“Umm.” Misty looked around, trying to assess the situation before she answered. “I was looking after the cubs?” She let the statement end with a questioning note. Eric nodded once, subtly, and Misty put on a smile. “You know how they like to run off.”
Diego was looking hard at her, his eyes, so much like Xav’s, holding warning. What kind of warning, Misty had no idea.
“Yeah, they do like to play,” Eric said. “And get into so much trouble. You know how kids are.” Eric gave the lead soldier his laid-back smile. “Thanks for bringing them home, Misty.”
“Not a problem.”
Eric had glanced into the basement, his eyes flickering when he saw Graham. He moved his body a little, barely changing his stance, but Misty knew enough about Shifters now to realize he must be saying something to Graham without opening his mouth. Shifters were masters of nonverbal communication. Misty wished she could read the signals, because she was swimming in the dark here.
One of the armed men turned to Eric. “What’s down there?”
Eric shrugged. “Don’t know. I’m not into construction. Where the plumbing and electricity will go, maybe?” He gave the perfect impression of a man who might be strong but kind of slow.
“Sir?” The man turned to Diego with a lot more deference.
Diego also shrugged. “Same answer. I really don’t know. You’d have to ask the construction team.”
“We need to lock it down,” The soldier who seemed to be in charge said. “Corporal, take a team and check it out.”
One of the younger men signaled to another, shouldered his weapon, and started down the metal ladder to the basement.
Misty glanced down in alarm, but saw no sign of Graham or Dougal. They’d vanished.
“Are these the ones who’ve been missing?” the commander asked Diego, gesturing at Misty. Diego gave him a grim nod.
“Missing?” Misty asked as Eric reached for Kyle. Kyle clung to his arm, a wolf cub, looking fearfully back at Misty and Matt. “We’re not missing.” Misty tried her smile again. “We’re right here.”
The commander answered. “Your mother in L.A. called in a missing-persons report on Melissa Granger five days ago. Said she couldn’t get into contact with you, and your neighbors said you left with a Shifter at that time and haven’t been home since. Business owners around your store say Shifters have been at your shop, but no one has seen you.” He looked her over, from her tank top and shorts, torn and covered with dirt, to her scratched and gouged legs and arms. “So you need to tell me, ma’am, exactly where you’ve been and what happened to you.”
Misty listened, her lips parting. “Five days . . . ?”
More humans came hurrying to join the commander, these looking more like paramedics. One caught Misty by the arm and tried to lead her toward an open ambulance. “We need to check you out,” the paramedic said. “Make sure you’re all right. Commander, interrogate her once we’ve taken her vitals and given her some water, all right?”
“Five days?” Misty couldn’t help repeating.
“You went through an ordeal,” the paramedic suggested. “But you’re fine now. We’ll take care of you and get you away from these Shifters. It will be all right.”
“Wait.” Misty held Matt closer. “This one’s hurt more than me. He needs help.”
Eric reached for Matt and took him out of Misty’s arms. Kyle wriggled in Eric’s arms, trying to lick his brother’s face. “Poor little guy.”
“You need to come with us, ma’am,” the paramedic said, in his stern but friendly voice.
“I’m not hurt that much,” Misty tried. “I—”
She broke off as a familiar man with broad shoulders but not much height reached to Eric for Matt. “I’ll take the cub.” Ben gave a wide smile to the commander. “I’m a vet,” he said. “I specialize in Shifters.”
Ben really did have a reassuring smile, in spite of his prison tatts and once-broken nose. Plus, he didn’t wear a Collar, and obviously wasn’t Shifter.
“I’ll have to clear this,” the commander said, not changing expression.
“Sure you do,” Ben said. “My name’s Ben Williams. Look me up. I’m ex-con but served all my time. Now I take care of animals.”
If Ben truly was a veterinarian, this was the first Misty had heard of it. Eric, however, seemed perfectly sanguine to hand Matt to him.
Ben leaned near Misty as he carefully took Matt, his movement putting him between Misty and the impatient paramedic. “Misty, you need to blow the basement.”
Misty blinked at him. “Sorry?”
“Cave it in.” Ben kept his voice quiet, his face set only in compassion for the cubs. “Bury the ley line; close the portal. Humans will be screwed if they find it, and Shifters will be screwed if these guys find the basement.”
Misty understood the why. What she didn’t know was . . . “How?”
“Roots,” Ben said. “You did the mastering spell. I can see it in you.”
“But . . .” Dougal and Graham might still be down there.
“Do it,” Ben said. He straightened up, a cub on each arm. “I’ll take care of these cuties.”
He walked away.
Misty stared after him, the man looking no less human than the soldiers around her. But then, Ben had written the book, more than a hundred years ago, he’d told Misty how to use it, and to trust herself. He’d been right every time.
Was Graham still down there, hiding with Dougal? Why was he? Only one way to find out.
Misty gasped and slapped at her pockets. “My cell phone. I dropped it.” She stared wildly at the hole behind her, then before the commander could reach for her, she swung around onto the ladder and descended to the basement.
She saw no sign of Graham or Dougal anywhere. They could be hiding, or they could have gone back through the ley line to the cave.
Misty darted under the darkness, but it was too intense after the first few feet out of the sunshine for her to see anything. “Graham,” she whispered.
No answer. He was gone, Dougal with him.
“Corporal, find her,” the commander snapped.
Roots. Misty looked up. The Shifters who’d dug out this cellar had carefully left the earth around the house whole above it. The basement ran a long way underground, well past the house for which it was intended. The planted trees as well as the native brush were intact above it.
Desert shrubs might look fragile and could even appear dried out and dead, but in truth they were tough and hardy. They had to burrow deep into the earth in search of groundwater and rain runoff in order to survive, and their root systems were extensive and strong. The plants could live for years in dormancy, looking dead from above. Then, after a good rain, the plant would become green and vibrant, beautiful and blooming. It would drop its seeds, which would lie in wait in the shade of the parent plant, until that life-giving water found them.
The part of the desert plant below ground was giant and complex, never seen, but networking through the ground in a powerful mesh.
Misty studied the tendrils sticking out of the ceiling above her and the wall around her. She thought of how she’d controlled the vines in the Fae cave, but she had no idea if the book’s spell would work here.
But then, this basement was on a ley line, and in Faerie, magic was real. She agreed with Ben that she needed to collapse it—this place was dangerous for humans and Shifters alike, and humans didn’t need to ask questions about why the hole was here in the first place.
Misty took a breath, and took a risk. “Pull it down,” she said to the roots.
“Ma’am.” The corporal behind her was polite but firm. “You need to come with me.”
“Now,” Misty whispered.
Nothing happened. Misty clenched her jaw and turned around. She knew if she tried to evade the soldiers any longer, they might que
stion her too closely—where she’d been, how she’d been injured, who she’d been with, what was down here . . . She’d been gone five days? She needed to get with Ben and interrogate him.
“Oh, well,” Misty said, giving the corporal a helpless little smile. “I guess I can always get a new phone.”
A root moved. Rustled. Another trembled. As Misty stopped to look up, the entire mass of roots began to vibrate, and clods of earth came down.
Misty backed up swiftly. The corporal grabbed her by the shoulders at the same time and pushed her to the ladder. As Misty climbed ahead of him, her legs shaking, the entire ceiling of the basement caved in, pulling with it a line of trees, bushes, and the foundations of the house that was being built over it.
The ladder shuddered and started to collapse. Eric reached down from the top and grabbed Misty, hauling her up just as the ladder broke into several pieces. The corporal tried to hang on and pull himself up, but falling dirt and rock carried him back down, his hands struggling for purchase.
Eric pushed Misty at Diego, flowed into his snow leopard form, clothes falling away, and went for the hole. He climbed with feline grace down into the avalanche, grabbed the corporal by the back of the shirt, and hauled him up again. Eric’s claws scrabbled on the shifting dirt, his muscles straining, as the hole continued to fall in around him.
Finally, Eric leapt like the cat he was, landing on firm ground, and dragged the corporal well away from the hole before he released him.
Behind them, the basement disappeared, a rush of broken foundation, dirt, rock, and trees filling it in.
Graham. Misty looked at the wreckage of the basement she’d stood in a few moments ago, wondering if she’d just buried alive the man she loved.
• • •
"Five days,” Misty said to Diego as he walked her across the common yards after the paramedics had checked her. Xav had arrived while the paramedics were assuring themselves she was unhurt, his handsome face showing his relief.
“Reid told me that time moves differently inside Faerie,” Diego said as they walked. “I guess we have to believe him. You’ve been gone five days, your mother called your brother, who is also worried sick. Since none of us knew where you were, we couldn’t help.”
Xav shook his head. “I couldn’t exactly explain that you disappeared from a convenience store stockroom in a whirl of flowers. And I couldn’t follow. Why couldn’t I? I was standing right next to you.”
Misty shook her head. “I don’t know.” She broke off, feeling the press of Xavier’s shoulder holster against her. “Wait, maybe because you were carrying a gun. Iron. Maybe it didn’t let that through. Reid could come in with a tire iron, because he’s an ironmaster.”
“Yeah, well, Reid is missing too,” Xav said. “Peigi is about to go postal. My guys practically camped out at the convenience store, but we couldn’t follow you, and I couldn’t find that Ben guy. Trust me, I looked. And then he turns up here today, out of the blue.”
Diego regarded Misty sharply. “What happened to Dougal and Graham?”
“I don’t know.” Misty’s breath hitched. She wanted to break down and sob, sink to the ground and bury her face in her hands. “He was behind me in the basement. And then I—”
“Shh.” Xav went to her and put a comforting arm around her. “Knowing Graham, he found another way out. I’ve learned that Shifter spaces are more complicated than just holes in the ground.”
Misty wiped her eyes. “But I don’t know. What do I do?”
“It’s tough being in love with a Shifter,” Diego said, his dark eyes quiet. “Trust me. They’re wild and crazy, and wild and crazy things happen to them. But it’s worth it. We’ll find him. Shifters are hard to kill.”
“But not impossible.”
“I know.” Diego gave her a sympathetic nod. “Stick as close as you can to the truth. I’ll be there, and so will Xav. We can fill in the blanks.”
“Thanks, Diego. Is my brother all right?”
“Fine. Paul’s at your store, helping put it back together. Keeps saying if he doesn’t, you’ll come back and yell at him. It kept him from worrying. Xav has already called him and told him you’re all right.”
“Now he’ll yell at me.” Misty smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.” She took a breath as they neared the knot of soldiers waiting to question her. “When they’re done with me, I’m grilling Ben. He’s got Matt and Kyle, and probably some answers, which he’s going to give me, whether he likes it or not.”
• • •
Graham found himself stumbling into bright light and high heat. He’d pulled Dougal with him as he’d tried to find the ley line again. Dougal was collapsing against him, his Collar shocking at random.
He’d hauled Dougal all the way to the back of the cellar. They’d been there when Misty had come and called to him. Graham had opened his mouth to answer, and found himself breathing dirt. The ceiling had started coming down, the dirt wall behind him seeming to open to suck him in.
It had spit him out through a crack in rocks, and now bright desert sunshine poured over them. He’d expected to land back in the obsidian cave—a place he never wanted to see again—but he was on a ridge in the desert, overlooking the abandoned mine and the shack, with Dougal’s bike still parked beside it.
“At least we have transportation,” Graham said.
Or tried to say. His throat was so dry, his thirst so great, his words stuck and wouldn’t come out. He was weak, and Dougal was only half-conscious, his hand still bleeding from the Fae sword. It wouldn’t be blood loss that killed him, but the Fae spells in the sword.
The thirst and their state told Graham that Oison was still alive. The Fae’s spell would have died with him.
I hope Reid gets the bastard. Graham decided against speaking the words out loud, saving strength and whatever moisture was left in his body.
They’d die out here though. If he couldn’t get Dougal someplace safe, both of them would go.
Not Shiftertown, not right now. Graham wouldn’t worry about holding his own against the Shifter Bureau’s soldiers, but Dougal didn’t need to be interrogated by them right now, not when he was hurt. Dougal would go to pieces. No, they needed to lie low, heal, and then decide what to do.
Misty, I love you.
Graham wasn’t afraid to admit it anymore. He needed Misty in his life, as his mate, as his love.
He’d make her see that she needed to accept his mate-claim, and they’d live happily ever after. As happy as she could be shacked up with a Shifter, and sharing a house with Graham’s nephew with confidence problems and two cubs who liked to tear the place down.
He dragged Dougal into the shade of the shed before he made for the motorcycle, hoping there was still gas in it.
Rock clicked behind him, and Oison appeared. This time he was in his guise of the hiker, in T-shirt, shorts, and hiking boots. He looked ordinary and evil at the same time.
Graham stood up. “I’m not being your battle beast,” he said. “Not bringing other Shifters to you, not training to be in your army.”
“I know.” Oison said. He drew out his sword from the long pack humans would assume was for hiking poles or camping gear. “I gambled on making you a slave, because you’re a strong leader and could pull other Shifters to me. But it looks like you’re going to be a bad slave.”
“Damn right,” Graham said.
“I can barely control you. Therefore, I came to a decision.” Oison hefted his sword. “I will kill you, and take your nephew instead.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The commander questioned Misty for a long time before he finally let her go. Diego and Xav had stood by her, the only ones allowed to stay with her, because they were human.
Misty, Diego, and Xav had come up with the story that the cubs had tried to run away—somewhat true—and Misty had gone after them, worrie
d they’d get hurt. They’d led her out into the desert, where they’d all gotten lost. They’d found a cave to stay out of the sun, and there Matt had gotten hurt.
Why hadn’t she called anyone? the commander asked. Her cell phone hadn’t worked out there, Misty said. How did they survive? She’d brought plenty of water with her and snacks, knowing that Kyle and Matt, as wolves, liked to run off as far as they could. They’d been used to living half-wild up in Elko, and didn’t understand they couldn’t do that here. They were just little kids, weren’t they? So everyone should cut them a break. How did she get back? Walked to the road and hitchhiked in. She’d been bringing the cubs, Matt hurt, back to Shiftertown when the soldiers had spotted her.
Xav and Diego confirmed everything she said.
Xav walked away with her to look for Ben while Diego stayed with the commander. The soldiers, who’d been sent by the Shifter Bureau, weren’t leaving, it seemed. Someone had called in an anonymous tip this morning, Xav told her, that not all Shifters’ Collars were working. Eric was being questioned about that now, surrounded by the soldiers. Xav had no idea who’d called in the tip, but Misty had a bad feeling about it.
Oison had vanished from the cave before Graham, Misty, Dougal, and the cubs had fled. Had Oison stirred up trouble with the human government as part of his efforts to control Shifters? Graham in particular? Oison had disappeared not long before they’d run out of the cave, but if time moved differently in Faerie, as Diego had told her, maybe Oison had emerged hours before they did.
Xav queried other Shifters as they went about Ben and the cubs—Lindsay said she’d seen a weird guy with both cubs headed for Graham’s. She’d wanted to follow and make sure all was well, but the soldiers had pulled her aside to speak to her. Lindsay looked worried, not her usual laughing self. She put her hand on Xav’s arm as she answered, and what was in her eyes told Misty that maybe she’d reconsidered pushing Xav away.
Misty thanked her and hurried away, pretending not to notice Xav lingering to stay with Lindsay.
As she approached Graham’s house, Misty heard yelling. A woman on Graham’s front walk was loudly telling three soldiers what they could do with themselves as they surrounded her and tried to cuff her.
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