The smooth walls of the Old Den were soon replaced by the rough of the subterranean world. The street passage changed to a meandering tunnel, and I slipped and slid against the wet stones beneath my feet. 10 minutes into my wonderful journey and I found myself at the fork of two tunnels. One lay on my left and the other on my right, and I had no idea which one to take. I stuck my head and the torch into both of them, but saw nothing that would help me decide which direction to take.
I knelt down in front of them and glared at my two decisions. Memories of my conversation with Lillian about werewolf abilities surfaced in my mind. Now was as good a time as any to try to learn one of them.
I closed my eyes and focused all my thoughts on my mate. He was down here somewhere far ahead of me and probably neck-deep in trouble. I had to find where he was, I had to listen to the sounds around me. There was the incessant dripping of water and a soft echo of the torch's flickering flames. If I listened hard enough I could almost hear a voice in the distance.
Wait, I couldn't just almost hear it, I really could hear it! I couldn't identify what they were saying, but it was definitely a human voice, or maybe a werewolf, or maybe a Digger. Whoever or whatever it was, I was wondering find them.
The voice came from the left-hand path. I jumped my feet and hurried down the tunnel. There were several more forks, but my ears led me closer and closer to the voice. The sound grew louder. My steps quickened. So close. Almost there. Soon I'd be able to smack me mate's face and hope it would knock some sense into him.
A light appeared at the end of the tunnel. It was glow of artificial light like from a bulb. I slowed my pace. Something didn't feel right. How would Erik already have something like that down here?
I passed a stone boulder on my right and a shadow jumped out at me. The darkness clamped hand over my mouth and wrapped their other arm around my waist. My torch clattered to the ground and was extinguished by a puddle of water. I was at the shadow's mercy, and it pulled me into the darkness.
CHAPTER 6
"Mhmh! Mhmhm!" I growled.
"Quiet!" a familiar voice hissed in my ear. My eyes widened and I tilted my head back to find myself looking into the face of my mate.
"Hmhic!" was my muffled response.
Erik frowned and jerked his head down the tunnel in the direction of the light. I nodded my head to show I understood and he removed his hand from my lips. He turned to his right and peeked over the top of the rock. I followed him and saw what he saw.
Twenty yards ahead of us was the end of the tunnel. The tunnel ended in a cavern with a rounded ceiling. Electric lights were strung along the top of the third of the walls. A half-dozen rectangular boxes were stacked on the floor, and in front of them stood a pair of men in cloaks. Their hoods were pulled back so we could see their faces, and their twisted, dark shadows danced on the walls of a small cavern, and their voices echoed to where we were hidden.
I noticed one of the men had a squared jaw with a scar near the chin. I pulled on Erik's sleeve and nodded at that man. Erik leaned forward and squinted, but his eyes soon widened. He nodded his head to show he understood.
"I still don't think it's fair. . ." one of the men grumbled.
"It doesn't matter what you think is fair. You screwed up and that's all the boss cares about," the other commented.
"How was I supposed to know that they'd get out of that cave-in in time?"
"Because one of them is a prince and the other is a captain of the guards. Besides, it's not like you don't know what Teagan can do. He shows off enough during practice drills." I felt Erik stiffen by my side, but the men talked on.
"So what's the plan now? We gonna all the islands just get their attention?" the first man asked his partner.
The second shadow brought his fist down on the other one. "How dumb are you? We can't make any money by destroying everything. Don't you remember that this is last few boxes of that shipment? We're just going to scare them real good this last time and then the boss can do his part."
Finally. . ." the other one muttered.
"If it wasn't for his brains we wouldn't have gotten this far," the second one growled.
"Yeah, but were the ones getting her hands dirty with these boxes. We could get blown to bits any time."
"Only if you drop one of them, so stop your griping and focus on your job."
The men grunted and picked up a rectangular box between them. They shuffled along the ground towards us. Erik slid behind and around me, and leaned his back against the rock. I ducked down as the men came closer. My heart beat like a drum as their shuffling feet appeared around the side of the rock.
Erik dove at the nearest man and they rolled down the tunnel. I saw one end of a heavy box drop to the dusty floor. The second man dropped his end and rushed down the tunnel. I stood and looked over the top of the rock. Erik and another man tussled on the dusty ground. Rather than help his friend, our unbattled foe sprinted past Erik and the other one to a group of more rectangular boxes. They sat at the rear of the cavern. A torch burned above them, and on one side beyond them was a further tunnel.
The free man grabbed the torch and rushed into the mouth of the top. He soon disappeared from sight. I hurried to Erik's side, but he had mastered the other man. Erik wrapped his hand around the back of his foe's neck and pulled him to his feet. The man, the smallish fellow with the scarred chin, shrank from Erik's glare.
"P-please don't hurt me!" he whimpered.
"Were you the one who tried to kill us?" Erik accused him.
The man variously nodded his head. "Y-yes, but it wasn't my idea! It was-" The man's eyes bulged and his mouth flapped open. He grabbed at his neck and made a horrible choking noise. I noticed that beneath his hands there was a strange, round glow of light.
"You're killing him!" I yelled at Erik.
Erik dropped the man onto the ground but our foe continued to make those horrible noises. I backed away behind Erik, but I couldn't take my eyes away from the horrible sight. The man landed on his back and rolled from side to side clutching his throat with both hands. He choked and garbled words I couldn't understand. After a few moments he rolled onto his back and stopped. His hands slid off his throat and his wide eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling. I could see the glow originated from a moon-shaped tattoo on the side of his neck, but the light and tattoo faded with his life and soon both disappeared.
"Is. . . is he did?" I whispered.
Erik knelt beside him and checked the man's pulse. "Yes."
I cringed. "Even if he did try to kill us that was a terrible way to go."
"We have more pressing matters at hand than to worry about a fallen foe," Erik told me.
"Like who was he and what just killed him?" I suggested.
"He was a member of Gethin's group. As to how he died, I can't say. I didn't see him swallow anything," Erik commented.
I glared down at the dead man. He stared back. "Pity it wasn't Gethin. . ." I mumbled.
"Pity he died at all. We learned nothing from him," Erik reminded me.
"What about the other guy?" I suggested.
Erik lifted his nose to the air and sniffed. "The scent of gunpowder is too overwhelming to know who it was."
I glanced around at the cavern in which we stood. The stacked rectangular boxes were labeled with the word 'Dynamite.' "What were they trying to do here, anyway? Blow up the rat people?"
Erik studied the dead man. He tilted the man's head to one side and frowned. I watched as he reached into the man's coat and pulled forth a stack of badges that bore the symbol of the Council.
"Hey, aren't those-"
"The same badge the rat people discovered in the tunnels," he finished for me. He tucked them into his coat and turned his attention to the boxes. Erik stepped over the dead man and examined one of the stacks. He opened the lid and frowned.
"Don't tell me, there's some missing," I guessed.
"Not some, all," he corrected me.
I glanced down the
tunnel through which our fleeing friend had gone. "I guess they must've taken it that way."
My guess proved to be true when a sudden explosion rocked the cave. The earth beneath us shook with a violent quake and rocks tumbled from the ceiling. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and I looked down the cave tunnel. A brilliant orange light approached us. It started out as a tiny circle, but the light quickly grew larger and larger until it looked like a boulder of flickering flames.
My eyes widened when I realized the ball of light was the size of the cave opening, and the flames were a fireball that consumed everything in its path. I whipped my gaze to the boxes of dynamite that trembled under the power of the earthquake. One flame could make those boxes explode and here was an entire tunnel full of fire coming at us.
Erik grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the light and back down the tunnel. "Back!" he yelled.
I sprinted and stumbled beside him. His speed was too much for me to follow, but the speed of the pursuing fireball was greater. My back grew warmer and I risked a look over my shoulder. It was at that moment that the fire reached the boxes of dynamite and created a huge explosion behind us. The strength of the earthquake tripled and rocks tumbled from the ceiling.
My feet stumbled over the fallen rocks and I crashed into the ground. Erik slid to a stop five yards in front of me and spun around. He dove at me just as parts of the ceiling in front and behind us caved in. The sound of falling rocks was deafening and all I knew was Erik's body over mine.
After a few more terrifying seconds the earthquake slowed and stopped. I raised my head and choked on the dust filled the air. Everything was a gray, hazy mess. I heard and felt Erik struggle to his feet over me. He shuffled away from me. Some of the haze cleared and I saw his shadowed form ahead of me. In front of him was a wall of heavy stones that blocked our escape. He lifted his arms above his head and behind him, and, with a great roar, he brought his fists down on the rocks.
The rocks were bigger than my head, but his fists made large cracks on their surface. He raised his arms and repeated the action again and again. Each blow made a little less progress. I noticed sweat trickle down his forehead and his eyes were a bright, wild yellow.
"Erik?" I spoke up. There was no response, only the drumbeat of his fists against the rocks. "Erik!"
I jumped to my feet and flung myself at him. My arms wrapped around his broad chest and I dug my heels into the ground. I tried to tear him away from the wall, but he shrugged me off and continued his violent assault on the rocks.
I grabbed his arm and pulled. "Erik? What's wrong with you?" I shouted.
"Out! I need out!" he screamed.
"We're okay, but not if you keep pounding away like this! If you keep this up the whole place is going to collapse!" I warned him.
"Out!"
I swung around him and ended up between him and the rocks. I raised my hand and slapped the side of his face with my palm. His head snapped back and his eyes widened.
"Now that you're listening I can tell you that if you keep hitting those rocks they're going to fall down on us and make things even worse," I growled.
Erik's frantic breathing slowed and he touched his face where I had struck him. He blinked and turned his calm eyes on me. "I'm. . . I'm sorry. I. . . I don't do well in small spaces," he admitted.
I folded my arms crossed my chest. "You think?" I quipped.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, you don't understand. I have bouts of claustrophobia."
I furrowed my brow. "If that's true then how come you're so willing to get yourself killed down here?"
Erik stumbled back and took a seat on one of the fallen boulders at the rear of our little cave. He leaned forward and clutched his head in his hands. "I can control it at most times, but in a situation such as this the strain is too much. My need for open space brings out the werewolf in me and I seek nothing else but to escape." He shuddered and ran a hand through his hair. "It's one of the reasons why I have my rooms in the Old Den. They're more spacious."
I sighed and took a seat beside him. I reached my hand out and rubbed his shoulders. "Sorry about slapping you."
A small smile slipped onto his lips and he shook his head. "No, I needed that." He stood and began to examine the small space around us. "And now we need to escape from here before we run out of oxygen."
I snorted. "I don't even know how I can see in here, much less how we're going to escape."
"Wolf's eyes," Erik replied.
"Hunh?"
"Wolf's eyes. One of the benefits of being a werewolf is that you can see dark spaces," he explained.
I frowned. "I wish you would've taught me this trick sooner."
Erik pressed his hands against the fallen rocks. "There hasn't been much time to teach you anything, and weren't we both wanting you to revert back to your human form?"
I pursed my lips together and shrugged. "Living with you hasn't been all that bad. Well, until we got stuck down here to die of asphyxiation."
"I don't believe that will be our death today," Erik replied. He placed his hand those rocks that blocked the left side of the tunnel and pushed. The rocks tumbled forward and revealed an opening through which even he could fit. Erik turned to me with a smile and gestured to the opening. "Ladies first."
I rolled my eyes, stood to my feet, and marched over to him. I slipped behind him and shoved him towards the opening. "I think you need escape more than I do, now get through that hole before slap you again."
CHAPTER 8
Both of us crawled through the hole one at a time and Erik led us upward. We reached the Old Den a few minutes later. I never thought I'd be glad to see those worn cobblestone and those dreary gray walls.
Greg waited for us at the end of the tunnel. His face showed his usual composure, but in his eyes I could see his relief. He smiled and bowed to us. "I hope things went well down there?" he commented.
I snorted and patted him on the shoulder. "Where have you been the last couple of minutes?"
"Awaiting your return," he replied.
"How severe was the earthquake felt here?" Erik asked him.
Greg smile slipped off his lips and he stepped aside. He gestured to the wall behind him and I saw that there was a huge crack in the stones. "Rather well, I'm afraid."
"So what we do about this? Get a bunch of surgical string and bandages?" I wondered.
Erik stepped up to the wall and placed his hand on the stones. He glided his fingers over the crack and frowned. "The Counsel must be told about what we saw beneath the island, but we must present our case very carefully."
I tilted my head to one side and frowned. "Why do we have to be careful?"
"Because we have no evidence, and our accusation is against Gethin. We may despise him, but he is respected by others," Erik explained.
My face fell. "Why the hell is that guy respected by anybody?"
"He is part of the guard, and there is some amount of awe that has been traditionally attached to that office. To some, it would be like we were accusing Teagan of high-treason," Erik told me.
Greg stepped forward and bowed his head to Erik. "Master, if you don't mind asking, what happened down there?"
"We found some men under Gethin's command setting boxes of stolen dynamite in the caves to cause the earthquakes," Erik revealed.
"And this evidence was Gethin?"
"Buried in the earthquake."
Greg pursed his lips. "I see, then might I propose there be an investigation into the matter, and that you volunteer yourself to be the head of it?"
Erik turned to his servant and raised an eyebrow. "What good would an investigation do if all the evidence is buried beneath tons of rubble?"
A sly smile slipped onto Greg's lips and his eyes flickered between Erik and me. "Perhaps there is more to find on the other islands than can be garnered here."
Erik folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "What are you up to, old friend?"
Gre
g clasped his hands behind his back and shook his head. "Nothing at all, my Master. I was merely making a suggestion."
"You don't make suggestions without some inside knowledge, now tell me what it is," Erik ordered him.
Greg bowed his head. "Your humble servant has merely heard rumors from some of the other servants."
"Gregory, tell me."
"Very well, if you insist."
"I do."
"I have this information from the cook's cousin's neighbor's nephew who resides on one of the outer islands around Market Island. Apparently they've seen some unauthorized boats sailing from the direction of Wolf's Island and towards the very tip of the island chain closest to the island."
"And this hasn't been reported?" Erik question him.
Greg shook his head. "No. The nephew works for a fisherman who doesn't always follow the rules himself, if you understand my meaning."
"And how is this connected to the earthquakes and Gethin?"
"The boat appeared only a few months ago, and some of the men on the boats have been identified as guards," Greg explained.
"And is there any chance that this nephew and his fisherman employer have been seen?"
"Doubtful, my Master."
Erik furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair. "Then we may still have a chance to find the connection and the evidence we need to present to the Council our suspicions."
"That's all nice and dandy, but what we do right now?" I spoke up.
Erik dropped his hand to his side and sighed. "For now let us go to my father and tell him what we've learned and offer our services."
He led our little group through the maze of passages and to the Council room. The noise of the room reached us before we reached the room.
"What of the Diggers? What have they to say about these earthquakes?" I heard Deacon shout.
"They will say nothing about them to us," came the reply from Teagan.
We came up to the open doors and found all but one of the Councilmen in various states of panic. The only calm one was the silver haired gentleman,And Lord Greenwood sat stiff but still in his chair. Deacon himself paced the floor in front of the chairs, and several others stood to the side or in front of their chairs, and listened to his questioning. Teagan knelt in the aisle in front of the pacing Councilman. I wondered where Lillian was.