A Different Kind of Deadly Read Online Free Page B

made it through to the front, carrying a
massive backpack and a bag that smelled of food.
    "Turn back," Diana ordered. "This is not your
quest."
    Leo squinted at her. "That's for Marvin to
decide." He turned to me. "It's my fault you're in this mess. If
I'd let go earlier then the porcelain bouncer over here wouldn't
have had her cover blown."
    "Leo..." I looked between him and the dark pit
ahead of us. "I can't ask you to go so far for me."
    "You're not asking," he pointed out. "I'll
follow at a distance even if you tell me to stay. You proved that
you were a true friend, Marvin. I'm not going to let you go
alone."
    "He's not alone," Diana cut in.
    "Yeah?" Leo straightened his back. "Well the
more the merrier, then."
    I was touched.
    "Do what you want," I said finally. "Just
don't blame me if this all goes to hell."
    Diana pressed my head into her
shoulder immediately after that, and jumped into the pit without
any warning. I was so scared that I couldn't scream, but I did hear
Leo's triumphant roar as he came with us.
    We fell, and fell, and fell so far that I
began to wonder if the drop would never end. The chill from earlier
translated to steam at some point, and my skin and hair were soon
wet with humidity.
    I jolted so hard that I felt my brain rattle
against the inside of my skull.
    The landing was sudden, swift, and I heard
rocks crashing all around us from the impact. My immediate response
was to look at Leo, who was setting his dislocated shoulder back in
place. Apart from this, he was a bit shaken, but whole. I felt a
little safer now that I realized I was traveling with two monsters
instead of one. I just hoped that they would stay on my side in all
of this.
    Diana walked away from the ditch
she made, setting me down on a bed of moss.
    Leo joined me, proceeding to pull out some
food from his bag.
    "You haven't eaten yet, Marvin." He handed me
a loaf of bread. "You're gonna need it."
    I put the bun against my lips, but didn't feel
particularly hungry. My attention was on Diana, who stood at the
edge of the plateau we'd landed on.
    In this vast continent of Dalani, I didn't
think that there was a place deeper beneath the surface than
Nethermount, yet here we were, not only in a place, but a world
different from anything I'd ever known.
    Steam hissed through fissures in the ground,
emanating an eerie emerald glow. Moss grew every place that wasn't
volcanic rock, black and smooth, and strange in its lack of
edges.
    I mistook the ceiling for a sky at first, but
quickly realized that these were not stars, but glow worms
-millions of them hanging from stalactites like living icicles, in
every shade of cyan an artist could dream of. The air reeked of
sulfur and bled with magic, making my skin tingle until it closely
resembled a furious itching sensation.
    It was a prairie, a swamp, a paradise, a
siren, and easily the most terrifying cavern in the
world.
    "The Moor of Souls," I said to myself, tasting
the name for the thrill it gave me.
    "The outskirts," Diana corrected me, pointing
to the distance. "The true Moor doesn't begin for another twenty
miles."
    "Twenty..." my jaw dropped. There was simply
too much I didn't know. "I'm not going anywhere until I get some
answers."
    Leo helped himself to the food I wasn't
eating.
    I approached Diana until I was eye level with
her.
    "What are you?"
    "A Doll," she replied, her pink
eyes shining. "Your Doll, now."
    "Yes, but exactly is a Doll?
What's a Doll Contract? Why is it such a bad thing that I had to
get thrown down here because of it?"
    Leo stopped chewing to look at me. "Marvin...
you really don't know?"
    "You do?" I asked, surprised.
    "Well..." Leo scratched the back of his head.
"It was discussed at the communal classes when we were younger. You
always studied at home. But still, I'm surprised that Lady Formosa
didn't tell you."
    Tully climbed up Leo's shoulder and made a
nest of his bed-ridden hair. I sat back beside him on the moss,
motioning for Diana to do the same. Leo