by H. D. Gordon
He removed another scroll from his case and laid it atop the first. “I had to dig deep into the records to find it, but I had a hunch about there being a Dog tunnel near that area, and sure enough, when I looked, I found this.”
Eli pointed at the new piece of parchment, and I studied it before realizing what it was.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Is this…?”
Eli’s smile grew, and he nodded. “Yes, it runs right beneath Angelo’s land.”
“Does he know about it?”
“I doubt it. This was the only record, and this was damn hard to find.”
“What is it?” asked Mila, blond hair shifting over her shoulder as she peered down at the paper.
“It’s a Dog tunnel,” I answered. “Back in the days of Dog slavery, when Wolves were captured and sold, there were some that resisted even before Rukiya Moonborn and her friends started the revolution. There were sympathizers among the upper classes as well, and tunnels were created that Dogs used to escape their masters.
“They had to dig deep, because the magical collars they wore put out a signal that could locate them, but the further they went into the earth, the more muted that signal became, and many were able to escape through these tunnels. Those who did had to actually live underground, because if they emerged, the collars would give them away again.”
“That sounds awful,” Mila responded.
“Better than being a Dog,” Devon said.
I nodded. “Rumor claims they created entire cities and towns, but the locations were highly secret.” I glanced up at Elian. “Where did you even find this?”
The Demon smirked. “I had to bribe a troll to let me into the forbidden section of the Library of Nur. Came close to ending up in his soup, I think, but luckily for us, I can be pretty persuasive.”
“Thank you.”
Elian winked. “You’re welcome.”
“Do you think these are still passable?” Devon asked. “Isn’t it possible that these tunnels could have collapsed?”
I nodded, releasing a slow breath. “Only one way to find out.”
I’m not someone with a bunch of phobias, but tight spaces make all Wolves uneasy.
We are creatures who cherish open space, who need room to roam and pace. This was why the Dog tunnels went undiscovered by the oppressive Pack Masters for so long. Living underground in tight quarters went against a Wolf’s nature, and the fact that they’d created whole lives below the earth was even more counterintuitive.
But when forced to choose between a life of slavery and a quick death in The Ring, I supposed one could overcome such apprehension.
This was not the choice I was making, however, and no small amount of unease touched me as soon as I saw the entrance to the tunnels Eli had found.
The opening was little more than a hole in the earth that had been hidden by overgrowth for Gods knew how long. To enter, one would need to crawl, and from within, the scent of mossy earth floated out.
“Does it get wider?” I asked. “Will we be crawling the whole way?”
“I sure hope it does,” Devon answered.
Mila rolled her eyes and smirked at us as she sauntered up to the entrance. “I’ll go first and check it out, okay?”
I thanked her with my eyes and earned a wink. A moment later, she shifted into the form of a groundhog, furry and little, and disappeared into the hole.
“That is the coolest fucking thing ever,” Devon mumbled. “I thought shifting into a Wolf was great. She can change into anything.”
It was true, and Shifters like Mila were rare. Most of us who could manipulate our physical forms were limited to one specific animal. Poly-Shifters, like Mila, were a dwindling race, and no one knew why some people received the ability to choose whatever form they wanted while the rest of us didn’t, so her value was in no way lost on me. I supposed I was just lucky she seemed to like me as much as I did her.
An hour and a half later, Mila emerged from the hole again, her brown fur covered in dirt. When she shifted back into her mortal form, she grimaced at the grime in her hair. I smiled, swiping some of it from her face.
“It does get bigger,” she said. “Much bigger. Whoever dug these tunnels was not playing around. They branch off in several directions, and indeed, there are chambers where people must have lived.” Her green eyes were slightly wide. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“How deep did it go?”
“Deep. A couple hundred feet, at least.”
I swallowed, trying to get a hold on the unease that this prospect presented. I wanted to kill Angelo and his captains, but going down into that hole in the earth was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Will we be able to find our way to Mangera’s land?” Devon asked.
“There are markers,” Mila said. “I’m actually really impressed with the construction. It’s tight in some spots, and dark as all hell, but with Kyra’s and Elian’s magic, we should be able to find our way.”
Elian was looking at his two maps again, the one that laid out the Mangera estate, and the one that traced the Dog tunnels. “The tunnels seem to run right up to Mangera’s main house, so I’d say this is our best shot at getting in without coming straight at them with brute force.”
I stared at the hole a little longer, marveling at the fact that of all the scary shit I’d done in my life, this was scaring me most of all. It brought sympathy for the Dogs who’d had to use these tunnels to escape slavery. How miserable must life have been to make a life underground more appealing to a Wolf?
Pretty fucking miserable.
I thought of the Isle of Arabella, of the peace I’d felt there, of the prospect of living free and safe with all those I loved, of not having to look over our shoulders, of the life I was so desperately trying to make our reality.
The tunnels seemed to be the most direct path to that life, so there was really no choice to be made at all.
“Okay,” I said. “Then let’s go home and get ready. Tonight, we’ll crawl through the earth and put an end to this mess.”
The others agreed, and we headed home to prepare. I tried to push the fear from my mind, and realized that I’d just have to sit with it, because it was not going to go away. Elian noticed my silence on the way home and slipped an arm around my shoulders.
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Mila nodded. “Me too.”
Kyra agreed. “Let’s get it done.”
Devon spoke in my head. “Just this one last thing, D. This one last thing, and then we’re free. Our ancestors were Dogs, and that means some of them could have travelled through those same tunnels. If they could do it, so can we.”
I let their encouragement steel me, and sent up a silent prayer to whatever Gods were listening that we would be successful in our mission.
We returned home, cleaned up, ate, and went over the plan. Come nightfall, we would crawl through the earth to commit murder that I honestly hoped would be our last.
Chapter 25
As the season slipped into winter, the days grew shorter. Nightfall was upon us before the dinner bell.
Mila brought word back that she’d been able to pay off Maddox, the Sorcerer who had warded the Mangera property. I’d had Gio go make sure that the wards were indeed down, and then made him kill Maddox so that the Sorcerer could not double-cross us. I didn’t feel bad about this. It was a necessary sacrifice, one more stepping stone to the island and freedom for my family.
We would head out within the hour, but first, Elian asked if we could retreat to my chamber for a bit. I was glad that he did so, otherwise, I would have had to ask him.
He pulled me into his arms as soon as the door was closed behind us, lying me down upon the bed and settling his weight atop me. Propping himself up on his forearms, he looked down at me with intense eyes.
“I have to say, I do some crazy shit in the name of my love for you,” said the Demon.
My chest swelled with these wo
rds, and I reached up to entwine my hands behind his neck, my legs spreading wider so he could more fully settle himself between them.
“Mm,” I replied. “I’d imagine you are not the only one who feels that way.”
His head tilted as his gaze traveled down to my lips and back up to my eyes again. “Are you going to tell me you love me, too, Miss Silvers?”
“Are you in doubt?”
His lips tugged up in a smile.
“I love you, Elian. I’m not sure I could’ve made it through any of this without you.”
He kissed me, long and deep, and I arched up into his touch. “I love you, too, Dita,” he said.
I flipped him onto his back and straddled him, working at the belt on his pants. “Let me show you,” I said.
For the next forty-five minutes, I did.
Time went by too fast, and soon, we were dressing, preparing ourselves to go to battle.
A somber feeling held the house, but as I secured my irons around my hips, I felt a sense of resolve that I welcomed. The others met me in the foyer of the big house, and I glanced around at my team of misfits. Cora and Cecelia would remain behind and hold down the house, while the rest of us went in. Together, we made two Wolves, a Sorceress, a Shifter, and a Demon. I could not stand to lose a single one of them, and I told them this so that they were fully aware of it.
“We know our marks,” I reminded them. “There’s Angelo, of course. His brother, his sister, his uncle, and his son. We have to kill all five.”
My companions confirmed their agreement, and we headed out.
The evenings had grown increasingly colder with each passing day, and a pale moon hung overhead, casting a blue glow over the land. The tunnel entrance Eli had located was an hour and a half to the south of our estate, and from there, it was another hour or so to the Mangera place. I rubbed my hands together in an attempt to keep warm, wondering if it would be easier to just shift into Wolf form for the first part of the trip.
“I don’t know if the space is large enough,” Mila answered when I inquired about remaining in Wolf form in the tunnels. “You’re much larger as your Wolf.”
I’d had a feeling this would be the case, but I’d hoped for the opposite. When we reached the tunnel entrance, the Shifter offered to go in first, and I was grateful. If the place had been daunting in the daylight, it was even more formidable under the blanket of night.
Kyra went next, producing an orb of light with her magic to light the way. Then it was my turn, and the others followed after. I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled in after the Sorceress, ignoring the pounding of my heart. It did not seem so bad at first, but the deeper into the ground I went, the more the Wolf in me tried to panic.
Luckily, Elian was right behind me, and as if he could sense my emotions, he kept reaching a hand out to stroke my backside, reminding me that he was there and everything was okay. The tunnel grew tighter before it widened out, and at one point, I was practically shimmying forward on my belly, trying not to think about the fact that there was a ton of earth above me, that it could collapse and I could be trapped here until I starved or suffocated.
Those were not helpful thoughts, and just when they were starting to overwhelm, the tunnel widened, and we found ourselves in a sort of chamber. It was not that large, maybe ten-by-ten feet with a ceiling just high enough for me to stand, and to make the males among us hunch over, but it was better than the first part of the tunnel.
Two branches led off from this chamber. I turned toward Mila, who’d taken to her groundhog form again. “Which way?” I asked.
She turned her little nose toward the tunnel to our right, and hurried off in that direction. We followed.
By the grace of the Gods, we were able to walk most the rest of the way, and the more time I spent there, the more my ease grew. I would likely never be comfortable in such dwellings, but at least the panic wasn’t trying to choke me as it almost had during the first part. The scent was thick and earthy, the space riddled with roots and rocks, bugs and worms, but not otherwise unpleasant. It wasn’t warm, but there was no wind as there had been on the surface, and this helped with the chill.
Kyra’s orb of light bobbed in front of us, casting a yellow glow along the earthen walls, and I distracted myself with marveling at the various artifacts we came across. Indeed, the tunnels had been marked with directions and coordinates, and some even had names, as though they were proper streets.
We came to several chambers where there were furnishings, utensils, and even artwork scattered about. I paused when I came across a wooden figurine that had been carved into the shape of a Wolf, likely having belonged to a child.
When I slipped it into my pocket, Devon raised a brow at me. I shrugged, and we continued on our way.
About a half hour later, we came to another chamber, much larger than any of the others we’d come across. Though we were on a schedule, the group could not help but pause and marvel at the sight. I’d known we’d been traveling on a downward slope since entering the tunnel, but I must not have realized how very deep we’d gone, because this space was large enough to hold a couple hundred people, the ceiling towering fifty feet or so above our heads.
Set into the earthen walls were spaces cut out in compartments, where I imagined the escaped Wolves had once slept or went to get some privacy. There were hundreds of these spaces, set right on top of each other, bunks with enough room to sit up or lay down or have sex. They ringed the entire area, overlooking the space between.
This between space was open and vast. There were long wooden tables and benches, some still containing various flatware, bowls and plates and cups made out of clay. We wandered through this area, spotting old boards where games would have been played, petrified fruit and other remnants. Pits were also dug where fires must’ve been lit, and when I looked up, I saw that there was clever carpentry that allowed for ventilation. Mila had not been kidding when she’d mentioned entire cities and vast dwellings, but words could not do justice to the sight of it now.
Kyra casted several more orbs of light, and they floated through the chamber, illuminating various places and revealing more wonders around every bend.
We couldn’t linger too long, however, as there was still an Alpha and his captains to kill, and so, after a brief exploration, the group pushed on again.
“We’re getting very close,” Eli said, glancing at the map of the tunnels he’d brought along with us. He’d been tracking our progress and distance, marking things on the parchment as we went.
My heartbeat picked up in pace as we slowly began to ascend to the surface, and I noticed the others growing quiet as well. I placed my hands at my hips, fingering the irons there for comfort. I’d emptied both barrels into Lucian Borden, so I’d had to refill them. The bullets were not cheap, as the guns were relics from another world, but I felt the expense had been more than worth it. Perhaps tonight would be the last time I would need to empty and refill them. I allowed this thought to steel me.
Eventually, we came to the exit point, and if I listened carefully, I could hear sounds from the surface with my strong ears. I looked at my companions, making sure to catch each of their gazes to assess their readiness.
We were as ready as we would ever be.
With that in mind, we made our way up.
“How long will it last?” I asked, staring down at the elixir Kyra handed me.
The Sorceress bit her lip. “No more than ten minutes, no less than five. We need to be quick.”
I nodded, noting the apprehension on the others’ faces. It was not that we didn’t trust Kyra and her magic, it was that ingesting any kind of magic always made one uneasy, like doing a new and powerful drug.
This particular elixir Kyra had created to make us invisible while it lasted. Of course, this did nothing to mask our scents, and as most of those who were on the property were Wolves, this would be an added difficulty. But it was better than nothing. If we could get in and out without tripping ala
rms, that would certainly be ideal.
I held up the vial Kyra had given me in cheers to the others, and they did the same. Then we tipped them back and drained the contents. The violet, glowing liquid tingled as it cascaded down my throat. I ran a hand over my mouth, shivering a little as it spread through my body.
I was just about to ask if it had worked when I looked down and realized that I could no longer see my hand—or the rest of my body, for that matter.
“Whoa,” said Devon, acknowledging the same.
“Fucking cool,” mumbled Mila.
I couldn’t see either of them, as they’d also gone invisible, but I recognized their voices.
“Tick tock,” said Kyra somewhere to my right.
Mila exited the tunnel first, and the smell of fresh air hit me immediately. I inhaled it deeply, my heart jumping at the idea of being on the surface again.
When Mila returned, green eyes gleaming, and gave us the signal that all was clear, the rest of us climbed out of the hole, too. It was strange, because I could feel their presences around me, could smell their scents and hear the beating of their hearts, but it was as if we were all ghosts. Even the pale glow of the moon overhead did not reflect from our surfaces.
The tunnel’s exit was in a patch of woods some fifty yards from Mangera’s main house, and we wasted no time admiring the landscape before we began making our way across the lawn. I saw that Mila had not been kidding when she’d said Angelo had tightened security—there were Wolves at every turn, every interval. The high wall surrounding the place was crawling with them, as were the forests and lawns, the gardens and balconies.
I noticed that some of these Wolves must’ve caught a whiff of our scents, and they glanced around with narrowed eyes, but when they couldn’t see any intruder, they carried on with their watch. After all, that wall was damn near impenetrable.
We darted across the lawn, each of us with names in our heads as to who our targets were. We’d decided the best way was to split up and find those five Mangeras on our list. Whoever came across one would kill them on the spot, and then head back to the tunnel. Quick and dirty, that was the name of the game.
