Circle of Desire (24 page)

She signaled to Ethan, then carefully opened the window. A heartbeat later she felt the warmth of his presence wash over her senses.

“What, no masks?” Ethan asked, voice low and annoyed as she clambered inside.

She hid her smile and met his gaze. “Don’t need them with the mist almost gone.”

He snorted softly. “Wouldn’t be a ploy to keep me at a safe distance while you explored, would it?”

“Of course not,” she said absently as she looked around, trying to sense the presence of anything other than the sleeping zombies.

“That’s what I figured.” He stepped carefully over a zombie. “What are we looking for?”

“I don’t know. You check that door.” She waved a hand at the door to their left. “And I’ll look around here.”

He made his way toward the door. She stayed where she was, hands on her hips, as she studied the floor. The air gently caressing her face was damp and smelled slightly musty. It wasn’t the staleness of a cellar, but rather that of an old cave. Suggesting, perhaps, there was another access point here besides the
window and the front door. One that went down rather than out.

She stepped over a dead man and followed the caress of air into the shadows. And found a trapdoor. One that had a zombie sleeping over the top of it.

“Nothing in this room,” Ethan said quietly. “You find anything?”

“Yeah, a zombie in the damn way.”

He stopped beside her. “So why not kill it?”

She gave him an annoyed look. “Contrary to popular opinion, I do not run around killing zombies willy-nilly. Besides, if I kill any of these things right now, the person who raised them will know.”

“Then let’s move it, so we can check out the door.” His voice held an edge of impatience. Or maybe it was annoyance.

“I’ll move it. You touch it, and it might just wake.”

She directed a thick lance of kinetic energy at the zombie, carefully moving it closer to the window. It stirred, tearing at her kinetic hold. Hot lances of fire burned into her brain, and she bit her lip, blinking back tears as she eased the creature back to the floor.

Ethan had the trapdoor open and was squatting near the edge, peering down into the darkness. “It smells damp. Musty.”

She nodded. At least the air coming up from the darkness was free from the scent of death—for the moment, anyway. “I’ll go down first, check that it’s okay.”

He glanced at her. “What if we’re attacked?”

She slipped off the pack and opened it, grabbing the stakes and zombie deterrents. “Use these,” she said, offering him a set.

He just looked at them. “Thanks, but I’ll stick to my gun.”

“A gun’s not much use in a situation like this.”

“I’m sure they’ll stop if you shoot their damn brains out.”

“They would, but it would also make far too much noise.” But she put one set of weapons away. He was obviously determined to stick to his gun, and noise be damned.

She handed him the pack, then peered into the hole. It was as dark as hell down there, but the breeze was coming from the right. She looked up at Ethan. “Just how good is your night sight?”

“Wolf keen.” He frowned. “I was under the impression
your
sight was pretty damn good as well.”

“It normally is, but I can’t see squat down there.”

“Then I’d better lead once we’re down.”

She nodded and climbed in, dropping lightly to the stony ground. For several seconds she did nothing more than listen. Everything was still—silent. Almost oppressively so.

She met Ethan’s gaze. “It’s okay.”

He jumped down, then caught her hand, his fingers warm against hers. “Nothing?”

She shook her head. “Nothing dead, at any rate.”

“Good.”

He tugged her forward. The chill in the air increased, and the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the darkness was so deep it was hard to be sure. The tunnel was narrow, tight, and her breath caught as she imagined the weight of the walls and the roof bearing down on her. She had only to straighten her fingers and she could brush the cold
stone. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and she bit her lip. Damn it, why couldn’t she see? It was odd, to say the least. Especially when Ethan obviously could. She would have thought a raven’s sight to be nearly as good as a wolf’s, but obviously, it wasn’t. Or maybe it was just the fact that they were under the ground rather than above it.

Ahead, moisture dripped, lending the darkness a steady heartbeat. The dank smell increased, until it almost felt like they were breathing in liquid.

“I’d say there’s a river overhead.” Though his voice was soft, it seemed to boom through the tunnel, echoing loudly.

“I can’t hear water running.”

“You probably wouldn’t, with the amount of rock above us.”

Right now, she didn’t need to be reminded about the weight above them. She swiped at a trickle of sweat and peered past his shoulder. Something glowed up ahead. “Is that light?”

“Torchlight, by the way it’s flickering.” He squeezed her hand. “It opens up a little up ahead.”

“Good.” She didn’t bother masking her relief. “Can you smell anything?”

“Humans. Two of them.”

Though his voice was flat, she could feel his excitement. “It might not be her, you know.”

“I know.”

But his pace increased regardless. The flickering glow grew until it shone warmly across the damp rocks and finally lifted the darkness. Ahead, the tunnel opened up into what looked like a wide cavern. Relief crawled through her.

There was no one to be seen ahead. Nothing to be heard. But she could certainly smell someone. Or some
thing
.

She pulled Ethan to a stop. “Zombies, dead ahead.”

“How many?” His question was little more than a caress of air past her ear.

“Two.” She hesitated, then frowned. “But there’s something else.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure.” She let go of his hand and stepped forward cautiously. Energy tingled across her skin, brief but powerful. She raised a hand. The farther she reached, the sharper the buzz, until it felt like it burned across her skin. Eventually it became a wall that resisted her efforts to push any farther. Tiny slivers of energy shot from her fingers, lightning sharp as they crawled up that unseen wall and faded away.

“What the hell is that?”

“Some form of magical barrier. I haven’t got the equipment with me to get past it right now.”

She kept her hand against the barrier and moved from one side of the tunnel to the other. The barrier appeared to be oval in shape, bowing out into the tunnel from either edge.

“Touch it with your fingertips,” she said. “Keep that contact so you know where it is, but don’t go any closer.”

He nodded. The lightning that crawled away from his touch was sharper, more fiery. He hissed slightly. “Feels like I’m being eaten by ants.”

“I think it would be a whole lot worse if you came into full contact with the thing.” She edged around to the right.

“Can you see anything from your side?” he said.

“A wall and another tunnel.” One that looked carved by nature rather than man. Or magic.

“I can see living dead men.” He hesitated, and a wave of emotion hit her, so strong it knocked her backward. “And Janie.” Anger, hope, and frustration combined in his voice and speared right through her heart. He really did love that little girl.

“You sure?”

His glance was sharp. “Yes. I can see her face. You’ve got to break this thing so we can get her out.”

“I can’t—”

“Damn it, she’s here. She’s alive, and I’m sure as hell not leaving without her!”

“We have no choice, not right—”

“I will
not
leave her!”

“And if I try to break this barrier without the right tools, I’ll risk killing us all. Can’t you feel the power in this thing?”

“It’s only magic, for God’s sake. How dangerous can it be?”

She stared at him. “Have you learned nothing in the last few days?”

“That’s my niece in there.” A stiffened finger stabbed the air, and the unseen barrier buzzed almost angrily as lightning flared away from his touch. “And if you won’t get her back, I will.”

“Ethan, no!”

He thrust at the wall, fists clenched as he tried to force his way through. Electricity swarmed around his wrists, locking him tight, then began crawling up his arms. He swore vehemently, tugging to get free
as the slithers of lightning reached farther up his arms and began wrapping him in a web of energy.

“See what happens when you don’t listen to me?” She swung off her pack and pulled out the slender chain of pure silver—the only metal immune to the effects of magic. It could also be deadly to shifters, but she’d been handling the stuff for so long now she’d developed a fairly strong immunity to it. Ethan, however, would not have the same advantage, so she’d have to be careful not to burn him.

“Now is not the time for an I-told-you-so.” His teeth were clenched and sweat beaded his forehead. “Get me free of this damn thing. It feels like it’s sucking me dry.”

What she
should
do was leave him there a few minutes, so he’d learn to pay magic a little more respect. “Since it was made by a creature who steals souls to survive, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly what it’s doing.”

She looped the chain around his arms—making sure it touched his sweater rather than his skin—and the lightning instantly shriveled away from it. Cut off from the main source, the web of energy wrapping around his body fizzled and died, leaving only his clenched fists in contact.

“Now pull free.”

With a grunt of effort, he did. “Thanks,” he muttered.

She nodded and unwrapped the chain from his arms. If she’d had enough silver chain with her, she could have created a doorway to crawl through, but neither she nor Gwen had expected the soul-sucker capable of something like this. Though why, she had
no idea. An ancient spirit would have had more than enough time to learn a magic trick or two.

“It won’t take much more than an hour to go back to the cabin, get supplies, and come back.”

His look suggested an hour was fifty-nine minutes too long. “Then go. I’ll wait here.”

“For what? You can’t get past the barrier.”

“But I can watch. I can see if she’s moved or anything.”

And what if the soul-sucker came to taste rather than move? What could he do, other than go insane watching? “The zombies or the mara could come down this tunnel at any time.”

His gaze went back to the cavern. “The tunnel will force the zombies to come down one at a time. That I can handle.”

“And the soul-sucker?”

“Leave the pack.”

She sighed in frustration. “I will, but I insist you wear the chain under your collar.” She didn’t wait for argument; she simply lifted his shirt collar and looped the chain around his neck. Once she’d folded the collar back down, the chain couldn’t be seen.

He frowned. “Why?”

“You saw how the energy reacted, didn’t you?” When he nodded, she continued. “That’s because pure silver is immune to magic, and as such, repels it. So wear it and make yourself a little less of a target. Just don’t touch it yourself, because it will burn you.”

“It didn’t burn
you
.”

“That’s because I have some immunity to it.”

His frown deepened. “Does that mean I can’t shift shape?”

“Magic is magic, whether it’s a wall or the ability to shift into another form.”

“I think I’d rather
not
wear the chain.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he threw up his hands and added, “Go. And be careful going through those zombies.”

“I will.” She hesitated, wanting to kiss him but not daring to take the step that separated them. Not sure how he’d react to the everyday act of lovers the world over.

He made no move, his attention on the cavern more than on her. She sighed, dropped the pack at his feet, and walked away.

The darkness closed in around her again. She dragged her fingers along the walls to keep her bearings and tried not to think about the tons of rock and dirt hanging overhead. She was trembling by the time the end of the tunnel came into sight, and she shifted shape with relief, flying through the trapdoor and out the window. Out into the wide-open skies. Lord, the freedom of it felt so good!

It took far less than an hour to fly to the cabin, grab the necessary supplies, and get back to the tunnel.

But the zombies were gone when she arrived.

And so was Ethan.

E
THAN CROSSED HIS ARMS AND LEANED AGAINST THE DAMP
, cold wall. Janie was a bare ten feet away, and it took every ounce of self-control he possessed to
not
attack the wall that separated them. God, all he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and let her know everything was going to be all right. That he was here and he would protect her against the demons.

But the truth was, he couldn’t protect her against those demons. Not yet. And maybe not ever. Kat and her grandmother probably had more chance of doing so than he ever would.

He wished the cabin were only a few minutes away. Hoped Kat was coming back right now with whatever she needed to free the girls. He had a bad feeling that time was running out.