Page 68 of Into the Abyss
“Anyway, it appears the jinn misread me.Perhaps I was thinking of sex when they took me, which is likely,or perhaps they took one look at my stunning physique andstereotyped me into the playboy role,” Hawk continued.
He winked at me as he said this, and Magnusgave a throaty growl that had Hawk’s eyebrows shooting up.
“Okay, no winking at you,” he said to mewhile he gave Magnus a puzzled look.
“If you know this isn’t real, then why areyou still here?” Magnus asked.
“I tried walking away, but every time Ileave, I find myself standing here again. So, I figured I’d settlein and wait for someone to come, and you did. How do I getout?”
“Unlike us, it’s only your mind trappedhere. Your body is in a cave with the others; you just have toreturn to it,” Magnus explained.
“Are you telling me I’m like Dorothy andI’ve had the power to go home this entire time?” Hawk inquired.
“Who?” I asked, and Magnus lookedconfused.
“Dorothy,The Wizard of Oz, thescarecrow and some flying monkeys—”
“Where?” I asked, and my eyes shot to thesky. I once discovered a book of Earth animals in an abandonedhome. I remembered liking the monkeys because they were cute, but Ididn’t think they flew.
“Demons,” Hawk sighed. “It was a movie I sawwhen I was a kid. Dorothy went to Oz, and she had these rubyslippers and… You know what, never mind. It’s not worthexplaining.”
“It, ah, sounds interesting,” I said.
“It was.” Hawk threw back his shoulders andclicked his heels together. “I’m done with this fucking place.”Click. “I’m done with this fu—”
Before Hawk could finish, he disappeared andthe women vanished. I hadn’t realized how loud the women were untilsilence filled my ears.
“I’m going to have to discover thisWizard of Ozthing,” Magnus said.
“Oz sounds strange, but Hawk seemsnice.”
When Magnus shot me an irritated look, Ismiled sweetly at him.
CHAPTER 29
Amalia
Over what seemed like hours, but it was impossibleto tell how much time passed in here, lightning struck the monolitha dozen more times. My skin increasingly felt like a slimysubstance coated it as too many lives flowed through me. I wouldgive anything to find another pool of water, jump in, and scrub thedeath from me.
The only good thing was we managed to find,and help free, more of those who weren’t entirely trapped here.We’d found the demon Shax wandering the trails like Erin a whileago.
When he saw Magnus, he threw up his hands.“Did you create this place?” he’d demanded.
Magnus smiled. “Not even I am thisdemented.”
“Then who?”
“The jinn.”
“Of course.”
And with those two words, Shax vanished.Magnus and I stared at each other before continuing into what wasincreasingly beginning to feel like a labyrinth.
“The jinn will know Wren is Corson’s Chosen,she’s clearly marked,” Magnus said after a while.
“They will,” I agreed.
“I think she’ll be at the center of all thisif she’s not already dead.”
