“Teeleh’s lair?”

For the first time since landing in the canyon, Silvie felt a strong surge of hope. They’d certainly found something, and it could be Teeleh’s lair.

Which meant the Books of History could be here. And the Books of History were their only leverage now. Johnis’s life depended on what they found in this hole.

She dropped to her seat and kicked at the rocks surrounding the small hole. The wall caved as if the whole thing had been held up by a small toothpick. A small avalanche tumbled away from them.

Dust coiled.

Silvie grabbed her torch and crawled through the opening.

“What is it?” Karas asked from behind.

“A staircase. I . . . I don’t know.”

She eased out onto stone steps spiraling into darkness. No walls on either side or ahead that she could see. Silence.

Karas stood up beside her and played her light around. “A cavern below the old monastery. This has to be it, Silvie. Nothing else would explain this.”

“Let’s go.” Silvie stepped gingerly around fallen rock, pushing stones aside as she descended. Fifty steps. Farther. Now a stench from below. A smell that reminded her of putrid water or . . .

She stopped. “Shataiki!” Her whisper echoed softly. She flashed her light up and saw a stone wall ahead, wet with mucus. And lying across the mucus was a large worm, perhaps a full foot in diameter. Twenty yards long.

Karas put a hand on her shoulder and held tight.

These were the same worms from Alucard’s lair. Johnis had wondered if they might be larvae for the larger Shataiki, and looking at this one now, Silvie guessed he was right.

She wanted to spin, run back up the stairs, and drop fire in this hole to kill all that lived below. But Johnis . . .

Silvie clenched her jaw and stepped down, farther in.

The steps ended at the base of the wall. They were in a massive cavern, but she could only see this one wall. A single blackened wooden door hung from rusted hinges, gaping an inch or two.

“This is it.” Her voice came raspy. “Is it safe?”

A stupid question, one that Karas didn’t bother answering. She stepped past Silvie, her gun extended again. Still silence. So then what had done all the squealing? Karas drew the door wide with the gun’s barrel.

A smaller atrium waited inside. And from this atrium several tunnels headed farther in. But the tunnel on their right was the one they should take. It was the only one with worms on the walls, slipping through their own mucus.

They held their torches on the same entrance, transfixed by the sight of two worms so close. And then the squealing came, louder than Silvie thought could have been possible from the small mouth on one of the worms, now open in a scream.