Free shaede assassin 05 - shadows at midnight by amanda bonilla Page B

in my tone he knew that I wouldn’t fail him. Or Xander. I forced my eyes from my friend and focused on Ty. “Ready?”
    He answered with an arrogant grin. “Just say the words.”
    “I wish for you to take me, Louella, Myles, Ash, Liam, and Julian to Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. Within the five mile radius of Xander Peck’s location.” Detailed enough for a wish? I guess I’d find out in a second.
    Ty winked. “Your wish is my command.”
    Damn. That cheesy genie spiel got me every time.
    #
    Asher and the others toppled to the red dusty ground as we popped out of thin air and into what looked to be the surface of Mars. Their breaths came in heavy gasps and they stumbled as they rose to stand. I didn’t suffer from any sort of disorientation and neither did Ty. Maybe my ring protected me from it, or my experience of traveling to and from the Faery realm of O’Anel prepared me for it. Either way, we waited as the rest of our group righted their spinning worlds and I took stock of our surroundings.
    Goblin Valley. The perfect place for the Queen of Ghouls to build a nest.
    The landscape was painted in desert reds and the greens and grays of sage brush in various stages of growth. The rays of the sun radiated around us and I let my head fall back for a brief moment as I reveled in that delicious heat. In the distance, a large rock formation loomed and three pilings sat atop it resembling otherworldly sentinels.
    “Creepy, right?”
    I turned toward the sound of Ty’s voice. “That’s an understatement.” I could see where the place got its name, though. The valley was dotted with more of the strange rock formations, like clumps of hard clay that had been worn and shaped over years of water flow and erosion. Squat creatures that populated the hard desert soil—goblins protecting the secrets hidden below the ground.
    When I was through with this place, it would have one less secret to keep.
    “Are they going to be okay?” I jutted my chin in the team’s direction and Ty gave a quiet laugh.
    “Yeah. Just give them a few more minutes. We need to check the map and form a game plan anyway.”
    So far, my game plan had been to storm the fortress, rescue the king, kill that bitch Padma, and get the hell out of Dodge. I hadn’t thought much about how that was going to happen. I expected Ty would be briefing everyone on what to expect in the labyrinth of tunnels below us and my stomach knotted up as I recalled the horrors that had visited me in that dank, dark place.
     I leaned back on one of the rock formations, only half-surprised that it didn’t spring to life and launch into a tirade at the disrespect I’d shown it. This place gave me a serious case of the creeps. The rest of the team had begun to come around and only Liam seemed to still be having trouble with his equilibrium. Ash stretched his arms up high above his head and then his neck from one shoulder to the other.
    “That was badass,” he remarked. “But it’s definitely not going to be my preferred mode of travel.”
    “Agreed.” Julian spat onto the dirt before shaking out his arms like they were a couple of limp noodles. “Not the most comfortable way to get from point A to B.”
    “We’re here, and that’s all that matters. Xander is somewhere within a five-mile radius of where we’re standing. He’s underground. Hidden in a series of tunnels. I can tell you what we’ll be up against once we get there, but Tyler knows what to expect on the way.”
    All eyes turned to Ty, the only sound a gentle breeze stirring the sage. The pungent odor wrinkled my nose and I longed for the clean scent of rain and the crisp brine of Puget Sound. Not even the heat of this desert could put me at ease. A terrible energy vibrated through me and I hoped that it wasn’t a foreboding of things to come.
    “We’re ready.” Liam’s voice grated in his throat. “For anything.”
    “That’s good,” Tyler replied. “Because this isn’t going to be a