A car door slammed, and the obvious fury in the noise drove me back some.

I sawed my teeth over my bottom lip to keep from wincing. "Let's go."

Our gentle progress downward didn't jar me a bit. The root around my waist melted away and slithered into nothingness. The dark was so complete, it pressed in on my senses, heightening the ones that still worked. Cold seeped through the earth and numbed my fingers and the tip of my nose. Every pull of air tasted rich but ...