Jenna made it out of the smaller room and through an arch connecting the passageway intothe next room, and for a second, she thought she might escape. Then something slammed into the back of her legs, and she went down, hitting the floor hard, breath getting knocked out of her as the ghoul climbed up her back like a demonic monkey.
She flipped herself over, trying to crush the ghoul. But it moved with her, ending up on her chest instead of her back. Clawed hands that reeked of alcohol came up around her neck, squeezing tight.
Jenna fought back, punching and clawing at anything she could reach. But it was like the ghoul reallywasmade of stone. The only damage she was causing was to her hands.
But Jenna kept fighting anyway because she didn’t have a choice. Her vision was starting to get fuzzy from lack of air when she heard a sound from somewhere behind her.Footsteps.Instinct made her crane her head around to look even as the ghoul continued to choke the life out of her, not sure what she expected to see.
Isaac and Esme were sprinting toward her, holding bent pieces of metal that looked like they were from a barstool. But hey, they were metal and therefore had to be better than the booze bottles she’d been using. She caught sight of Madeleine coming right behind the two paranormal investigators, her face full of horror.
Then Isaac and Esme were at Jenna’s side, thepieces of metal in their hands coming down over and over on the ghoul’s head. The blows didn’t seem to bother the thing much, but at least it distracted it enough that it loosened its grip on her throat. She gasped for precious air, and the feeling of being able to breathe again was like a jolt of pure energy to her soul.
But just as it seemed like her friends were going to be able to get her away from the creature, the concrete floor under her suddenly fell apart, and Jenna was falling as the clawed hands around her throat clenched even tighter than before, cutting off every trace of oxygen.
CHAPTER 20
Hannah might not be a werewolf, but she was definitely fast. Trevor and his pack mates could keep up with her fine as she ran down the alley toward Davina’s club. Owen and Maya, on the other hand, were two blocks back, gasping for air.
“Are you planning to tell us what the hell is going on?” Connor asked sharply.
He’d been getting more impatient by the second. Probably because his sister—who’d been missing for ten whole years—hadn’t said a damn word to him since they’d run into each other down in the tunnel. Actually, Hannah hadn’t spoken to any of them, unless you counted those brief moments when she’d ordered Trevor to drive faster. He’d thought at first that she was angry or something—maybe at Connor—but after a bit, he got the feeling that it was simply because Hannah didn’t like to talk much. Then again, she’d been held captive by ghouls for a decade. That had to affect a person’s ability to interact with other humans.
“Where’s the bouncer?” Hale asked as they took the steps down to the door of the club.
“The neon has been turned off, too,” Mike said, pointing at the unlit sign to the side of the entrance. “We might be walking into a problem.”
Trevor tried to force down the tension rising in his gut but failed miserably, especially when Hannah opened the big metal door of the club and the scent of blood, panic, and fear all hit him at once. The idea of Jenna being in there somewhere, scared and possibly hurt, was enough to make him push past Hannah and charge down the steps. As he ran, he couldn’t miss the fact that all the overhead fluorescent lights were turned on instead of the usual flashy, colorful strobes. There wasn’t any music playing either.
It was quiet.
Eerily so.
Even worse, he couldn’t pick up more than half a dozen heartbeats in the building.
There was no way in hell that could be good.
His werewolf nose locked on Jenna’s scent immediately, and Trevor chased it down the stairs and through the double doors below. But the moment he entered the main dance floor area and realized that her scent wasn’t as strong as it should be if she was there, he knew something was wrong.
Jenna wasn’t here.
Davina and Madeleine walked into the room and stopped in the middle of the dance floor, interrupting Trevor’s panic attack just as it got started. Both women looked shell-shocked and tired, and Madeleine was covered with a fine layer of dust for some reason that defied explanation.
“What happened?” Connor asked, charging in and sliding to a stop beside Trevor with Hannah and everyone else right on his heels.
“It was the ghouls,” Davina answered, moving over behind the main bar and pouring herself a shot of whiskey. “They dug their way up through the basement and attacked in strength. It’s impossible to tell how many there were, but I’m guessing it had to be at least fifteen of them, maybe as many as two dozen.”
“They took Jenna,” Madeleine said tearfully. “Esme and Isaac, too. The ghouls came up right through the floor underneath them and then the three of them fell into the hole and disappeared. I tried to get to them, but I was too late.”
Trevor’s heart seized in his chest, and all at once, he couldn’t breathe.
Behind him, Hannah cursed. At least he thought that was what she did. Most of the words came out as grunts and some kind of low vocalization that sounded like someone choking—or trying to throw up. It took him a moment to realize that he’d heard those noises before down in the Prohibition tunnels when they’d first run into her. She’d directed those sounds at the ghouls who’d been with her. That could only mean that Hannah could speak the ghoul’s language.
“Show me the spot where they disappeared,” Trevor said urgently, moving toward Madeleine,Connor right with him. “We can catch up to them if we move fast.”
Madeleine shook her head, looking completely devastated. “No, we can’t. I jumped down that hole a few seconds behind them, figuring I could follow them—though I had no idea what I was going to do when I caught up to them—but the ghouls collapsed the tunnel behind them as they escaped. I couldn’t make it more than fifteen feet before the passage became completely filled with rubble. There’s no way we’ll be able to go in that direction.”
Trevor cursed, fighting to keep his inner wolf under control even as the animal howled. He felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “We have to get back to the Prohibition tunnels. Maybe we’ll be able to pick up her scent if we’re lucky.”
“You won’t,” Hannah said, moving over behind the bar and coming out with a can of soda. She popped the top, then took a long sip, closing her eyes for a moment as if savoring the beverage. “They would have already collapsed the main tunnels that connect to the surface and the outside world. They’ll have a single tunnel left for emergencies and oxygen, but it will be damn near impossible to find on your own.”
