worried, so that makes me worry. Eric too.”
Eric made the shrugging motion that said he agreed but wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it unless necessary.
Kurt surveyed the group spread out on the street and took another sip of coffee. Peigi saw shadows in the windows behind him—his mate and cubs. They were curious, but they wouldn’t come out until Kurt indicated it was safe.
Kurt glanced heavenward and heaved a long sigh.
“You don’t have to dig up the yard,” he said heavily. “Or the street. I’ll let you downstairs. Not all of you.” He added this quickly as the bulk of Shifters surged forward. “Graham and Peigi only. Diego if it’s necessary, but that’s it.”
Chapter Three
“You heard him.” Graham called to his Shifters in the street as Kurt banged his way into the house. “Keep off his turf. Come on, Peigi.”
“If you need digging equipment, call me.” Diego mimed holding a phone to his ear. “I’ll keep out of the way until then.”
Peigi gave Diego a grateful nod. Diego was human but understood how sacrosanct a Shifter’s territory was, and how hard this would be for Kurt.
Shifters kept their deepest secrets in their cellars. They lived many more years than humans and so had acquired treasures or other valuables that had let them exist in the human world for centuries. A first edition of an eighteenth-century novel or a piece of art from Catherine the Great’s collection kept their worth longer than paper currency or stocks, if preserved well. Though Shifters did invest in stocks from time to time, through humans who could keep quiet about it.
A Shifter’s hoard was passed down through the pride, pack, or clan, and no outsider was allowed to see it or know what that Shifter family possessed. Therefore, Kurt only reluctantly led them to a concealed door in his back hallway and unlocked it for them. His mate hovered nearby, watchfulness in her wolf’s eyes, but she didn’t argue.
Peigi had no such stash under her house. She’d lost touch with her clan long ago, even before they’d been rounded up and put into Shiftertowns. She’d spent most of the past twenty-five years with a group of feral Shifters led by a bear called Miguel. His name wasn’t really Miguel—he changed it depending on where they lived, trying to blend in with the locals, as though he ever could.
Peigi’s folly in believing in him had left her clanless and nearly homeless. She had a place to live these days, but she’d had to start from scratch, no treasure stashed in her basement. Stuart insisted on paying rent for staying in her spare bedroom, and used much of the paycheck he earned from DX Security to buy food for the cubs.
She owed Stuart, big time.
Kurt led them down a flight of stairs, Graham right behind him, Peigi bringing up the rear. The hall that opened from the foot of the staircase was plain and empty, the doors on either side closed. Kurt’s family’s secrets would be safe from their eyes, but Peigi scented Kurt’s nervousness.
Kurt halted at the end of the hall in front of a door little different from the others, except this one was held closed by a metal strap with a padlock. Kurt took a key from the ring he carried and unlocked it.
“Cubs were playing down here a couple months ago and found the pocket in the ley line,” Kurt explained to Peigi. “My mate and I filled it in and built this door in front of it. Haven’t felt anything since, so we figured the line was dormant.”
And might still be. There was nothing to say they’d find Stuart or where he’d gone behind that door, or discover who the voice that had called to him belonged to.
Kurt opened the door. He had to wrench it—the hinges were stiff.
Beyond was a room with a brick wall in the middle of it. Except the wall sported a gaping hole, like the entrance to a cave. Bricks were scattered across the floor of the small room and lay inside the hole.
“What the hell?” Kurt took a hasty step back, snarls in his throat. “We sealed this up.”
Graham likewise growled, and Peigi’s fight-or-flight instinct rose high.
“Well, someone tore it down.” Graham stated the obvious. “Maybe your cubs?”
“No way in hell. They know it’s off limits. They don’t even like to come this far down the hall.”
Kurt was sweating, his face gray. Peigi kept silent, but she didn’t blame him for his