Lachlan ducked down another corridor, and Kendrick ducked after him. Kendrick wasn’t about to wait for Lachlan to spring his trap—he would kill the man now.
The corridor ended in a wide room. Lachlan didn’t need to see to find it, he only needed to follow the narrow hall and to smell all the Shifters waiting inside. Kendrick’s Shifters.
Kendrick let his body shift to his between-beast again, crouching down under the low ceiling, but retaining the sword. He leapt into the room after Lachlan.
Lights went on, rendering the goggles useless. Kendrick flung them off and turned to face his Shifters, old and trusted friends and followers, who were now grimly lined up behind Lachlan.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Zander got another call as they were heading down the back highway toward San Antonio. He abruptly pulled to a halt, making Addie’s stomach roil, and answered it.
“What? Shit.”
That was all. Zander shoved the phone back into his coat, lifted his feet, and guided the bike back to the road.
“What’s wrong?” Addie shouted.
Zander turned his head and the motorcycle crossed into the far lane. “Kendrick’s gone. Lachlan has him.”
He swerved out of the lane, narrowly missed by a truck that had been coming straight for them, and sped to catch up with Jaycee and Ben.
Ben led them on highways around the city of San Antonio and out into countryside again. Growing up in Texas, Addie had been almost everywhere in it but she hadn’t come to the empty area south and east of San Antonio, bypassed by most people on their way to Houston or down to vacation on South Padre Island.
She certainly hadn’t been along the stretch of deserted road that ended in a cluster of houses, a corral with bored-looking horses in it, and a sign that read “Welcome to Shiftertown.”
Shifters milled around a house under the westering sun, the afternoon heat intense. The hottest part of the day happened in the hours before sunset.
Jaycee came and helped Addie from the motorcycle, Zander swinging off behind her. None of the Shifters seemed to notice or comment on Jaycee’s torn clothes, not even Dimitri. They understood that she’d had to shift while dressed, which meant she’d run into some kind of danger.
“Kendrick’s in there?” Addie asked breathlessly as she reached Dylan.
Seamus pushed through the crowd to Addie, not looking happy. Tiger, his yellow eyes glowing with rage, turned to her. “The scarred Shifter trapped him down there,” Tiger said.
“We can’t get to him,” Seamus added.
“So what are you doing?” Addie demanded. “Is there another way in?”
“There is, but it’s highly r-risky,” Dimitri said. His face was damp with perspiration, his red hair raked back from his forehead. “It’s a f-fortress down there, meant to be d-defended. We can only go in one at a time, which means Lachlan’s Shifters can c-cut us down one at a time. If we can find them.”
Addie stared at him. “Are you saying you haven’t gone inside yet? You don’t know where Kendrick is?”
“We were waiting for you,” Seamus said. Shifters fanned out behind him and Dimitri, none of them wearing Collars—Kendrick’s fighters. “You’re leader’s mate, Addie,” Seamus went on. “It’s your call what we do.”
“Mine?” Addie jabbed a finger at her chest. “How can it be my call? I barely know any of you.”
Jaycee, next to her, said, “Doesn’t matter. When the leader is down, everyone rallies to the leader’s mate. The seconds and the trackers carry out the orders, but you give them, until it’s certain he’s . . . gone.” Jaycee swallowed on the last word.
Addie’s chest tightened. Gone. The word echoed hollowly in her head. Beyond hope.
“And until we know, I’m in charge?” she asked, her voice rasping.
“Yeah,” Seamus said. He gave her the ghost of a grin. “Scary, isn’t it?”
“Kendrick might have mentioned this when he started all the mate talk,” Addie said. “I’m going to have to save his ass so I can kick it. But I don’t have any idea how to go in there and get him out.”
Zander answered. “That’s why you take advice. But not from me. From Kendrick’s trackers.” Because he was an outsider, Zander was saying. She had to trust the people who’d been loyal to Kendrick for years.
“Right.” Addie drew a sharp breath. “Seamus. Jaycee. Dimitri.” She looked at each of them in turn. “What do you suggest?”
* * *
The Shifters attacked Kendrick with fury in their eyes. Kendrick’s body grew cold as he defended himself—had they hated him all this time? Was that why Lachlan had so easily turned them?
Kendrick knew all these men by name, knew their families, their clans. Knew some from cubhood, through their Transitions. He’d seen them through illnesses, through grief of loss. And now, as one, they came at him, ready to kill him.
Kendrick did not want to kill in return. He was being pushed into this choice by Lachlan.
He dodged claws and teeth coming at him, slammed his fist into bodies—human, animal, half beast. He’d never prevail—they’d drag him down and slaughter him.
Kendrick backed hurriedly, giving himself room to heft the sword. The blade, runes glinting, made the Shifters hesitate. Killing a Guardian was unheard of, supposed to bring bad luck to the Shifter who did it, maybe even to his entire clan.
“Superstition,” Lachlan growled. “He’s only a Shifter, like you. Give him a pretty sword and everyone is afraid. Kill him and see if he bleeds.”
Most of the Shifters surged forward with renewed determination. One leapt—a Lupine, in his between-beast state. Kendrick had to swing the sword. The Lupine howled, blood on his chest, and fell back.
The others made noises of rage. Twenty, Kendrick counted, all furious now that he’d drawn blood.
This was Lachlan’s revenge, he realized. Not simply Kendrick’s own Shifters turning on him, but Kendrick being forced to kill them to survive.
A leader didn’t kill his own. Kendrick had fought Lachlan and driven him out to prove that point. Now Lachlan forced Kendrick into a terrible choice.
“No!” Kendrick stepped back, breathing hard, shifting down to be fully human-shaped. He rested the sword back on his shoulder like a baseball bat, keeping his blade well away from the others. “I won’t kill my own Shifters. Rally to me and we’ll sweep this mess out of here.”
“Why?” A man in front, a big Feline, snarled. “You’ve led us nowhere, Kendrick. Lost us our homes, our families. We hide like cowards. When we had to leave the compound, we trusted you, we waited for you. And you never came.”
“I know.” Kendrick held his ground. “I was making a deal with a devil called Dylan Morrissey, so we’d all be left in peace—so the Collared Shifters would help us instead of betray us. I finally found a place where we can start again. I even found a new mate. Who is with me?”
A few paused. A leader with a mate promised more stability than one without. Grief over a broken mate bond could drive a Shifter insane, make him go feral, or at least dangerously depressed—dangerous for all the Shifters he led.
The Feline sneered. “Have you forgotten your mate bond so quickly? Eileen has been gone only four years.”
“The mother of my cubs will be forever in my heart,” Kendrick said. “But a new mate bond is forming—and that bond is strong.”
It was. Kendrick could feel it twining around his heart, whispering to him. Addison was near, he knew it.
When she shouldn’t be. He growled in anger—Lachlan must have tricked her here. Zander, Ben, and Jaycee should have tied her up and sat on her. Kendrick would have to explain what he’d meant by keeping Addison safe.
Yet another Shifter drew back, indecision on his face. Lachlan had worked these men into fighting frenzy, feeding on their insecurity, their fear that their leader had abandoned them.
Lachlan. A swift glance around the room told Kendrick he’d vanished.
“Damn it,” he snarled. “He turns you against me and leaves you to your fate. Help me find him.”
The lead Feline didn’t budge. “You’ve shit on me for years, Kendrick. Now you get to know what it tastes like.”
He attacked. A few of his friends joined him. Kendrick swung the sword in a perfect arc, which would have taken off the Feline’s head if that had been Kendrick’s intent.
Kendrick timed it so that the tip grazed the man’s throat, leaving a tiny line of blood seeping out where a Collar would be.
“Is that what you want?” Kendrick demanded. “Certain death or captivity? You keep on like this, the humans will find you and lock you in a cage.”
The Feline, not learning, attacked again. Kendrick shifted his weight and swung his body all the way around, bringing up his right leg in a roundhouse kick. The Feline danced back from the blow, but Kendrick kept spinning, coming up next to the Feline to bring the hilt of his sword down on his head.
The Feline crumpled into a ball with a grunt and went still.
“Where’s Lachlan?” Kendrick called to the remaining Shifters. “I want him.”
Half of them roared, raising fists in fealty and swarming to his side. Kendrick had to stop them trying to touch him for reassurance and led them out into the next corridor.
Which way Lachlan had gone was anyone’s guess. Lachlan had been right that the place was a maze, with blind corners everywhere. Kendrick needed a tracker, an exceptional one, like Tiger.
He brought his party to a halt. They would look for a way to the surface, join with the rest of his Shifters and Dylan’s, and scour the grounds for Lachlan. Kendrick started to give the orders for the Shifters to split and begin searching for a way out, when a rumble alerted him to danger.
Kendrick knew that noise. He hadn’t lived in underground places most of his life to not understand what it meant.
“Run!” he shouted. “Find exits—meet at the leader’s house!”
His words were drowned by a tearing roar as the ceiling of the tunnels started to come down, tumbling huge slabs of concrete and a half ton of dirt onto the Shifters below it.
* * *
The earth shook under Addie’s feet. She and Kendrick’s Shifters, plus a few of Dylan’s, had moved around to the back of the house, where Tiger said tunnels emerged from the extensive cellars.
The roar of an explosion rumbled across the ground, and dust and debris shot out of the open back door of the leader’s house.
“Shit!” Dimitri was running toward the house, Seamus and Ben behind him.
Jaycee stood her ground next to Addie, but the anguish in her eyes told Addie she wanted to sprint after them.
“Tiger!” Addie called. “Where is this other way down? The risky one Dimitri talked about?”
Tiger growled and pointed into the open fields beyond Shiftertown. “There.”
Very specific. “Well, come on then,” Addie said. “Show me.”
“Hold on,” Jaycee seized her by the arm. “Are you crazy?”
Another Shifter came to them, big and gruff—Addie wasn’t familiar enough with Shifters yet to tell what kind he was. “What are your orders, ma’am?”
Addie’s thoughts whirled. Her only desire was to find Kendrick any way possible, to drag him out and hold him to her.
“Find a way in,” she said, her voice barely working. “Come at him from all sides you can and grab this Lachlan guy on the way. Do anything you have to. Ask Seamus to organize it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The Shifter looked a bit doubtful, but he gave her a nod and an encouraging look.
“Jaycee,” Addie said, turning to her, “if you’re supposed to guard me, you stick with me. Tiger supposedly can find anyone. Zander, we might need you—if . . . when we find him . . .”
“If he needs a little healing?” Zander finished for her. “You got it, sweetheart.”
“We should let Seamus and the others dig their way down first,” Jaycee said. “And you should stay up here and wait. Sit in Dylan’s truck.”
Logically, Addie understood that Jaycee was right. She knew damn all about rescue missions, explosions, and underground tunnels.
But something propelled her to follow Tiger, to rush headlong toward Kendrick, wherever he was. A frantic heat gripped her heart, making her feet move out into the open land instead of back to the safety of the vehicles.
Tiger was quickly heading for the horizon. Addie sprinted after him, and Jaycee bounded along behind her, as fast and sleek as her leopard. Zander jogged after them. “Where’s he going?” Zander asked.
Tiger disappeared over a fold of land, and they hurried to catch up. They found Tiger tearing squares of sod from what looked like boards lying on the ground. As Addie neared him, she realized they were doors, like the entrance to a storm shelter.
“In there?” she asked.
Tiger didn’t answer. He finished digging the sod out of the way and yanked the doors up.
A waft of dust poured out, closing up Addie’s throat. She coughed. Jaycee sneezed. Zander peered into the darkness of the hole, his arm over his nose.
“Of course,” Zander said. “Kendrick is hiding in the deep, dark, smelly hole. And you want us to go down there.” He pointed an accusing finger at Tiger.
Tiger gave him an unreadable look. He forestalled any questions by lying on the edge of the doorframe, feeling inside, then righting himself and starting down what appeared to be a ladder.
Addie made herself wait until Tiger had gone a long way down. Following him without knowing how sturdy the ladder was or where it led would be stupid, even though every instinct in her was urging her to scramble down after him.
“You all right?” she called.
Tiger took so long to answer that Addie’s heart thumped in worry.
“Forty rungs,” Tiger’s rumble came to them. “Solid floor. The ladder will hold you.”
Before the others could prevent her, Addie slipped over the side and climbed down in Tiger’s wake.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Kendrick inched his way out from under a pile of rubble, struggling to breathe. He was trapped between the rock fall that had rushed into the corridor, creating a mound of debris, and the low ceiling, which remained intact. There was very little space for Kendrick’s body between the rubble and the ceiling, and he slid through darkness on his belly.
Lachlan didn’t bring firearms, because he went for explosives.
The air was thick with dust and Kendrick couldn’t get a breath. He coughed and spat but had only sand and dirt to inhale.
He shook his head, trying to find clean air. Kendrick had only one thought beyond immediate survival—Lachlan is out there, and Goddess knows what he’ll do to Addison and my cubs.
That thought galvanized him, made him harbor no idea of giving up and dying. He’d dig his way out of here, find Addison, and kill Lachlan. He’d finish Lachlan as fast as he could and send him to dust.
But first he had to get out. Though Kendrick had returned to his between-beast state, strong enough to throw chunks of concrete from his path, his progress was slow.
Something hummed in the darkness. Kendrick knew exactly what it was, having heard that sound resonating deep in his body since the day he’d stood under a grove of trees during the Choosing and was touched by the Goddess.
Smacked by the Goddess was more like it. He’d been standing there, minding his own business, never dreaming he was a good candidate for Guardian. He’d attended the Choosing only because every male past their Transition in his mother’s clan was required to.
A shaft of light had struck him, pulling him off his feet. While Kendrick’s heart had pounded in terror the clan leader had announced, “The Goddess has Chosen.”
S
ince that day, the damned sword had been singing to him, either so faintly as to blend into the background, or, like now, soaring into a resounding chorus.
Kendrick knew its music could save his life. He dragged himself forward, angling through the rock fall toward the humming sword.
Light flashed. Kendrick froze, expecting Lachlan to come climbing over the rubble and shoot him, but the light emanated from the ground and not from a flashlight.
The runes on the sword were flashing in the gloom, letters outlined with fire. Not all the Guardians bothered to learn what the inscriptions said—and Kendrick acknowledged that a lot of it was gibberish to him. He’d taught himself to read the ancient Fae he could decipher, so he could understand part of it.
One of the lines was in invocation of the Goddess, similar to the ones Shifters used to begin any ceremony of worship:
Goddess, mother of us all, lady of the moon, we beseech thee to be with us.
Another line was an incantation to her husband the God, asking for his blessing.
Then there was the curious sentence Kendrick had mulled over for a long time:
The power lies not in one.
Not in one what? Or not in one person but more than one? In that case, why was the Guardian the only person who could wield the sword? If another Shifter caught it up and stuck it through a dead Shifter’s heart, the Shifter’s body would remain intact, but with a sword sticking out of it.
A few months ago, a non-Guardian Shifter, Broderick, had performed a Guardian duty on a dead Guardian in Montana, but from what Kendrick had gleaned, Broderick had been temporarily Goddess-touched at the time.
Here Kendrick was, all alone, the sword singing away, telling him to get his butt over there and rescue it. Growling, Kendrick squirmed and wriggled over to the sword, pushing more debris out of his path as he went.