“I don’t know how she stuffed me in here,” he replied. “I was knocked out, which is her favorite pastime. It’s as dark as the devil’s arse in here, but I’m working my way around the room now.”
I was so relieved to hear his voice. He was okay! And he still had his sense of humor. I hoped that meant things hadn’t been too dire for him and Naomi during their capture. “I’m going to walk around out here,” I called to him. “There has to be a way in.”
The orb of light popped through the wall in front of me, startling me. A moment later, coldness touched my cheek. Look…down, the breathy voice told me.
This was definitely not Enid.
The ground below me was caked with dirt and old, moldy straw. I got down on my knees and began to dig with my hands, elongating my claws to help with the job. Less than a foot down, my nails scraped metal. It was a grate of some kind. “Danny!” I called. “Check the floor. I just found a grate, and I can hear water below. This must have been a place to smuggle goods in and out of the city back in the day.”
A moment later, Danny replied, “I found one! It’s going to take me a minute to dig it out.” I could hear him cursing and complaining, and smiled.
I propped my flashlight against the wall so Kayla could see while I used both hands to uncover the rest of the grate. This must’ve been a main way to get goods to the bridge, because it was large. Four feet long by three feet wide. As the dirt and straw were cleared away, a little light filtered in from below. I could see black water lapping ten feet down.
I straddled the steel, curling my fingers around the slats. We’re going to need all our strength here, I told my wolf. Energy raced through me as I hefted upward.
The thing wouldn’t budge.
I got back on my knees, tracing the outline with my hands. I found the problem. The ends were bolted deeply into the stone walls.
I heard metal clang in the next room. A moment later, Danny yelled, “I ripped the bloody thing out of the floor! I’m going to jump into the water. When I come up, call for me, and I’ll follow your voice.”
Before I had a chance to tell him that I hadn’t gotten my end up yet, I heard a splash. He was in the water. I grabbed on to the metal bars near a large bolt and tugged with all my strength. “Danny!” I called. “I’m trying to get this thing up, but it’s secured tightly to the stone.” A face emerged in the water below, and I couldn’t contain my shout of joy. “Danny! It’s so great to see you.”
“I’m happy to see you, too, but I need out of this water. My most sensitive parts are turning blue already.” He was too far down to help me by pushing upward.
“Kayla,” I called over my shoulder, “are any of your guys strong enough to help me? I need to get this metal barrier up. I’ve got it loosened on one side, but if I had more hands, it would go quicker.” Four skeletons stepped forward. They each maneuvered to a different part of the grate. I couldn’t believe bare bones would be much help, but it was worth a try. “Okay, on the count of two. One…two.” I pulled hard, channeling my Lycan side, shifting just enough until I heard a satisfying crack as the barrier gave way on all sides.
The dead guys had actually been stronger than I’d imagined. One of them had loosened the other side enough to give me the leverage I needed.
“Step back,” I told the skeletons. They obeyed immediately. I called down to Danny, “Almost there. Just let me set this thing down.” I placed the heavy grate along the stone wall.
“That’s all well and good,” he answered, shock in his voice. “But who the feck are they?”
13
“They are a bunch of reanimated bodies,” I said. “Kayla’s helping me out. She’s a necromancer we bumped into on our way home from the swamp. There’s a lot to fill you in on, but in a nutshell, the reason I’m down here with a bunch of skeletons is that Enid wouldn’t let me bring another living person down here, so this was our solution.”
Danny had no trouble climbing the ten feet out of the hole. He was dripping wet as he emerged. I hugged him fiercely, stinky water and all, trying not to get overly emotional.
It wasn’t working.
“It’s good to see you, too, Jessica.” He patted my shoulder. “There, there. No need to get worked up. I’m fine. Alive and well. See? No worse for wear.”
I pulled back, scrutinizing his appearance, looking for any ill treatment, but finding none. “It’s wonderful to see that you’re fine, but how are Naomi and Jax? I hope they were treated just as well.” My voice was a little disbelieving. “I don’t see a single scratch on you. I thought Enid would be rougher on her prisoners.”
Danny paled visibly. “What do you mean, how is Naomi? And who is Jax?” His voice was agitated. “I was snatched by the Hag on my own. Naomi and I had just finished—” He cleared his throat. “Well, then, that’s none of your business, then, is it?” He combed his dark hair off his face with his fingers, and water trickled down over his shoulders. “I’d gotten up to go to the washroom after the single best night of my life and—that witch had no decency whatsoever. She snatched me right off the bloody toilet!” His voice was indignant. “Honestly, I don’t remember much else. I awoke in some sort of supernatural-proof bunker. It was boring as hell, but all in all, I was fine. Then I awoke here.” He glanced around. “By the way, where is here?”
“We’re currently standing inside a piling of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.” His eyebrows shot up. “And there’s no easy way to tell you this,” I started, not wanting to tell him but knowing I had to, “but Enid took Naomi that same night. She also snatched a teenager named Ajax, who’s an ice troll and the younger brother of Kayla, who is currently helping us out with these dead guys.” I thumbed behind me. “I’ll tell you more, but we need to get out of here right now. Everyone is waiting for us up top.” The skeletons turned in unison and started to march back the way we’d come. The clacking bones sounded so strange. Not a melody I wanted to remember.
Before I could turn to follow them, Danny placed both his hands on my shoulders, his face imploring. “Where are they, then? Where is she keeping Naomi and the boy? I have to find her.” His face was a mask of anger mixed with pain. “We must leave right now.”
I knew how he felt.
“We don’t know where they are, but we’re working on it,” I told him. “We will get them back. I promise you. Enid is playing with us. We’re assuming you have information to share and that’s why she let you go.”
He shook his head. “I have nothing to contribute. I was down in that blasted bunker the entire time, alone. Had I known she’d taken Naomi, I would’ve gone crazy to get out of there! Instead, I just lay there counting the ways I wanted to tear her head off when we met face-to-face.”
I grabbed him and began to haul him after the skeletons. “Danny, I know this is a lot to take in, but we have to get out of here. Naomi isn’t on the bridge, so the best thing we can do to help your mate is find the others.” I tugged him along. “Rourke’s up top, not so patiently waiting for me to return. Ray is outside this piling. But I swear to you, we will find her and Jax and get them back. I’ll fill you in on everything once we get out. Just trust me.”