere? Maybe the immortals needed a break,
too? The ground—damp and cold, but still inviting—beckoned to me.
Surely no one would mind me sitting down for a while until the others figured
out what they were doing here.
    A light flashed to my right, flooding the
clearing in glaring brightness. I shielded my eyes, ready to complain, when I
noticed the tall barbwire fence inches away. A few steps and I’d have run right
into it. Devon fidgeted with what looked like a control panel until I heard a
crack and a gate opened.
    “Hurry up! We only have five seconds,”
Devon said. “Then the mechanism’s blocked for a few hours.”
    “You’re kidding.” Yet more walking. With a
sigh, I lifted my sluggish legs and trudged forward before the gate shut.
    “Follow me,” Devon said.
    Cass looked down at her oversized jeans
covered in mud and snorted. “I’m going to send you the cleaning bill, mate.”
    “If you burn that—” Kieran pointed at
her clothes, grinning “—I’ll buy you something that isn’t made out of
sackcloth.”
    Fashion was Cass’s pride and joy. He’d
definitely crossed the line with that one. I watched in awe as Cass’s face turned
bright red. But instead of the unnatural glint in her eyes, she just smiled and
said, “At least I don’t need to wear tight pants to distract from a lack of
brains.”
    “Come on,” Aidan muttered as he grabbed my
hand and pulled me after him. “If they don’t kill each other soon, I will.”
    The bickering continued behind me, but I
tuned out. Aidan was still holding my hand, his thumb drawing circles on my
skin as we crossed an open field, passing several floodlights, and reached an
incline. Aidan stopped and muttered under his breath, “Holy cow.”
    “What?” I followed his line of vision up
the hill where the light didn’t reach, but all I saw were strange shapes towering
against the canvass of the night.
    He intertwined his fingers with mine and
hurried forward, dragging me after him, forgetting my short legs couldn’t take
the same long strides. I quickened my pace so he wouldn’t think me completely
out of shape. And then I reached the top, seeing what he’d known was there all
along, and my stomach twisted into nervous knots.

Chapter 26

 
    Aidan

 
    The cemetery of the dead—I couldn’t
believe I was finally standing in front of it. Rebecca had tried to locate it
to perform the ritual, but even after stepping on Shadow territory and
searching around for hours, killing several Shadows along the way, she hadn’t
been able to find it. She’d claimed the woods were some sort of labyrinth in
which passages changed with the moon. I never doubted her words because Rebecca
would never admit failure willingly. Our journey so far had seemed straightforward,
but I had no doubt Devon had some trick up his sleeve that would ensure we’d
never find the way back should we decide to return later.
    Row after row of tall statues and gravestones
stretched in the distance as far as my heightened vampire sight let me see.
Soft moonlight shone down on us. A large cloud of mist gathered around our
feet, hovering inches above the ground. The wind howled, scattering the leaves.
    “Now, that’s a nice touch,” Cass said. “Gives
spooky a whole new meaning. Who brought the fog machine?”
    “Huh?” Kieran said.
    “Not talking to you, mate. You’re always in
a fog.”
    “I don’t think there’s anything creepier
than this place,” Angel whispered.
    Devon nudged her and pointed at Kieran and
me. “Just look behind you.”
    The Shadow irritated the hell out of me,
but without him, we’d never get in. So I swallowed down my anger, for the time
being. The war between our races was far from over, but a fight would have to
wait.
    “Show some respect,” Amber said. “If you’re
going to crack on my guy, I’ll turn around and leave. Got it?”
    Devon set his jaw, but kept quiet. Defying
my better judgment, I wrapped my arm around Amber’s waist and drew her close.
The rhythm of her heart echoed in my ears, racing like she’d just run with the
bulls through the streets in Pamplona. I shot her a sideway glance and smiled
reassuringly, as if that’d make a cemetery a less grotesque place to visit in
the middle of the night. If the legends were true,