Donnchadh - Lynn Hagen Page 0,24

far, but it felt like a million miles away as he walked it alone.

Even the air seemed ominous.

He should’ve called Donnchadh. He shouldn’t be going to Maple Grove by himself, not when hellhounds were on the loose. Getty rubbed his neck where his attacker had tried to bite him and shivered thinking about running into another one of them.

The grassy mound wasn’t that far from the building. Getty made it there, passing a few people along the way. He didn’t look at them, too afraid since Donnchadh wasn’t with him.

The dark water glistened under the pale moonlight, but it didn’t move. Not even a tiny ripple. Did he have to throw a coin in or say some kind of chant? Donnchadh had told him it was a doorway, but not how the doorway worked.

Getty scratched his head.

“Need help?”

Getty turned and saw a guy standing on the sidewalk. He had a leash in his hand. On the end of the leash…Getty choked on a breath as he stared at the two-headed dog. Dogs?

The guy smiled and started talking, but all Getty could concentrate on were the fangs in his mouth. Two sharp points that gleamed under the streetlamp.

Fangs.

Getty stumbled backward, terrified of the stranger and his dog. Dogs. He wasn’t sure and didn’t care. Getty just wanted to get away. He wasn’t so sure he liked the demon realm any longer. That had to be a vampire!

His arms wheeled as he felt himself falling backward. A shout ripped from his throat as he hit the water. It didn’t even make a splash. He quickly thought of seeing his father as he was submerged and hit the ground so hard the wind was knocked out of his lungs.

Getty groaned, rolled to his back, and rubbed his chest. There had to be a better mode of transportation between realms or a softer way to land.

After blinking several times, Getty pushed to his elbows.

He wasn’t at the clinic or even his house.

“Who the fuck’re you?” a deep, growling voice asked.

Getty glanced around at the ferocious-looking men as he sucked in a deep breath then passed out.

Chapter Seven

Donny had no clue where they were, but his instincts told him he should get out of there. It was some abandoned building with leaky overhead pipes, wet floors, and flickering lights.

All a setup for some horror movie that he didn’t want to be a part of. But this was where the Black River had led them when they’d gone through. Cadeym should be here, but there were so many levels, hallways, and rooms that Donny had no clue where to begin.

“I still can’t sense him,” Panahasi said. “Split up in pairs and search every inch of this place.”

“Have you ever seen a horror movie?” Hondo asked. “You never split up. That’s how you die.”

“And we’re not clueless humans,” Panahasi pointed out. “Find Cadeym.”

“You’re coming with me,” Donny said to Hondo. Donny had the ability to teleport, but that wouldn’t be helpful if they had to take on multiple bad guys.

As if reading his mind, Hondo said, “If shit gets hinky, we press our Wonder Twin rings together. Form of fire.”

“Form of hauling ass,” Donny said just to play along and ease the worry in his gut.

They took the top floor, left side of the building. From the things he saw in the rooms, this used to be a school. At least it hadn’t been an insane asylum. That really would’ve wigged Donny out.

“It’s a shame when schools close,” Hondo said as he poked his head into rooms then kept walking down the hallway. “The local kids gotta get shipped to other schools, and the teachers become overwhelmed with additional students.”

Donny checked rooms as he moved down the hallway. “It sounds like you’ve given this some thought. I didn’t know you were so passionate about human education.”

Hondo stopped and placed his hands on his hips. “You have to look ten or fifteen years down the road, Donny. What kind of jobs can those kids get? What kind of life will they have?”

“The same as everyone else if they apply themselves,” Donny argued. “Take us for example. If we were statistics from our childhood, we should be anger-filled murdering machines. But we chose a different path. We chose not to give in to societal belief that just because you come from shit means you’re going to be shit.”

“Okay, so you have a point.” Hondo wiggled a finger at Donny. “But what about nature versus nurture?”

“You’ve been watching those science