Cold.

Slick.

Juicy.

Tinny aftertaste clinging tenaciously to her palette.

The taste of fear was certainly not what the Darkling had expected. Ingrid had suspected that the Glamour would taste cold; or maybe hot and shiver inducing. She had anticipated that it would induce some side effect or reaction - maybe even one that did not sit well with the feeling the Glamour lent as it was absorbed. Because, Fear, you know? Head, heart, and body all out of synch and all that.

Maybe it was a Darkling thing? But Cold. Slick. Juicy. Didn't exactly push her boundaries. Sure, it was the slick of slugs (thick juicy slugs. Or maybe leeches?) crawling down her throat, but hey! She had survived a Durance in a dark city of magic and intrigue and some of the elixirs she had imbibed on her escape had tasted a lot worse. Or so her hazy memories claimed.

Kind of disappointing, really.

Ingrid could honestly say she was getting a bigger kick from the environment she was in and the way it fed into the insecurities of her companion: a citizen blogger, student, and someone much too interested in the strange. She might have said conspiracy nut, only the girl seemed much to grounded for that. Haley's quest for the truth was as dispassionate as the girl was tall and gawky. Ingrid had only tagged along for the money and the mild itch of curiosity.

More tunnels. This time under the university campus.

A secret society...

Only there wasn't. There was maintenance tunnels, some neglected (like the one this pair of fools had ventured down, OMG!). There were empty storage spaces and occasional piles of forgotten kit and equipment (why? Now that was the question). There was darkness and only the light of torches for company. Peeling walls.

Remnants of a party. A hazing, perhaps? Abandoned clothes. Wine casks. Beer cans. A half empty punchbowl with... stuff... still floating in it. Ingrid made a comment to set Haley's juices flowing again. Disgust was not fear and tasted fouler. No wonder the Darkling joined her human companion in grimacing.

Probably a good thing. If Ingrid had been Kenning her way down there, she would have found something that could have really given her the taste of fear!