“She knows,” his father informed him. Mattox understood how.
“What if more Bloods have infiltrated the group? Dad, is it possible this isn’t the first time this has happened?”
“We can discuss that later. At this moment, we need to concentrate on what’s happening now. Iain! Iain, where are you?”
The physician emerged from a side room with a towel in his hands. “Right here. What’s up? What’s wrong?”
“We have a badass storm coming our way. There could be injuries. Maybe some fatalities. Let Liam know so he can advise you on how to prepare for emergencies.”
Iain bobbed his head. “Got it,” he said, and disappeared back inside the room.
Yulen took off through the clinic. Mattox figured he was going back to the lodge.
“Where do you need me to be?”
“I want you to be a floater. Be on the lookout for anything dangerous or troublesome. Your mother and I are going to be out there, too, along with Misty and Luc, and a few others.”
Mattox wouldn’t be surprised if Renken and Fortune were included in that few.
“Matt?” His father paused at the clinic’s front door. “If there is a Blood out there gunning for Edge and his daughter, and we have to open the gates to let everyone inside, it could gain entry inside as well.”
“But with Mom knowing, and once we tell Misty, we’ll be more sensitive to its presence. We should let Fortune know, too. The more who are aware, the better chance we can spot the bastard.”
“I agree.”
They exited the clinic, but instead of going to the lodge, Yulen turned the corner and went around the rear of the building. Mattox then knew where the man was going.
There wasn’t a guard stationed in front of the entrance to the underground dungeon. Yulen felt there was no need since no one was currently incarcerated inside. And because the entrance was well disguised, the battle lord felt it unnecessary to advertise its location.
They descended the dozen steps that opened up into the well-lit tunnel. That in itself struck Mattox as unusual. The place was normally pitch dark, as there were no windows down here. This time, however, every sconce held a lighted torch.
Entering the passageway that led to the chambers, the second thing that struck Mattox was the smell. Or rather, the lack of it. The air had been putrid with the smell of unwashed bodies, urine, and feces. And from what he’d heard from the guards, that’s the way it always was. But not now. The place had been cleaned and cleared out.
He vaguely recalled the last time he was down here was when they held Rollie Durwood prisoner for his crimes before the Mutah council pronounced the battle lord of Black Flat Rock guilty and took him away to be executed. It was the first time Mattox had been aware of the fact that Mutah had a death penalty, much less what it entailed. When he did learn the truth, although he hadn’t witnessed its implementation, it was enough to put him off his feed for a couple of days. Memory of it still managed to make his stomach queasy.
The light brightened as they neared the individual holding cells. There were seven in all—three on the left facing three on the right, and a larger single cell at the end of the tunnel.
Mattox stopped to gawk at what he was seeing. It appeared that each cell had been fitted with warm bedding. A box of supplies sat next to the iron-barred doors, including a bucket of fresh drinking water.
Tory glanced up as they walked by. Sitting on the pallet with her in the first cell was Trailee and Orvis, his niece and nephew. In the next cell, Valena, Cole and Paas’ daughter, had Surisam and Jerrod, Keelor and Warren’s children.
Atty emerged from the rear cell. “I’ve already told as many as I could about the Blood. Johna and Kee are letting the Mutah know so they can be on the alert.”
Mattox touched his father’s arm to get the battle lord’s attention. “Why are we seeking shelter down here?” He felt a flash of fear, and he knew it had come from his mother. “You’re expecting something major to happen, aren’t you?”
“We’re taking every precaution,” Atty replied.
He almost gasped. “We’retaking precautions by going underground, but our people aren’t? Dad!”
Yulen threw up a hand to halt his son’s tirade before it began. “Every apartment has an underground cellar where the townspeople are taking refuge.”
Mattox blinked, not quite certain he’d heard correctly. “Everyapartment in the compound?” His father nodded in reply. “When were you going to let me know for in the future?”
His father cast an amused eye at his mother. “I think I just did.”
Mattox chewed on that information for a second. “What about our own lodge? Does it have an underground cellar, too?”
“Yes, but Liam, Madigan, and Iain are using it. There’s a tunnel leading from the clinic to it, in case of emergencies.”
