"They've combed theses depths for probably thousands of years," Adam said. "I'm sure they knew all about the Seraphim. Maybe they even know who originally built this place."

At this, the leyworm's gaze flicked to me.

"Do you know?" I asked it.

It simply stared back.

"Guess you'd better brush up on your language skills," Shelton said with a chuckle. "Who'd have thought it? Leyworms, the dolphins of the underground."

The small dragon snorted.

"I should leave the baby here, then," Bella said reluctantly. "I'm afraid of upsetting its diet." She walked to the cluster of babes and set it down. "This goes against every motherly instinct in my body."

"I don't like it either," Meghan said, eyes locked onto the seemingly helpless bundles of joy. She looked to Adam. "Maybe we should take them. I can probably gather enough soul essence."

The leyworm made a harsh growling noise.

"I don't think they'll let us do that, honey," Adam replied, pulling her away from the temptation.

I heard a noise like the roar of a lion mixed with the braying of a donkey. All heads turned toward the sound. Shelton held a white-knuckled grip on his staff.

"What in the hell is coming now?"

I glanced at Elyssa. "Sound familiar?"

She nodded. "I don't think it's anything to worry about."

"I'll be the judge of that," Shelton said.

Bella patted him on the back. "I'm still here to protect you."

I spotted a glowing shape approaching from the darkness. It broke into a galloping lope, coming straight for us.

"Uh, can the leyworm help out?" Shelton said, placing himself squarely behind the reptilian creature.

Shaggy hair hung thick from the glowing creature. Tall, thin ears flopped from the top of its feline head. A long thin tongue lolled from the side of its mouth. It made another bray-roar noise, and skidded to a stop when it neared us, stopping to rub its body against the leyworm like a cat.

"Yolo?" I said.

The creature trotted up to me, and sniffed. I reached out a tentative hand, and scratched behind its ear. It made a soft noise, something between a bray and a purr.

"Wait a minute," Shelton said. "Is that the thing that chased you when you came down here the first time?"

"Yeah," I said. "Scared the crap out of us."

"Wasn't it Vadaemos's pet?"

I shrugged. "I think it just wanted attention."

Yolo brayed and licked my hand.

"Aw, he's sweet," Bella said, leaning over and scratching the beast.

Cinder appeared from the dim surroundings. "Justin, I took the liberty of surveying the area. I found several more crushed golems. It would appear Lornicus sent them to investigate, but the leyworms attacked."

As if in answer, the small dragon rumbled.

"Ah," Elyssa said. "I think I know Lornicus's game now."

I looked at her expectantly. "And that is?"

"He knows you have a powerful influence on beings around you. He obviously couldn't infiltrate the leyworm perimeter, so he figured you could do it." She pointed out a gray-suited shape at the fringe of the white light from the glowballs. "I'll bet he sent golems to take some of the babies."

"I estimate there are nearly a hundred destroyed golems around this area," Cinder said. "It would appear he had no success."

Shelton whistled. "That's a lot of dead golems. It can't be easy to replace them."

"Makes sense," I said, mulling it over. "Does he expect me to take a baby so he can steal it from me?" Is that what he wants in exchange for help with saving Mom?

"He wants information," Elyssa said. "Think about it. The golems didn't get close enough to see much. They may not even know these are angels."

"Wittle baby angels," Bella said in a coochie coo voice, while staring adoringly at one making eyes at her.

I looked at Cinder. "Do gray men share a consciousness of any kind? Or would an individual scout have to report the information?"

Cinder made a stiff shrug. "I do not remember. I would surmise a shared consciousness and the instant sharing of information is possible."

"They still didn't get close enough," Elyssa said. "So unless they spit out a baby at a golem's feet, I doubt they know much. Maybe they didn't even see the babies and only saw the leyworms acting weird."

"You still aren't asking the important questions," Shelton said. "Why are the leyworms doing this, and who are they helping? Because if they're helping Daelissa, we're in a world of trouble."

Chapter 8

Nobody had an answer for Shelton's questions, and the young leyworm remained silent, giving nothing away. Judging from the brutal demises the gray men had suffered, I knew we'd be no more successful removing a baby from here than they had. One thing was certain—I had to find out everything I could about this situation before agreeing to anything with Lornicus.

"I just thought of another question," I said. "Supposedly, even being near the cherubs would weaken Daelissa. How are these babies not affected?"

"The leyworms," Adam said. "If they're feeding the infants constantly, that might mitigate the effects of the cherubs. Or it could simply be the leyworms are keeping the cherubs far enough away."

This was certainly a wrinkle in the greater scheme of things. If just one angel was powerful enough to end the world, what did it mean to have a few dozen? How long would it take for them to grow up and wreak havoc? Those questions would have to wait. Since we had access to a control room with an Alabaster Arch, it was time to branch into other avenues of exploration.

"I think we should figure out how to work the control room," I said. "Maybe see if we can get the lights on in here for starters."

"And the Alabaster Arch?" Elyssa asked, eyes worried.

"That too." I ran a hand through my hair. "If we can get through to the Grand Nexus, maybe we can ward it, set up booby traps to keep Jeremiah Conroy and Daelissa from using it." Taking Mom away from them would delay them, but that would only create the constant threat of Daelissa trying to steal her back. Destroying the nexus would remove the threat.

"I say we get a bunch of plastic explosives and blow it to hell," Shelton said.

I raised an eyebrow. "You think it'll work?"

He shrugged. "It's worth a try. That way we can set a timer and be far away before it blows."

"But if it causes another backlash," Bella said, eyes horrified. "What will happen to the babies? What if it husks them again?"

Shelton opened his mouth, probably to offer some heartless comment, but shut it again. "We'll figure something out," he said after a pause. "Maybe our reptilian pals here will see clear to let us evacuate them."

Bella gave Shelton a stern eye. "No blowing things up until the babies are safe."

He put up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I ain't no baby killer, woman. Sheesh."

"I don't think this place ever had an Obsidian Arch," Elyssa told me, returning from a walkabout. "I looked for rubble, or even the broken remains of a column, but the slab is smooth."

"So the creators relied on the smaller arches," I said. I sighed. "I'd really like to know who made this place. What if they're worse than the angels?"

"Then they're worse," Elyssa said. "For now, we have to worry about the clear and present danger."

"And learn how to speak leywormese," I added.

She smiled. "That too."

We herded everyone back to the control room, with Elyssa batting away any stray cherubs wandering across our path.

Shelton glanced back at the yellow glow in the center. "I wonder how long it takes to process a cherub. The one that thing ate earlier still hasn't come out."

"I find the entire process extremely disturbing," Meghan said. "Eating those disgusting husks and regurgitating a baby seems incredibly unnatural."

Nobody disagreed.

Once back inside the control room, we studied every inch of the place, but came no closer to finding out how to turn on the lights in the main cavern, or how to make the Alabaster Arch do what we wanted.

"Maybe we should recruit an operator," Adam said. "At the very least, they could tell us how to turn on the lights."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Shelton said. "Jeremiah Conroy was using the operators at Queens Gate and the Grotto to figure out how to use the smaller arches." He looked at me. "Maybe our Darkwater creds will still hold water with them."

I raised an eyebrow. Jeremiah was using an Arcane company named Darkwater to explore dangerous relics like Thunder Rock. Shelton and I had masqueraded as employees to glean information from arch operators. "I dunno. Sounds risky."

He shrugged. "Hey, what's the worst that can happen?"

"An awful lot," I said.

Adam chuckled. "Are we going to kidnap one? Or go through the process of vetting someone so we can trust them." He motioned around us. "True, they may know about these control rooms, but the babies out there are complete game changers."

"Of course we'll vet them," Shelton said, blowing out a breath. "It's about time we brought in an expert, for crying out loud. I don't know jack about traversion theory."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "How do you suggest we go about it?"

"I dunno yet." Shelton pursed his lips. "Let me think about it."

I looked at the still-open portal back to the mansion. "I wonder if the omniarches here work, just in case we lose the connection back home."

"I'll put that on a list of things to test," Adam said, pulling out an arctablet and tapping on it.

Cinder, who'd been inspecting the Alabaster Arch, approached as we discussed plans. "Justin, I think I will remain here and survey the cavern. Perhaps I should also attempt to establish communications with the leyworms."