by Lori Drake
Of course she hadn’t gone up. She’d gone down.
23
Joey and her team were only a few blocks away from Chris when she got his ping. She took off running, hoping the others could keep up.
“We got a hit on the map!” one of the witches called behind her, stopping Joey in her tracks. She spun to look between the two men, identical but for their clothes. It was the only way she could tell them apart—the novelty of identical twins had worn off fast. “Where?”
Fariq held up his phone as he caught up. “Occidental Park.”
“Great, that’s where we’re going.” Joey took off again at a full sprint, slowing only to look both ways whenever she had to cross a street. By the time she reached Occidental Park and located Chris, she had a solid thirty second lead on Adam and Quinn, with the twins trailing behind them somewhere.
Chris stood at the mouth of a walkway between two of the buildings, his fingers laced together atop his head. He dropped his hands to his sides as she approached, then gestured down the alley. “There’s a manhole down there. I think that’s where she went. I can’t get it open. I think she reinforced it with magic.”
Joey glanced over her shoulder. “Guess we’ll have to wait for the cavalry, then. The coven got a hit on their map when she did it.”
“Nice to know the damn thing does work after all,” Chris muttered, shaking his head.
Chuckling, Joey grabbed her phone and began firing off messages. “I’m calling off the other search teams.”
“Don’t you want them to back us up?”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant, I just— wait.” She looked up from her phone screen to eye him with a frown. “What do you mean ‘us?’”
“I’m going with you.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea, with the ghost and all?”
He sighed. “I’m already here, Joey. And this is Dawn we’re talking about. I can’t not go.”
Jon jogged up about the same time Adam and Quinn did, and all three took turns trying to outmuscle each other with the manhole cover until Fariq and Ali caught up. Joey motioned them down the alley and went to follow them, but Chris caught her arm. “Where are Cathy and Amber?”
Joey shrugged. “Dunno, they sent Fariq and Ali in their place tonight. Which reminds me, I should text them an update.”
“Hmm.” He proceeded down the alley with her, lowering his voice. “Fariq and Ali. Which one’s which?”
Joey laughed, her steps slowed from texting while walking. “Fariq’s wearing the blue shirt, Ali red. Didn’t you meet them at the safe house?”
“Ethan basically let me stay under protest. There weren’t many formal introductions, and I didn’t want to push my luck.”
“Smart man.”
By the time they reached the small group clustered around the manhole, both witches were wreathed in light and arguing over the best way to disable the spell.
Joey observed them for a few moments, tapping her foot, but her patience swiftly wore off. “Would one of you just do it already? We’re burning moonlight.”
Ali took the lead, touching a glowing hand to the manhole cover, dark brows slanted in a look of focused concentration. It was almost a full minute before he drew his hand back with a grin and high-fived his brother. The two of them proceeded to lift the manhole and move it aside.
Adam whipped a flashlight out of a belt holster. It was one of those long metal ones that could double as a club in a pinch. He shined the light down the hole, illuminating a metal ladder leading down a roughly twenty-foot drop. Then he stepped into the hole and vanished, letting gravity pull him down. He landed with an audible splash, and all of them leaned farther over the hole, nearly knocking heads.
“Show off,” the witches said in unison.
“All clear,” Adam called.
Joey glared down at him, more worried that he might take off without them than upset he’d gone first. “Stay put until we’re all down there.”
Quinn followed Adam down in the same manner, and then the witches began climbing the ladder. Once the second one was down the hole, Joey put a hand on Jon’s arm to stay him. He shot her an inquiring look, one brow lifted.
“Go home,” she said.
Jon blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not. You’ve got a new baby at home, you’re probably sleep-deprived, and Melinda… she’s dangerous. I’m not going to risk anything happening to you. You need to be there for Sara, whatever comes out of tonight. Especially considering what might come out of tonight.”
The unspoken possibility that they might have to kill Sara’s cousin hung in the air between them for a moment.
Chris put a hand on Joey’s back. “She’s right, Jon. This isn’t your fight.”
Jon’s fists tightened at his sides. “The hell it isn’t! She’s been staying under my roof for weeks. Playing us all for fools. I want to see this through.”
Joey sighed inwardly. She hadn’t wanted it to come to this. She’d hoped he’d see reason, but since it was clear he wouldn’t, she met his eyes. “Jon, go home to your family. That’s an order.”
A low growl rose from Jon’s chest. He looked like he wanted to kick something—or someone. But he cast a quick glance at Chris, then nodded tightly. “Yes, Alpha.”
As Jon stalked off down the alley, Joey turned to Chris, studying his face in the moonlight.
The question must’ve been clear on her face, because he nodded and lowered his head until his forehead touched hers. “Yes, you did the right thing. Now let’s get down there, before Adam gets tired of waiting.”
Nodding, Joey shined her own, smaller, flashlight down the hole to make sure it was clear, then jumped down. Chris followed her but used the ladder, pulling the manhole closed behind him, then doing a neat slide down the ladder to land at the bottom with a splash.
Joey wrinkled her nose as the liquid on the floor of the tunnel splashed the legs of her jeans. At least it didn’t smell like sewage. Thank god for small favors.
Over the last two nights, Joey had seen a lot of what lay beneath Pioneer Square. This was the first time she’d been in an honest to goodness drainage tunnel. The passage was roughly conical in shape, with a metal grate running along one side so city workers didn’t have to wade through whatever minimal flow of water was in the tunnel during maintenance. At least it was a bit larger than some of the tunnels she’d had to grit her way through.
Once they discerned which direction Melinda’s scent trail went, they walked single file down the narrow grate. Joey went first, since she was the shortest and wouldn’t have been able to see around anyone else. She put Ali behind her so he could be on the lookout for any magic ahead. The rest fell in behind them in no particular order, but Joey noticed Quinn bringing up the rear. The burly wolf wasn’t a big talker to start with, but he’d grown downright taciturn over the course of the last two days. His friend’s betrayal had done a number on him, and though Joey wished she could do something for him, she kept telling herself that he wasn’t her responsibility. She had more than enough people relying on her without trying to tend to the ones that didn’t want her to.
As had become usual for her tunnel forays, she kept her eyes and ears peeled, using her flashlight to scout ahead. After that first night, she’d instructed the witches not to use magic for light, wanting them to conserve their energy. Instead, everyone had a flashlight, though only the person in the lead really needed it at any given time. None of them carried weapons. The witches had their magic, and the wolves—well, they were weapons.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached a T junction where another tunnel connected with the one they were in. Joey sniffed, trying to figure out which way Melinda had gone, but her scent was getting harder to track. She turned her flashlight off and passed it to Ali.
“Going to shift,” she said, taking advantage of the witches’ eyes needing time to adjust to the darkness to whip off her shirt and jeans. She tucked her charm into he
r back pocket and passed the bundle of clothing to Adam, who tucked it in his field bag to keep it dry.
The grate was cold and a little slimy under hands and knees as she knelt, and she grimaced even as she embraced her wolf. Within seconds, she stood on four paws and padded forward to sniff at the junction. Her ears perked as she picked up the trail more easily now, and her wolf thrilled in the hunt as she turned and took off down the adjoining tunnel. It was dryer and didn’t have a metal grate, so she got her paws wet, but it was easier to track. She forced herself to go slow, to not out distance the two-legs behind her too much. It was important not to stray too far from the pack.
She caught a whiff of another familiar scent, but it took her a minute to place it. By then, she’d traveled a bit farther down the tunnel, but she skidded to a halt when the scent memory triggered.
Jordan.
Before she could alert anyone, a pained grunt from the rear caught her attention. She whirled and darted past the others, knocking aside spindly legs and sending the witches and human-form wolves tumbling out of her way. She shifted forms just in time to catch Quinn as he went down.
Chris was at her side in an instant, helping her with the big wolf—which was welcome, since she had plenty of strength but not very good leverage.
“What happened?” Chris asked.
Quinn clutched his leg and managed to bite out, “Hamstring.”
The scent of blood rose as it ran down the back of Quinn’s leg, and Joey’s heart raced as she looked around, seeing no sign of the attacker.
“It’s Jordan,” she said. “I smelled him. But I think he’s invisible.”
“Invisible?” Chris said, alarm bells ringing in his head. “Is that even possible?” He looked at the witches for confirmation.
“Not that I know of,” Fariq said.
Ali shrugged and spread his hands.
Never had Chris wished Cathy were on hand more than that moment. What had been so important that she hadn’t been able to come help look for her apprentice? He grit his teeth and peered around. There were too many shadows, and the beam of the flashlight was messing with his night vision.
“Lights off,” he said as he and Joey eased Quinn down into a sitting position on the floor of the tunnel.
Chris caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head, but there was no one there. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and a chill went down his spine. Then he saw it. A wet footprint on the dry side of the tunnel. He launched himself in that direction, ramming into a solid, man-sized form and driving it into the tunnel wall.
The spell concealing Jordan flickered, and Chris was able to see past it briefly before it settled again, showing him the wall behind the man, but slightly distorted. It was kind of like those 3D images, the ones if you stared at them just right you could see the image appear out of a colorful mess. Only this looked like a three-dimensional man sheathed in a full-body suit that shifted according to what was behind him.
A knee caught him in the stomach with startling force, driving the breath out of his lungs. Something popped, and he doubled over, the familiar sting of a cracked rib pushing a groan from his lips. Hands crashed down on his back like a ton of bricks, knocking him flat. He hit the tunnel floor hard, sending up a splash of murky water.
“Chris!” Joey exclaimed.
“Cam-ou-flage,” he managed to gasp out.
“Ohhh. Yeah, that exists,” one of the witches said.
Adam’s bag hit the tunnel floor a split second before his knees. A burst of lycanthrope power rolled through the tunnel as he shifted, tearing his clothes in the process. He lowered his nose to the floor and began moving through the tunnel. Their attacker might be practically invisible, but he couldn’t ditch his scent so easily.
While the witches bickered over how to counter a camouflage spell, Joey joined Adam in wolf form and Chris picked himself up off the tunnel floor, pressing a hand against his ribs and looking around for any other signs of Jordan’s passing. He retreated back to guard Quinn, who was pushing himself up the tunnel wall with his good leg.
“Jordan,” Quinn said, his voice surprisingly even considering the amount of pain he had to be in. “You don’t want to do this, man. What’s gotten into you?”
“Evolving,” an unfamiliar voice said from much closer than Chris had expected.
He caught the barest flicker of movement in front of him and swung an arm automatically. His forearm connected with Jordan’s arm, knocking it aside. There was a brief flash, and an ear-splitting crack echoed off the curved concrete walls.
“He’s got a gun!” Chris shouted, unable to hear any replies over the ringing in his ears. It occurred to him belatedly that everyone had probably figured that out for themselves.
Chris’s heart stopped as Adam leaped through the air, colliding with Jordan and knocking him to the ground. But a second later, the white wolf went flying across the tunnel, striking the wall and falling limply to the tunnel floor.
“Shit.” Chris shook his head in a vain effort to shake off the ringing in his ears, eyes roaming the floor of the tunnel, wishing there were more water in it so it would be easier to track Jordan’s movements. First he couldn’t see the guy, now he couldn’t hear him either.
The witches finally lit up and started working their mojo. Joey seemed to have Jordan’s scent on lock, because she danced around, snapping at the air where his ankles probably were. The gun barked again, ricocheting off the concrete too close to Joey for Chris’s liking. He surged forward, but Ali grabbed him. The man’s lips moved, but Chris couldn’t make out a damn thing he said. All he knew was a practically invisible man was shooting at his mate, and he wasn’t about to stand by and watch.
Jerking his arm free, Chris retrieved Adam’s fallen flashlight and stalked over to where Joey was, pulled back his arm, and swung at the place where he imagined Jordan’s head was with all his might. He made solid contact, the reverberations of which up his arm and into his torso caused a bright flare of pain. He hissed through gritted teeth and swung again, but there was nothing there to meet his backswing. A sudden pulse of magic flew through the air, rippling down the tunnel and passing over Joey’s head as she stood with her powerful jaws clamped around something unseen—until the spell concealing Jordan dissipated, and he was visible where he lay, seemingly unconscious. Joey released her hold on his ankle but stood over him, lips peeled back from her sharp lupine teeth.
Quinn pushed past Chris, half limping and half hopping over to his friend. He shooed Joey away, though she snapped her jaws at him in irritation before resuming her human form again. Chris hurried over to Adam. A quick assessment told him that his pack brother was breathing, just unconscious.
Joey kneeled beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Is he okay?” she asked, and the words actually made it through the fading ringing in his ears.
“I think so. Looked like a rough landing.” Chris looked over his shoulder at the witches. “Either of you two healers?”
They shook their heads, and Chris sighed.
Some backup. Thanks, Aunt Cathy.
Quinn rolled Jordan onto his back and looked down at him, frowning. “Did you have to hit him so hard?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Joey snapped.
The big wolf met her glare evenly. “He’s human. He could’ve cracked his skull.”
“If he’s wearing any jewelry, you should get it off,” Fariq said. “He might be wearing other charms.”
Quinn nodded and set to doing just that. Chris remained with Joey by Adam’s side, waiting for his hearing to fully return and his heart to beat at a normal rate. Joey must’ve noticed him holding his side.
“Are you hurt?” Her gentle fingers pried his away to pat his shirt, but of course there was no blood there. He let her, since it defused the situation with Quinn—or at least diverted her attention temporarily.
He winced when she probed a tender spot. “Cracked rib, I think.”
She groaned. “Again?”
He chuckled, even though it hurt a bit to do so. “In my skeleton’s defense, he’s stronger than he looks. Hit like a damn freight train.”
While Chris spoke, Adam stirred, his blue eyes popping open a moment before he got his feet under him and stood.
“Easy, man.” Chris put a hand on his back, smoothing his soft white fur. “The threat is handled.”
Adam snorted, slipping out from under Chris’s hand and moving away a few steps to resume human form. He remained crouched on the tunnel floor for a moment before rising and walking over to look down on Jordan and Quinn.
“He gonna be okay?” Adam asked.
“Hope so,” Quinn said.
Adam crouched beside them. There was something in his eyes that put Chris on edge, and when he lifted his hand to point Jordan’s discarded gun at the fallen man, the hair on his arms stood on end.
Chris lunged for Adam. Another noisy gunshot reverberated off the walls. Jordan’s body twitched, even unconscious, as a bullet tore into his side. The muzzle flashed twice more before Chris and Adam crashed to the tunnel floor. There was a moment of ear-ringing confusion.
“Is anyone hit?” Chris asked, but he could barely hear himself speak.
Quinn launched himself over Jordan with a roar that reverberated off the tunnel walls and grabbed Chris, hauling him off Adam like he weighed no more than a sack of flour and tossing him aside. Pain flared in Chris’s side when he landed, and his vision went blurry. Refocusing, he found the big wolf pinning Adam to the floor, fists flying one after another, pummeling Adam’s face.
Joey scrambled to grab Quinn, but it wasn’t until Chris joined her that they were able to pull the big alpha off and hold him back. Chris’s side screamed from the effort, and he had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out.
“You worthless piece of shit!” Quinn shouted, his wolf riding just beneath the surface, enough power radiating from him that Chris’s hands and arms tingled where they were in contact with Quinn’s.
Adam sat up, brackish water running down his pale arms and face already plumping up from Quinn’s meaty fists. “He’s the piece of shit! He deserves to die for what he did. Helping her kidnap innocent women and wolves so she could warp them with her foul magic!” He spat in Jordan’s direction.