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drawer in the wooden dresser.
    “You’ve got a lot of those?” I asked, remembering the one I’d removed the previous night.
    “Yes, but they’re not unlimited.” She winked.
    I made a mental note to buy some for her the next time I went to town, so I’d be able to rip them off her more often. She pulled on black leggings that hugged her thighs. Lucky leggings. As I got into in my jeans and shirt, I smirked remembering how her legs wrapped around me effortlessly.
    “Where are we going?” I asked.
    “To do some digging.” She grabbed my hand, adding, “Don’t stray from me. I don’t want the seekers to sense you.”
    “I won’t let go.” I tightened my grip.
    For the first time, I used a door to leave Xela’s lair. As soon as it opened, the heat from the underworld hit me as if I’d bumped into a wall. It felt like I’d been wrapped in tin foil and thrown into an oven. Or a steamer—the hot air was heavy with moisture, the humidity condensing into droplets on the uneven floor and dampening the earthen walls of the dark corridors Xela led me along. She moved through them like a blind person, counting the steps in a whisper before the next turn. When my head hit the low ceiling, I shifted to shrink two inches. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of rotten eggs and dirty socks, the signature stench of the seekers. There must have been hundreds lurking nearby. Mingled with that odor was the sulfuric smell of geysers.
    “We’re under Shoshone Park,” I said.
    “Yes. Hold on.” We stopped to peek cautiously around the corner. “Okay, it’s clear.” She tugged my hand.
    We stepped into an octagonal hall. Tipping my head back, I looked up at a chandelier suspended from the middle of the natural granite ceiling, its hundreds of candles illuminating four support pillars that rose from the floor to roof. Flames roared angrily in an oversized fire pit in the floor, the acidic odor from whatever was burning bit at the inside of my mouth. I shifted to change my taste buds.
    “You live that close to Aseret’s dungeon?” I asked in surprise.
    “I’m one of the few.”
    “Why?”
    “Shh.” Xela turned to face me, her hazel eyes sparkling with power I hadn’t seen before; as if, somehow, this place strengthened her. She stepped forward with confidence, pulling me along. “No one’s here.”
    We ran toward the fire pit in the center of the room.
    “Where is Aseret?” I asked.
    “This hall is only used for grand affairs. He’s probably in his dungeons. We don’t have too much time.” Xela leaned over the stone wall surrounding the raging flames.
    “Careful.” I tugged at her arm.
    “Don’t worry. It will show our future.” She straightened and stood before the pit, tilting her head forward, eyes closed. Her arms dangled at her sides, palms facing forward. Small tremors passed through her body as her eyes moved under the lids.
    Then she exhaled and her shoulders drooped as she slowly turned toward me. Xela didn’t have to say anything for me to understand her expression. The spark I’d fallen in love with was gone from her eyes; I knew our destiny forked.
    “We need to go back.” She nodded toward one of the five openings in the walls.
    I inhaled and nodded. Seekers .
    We skittered into the opening that would take us back to Xela’s burrow moments before Aseret and his zombie seekers entered. I stopped, pulling on Xela’s hand, wanting to eavesdrop.
    She shook her head and whispered, “Too dangerous, you can’t stay long.”
    “Just one minute,” I pleaded.
    Xela sighed but didn’t argue.
    Within the hall, the seekers’ commotion stilled. I pictured Aseret lifting his twig-like arms to gain attention.
    “The time hasss commme,” he announced.
    The seekers roared, then fell silent again.
    “The vampirrres will be dessstroyed, and humannns will follow.” The way he spoke, with the words oozing from his mouth, was both irritating and hypnotizing. “We will ruullle!” he hollered, and I