damaged box. “The hinges are broken.” He lifted one of the shattered pieces of silver and frowned.
Her shoulders drooped. “Well, Nevan was mad when he left the dining room. He could have taken the remaining teeth and scampered off with them, tossing the box to the floor.”
“He could be anywhere,” Campbell said, rising. “I’ll fetch Tipton and Ian and have them round up of a party of men to search the grounds.”
A roar thundered through the house. The floor cracked, its tiles suddenly moving as if they were coasting on a rolling sea.
Sarina fell back and braced herself against the wall.
Campbell held his stance, his feet spread wide.
With a harrowing screech, the silver lid to Nevan’s box popped up between two of the parted tiles. It flipped over onto to its top, then fluttered against the floor before falling still.
Lycansay Hall calmed, its tiled entrance hall returning to its normal state.
All color bled from Campbell’s face.
“What are you thinking?” Sarina asked.
“Nevan is in the dungeon. We need to focus solely there.”
She was not having this nonsense. “You don’t know that for sure. What if he’s out in the woods, scared, lost, being attacked by a beast?” She crossed the floor and punched Campbell square in the chest. “Get Ian and Tipton. Now.” She swung her fist a second time.
He gripped her wrist. “I ken how ye feel, but trust me, I know the lad is in the dungeon. That is where the lid of his silver box came up from. My guess is the box’s bottom emerged similarly, after Nevan no longer had need of it. Thus, the broken hinges. Lycansay Hall is nae a piece of fluff. The house is one of the cruder dwellings in Dundaire and rarely reacts to something without causing at least a wee bit of damage.”
She didn’t think she could ever get used to a living, breathing house, but Campbell’s view of the situation did sound plausible. “Then we must go to the dungeon. And don’t even think of leaving me up here. Nevan is all I have, and I am all he has.”
“Ach, verra well.” He nudged his chin toward the end of the hall. “The dungeon stairs are this way. Come.” He reached for her hand.
Sarina gladly accepted Campbell’s offer and entwined her fingers with his. “How dangerous is Mariah?”
“I am nae sure, exactly. I’ve never tested her limits in the past, and dunnae care to start doing so now.”
Great. She was off to fight a cursed entity without knowing much about it. But the mere fact was not stopping her from rescuing Nevan. “Promise me if I don’t make it, you will see to it that my brother returns to Edinburgh.”
“What is there for the lad?”
“A small sum of money I’ve left him.”
“Yer brother is lucky to have ye.”
She couldn’t agree with Campbell as she was the cause Nevan was in Dundaire. Yes, their father’s death led them here, but she could have accepted Campbell’s offer of sending Charles’s belongings to Edinburgh and left it at that. Bringing Nevan here was not a must. It was her preferred option due to the money she’d earn if she finished her father’s work. But thinking on it now, it was not the wisest of decisions. “I shouldn’t have come here. My brother’s life is more important than money.”
“Ye didnae ken what could happen.” Campbell grabbed the large keyring dangling from the hook next to the door leading to the dungeon. He unlocked the wood portal and pushed it open. “Watch yer step. The stairs are made of solid stone but are verra uneven.”
She followed his lead and carefully trekked underground.
Flaming torches, stationed at various intervals along the stone walls, illuminated the dungeon with an eerie orange glow.
Sarina shivered.
As she descended further into the house’s lower level, the essence of rot and stagnant water assaulted her nostrils. She fanned her face, but with nowhere for the dank odor to go, her action did little to alleviate the stinging sensation now burning her nose. “Do you come down here often?”
“Nightly.”
She had no idea why someone would care to make this trip daily. “What do you do when you come here?”
“I check on Mariah. See to it that she’s content and nae agitated.”
How one could manage a spectral entity was the most insane thing she’d ever heard. And yet, she understood why Campbell did it. To him, Mariah was no less important than Nevan was to her. “I pray we save both Nevan and Mariah.”