"The food here is fine; you're just a snob," Lily laughed. "Just fill your belly."
He mockingly repeated her words. "You know, food's better enjoyed than stuffed down your throat."
"That may be true, but our job isn't done yet."
Daniel snatched a bun from a countertop and nibbled on the edge of it. "What are you talking about?"
"I heard Ryel talking with Snarl about a second potential rebel hideout."
"Mmm, me too. Nothing to be done about it, though. Need time to find out if the intel is good or not."
"I don't care if the information has been verified." Lily crossed her arms, giving her brother a pointed expression while he devoured the bun. "Theo's life is in danger,ourlives are in danger, so long as Kaleus is out there. We need to go check it out for ourselves."
"That's risky, and dangerous, and dumb as fuck. You're not dumb as fuck, Lily."
Lily shrugged, determined not to let any doubts get in her way. "Maybe, but I'm tired of waiting around doing nothing. I sat back at the last fight, and look what happened. It's time to act."
Daniel looked at her for a long moment while he chewed his food, and his frown was so heavy-set that she thought he was going to try fighting her on this, but instead, he just shook his head sadly. "If I tell you no, you're just going to go do it on your own, aren't you?"
She saw no point in denying it. Daniel knew her well.
"Yes."
Daniel nodded slowly and put down the bag of spices he was holding. "Okay then. Let's go find this second hideout together and verify if it exists. But we need to be careful out there—we don't want anything happening to you. Or to me, for that matter."
"Of course we'll be careful. I just want to go take a peek and see what we can find, that's all."
Together, they set off through the palace halls towards the rebel hideout, ready for anything that might come their way. But as they drew closer and closer to their destination, Lily couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread in her heart. She prayed Theo would be safe while they were gone, and that when she came back, she would be able to tell him just how much she loved him. That this powerful bond between them was something truly special and worth fighting for until their last breath.
***
With some careful maneuvering, Daniel and Lily made it to the other side of Underland where the other rebel hideout was supposed to be, hidden in a subsection of a cavern used for mining that had collapsed years ago, according to records. But when Lily and Daniel arrived, the cavern opened up into another large space, and in the middle of it were several old drills next to an even older, crumbling stone building.
It looked old and abandoned like the first hideout, but Lily hadn't really expected this, either.
She and Daniel approached cautiously. It was eerily quiet, with only the sound of water dripping into a pool somewhere nearby and echoing through the cavern. There was no sign of movement from within, but Lily's stomach tightened. She had a bad feeling about this.
They should leave, she realized. They shouldn't have come here on their own.
But they were already here. There was no one around. What was she so worried about? They were being careful.
Lily and Daniel crept closer to the building, staying low to the ground and behind cover where ever possible. She tuned into her wolf's senses, finding that the cold anxiety creeping into her gut was coming from her wolf instincts. But normally her wolf was the brave, strong one of their duo. Not Lily.
On one side of the building, a door had been ripped off its hinges and left a gaping hole in the structure. Inside, light filtered into the structure from a long vent in the ceiling, and the blue, glowing fixtures on the cavern ceiling. Inside seemed to be just as dark and motionless as the rest of the structure. Lily made to go in first, but Daniel grabbed her arm and pushed ahead to go first.
Taking the lead, Daniel stalked through the hallway into a larger room. It took a minute for Lily's eyes to adjust to the darkness, where she spotted a set of overturned chairs and a table with a dusty pack of cards on top. There was a faint smell of goblin inside, but it was old and stale. Whoever had been here had long since gone. Daniel methodically went through the nearest rooms searching for any sign of life, and Lily stayed close, watching his back.
"There's no one here," Daniel whispered. "But there were goblins here recently."
"What do you think that means?" Lily asked. "Do you think this could really be a rebel hideout?"
"I'm not sure, but we need to be careful. There's something off about this place. We should leave and return with backup."
Lily couldn't put her finger on what it was, but she agreed something wasn't right. Nodding, she said, "I wish we could find some proof ... but we should go. We can get others to come back with us."
A loud noise came from the direction they'd entered. Lily jumped, surprised by the sound, but then her blood went cold when she saw four figures creeping into the room from a hole in the wall.
Goblins.