CHAPTER#42

"Logically? None of this makes sense." She picked up a stone and tossed it into the hole. It fell to the floor of the church below. "But fantasy logic?" Yeah, I can see it."

"That sounds like a lot of planning." If that was the case, does that mean that Emily had kicked someone out of the house? He knew that she had done so to Garrett, but the rats had made it seem like a recent event. It didn't make much sense, not based on the memories he had shared with Emily. "When we get back, I'll see if Naia can let me back into Emily's memories. I bet there's a clue in there."

"You can do that?"

He shrugged. "Just the one time. It was... interesting." He had re-lived a sexual encounter inside of Emily's body, one that he often thought of. He had also re-lived a magical sexual assault that had left him feeling terrible. The experience had taught him not only about Emily, but himself. "I guess I'm more afraid of what I might learn about her now. When I did it last time, she was happy and, well, normal. Then an old acquaintance of hers started some trouble and the experience changed her. I think it changed all of them. I know it changed me."

"So even Emily had her problems. Do you think that's why she started manipulating magic?"

"Maybe." He frowned. "The rats said she opened a portal. Do you think she did it herself or did somebody help her?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not. But if she did it herself, it meant she learned how to do magic." He thought about being in bed with Zel, briefly controlling how the magic flowed through him. He wasn't certain that he was ever going to be able to do anything but create a magical orgasm feedback loop, but it was a start. "I was under the impression that using magic is difficult."

"I guess. I'm afraid you're an expert compared to what I know." She sighed. "I've got a demon stitched to my soul and have to avoid mirrors for the foreseeable future. I'm not entirely certain how you are able to handle all of this so well."

"I had a shitty childhood. You quickly learn that when you finally have something worth holding on to, you fight with every breath to keep it." His eyes fell on Tink. "Especially when you know they would do the same for you."

"I think I'm beginning to see that." When Beth said this, he noticed she was giving him a strange look.

"They're back." Reggie waved over the returning rats. They were holding a large coil of rope. "Let's get ready."

-

When the rope was tossed into the hole, gravity pulled it straight, making it look like a tightrope from their perspective. Tink elected to stay at the opening and watch their backs while Beth and Mike descended.

MIke went first. Beth watched him slide awkwardly down the rope and then let go too early, falling the last few feet. A cloud of dust billowed out from him.

"I'm fine," he called up, muttering something under his breath. "Jenny, are you there?"

When there wasn't an answer, Beth followed. The rope burned her hands and she nearly fell, her descent finally halted by Mike. The floor creaked sadly under her feet. She looked around the church, noticing that what little light there was came from gaps in the boarded up windows.

"Do you smell that?" He sniffed the air. She noticed it too.

"It's humid. I smell dust, rain and... plants?" The air had a very earthy smell with the scent of moss and grass. "I think we're in the jungle."

"Wait." Mike looked up at the ceiling and then out one of the dirty windows. The glass was cracked where she could see it."This isn't like the castle in the sky. We're on the ground, wherever we are."

"Which means we are outside of the house." She felt her heart briefly stop. "If the Society finds out..."

"Oh, I doubt they know. And even if they did, we're only going to be here a few minutes." He turned his attention to the back of the church. "They said they sealed her in the crypt. I'm hoping the stairs are back there?"

"Yes!" Reggie called down to them from up above. "We trapped her in an old coffin and wedged it shut with a cross."

"Yeah, I've felt that way before too." Mike winked at Beth. "She really does have a temper."

"Agreed." They walked toward a door in the back. The door frame was falling out, the wood rotted clean through. Insects scurried away from the beam of Mike's flashlight and she caught a glimpse of a centipede nearly a foot long and gasped.

"Yeah, I'm barely holding it together myself." He shivered, the beam shaking. "Some of these look big enough to take off a finger or something." He found a set of concrete stairs at the back, waving her over. "I kind of wish I'd brought a face mask or something. There's mold everywhere."

"I think some of that is moss," she replied, but couldn't be sure. The walls were coated in a thick growth that she didn't want to touch. The thought of inhaling spores made her cough out of reflex. They walked together down the stairs and stopped at the bottom when they heard a loud thump.

"Jenny? It's Mike. We're here to rescue you." They stepped out into a large room underground with several tunnels spread out beneath it. Most of them had collapsed, and Beth saw plenty of human bones that had spilled out of the niches carved in the wall.

"Jenny?" She saw an old coffin sitting along the far wall. It was far newer than the rest of the church. Scattered around the coffin were the corpses of several rats and a giant wooden cross had been wedged between the top of the coffin and the ceiling.

The coffin shook, the cross knocking dirt loose from the ceiling.

"Jenny!" He handed the flashlight to Beth and ran to the coffin. Using his magic dagger, he quickly sliced a hole in the end and the doll tumbled free onto the cold dirt floor. Her dress was in tatters and her hair full of dirt. He scooped her up like a small child and hugged her to him. "I'm so glad you're safe."