<h4>Chapter 301: Chapter 301</h4>


    ~Samantha~


    The mine entrance swallowed our shlight beams like they were nothing.


    I’d expected darkness. What I got was worse, a thick, pressing ck that made me want to turn around and walk straight back out.


    "It’s already toote to head back." Dominic’s hand found my shoulder and patted it for support. "You were eager toe here so we’ll face it together."


    We filed deeper into the tunnel. The temperature dropped fast. My breath came out in visible puffs of fear.


    "Anyone else freezing?" Diana’s teeth chattered.


    "It’s the shadow aura that resides here." L didn’t slow down.


    "So we’re walking into a freezer full of evil magic." Devon sounded less excited about this adventure now. "We should have listened to Dad."


    “Father knows best but your stubbornness won’t allow it.” Dominic chimed in.


    "How deep does this go?" I asked.


    "Main chamber is about two hundred yards in." L’s shlight swept left and right, checking corners. "That’s where the relics are stored."


    "And the traps?" Dominic questioned. "Where are those?"


    "Everywhere, probably. Silver w didn’t want uninvited guests."


    "That’s such great news. Sam, did you hear that?" Dominic turned back to me, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I’ll lead. Sam, stay directly behind me. Killian, take the rear with the twins between us."


    "I can lead," Killian offered.


    "You can guard my children." Dominic’s tone came with finality. "That’s where you’re most useful right now."


    Killian’s jaw locked but he didn’t object. Just moved behind the twins like ordered.


    I caught the look on his face though. One word, annoyed.


    "Dom, you shouldn’t have spoken to him like that." I started.


    "He’s a grown man, not a pup." Dominic shifted into his wolf form. "Everyone quiet. Let me listen."


    We went silent. Even the twins stopped fidgeting.


    Dominic’s ears twitched, swiveling to catch sounds I couldn’t hear. His eyes reflected our shlights.


    After a long minute, he shifted back to human. "There’s movement ahead. Can’t tell if it’s water or something else."


    "The mine has an underground stream," L said. "Runs through the main chamber. Could be that."


    "Could be." Dominic didn’t sound convinced. "Or it could be something waiting for us."


    "Only one way to find out." L started forward again.


    Dominic grabbed her arm, stopping her. "I go first. You follow. Those are the rules."


    "These are Silver w tunnels. I know them better than you."


    "I don’t care. Majority here are my pack so it’s expected I lead. You want to argue or you want to get to your relics?"


    L shot him a slight re as she stepped aside, hinting that he leads.


    Dominic took point. I followed close enough that my hand brushed his back every few steps. The twins walked between me and Killian, holding hands, their free hands clutching their purification whistles.


    The tunnel curved left, then right, then opened up.


    "Main chamber." L’s voice echoed off high ceilings I couldn’t see. "Careful. The floor has gaps."


    Dominic’s shlight found them. Dark spaces where the stone had crumbled away, revealing nothing but ck underneath.


    "The stream runs below. Fall in and the current takes you."


    "Where does it go?"


    "No one who fell in came back to tell us."


    "Perfect." I guided the twins around the gaps, making sure they stayed far from the edges. "Everyone watch your step."


    The main chamber stretched wide. Support pirs dotted the space, holding up a ceiling that looked ready to copse any second. Crates and boxes lined the walls, covered in dust and cobwebs.


    "The relics are in those?" I pointed at the boxes.


    "Some of them. Others are in the vault." L moved toward the far wall where a metal door stood, half-rusted. "That’s what we’re here for. The vault."


    Dominic examined the door without touching it. "Locked?"


    "Warded. Blood-locked specifically." L pulled out a knife. "My blood should open it."


    "Should?" Dominic caught the word.


    "It’s been ten years. Wards can decay. Might take a few tries."


    "Or it might not work at all and we came here for nothing."


    "It’ll work." L cut her palm, let blood well up. Pressed it against the door’s center where a symbol was carved.


    Nothing happened.


    "Give it a second," L muttered.


    We waited. Ten seconds. Maybe, fifty.


    Still nothing.


    "Your blood’s corrupted." Killian had moved closer to examine the door. "The ward is rejecting it. It needs pure Silver w blood."


    "My blood is just fine."


    "Half your markings are ck. Your blood is definitely corrupted." Killian looked at the door, then at L. "Is there another way in?"


    "No. This is the only entrance." L pressed her bleeding palm harder against the symbol. "Come on. Work."


    "It’s not going to open." Dominic turned away from the door. "We’re wasting time. Let’s check what’s in the crates and leave."


    "The vault has the real weapons! The crates are just basic supplies!" L’s voice rose, bouncing off the walls too loud.


    "Then we take the basic supplies and figure out the vaultter."


    A click echoed through the chamber.


    We all froze.


    "What was that?" Diana whispered.


    "One of the traps." Killian’s eyes went wide. "Someone stepped on it."


    "Where?" Dominic spun, scanning the floor.


    "There." Devon pointed at a stone near his feet. It sat lower than the others, depressed slightly. "I think I stepped on it."


    "Don’t move." Dominic’s voice went dead cold. "Everybody, stay still."


    Another click. Then a scraping sound. Metal on stone.


    Killian shoved the twins hard, pushing them sideways away from Devon. "Get down!"


    Everything happened at once.


    Arrows erupted from the walls. Silver-tipped. Moving fast.


    Aimed directly at where Devon had been standing.


    Diana screamed. I ran for them but Killian was already there, his body covering both twins as arrows whistled past.


    One caught him in the arm. Punched straight through muscle and out the other side.


    He grunted. Stumbled. But kept the twins covered.


    "Killian!" I scrambled toward them on my hands and knees.


    The arrows stopped. Twenty, maybe thirty embedded in the opposite wall. The one in Killian’s arm stuck out at an angle, wet with blood.