I swallowed, pulling away from the coffin. “It’s too risky. We’ll have lost the benefit of surprise. We’re so close. Let’s stick with the plan.”
As we passed around the coffin, I pressed my back against the wall. I didn’t want to be in the room with it any longer.
There was a narrow, winding staircase leading up to the first floor. It came out in the breakfast nook – Mrs. Ellis usually had the entrance covered with a crocheted wall hanging, except when Jonie was staying. We stepped into the nook and took in the narrow kitchen and living room across the hall. Without Mrs. Ellis’ knickknacks crowding every corner, the space echoed with our footsteps. Enough light penetrated the building paper covering the windows that I could make out a small table and a couple of chairs stacked with tools, blueprints, and lunchboxes for the construction crew. A few lone objects were lined up on a high shelf in the kitchen.
Morrie pulled over a step ladder and reached up onto the shelf. “Does this look familiar?” Morrie handed down an object.
The light was too dim for me to see properly. But I ran my fingers over the surface, feeling wood engraved with a swirling design. “It’s Fiona’s box. Open it.”
The latch clicked. “There’s dirt inside,” Morrie whispered, handing it back to me.
I tucked the box under my arm. “What about these other objects?”
“A shoe…also filled with dirt.” Morrie dropped it onto the counter. “It smells positivelydelightful. Definitely the shoe of someone who’s hiked across the Carpathian mountains. And there’s a shoebox stuffed with dirt and…what looks suspiciously like tiny bones and bits of coin and jewelry.”
I collected the objects from Morrie, wrinkling my nose. He was right – Miriam’s shoe definitely retained the aroma of her last hike. “What else is up there? What about Jenna’s object? He must’ve taken something from her.”
“There’s nothing.” Morrie jumped down and started pulling the lids off the coffee and tea canisters. I noticed Mrs. Ellis’ old cow-shaped cookie jar on the end of the countertop.
“It’s got to be here somewhere—”
“Oh, Mina Wilde.” Grey Lachlan’s voice called from the front of the house. “Come out, come out wherever you are. I know you’re in here. I think you and I need to have a little talk.”
Chapter Eleven
Shite.
My fingers flew to my purse, fumbling for my stash of holy water and communion wafers. I didn’t know what Grey planned to do to us, but I’d destroy the dirt before he had the chance.
“H-h-how did you get away from your wife?” I called into the gloom. Morrie moved in front of me, placing his body between me and Grey. My fingers closed around the holy water bottle, and I slid my nails under the cork to work it free.
Please, by Hera, let this work…
“Cynthia’s sudden interest in this insipid Halloween festival made me suspicious.” Grey staggered toward us. He flicked on the light. I couldn’t see him behind Morrie, but I could hear the glee in his voice at finding the two of us in his master’s lair. “It’s lucky I got back here to catch you trespassing. I have a mind to call the police, but I think we can settle this between us. I’ll have my property back.”
“These aren’t yours.” I turned away from him. The cork popped off the bottle.Yuss.
“Finders keepers.” Grey’s fancy shoes clapped on the bare wooden flooring as he moved closer. Morrie moved with him, keeping his body between me and Grey. “Their owners don’t need them any longer, but my master has use of them. You should give up your efforts now – there’s no way you’ll find all our stashes of earth. I’ve hidden them too cleverly.”
We’ve covered our tracks well. He doesn’t know about the houses Sherlock hit in London or the others we’ve destroyed near Argleton. He doesn’t know all of Dracula’s dirt is useless now.
Except for the remaining four boxes. I slid my nails under the lid of Fiona’s box, trying to pry it open.Come on, come on…
I dared a glance up at Grey. He advanced on us, his hand outstretched, a look of cold cruelty marring his broken features. This close, I saw that he was in worse shape – his clothes torn and coated with construction dust, his eyes bloodshot, his gums pulled back from his teeth. “Hand them over, Mina. And I will consider sparing your life.”
“Stay away from her.” Morrie brandished his stake. Grey ducked under it with ease, but Morrie dug something else from his pocket and thrust it in Grey’s face. A silver crucifix. Grey staggered back, his hands swiping at his face as Morrie pressed the metal cross into his skin. While Grey howled with pain, I sprinkled the shoe with the holy water, dropped it on the floor, popped the lid off the shoebox, and got that one done, too. Behind me, I heard grunts and crashes as Morrie and Grey fought. The latch of the box was still stuck. I wrenched it every way but it wouldn’t unlock.Doubleplus shite. “Morrie, let’s go.”
There was another crash. Morrie’s fingers slotted into mine, placing my hand into the crook of his arm. “Follow me, gorgeous.”
From somewhere on the floor, Grey groaned. I didn’t stop to see what Morrie had done to him.
We raced back down the staircase and dodged around the coffin. Behind us, Grey cursed as he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled down the staircase. Morrie yanked me around the coffin and into the tunnel. We crashed down the steps. My boots splashed in the water as we entered the tunnel. I cried out as my arms scraped against the bare brick walls, but I didn’t stop, didn’t look back. Footsteps splashed in the water behind us, close and getting closer.
With a yell of triumph, Morrie stepped into the cellar and helped me through the tunnel entrance. I turned around to face our pursuer. Morrie aimed his flashlight at the tunnel just as Grey’s face burst into view, his features even more ghastly in the snatched light. “Grey, you look terrible. When was the last time you’ve been home? Cynthia misses you terribly.”
Grey stopped just shy of the tunnel entrance. Was it my imagination, or did his face pinch at my mention of his wife? “She does not understand, and she does not care to understand what I am doing here, the empire I will build for my master. She should stay away from me, so I don’t…”
His words trailed off. Before I had the chance to wonder what he had started to say, Grey surged forward with a cry. He tried to step through the tunnel entrance into our cellar, but as he shoved his leg forward past our protective spells, something sizzled.
