Unearthed Read Online Free PDF

perfectly over the years, during our history with Samira and Gérard, but I always did what I thought was best for our well-being at the time, and you have my word that I’ll continue to do so. Please, respect our decision to explore the book’s message alone, and we’ll return, hopefully with some answers. We won’t leave you in the dark. I promise you that.”
    A rolling wave of murmurs broke throughout the Haven, but there were no objections, not even from the leaders. They’d retreated with hushed, angry whispers, leaving us with the Book of the Ancients. Little by little, the villagers began to disperse, moving about the Haven and disappearing through the exit.
    “Well?” Denise asked, looking to me and Gavin. “I think that’s your cue. Would you like Greta and me to join you? Or would you rather we stay behind?”
    “No, please come,” I answered. Gavin nodded in agreement. “Not all of the Amaranthians were here to witness this. Word will spread fast. We’re going to need help at the castle, keeping everyone calm while we search.”
    Greta and Denise voiced their enthusiasm, and we quickly lifted up the Book of the Ancients and started for the castle. As we slipped out the Haven’s exit, a formation of ex-guards and quiet, brooding villagers lined one wall, eyeing us cautiously as our group trailed out.
    “Gav?” I asked quietly, reaching for his hand.
    “I see them,” he whispered back, sending a stern look to the villagers along the wall. “Later. Stay close.” He pulled me nearer to his side and continued to lead the way out of the Haven, Ava tucked tightly between us.

4
    Gavin’s hand closed over the same rock Ava had pressed, triggering the stone to shift again on the side of the castle wall. He eyed the eerie tunnel with caution as the passage opened, holding Ava back while he waited for the sliding stone door to come to a halt. “Is this what you found, Ava?”
    “Yep!”
    “Okay, little lady. You stay right here with Miss Greta and Miss Denise and wait for Mommy and Daddy.” Gavin tossed Greta and Denise a warning glare to not let her out of their sight again and I tugged at his hand, mumbling words of assurance. After Greta’s oversight, the last thing I wanted was to leave Ava in her hands again, but Denise was with her, and what happened to Greta could’ve happened to anyone. She’d never given me reason to distrust her before.
    Ava protested a little at first, but we stood our ground, insisting she stay behind. “Here, love,” Gavin said, handing me a lit lantern. I thanked him and we moved forward into the darkness, catching sight of the soft orange flicker that gave off just enough light to brighten the dirt path inside.
    “How did Ava see a damn thing in here without extra light? And how did Greta lose her, Cam? When we’re done with this, I have a few words for that woman.”
    “I don’t know, this is crazy. If I hadn’t been nearby, if I’d never heard her voice, she could’ve been trapped in here. I told you, don’t be pissed at Greta. I was at first, too. But it was an honest mistake, Gav. However Ava slipped into this thing, it must have been quick, because Greta said she was right there, and then she was just suddenly gone. Ava entered this passage through the conservatory.”
    “The conservatory? That’s impossible. There’s nowhere to hide something like this in the conservatory.”
    “Well, there must be something, somewhere. What’s that?” I gestured to the end of the dimly lit path with my lantern, spotting a long, horizontal grey slab of stone lined against the wall. It was raised and rectangular, like a box of some sort.
    “No idea.” Moving closer, Gavin lifted the light to study the object, bringing a hand to the top to graze the box’s beveled edge. “Camille, can you help me lift this?”
    “Sure.” Setting my lantern at my feet, I grabbed the edge and began to lift with him, struggling to get it to shift. “It won’t