Karen Chance, Marjorie M Liu, Yasmine Galenorn, Eileen Wilks

by Inked (lit)

  They did, although he was never quite sure how.

  The scene abruptly flipped back to the drain and I staggered, the water almost sucking me through the opening. A hand came down on my shoulder and Caleb said sharply, “Lia,” in the tone that meant he’d said it at least three times before.

  I grabbed on to him, breathless, queasy and more than a little freaked out. That just didn’t get any easier. Especially not when viewed through someone else’s eyes.

  “What is it?” he demanded. “What happened?”

  “Nothing.” I got my legs back under me. “It’s just…I think we might be in the right place, after all.”

  Caleb looked uncertain, staring past me into the drain like he thought something was about to jump out at us.

  And then something did.

  “What! Hold!” Jamie threw a shield up, which knocked Caleb’s spell awry. It bounced off and crashed into the water on our left, sending a great wash of steam into the air. “Are ye daft, man?”

  “Sorry.” It looked like I wasn’t the only one who was a little jumpy. But Caleb recovered fast. “Why’d you go in without us?” he demanded. “What if you’d had a seizure in there? What if it left your head under water?”

  “What if you stop acting like I have one foot in the grave?” Jamie shot back. “And I went in because I needed to check on conditions.”

  “How are they?”

  “Bad. And going to get worse. It’s raining in the mountains.”

  “So? We’re here,” I pointed out.

  “Vegas sits at the bottom of a basin,” he said impatiently. “It’s surrounded by mountains and a lot of hard desert soil used to four or five inches of rain a year. When it gets a couple all at once, like the forecast for today, it can’t handle it and all that water comes running down here. That’s why the drainage system was created in the first place.”

  “I think we can handle a few inches!”

  “Inches in the mountains translates to feet here. And of all the drains in the system, this is the worst to be caught in during a flood. It runs all the way under the Strip, with no manholes or cross tunnels to catch you. If a wall of water came up behind us, we could be washed for miles.”

  “We have shields,” I reminded him.

  “And how long do you think they’ll last when we’re slamming into concrete like three idiots in a pinball machine?”

  “So you’re saying we need to do this fast?”

  “I’m saying we need to do this later!”

  I shook my head violently. “Cyrus is in there. It has to be now!”

  I pushed into the drain, which at this point mostly involved just letting go of the outer edge of the inlet. It swept me through the mouth of the tunnel and onto what remained of a sandbar. The noise was deafening, with the small, enclosed space amplifying every sound. Each car rattling overhead sounded like a 747 taking off, and the river around my legs roared like the ocean. But at least I couldn’t hear Jamie cursing anymore.

  Once I got back to my feet, I discovered that the tunnel itself was fairly spacious. But that was the only good thing. The air was murky and the same shade as the water, but I didn’t dare use a flashlight. In the inlet, it could be mistaken for sunlight; farther in, it would immediately announce the presence of an unwanted visitor.

  But without light, it was difficult to imagine how I was supposed to find anyone in here. There were no markers, no stuttering wards, no anything. Just a long, dark tunnel and me. If there was ever a time for metaphysical bread-crumbs, I thought, just before an image vivid enough to touch slammed into me.

  Cyrus ended up on his back, with Lia prowling up his body. She’d left her hair undone and it flowed over her shoulders in a dark wave, tickling his chest after she stripped his shirt off. His hand slid under that shining mass, the strands sliding silken-slick between his fingers, to grasp her nape. He brought her down for a scorching kiss before skimming down her back and over the sweet curves below. She groaned and that combined with the skin-to-skin contact to bring a growl to his throat.

  “Down, boy,” she told him, sitting up to straddle his shoulders. Her eyes were a perfect ice gray in the moonlight filtering through his bedroom curtains. Wolf eyes.

  The brief glimpse into Cyrus’s brain flickered out, leaving me staring into the dense gloom of the drain. That was all right, I told myself as I pushed off from the wall. It looked like I had a guide.

  The pressure against my legs doubled as I moved forward into the channel, because the water was compressed into a smaller area. Making things even more interesting were the seams in the concrete where the rectangular drains had been slapped together. They formed dangerous ledges underwater, vying with rocks and bottles and submerged sandbars to see which could trip me first.

  “Why would the gang kidnap your boyfriend?” a voice demanded.

  I whirled to find Jamie right behind me. All the noise had muffled his footsteps, and I hadn’t heard him approach. “I’m not real clear on that yet,” I said, lowering my gun. “But Caleb’s right. You shouldn’t be here.”

  “And you should?”

  “This isn’t Corps business. It’s personal.”

  “And what d’ye think it is for me?” Jamie demanded. “I’m not about to let Toby’s killer walk free!”

  “You’re the one who just said we should leave!”

  He threw his hands into the air. “Because no one’s here! Tartarus dwellers are very conscious of the weather—they have to be. They probably cleared out hours ago—”

  “Not this group.”

  “Are we going to do this or not?” Caleb asked, appearing out of the gloom.

  Jamie rounded on him. “I don’t even know why you’re here!”

  Caleb raised an eyebrow. “I see better in the dark than either of you. And you can’t take on a whole gang on your own.”

  “There is no gang! If they were here, they’d have to be in the old shantytown. There’s no other caves in this drain.” Jamie sloshed around a bend and up the tunnel with the surefootedness of someone who knew where he was going. Caleb and I followed as best we could. “There!” He pointed at a decaying ward that was buzzing fitfully, showing glimpses of the room beyond. “And as you can clearly see, there are—”

  “A whole lot of Weres in there!”

  Caleb threw out a shield as Jamie dove for one side of the entrance. I stayed where I was, scanning the group for Cyrus. He wasn’t there, but the guy I’d fought at the market was. He was easy to pick out with all his hair singed off on one side. He met my eyes and a shiver went through the group, a mass change that left us staring at eight full-grown Weres—for about a second. Then they melted into the back wall and were gone.

  I ran after them—or tried to. But the ward over this entrance wasn’t just for show. I hit what felt like solid rock and bounced back. I watched the ward flicker on and off while Caleb and Jamie were debating whether or not the tunnel could hold up to the blast necessary to take it out. And then I jumped through the next time it failed.

  I lost the tail of my coat when the ward flicked back on again, but no skin. I was across the room in a heartbeat, barely slowing down at the wall. It was an illusion—it had to be—because Weres could do a lot of things, but dissolve into thin air wasn’t one of them. I missed the hidden door slightly, and banged my left shoulder on hard stone, but then I was through.

  A long tunnel stretched out in front of me, supported by wooden braces every few feet like an old mine shaft. It wasn’t lit, and visibility was no better than it had been in the drain. But unlike the tunnels outside, this one was absolutely quiet—no rushing water, no rattling cars, no pounding footsteps. It was as silent as a tomb, and wasn’t that a great mental image.

  I jumped when Jamie and Caleb came in behind me, even though I’d been expecting it. “Something’s wrong,” Caleb said, an array of weapons hovering around him like a lethal cloud.

  “What gave it away?” Jamie asked testily, throwing up his own shields. He looke
d pissed, maybe at me for rushing ahead without backup, maybe at himself for overestimating the gang’s intelligence. Or possibly the long, silent corridor was creeping him out, too. “The fact that with Were hearing, they should have heard us coming a mile away?”

  “Yet instead of ambushing us in the tunnels or attacking when we showed up, they run?” I added, ripping the leech off my wrist. There were no civilians here.

  “All of that,” Caleb agreed, just as a Were came out of nowhere, slashed at his face and leapt back through the opposite wall.

  “Caleb!” I saw him fall, but didn’t have time to grab him before the tunnel was suddenly full of Weres.

  One lunged for me, and by the time my conscious mind registered it, I was already moving. My elbow slammed back into my assailant’s ribs, my body turned into the movement, and I used the momentum to spin my opponent face-first into the nearest wall brace—and was thrown back against the opposite wall hard enough to stagger me. Then the Weres were gone again, like lightning.

  “Lia!” It was Jamie’s voice.

  I looked around, panting. He was on the floor beside Caleb, who was swearing inventively. “How is he?”

  “He is feeling like a goddamned punk,” Caleb said, struggling to his feet.

  I checked him out. It looked like the blow had been hard enough to knock him off his feet, but hadn’t gotten through his shields. He was unhurt, except for his pride.

  “The gang was using another den until this morning,” I told them. “How did they set this up so fast?”

  “They didn’t,” Jamie said, getting to his feet. “We’ve lost more than one suspect down here through the years and could never figure out why. Looks like the residents of the shantytown carved themselves a back way out.”

  “A lot of back ways,” I amended, wondering which innocent-looking stretch of wall was going to open up next.

  “All right. Form up,” Caleb ordered, taking point.

  “Why do you get to go first?” Jamie groused.

  “Because I’m the only one here who can see through illusions,” he said, tapping his little dolphin. “Sonar doesn’t bounce off them like it does real walls.”

  We formed up with Jamie in the middle and me bringing up the rear, our shields out and our nerves tight. Or at least, mine were. Caleb was back to his usual, unflappable self. “There’s a doorway on either side of us, like a cross tunnel,” he told us. “You want to go straight or branch off?”

  “How the hell should I know?” Jamie demanded. “There’s no way of telling where they are in all this!”

  “Lia?”

  “Give me a minute.” I bit my lip, trying to feel for the bond Sebastian had said was there. I was past doubting him—it was either responsible for the glimpses I’d been getting into Cyrus’s brain all day, or else I’d totally lost it. Since Cyrus’s life might hang on it, I preferred to believe the former. The only problem was that I still couldn’t sense anything.

  Come on, Cyrus, I thought desperately. You’ve been chatty all day. Don’t cut out on me n—

  Her skirt had ridden up to midthigh, and he pushed it higher. She had a few days of stubble on her thighs, enough to feel under his hands as he worked to get the damn dress unbuttoned. He finally tugged it off, leaving her in a scrap of silk thin enough that he could put his mouth on her and still feel her heat. He rubbed his nose against her until she snarled, “Stop teasing.”

  “You were right,” he told her. “You are pushy.” Her only answer was to reach back and pop the button on his jeans, pulling his briefs down. She ran a finger over the tip of him, turning his whole body into one exquisite ache. “You win,” he gasped, and snapped the flimsy cords on her panties before tossing them aside.

  The scene cut out abruptly enough that I staggered and nearly fell. But it had been worth it. Along with the images, I’d received a definite sense that they were coming from somewhere directly ahead. “Go straight,” I told Caleb.

  “How do you know?”

  “I just do. Go!”

  A dozen yards ahead, Caleb snapped, “Cross tunnel,” seconds before we were jumped from either side. My brain registered the number—too many—and then I wasn’t thinking anymore. Just senses, reflexes and training, surer than conscious thought.

  Explode a potion grenade, watch sickly green smoke immediately obscure everything. Feel the burn, eyes watering—ignore it—veer to the side as they lunge for my old location. Grab the nearest Were—one in human form. A hard chop to his wrist and bone snaps; he yelps and his hold on his weapon loosens. Twist it out of his hand, shove the Luger to his jaw and pull the trigger twice.

  I looked up, searching for another target, but they had vanished like smoke. Caleb was on his feet, breathing a little hard, a glowing whip tight around the neck of a Were in full wolf mode. It was basically the same spell that I used for a lasso, except without the safeguards. As was demonstrated when he pulled away and the head lolled, burnt through to the bone.

  “Which way?” Jamie demanded, panting hard, his blade sheened with blood.

  His fingers returned to her hips, sweeping up to her back as she moved closer, finding heat and soft, soft skin. Her eyes slid closed, her lips parted as he licked deep into her. She wasn’t vocal; the most he received was a soft “oh, yes,” but she started to move with him after a few minutes, breathing quick and fierce. He gripped her thighs with both hands and pushed deep, his hips straining helplessly into the air at the sounds she made. She arched against him and came, so hard he felt her throbbing against his tongue.

  “Straight!”

  We ran.

  An arm lashed out of the left-hand wall ahead, and Caleb threw the whip around it, severing it at the elbow. “Cross tunnel!”

  Something jumped out at me, all hot stinking breath and yellow eyes, jaws grinning madly as they opened in front of my face. And then disappeared after taking a face full of a potion designed to eat through metal. Something hit like a hammer blow to the small of my back, and I stumbled and went to one knee, but my shields absorbed most of it. At this rate they weren’t going to last much longer, and how the hell many of them were there, anyway?

  “Which way?” Caleb panted.

  She sat back on her heels and gulped a few breaths while his body took him from desperate to something close to crazy. She looked down and laughed, her bare skin gleaming in the low light, taut and smooth except where the sweat beaded and distilled the light. He grabbed for her, his fingers leaving tracks in the sweat on her skin. But she had a hand on his chest, pushing him back down. His wolf growled, taking it as a challenge, but she only grinned and backed down his body, sleek and lithe and fucking slow, and all he could do was lie there while she took her own sweet time.

  “Lia!” Caleb was shaking me.

  “Straight!”

  “There is no straight! There’s a cave wall dead ahead!”

  “There can’t be!” I moved around Caleb, who took up a defensive position at my back. The wall was solid under my hands, with no magical camouflage that I could detect. But I knew what my senses were telling me. “He’s here—right here. I can feel it!”

  Caleb glanced at me over his shoulder. “There may be a chamber on the other side, but we’ll have to go around to get to it. Which way?”

  I hit the wall with a fist. “I don’t know!”

  A Were grabbed Jamie, plucking him off his feet, shields and all, and dragged him through a ward on the left.

  “Left it is,” Caleb muttered, and dove after him.

  10

  I started to do the same when an image hit me hard from the other direction.

  She sat up over his thighs and worked his jeans the rest of the way down his body. “There’s, in the—” he said, and choked off, squeezing his eyes shut as she wrapped her hand around him.

  The image cut out as quickly as it had begun, leaving only one thought behind. Cyrus. I needed to get to Cyrus.

  I went right.

  The side tunnel was smaller, with litt
le room on either side to maneuver. There was no time for subtlety; they already knew we were here. It was only a matter of time before they found me, and moving slowly did not improve the odds. I threw a silence shield over me and pushed ahead, as fast as the narrow opening would allow.

  The pale illumination from the main hall cut out after the first curve, leaving me in utter darkness. So I felt my way, trying to go slow enough not to miss anything, while every extra second felt like a betrayal. The shield masked my footsteps and labored breathing, but it also muffled sound coming to me from outside. Not that there appeared to be any. A silence that was almost physical descended, syrupy and heavy in my ears.

  He heard the dresser drawer slide open and the crinkle of a condom wrapper. It got a little easier once she rolled it on him, and then she just climbed on him and slid down in one move, and it went straight from hard to impossible. He heaved up from the bed and she met him halfway, sliding her arms around his neck and licking into his mouth. She could probably taste herself on his tongue, he thought dizzily, as he rolled her over onto her back.

  Much later, as he was trying to choose between an imminent heart attack and the unprecedented disgrace of having to ask for a break, she rolled on top of him and whispered in his ear. “You know, you might really be a rock star.”

  And, okay, maybe he wasn’t all that tired.

  I tripped on the uneven floor and hit the opposite wall, hard enough to cause my concentration to wobble. The sound shield slipped and I bit my lip on a curse, before carefully reinforcing it. I didn’t know why I bothered. I was sweating, my skin hot and stinging where the salt had soaked through the makeshift bandage on my arm and hit the bloody claw marks. And these tunnels didn’t reek like the drains, giving me no scent camouflage. A Were would smell me coming a mile away.

  The tunnel curved abruptly, bending around to the right again, and dim light stained the walls ahead. It was enough to let me see the dark streak coming at me, flying down the corridor. I fired two blasts from the shotgun and threw myself to the side. A large Were slid to a stop at my feet, half his head missing, a swath of red painting the floor behind him.