She was smiling back at him. That was a goodsign.

“I’m sorry,” he said lamely.

She shook her head. “That was a goodidea.”

“I thought maybe if I could just make myselfwait until we got out here, we’d be okay. Even if we did it, maybeonce would be enough.”

“I think if you hadn’t taken me here, I’dhave gone back in.”

Albert was still on top of her, still insideher even. God she was warm down there. “I guess I should get off ofyou now.”

She smiled, but did not speak.

Albert rose and they both gasped a littlewhen he slipped out of her. He then knelt beside her, looking ather. She was lying with her arms and legs spread apart as thoughshe were in the middle of making a snow angel, her breastsflattened against her chest, her soft eyes gazing back at him. Shewas so beautiful.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, not sure whatelse to say, and picked up the flashlight he’d dropped when he gavein to the lust.

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault. It was thatroom. We can’t expect not to want each other like that.”

Albert felt relief that she was not angrywith him this time, but at the same time his heart was torn inhalf. She was taking it all as a result of this place, of thisstrange underground temple. Whatever happened down here, asterrifying or as wonderful as it may be, was all just illusionsfrom a temple full of faceless sentinels.

Brandy sat up and dug her glasses out of herpurse. She was visibly calmer somehow, despite their near run inwith the thing in the round room and the terrors they’d faced allthrough the night.

Albert also felt better, but only in someways. Now he felt like his whole world was bending into an orbitaround Brandy Rudman and he was terrified of what may lie ahead forhim. What they just did had merely intensified a feeling he’d beentrying very hard to suppress, a feeling that admittedly began evenbefore they set foot in the first tunnel. “I guess we should keepmoving,” he said, trying not to think about the loneliness of thelife he’d left behind at midnight, the same life to which he wouldsoon be returning. Would they go back to being nothing more thanlab partners again? “I guess that thing didn’t follow us or wewouldn’t have gotten this far, but we don’t know that forsure.”

Brandy nodded. She stood up and took hishand. Together they walked out of the room. It seemed fitting tothem both, after what they’d just done, that the sentinels alongthe walls were slowly wilting, their excitement dying away.

Ahead of them lay the first room of thisstrange, underground labyrinth. Beyond that awaited the tunnelsthat would lead them back up to the city.

Chapter 22

Somehow the tunnel leading back to BriarHills was more frightening than those they were leaving behind.Behind them was the thief who stole their clothes and a vastlabyrinth that was home to a pack of ferocious creatures they hadno way of even imagining. Yet those tunnels were smooth and clean,of polished stone, like a well-kept palace. In contrast, thesewalls were of raw earth and rocks, less like a temple than acatacomb. Albert could almost imagine the walls falling away aroundthem and revealing chamber after chamber of human remains, some ofthem still glistening with rot.

“Do you think that thing could still befollowing us?” asked Brandy as Albert paused to examine the firstfork in the tunnel.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I don’t thinkso. I haven’t heard anything out of it since we went in the water.It seems like it would’ve caught up by now. Maybe we lost it in thewater. Maybe it can’t swim.”

“Maybe. What do you think it was?”

Albert shook his head. “I can’t evenimagine.” As far as he could see in all three directions, thetunnels were empty, so he continued on, leading the way.

“Are there any animals that could make thatnoise, do you think? Anything known?”

“I don’t know. I sure as hellcouldn’t recognize it.”

“It sounded sort of like a rattlesnake,didn’t it? A little bit? Do you think it could be a new species?Something nobody’s ever seen before?”

Albert shook his head. Somebody mighthave seen them, he thought but didn’t say. He remembered thebones they’d seen as they approached the room with the dyingstatues and wondered again if they could have been human. Even ifthey weren’t, even if they were the bones of something native tothose dark passages, what he experienced in that tunnel was enoughto tell him that they weren’t just a bunch of overly friendlycollies. That thing tried to take his leg off. If he’d been just alittle slower getting over that wall…

He couldn’t think about that. Not now. Notwhen there was still so far to go. They reached the place where thenewer tunnel was built through this far older one and he paused topeer both ways. He still expected something to jump out at themfrom the darkness, some dangerous figure unwilling to let themleave these tunnels with what they saw. When nothing stirred in theshadows, he stuffed the backpack into the narrow passage and thenclimbed in behind it.

When they crawled out of the next tunnel andstood up, Brandy suddenly said, “I feel like we’re not done.”

Albert looked back at her, curious.“What?”

“We’re not done. We didn’t finish.” She wasstaring down at the floor, her brow furrowed as though she weretrying hard to understand her own thoughts. “We were given thatbox. We were brought together. We were brought down here. But wedidn’t finish. We only got so far and we stopped.” She looked up athim. “I feel like it’s very important that we didn’t finish.”

Albert stared at her for a moment. She wasright. He could feel it too. There was something in the back of hismind. There was the curiosity, of course, the wondering of whatcould possibly be beyond that fear room, but that was not all. Itwas like she just said: It felt very important that they didn’tfinish. It felt to him almost as though they’d set out to disarm abomb but left before cutting the last wire.

They walked on without speaking, theirthoughts dwelling on this odd feeling. But as the next passage cameinto sight, they remembered what awaited them, and Brandy cursedinto the silence.

Albert stared down at the stagnant water,understanding exactly how she felt. He, too, had forgotten aboutthe flooded tunnel they waded through on their way in.

“There’s another way right?”

Albert shook his head. “I don’t thinkso.”

She made a noise that was almost aretch.

“It’s only water. We’ve been through worsetonight.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He was impatient with her the first timethey came to this tunnel, but he felt none of that now. He simplydidn’t have it in him to be irritated with her. Besides, heunderstood. The first time might have warranted those feelings,when they were both wearing shoes. This time, however, they wereboth naked. Wading barefoot into that sludge, rainwater or not,made his skin crawl just to think about.

“We don’t have any choice.”

“I know.”

“You going to be okay?”

She looked up at him, her eyes soft andkind. He was so nice to her. She felt almost ashamed of herself tobe complaining about such a small thing, especially after the fearroom.

She steeled herself, determined not to lether courage falter again, and squeezed his hand. “Yeah,” shereplied. “Let’s get it over with.”

Together, they stepped off into the cold andstagnant water. The Concrete beneath it was slimy and somethingthat was probably a piece of trash brushed past her right foot. Italmost made her scream, but she bit her lip and endured it.

“Almost there,” Albert assured her, and whenshe looked up she saw the green mark she left on the tunnel wallwhat seemed like an eternity ago.

“Thank god,” she sighed.

“You’re doing great.”

“I’m trying.” She looked at him again anddrew courage from his presence.

They wasted no time getting out of the waterwhen they finally reached the next tunnel. The sliminess they eachfelt on the submerged floor of that tunnel seemed to have climbedup their legs and backs all the way to their brains.