“No. I…” I searched for any hint of an aura ahead of us, but couldn’t see anything. I chewed my lip as I tried to decide which route to take, but I none of them felt right. “We had to have missed something. We should backtrack.”

I wasn’t sure where we’d gone wrong, but something had changed. Why would it lead us into a dark chamber with four equally possible routes?

It didn’t matter. I spun around and started walking back.

As we walked back toward the lit crystals, they started flickering. Then, one by one, they went out.

“Are you seeing this?” I asked as I forced my already aching legs to walking faster.

“Yeah.”

The lights started glittering faster and faster. If we lost the path… It was too complicated to remember. Too dark. We’d be lost.

“Run.” I took off, following the flickering lights, trying to stay ahead of them, but the faster I ran, the faster they died. As they started to outpace me, I finally skidded to a stop, gasping for breath. “We’re lost.”

“We’re not lost.” Lucas had gotten farther than I had, but he quickly moved back to me.

I scowled at him as he turned on his flashlight. “Do you know where we are?”

“Not exactly, no. But I can scent our way back to the entrance. So, we’re not lost.”

The breath I’d been holding left my lungs. Living the rest of my life wandering these tunnels until I died of dehydration sounded like a special kind of hell.

Gobble giggled again. This time I was paying attention.

“What do you know?” I angled my head to the side so I could get a good look at him.

“Witches and wolves all distracted by lights and not paying attention.” He rolled his big blue eyes. “I’ll only tell if you pay back the favor. Not helping for free.”

But he’d already said enough. We’d missed something. The exit?

I grasped Lucas’ sleeve. “We’re idiots.”

Lucas narrowed his gaze. “We are?”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “We really are. Where did you smell that fresh air?”

Lucas chuckled. “We are idiots. That’s where the exit is.”

“Exactly. Can you get us back there?”

Lucas nodded. “Sure can. Stay a few steps behind me so I can scent it.”

“You got it.”

I let him pass by me and waited for a count of five before following. After a short few minutes, he stopped.

“It’s here.” He ran the light up and down the tunnel walls, but no break or gap was visible. Even the ceiling looked solid.

“We’re missing something,” I said.

“Can you see anything? Any auras?”

I shook my head. “Just a faint residual glow from the crystals. Nothing that points the way.”