“I don’t know if it’ll be enough,” Sebastian answers. His hand hasn’t left his gun since we got out of the car. He’s ready for war and prepared for the worst. He knows what it’s like to be given an order by Marcus better than any of us. By the way he’s acting it looks like he expects each of our names to be on a hit list given to Marcus’s army.
“It wasn’t supposed to turn into this. It should have been low key.” Seth looks concerned as he searches the edge of the bridge for signs of anyone watching or waiting. “He has eyes everywhere.”
“If Marcus wants to kill us, I imagine he could do it with no men,” I tell the group who have gathered around us.
“We’re walking underground with no concept of what’s there.”
“Explosives would do it,” I say, completing the thought that lingers in the back of my mind.
“You think he knows?” Carter asks.
“I think we should assume he does,” Seth answers.
“If he didn’t before we got here, he does now.” The realization hits me hard. “All of us can’t go in there. This was a mistake.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Carter snaps.
“There are too many questions unanswered. If we all go in, he could see it as either us declaring war or an opportunity… We can’t give him the opportunity. He can know war is coming though.”
“We go in together,” Carter insists as I grip my gun tighter, feeling my palm get hot with the need to do something.
“Think about Aria.” I try to persuade him to go back home.
“I am. I’m thinking about my family and about bringing them home. Open up the fucking door.”
“Don’t leave her a widow,” I warn him. “Not for me.”
“She knows what I’m doing. She knows the risk.” I can only nod, thinking that Bethany knows the same. Carter adds, “She told me not to come home without Bethany’s sister. She knows and she wants Jenny home too. Open it.” With the command and the four of us moving forward, the men gather behind us, all of us walking to the small door.
With a gun trained on the lock, Sebastian fires and a flash of light and red sparks from the gun being shot leads to the groan of the heavy door being opened. Sebastian steps aside and only nods as we move forward. His eyes are focused straight ahead as he orders the men around us, keeping a lookout and moving forward to clear the way.
“I’ll go in first,” I tell him, stepping in front and preparing myself for what we’ll find.
The steel floors grate as I step forward, letting my eyes adjust and not daring to breathe. The musk of the water’s edge is heavier when the door opens. A steel rail keeps me from stepping forward and it’s then I notice the door leads to a spiral staircase down. It reminds me of the shed at The Red Room. The place men go to die but unlike them, we’re walking down there willingly. A cold prick flows down my skin like needles.
“We don’t have a choice.” Carter pushes the words through clenched teeth before I can urge him to turn around.
“This is my fight,” I tell him one last time.
“We fight together.” The weight against me feels more significant than it ever has before. “Bastian,” I call before taking another step forward. “Don’t let a single man here die.”
He tells me simply and then motioning with his chin for me to continue, “I wasn’t planning on it. In and out. No casualties.”
With a nod and a look back at Carter and Seth, I take the stairs one at a time, noting how many there are and how far down it goes. Maybe two stories, if that. It’s got to be twenty feet down and the steady drip from leaking pipes is all that makes a noise down here.
Four men stay at the top and just outside the door as lookouts. The rest join us, making it ten men in a tight space, eight of them waiting on the stairs for the door at the bottom to be opened.
Bang!
It takes a second shot to shatter the lock and I toss it to the floor before slowly pushing open the door. Seth’s behind me, his gun raised and ready. Steadying my breathing, focusing on my racing pulse, I take in every inch that I can see.
There’s no sign of anyone. No sign of anything at all down here. Anxiousness makes me doubt myself. Maybe she’s not here at all. With that thought, unexpectedly the lights turn on, one after the next, quickly illuminating the place.
The sound of guns cocking and raising fills the tight space, but no one fires. The lights are newer than everything else. They’re placed into sconces bracketed against the walls which are a mix of thin plaster and tightly packed dirt.