Page 88 of Property of Crypt Keeper

Immediately, every protective instinct in the room was activated. Which was impressive, considering that half the room consisted of what would be considered by many as apex predators.

Dressed in all black, Boomslang shook his head. “Absolutely not. You are not going.”

The child narrowed her eyes. The resemblance to Gideon was becoming increasingly unsettling. “I know where it is.”

Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. I felt the room shift.

Slowly.

Dangerously.

Boomslang crouched slightly, his demeanor changing from one of surly gruffness to cautious disbelief. “What do you mean, sweetheart?”

Zara looked annoyed. Like we were all being exceptionally slow. “I’ve been there.”

Every muscle in my body locked. The room went silent. Not quiet. Dead silent. The kind of silence that comes when something impossible or jaw-dropping enters the conversation.

Mako slowly straightened. “You’ve what?”

Zara shrugged. “My parents brought me for my appointments. There were lots of stairs.”

Nobody spoke.

“There were cages too,” she added, her tone sounding too matter-of-fact for a five-year-old.

My blood turned cold.

“The man in white didn’t like when I bit people.” Her big eyes blinked up at me as she seemed to remember more than she was saying.

The room seemed to tilt. Nobody said a word. Probably because nobody knew what to say.

I stared at her. Really stared. Looking past the attitude. Past the sarcasm. Past the feral little Rougarou who somehow managed to charm an entire motorcycle club.

And suddenly all I could see was a child. A frightened child. One who likely remembered far more than she should.

An hour later, we stood before the cathedral, hidden in the tree line. The structure loomed against the dark Louisiana sky like a ghost. Ancient. Weathered. Wrong in an otherworldly way.

Moonlight illuminated broken stained glass and crumbling stonework when it peeked through the clouds. Ivy crawled over portions of the walls, while time had reduced once-beautiful carvings into worn shadows. Spanish moss swayed eerily from the surrounding trees.

The building should have felt abandoned. Instead, it felt alive. As if it were watching us.

Boomslang seemed to feel it too. An almost imperceptible shudder shook him. “So this is it?”

Solemnly, I nodded. “This is it.”

My stomach churned. Because the second I saw it again, memories began surfacing. Small things. Tiny details that had gone unnoticed before. Things I should have caught onto years ago. Things I ignored.

Darkness crept in as the clouds obscured the moon.

“Let’s move,” Boomslang murmured. Everyone pulled thin black masks over their heads and faces. The only thing exposed were their eyes. Next, they added gloves.

Worried, I glanced at Zara. We never should’ve brought her. Her large eyes held mine as Dexter gently tugged a small balaclava over her head. It was still a bit big, but she didn’t fight him or flinch as he ensured her soft curls were tucked in.

“What—” I began as Mako tossed one at me.

“Just in case,” Spook muttered from behind the mask.

“In case of what?” I asked. If we were caught, we were all fucked.