i looked at my companions, but everyone seemed mystified. the symbol looked simple enough, a thin vertical line with a vertical wavy line running back and forth through it, each end terminating with a dot.

"maybe it's not supposed to be a letter or number but like those icons you see on road signs," adam said, peering closely at it.

"then this one means watch out for snakes," shelton said with a snort.

"it might be the landmark we need," i said.

adam shrugged. "give it a try."

elyssa and i took our positions. i visualized the world map in the control room as if looking up at the symbol. the arch hummed. images flickered past, each one with a world map in it. i caught a glimpse of symbols in the corner of the map walls, but they flashed past too quickly for me to determine if they were all the same. the slideshow halted before a world map with the exact symbol in the corner. i looked through the arch and noted with some alarm the exit was just to the side of the white-veined columns of an alabaster arch.

"we did it!" elyssa said, clapping her hands together and peering through. she took an ase, spun it in mid-air, and motioned for it to go through. it proceeded onward, drifting around the room.

i stuck my hand through the arch. when nothing severed it, i poked my head through. the control room looked just like the one at thunder rock. i wondered if all of the control rooms with alabaster arches had the strange symbol on the world map. i scoured the room with my eyes, looking for any nasties that might be lurking nearby, but the place looked empty. i noticed the exit door was closed, so i couldn't send the ase outside to be sure we had the right place-at least not without stepping into the room and opening it.

"should we?" i asked.

elyssa twisted her lips, giving the room a thorough visual examination. "i think we need more preparation. we need food, water, flashlights, and other survival supplies before we risk setting foot in there."

"but it's already lit," i said. a yellow glow suffused the room, much as it did in the other arch control rooms i'd been to.

"the cavern area in el dorado wasn't well-lit," she reminded me.

"we could look through the door," i said. "just a little peek."

"no," she said, setting her arms akimbo. "not until we're prepared for anything. i'm not willing to take one more step. if you try, i will knock you out and drag you up the cellar stairs by your feet."

i gulped. my girlfriend was a grade-a certified badass with a litany of ways to take down even the biggest supernatural. "sure thing, honey. whatever you say."

i heard shelton snicker behind me.

"let's call it a day," i said, noticing it was nearly two in the morning. man, had it been a long day. kidnapped, returned, and now this.

"first thing in the morning?" adam said, eyes bright with excitement.

"make it after eleven," shelton said with a groan and a stretch. "i gotta get my beauty sleep."

"i'm sure that's all you need," adam said, winking and looking at bella.

bella laughed as shelton turned a shade of red.

i reluctantly shut down the arch after giving the ase instructions to record every inch of the room just in case there were hidden dangers. even though i desperately wanted to go through, i knew elyssa was right. tomorrow we would be ready. tomorrow we would find the secret lornicus wanted us to find. tomorrow i would be one step closer to saving my mom and bringing her and ivy home.

chapter 6

despite my excitement, i slept like a baby and woke up ready to go. shelton joined me in the large dining area a few minutes after i'd arrived. elyssa entered, sweat glistening on her body, twin sai swords sheathed across her back. she leaned over the table and pecked me on the lips.

"i just finished morning practice. i'm gonna shower, and i'll be ready." i couldn't take my eyes off her limber form as she jogged up the stairs in her tight-fitting yoga pants and sports bra.

"you're drooling," shelton said, and took a sip of coffee.

the corners of my mouth twitched up in a smile. "that's a good thing, right?"

he snorted. "yeah. guess so."

by ten a.m., everyone was gathered in the den. adam lugged in a duffel bag full of lighting gear, some of it powered by aether, some of it by battery.

cinder watched the proceedings with great interest as he usually did from a seat with a view of the entire room. the golem did his best to mimic facial expressions, and even had a room of mirrors upstairs so he could judge his performance.

maybe i should send him to acting school.

once everyone was assembled, we double-checked our supplies, and made sure each person was outfitted with a miner's headlight, a magical glow stick, and a vest with bright led lights all along it in case of an emergency. i noticed nightliss sitting at the table, eyes pensive.

"are you coming?" i asked.

she shook her head sadly. "you told me daelissa could not go near the cherubs without becoming extremely weak. i'm afraid they will have the same effect on me, and i don't wish to burden you." her lips twisted. "i am also not quite up to fighting anything yet."

"i understand," i said, giving her an understanding smile. "unless we all die, we'll be back soon."

"don't say that," elyssa said, batting me playfully on the shoulder.

we went downstairs to the omniarch. using the same precautions as before, i connected the arch to the control room with the weird symbol. the image of what we supposed was the el dorado control room flickered into view between the columns. elyssa recalled the ase from the other side, and told it to show her the activity log. it had nothing to report.

"that's one of those special ases the templars use, right?" shelton said.

"yeah," elyssa replied.

"so, if it even caught a hint of movement, it would have noted it in the activity log."

elyssa nodded.

"ain't it kind of strange there's nothing on it? not even a cockroach?" he took a sip from his travel mug. "i'd expect there to be something living down there."

"lots and lots of cherubs," i said. "i doubt they all moved out after we captured vadaemos."

"i don't think even bugs want to be near husks," adam said. "insects and animals sense when there's something wrong and flee on instinct."

shelton didn't look convinced. "glad i'm wearing my adult diapers today," he muttered darkly.

elyssa and i stepped through at the same time-that was the deal we'd made the night before. i sniffed the air. took in a breath. it was a bit musty, but otherwise seemed normal.

the control room looked virtually identical to the others i'd visited, a huge rectangular room carved from the surrounding stone. a dull yellow glow suffused the room, its source as much a mystery as the creators of this place. a world map ran the length and height of the large front wall, a slightly raised platform situated before it. at the front of the platform, a gray sphere sat atop a pedestal. arch operators-arcanes who were tasked with the daily operations of obsidian arches-called the sphere a modulus. it would rise from the pedestal and allow them to select the destination for the obsidian arch. on the right side of the world map was a rather plain-looking metal door which led to the cavernous way station where an obsidian arch usually sat, though i didn't remember seeing one the last time i'd been in el dorado.

we stood in an aisle just behind the control platform and between rows of smaller arches, each one of identical size-roughly ten feet tall by twenty wide. cyrinthian symbols to the left of the world map corresponded to symbols on the floor in front of these smaller arches, each one presumably linked to a specific location. the main difference between this control room and the ones i'd seen in the grotto and queens gate stood to our right-a large black arch veined with white. an alabaster arch. if daelissa repaired the grand nexus, this arch would open to the angel realm.

elyssa and i waited a moment, ready to retreat through the arch in an instant should anything attack. elyssa dispatched sentry wisps, little balls of light that would flit around the room and emit alarms if they noticed hostiles. she'd obviously raided the templar armory for a rainy day.

after touring the room and determining it was safe, we signaled the others to come through. adam and shelton, staffs held at the ready, walked over to the exit door and inspected it.

"many of these arches appear damaged," cinder said, surveying the room.

i joined his gaze and saw broken structures just as i had in thunder rock. only a handful of the numbered arches remained standing. the row of omniarches to the side of the room seemed mostly intact.

shelton pulled the lever on the door, and opened it a crack. beyond lay pitch black. he gulped, and shut the door. "i haven't felt like this since the first time i went to a haunted house," he said.

adam unpacked a couple of industrial-sized magical glowballs, and activated them. they hovered in the air, casting bright white light in all directions.

"before we step into the unknown," i said, "maybe we should look at the arches in here. maybe activate the alabaster arch and see if it works."

"hey, anything to delay going out there," shelton said, jabbing a finger toward the control room door.

i ran a finger along the surface of the spherical modulus on the pedestal in front of the world map. stars located all across the map-each one indicating the location of an obsidian arch, lit in succession. if i wanted to request a connection to a particular arch, i would flick my finger once the appropriate star lit, and wait for the arch operator on the other end to verify.

"i don't see a star for el dorado," shelton said. he pointed to the star indicating bogota, colombia where the la casona way station was located. "i see all the known arches like the grotto and la casona, but not el dorado or thunder rock."

i removed my finger from the modulus. "i wonder what would happen if i requested a connection."

"i don't think we want to find out," he said. "we don't want to risk gloom fractures."