reached for a pile of blankets and peeled them back. “The cavalry has arrived.”
Heart in his throat, Linus watched as his disheveled mother sat up and honed her glare on Cletus.
“Linus?” Her expression softened. “We’ll need assistance to navigate the shaft.”
Unable to ask why, he urged Cletus to spread his arms and shrug the question.
“I seem to have broken my leg,” she said haughtily. “The Pritchard boy has a concussion. A vampire struck him with a metal pipe, which I honestly didn’t expect to prove harder than his skull.”
“She’s not wrong,” Boaz admitted. “On both fronts.”
The gesture at odds with his somber countenance, Cletus gave them two thumbs up and then retreated.
As the wraith made his way back to the office, Linus blinked clear of their connection.
“They’re both alive and mostly well in a cistern about a five-minute crawl from here.” He held still while his vision returned and noted Clem had rejoined them. “They’ve requested our assistance with an extraction.”
“I’m in.” Clem rested a hand on Adelaide’s shoulders. “I’ll bring your pet ox back to you.”
“Thanks.” She hugged him briefly. “I am rather fond of him.”
“Count me in too.” Corbin dumped his backpack at his feet. “I’ve got headlamps. Who wants one?”
Linus shifted toward Adelaide. “Will you be comfortable waiting for us here?”
“No problem.” The cold light of resolve entered her eyes. “Someone needs to keep an eye out for whoever chased them down there in the first place.”
“You’re right.” Linus gestured to Corbin. “Stay here with Adelaide.”
“Okay.” Head down, Corbin checked, “Are you sure you don’t need more help?”
“Boaz has a concussion, but he won’t require physical assistance, only guidance in the event he becomes disoriented. Clem can handle him.” Linus moved to shut the door and ward it until their return. “Mother has broken her leg, but I can carry her out alone. Two of us can manage.”
“I can do that.” Corbin eyed the door. “We’ll hold down the fort until you return.”
“Do we need to call anyone?” Adelaide picked at her nails. “Or can they make it home?”
“They can both come to Woolworth House,” Linus decided. “We can ask the pack healer to treat them.”
Another time, Grier could have healed them good as new, maybe better, but he wasn’t risking her health for minor injuries.
“That works for me.” Adelaide got out her phone. “I’ll update Grier and check in on her.”
“Thank you,” Linus said, and he meant it. “Send Cletus if you need to contact us.”
The wraith would be more reliable than cellphones once they got belowground.
“The trail is distinct enough I can follow it,” he said when Clem frowned. “Unless you prefer to lead?”
“Now that you mention it,” Clem said with a smile, “I would.”
Without another word, he crammed himself into the tight space and began wiggling until the tunnel flared wider.
Once he got deep enough to give Linus room to enter without getting kicked in the face, he tossed his bag in then climbed after it, shoving it ahead of him as he crawled forward using his forearms.
Aside from the occasional grunt or sneeze, and the scrape of fabric on metal, they kept their passage quiet until reaching the opening.
“Incoming friendlies,” Clem shouted ahead of them. “Don’t kick, hit, or bite. I will leave your asses here if you do.”
“Clem?” Boaz chuckled low in his throat. “What are you doing here? Uh, you are here, right?”
“Goddess.” Clem shimmied out and dropped into the cistern. “How hard did they hit you?”
Careful not to land on anyone in the compact space, Linus’s heels thumped lightly on impact.
“They rang my bell pretty good.” Boaz indicated the back of his skull. “I still hear ringing, in fact.”
“My darling boy,” his mother exhaled as Linus oriented himself. “I knew you would find us.”
Linus went to her, knelt at her side, and took her hands. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Yes,” she said emphatically. “His healing skills leave much to be desired.”
The notion Boaz had enough magic in him to heal period surprised Linus, but he acknowledged in the same breath he tended to underestimate Boaz, and often.
“I’ll do what I can to make transfer painless for you.” He drew sigils on her forehead, her sternum, and lined three down the shin Boaz had set and stabilized. “How does that feel?”
The strain erased from her face, and she dropped back in a boneless heap. “Much better.”
“I’ll be right back.” He stood and went to examine Boaz. “How are you feeling?”
“Neither one of you has to worry about me,”