Hannah cursed that same mix of human and ghoul words she’d uttered back at the club. “We have to get there and hope that one of the prisoners can tell us what the hell happened. And that you two can track her through the tunnels.”
Trevor had no doubt that he and Connor could, but that didn’t keep his mind from going to allkinds of horrible places as he ran after Hannah. What if they’d dragged Jenna off to some desolate part of the cave system to hurt her like they’d done to Hannah? What if they’d already done something even worse?
Before his thoughts could spiral into darkness any deeper, the four of them rounded a sharp turn in the tunnel they’d been running along, sliding to a stop in front of a large cavern. Three fires were burning around the open space, surrounded by several ghouls and humans. Along the far wall, deep-set alcoves had been dug into the walls and covered with twisted pieces of wood set into the floor and ceiling to serve as bars.
The holding pens.
Even though he knew Jenna wasn’t in there, Trevor still took off running across the cavern floor, skirting the fires and heading straight for the door of the prison cage. Around him, he heard the humans scurrying out of the way as the three ghouls turned to fight.
One of the creatures moved to intercept him, bounding toward him on all fours, covering the distance in a blur and leaping straight at him. Trevor’s claws and fangs came out instinctively even as he planted his feet and swung the twisted length of steel in his hands.
The sound the ghoul made when the rusted steel slammed into his shoulder was unlike anythingTrevor had ever heard. The shriek was so loud it echoed off the walls as the creature tumbled to the floor of the cavern and scrambled away, clutching its bleeding shoulder as it sped away, glancing back at Trevor a few times like he was some kind of monster.
There were several other shrieks behind him, but by the time he turned around, all he could see were the other two ghouls running out of the cavern with the one he’d whacked, Madeleine chasing them for several strides with her little hammer held high over her head. The humans who’d been tending the fires were cowering on the floor, arms protecting their heads as if they thought someone was going to hit them. It was painful to see them react like that, and he could only imagine the horror they’d been through.
Was Jenna going though that right this second?
Or something even worse?
“We need to move fast,” Hannah shouted as she ran over to join him at the door of the holding pens. “Those three will be back soon enough, with help. The rusted steel hurts them, but they can still overwhelm us with numbers if there’s enough of them.”
Hannah started working at the vines holding the doors closed, but Trevor nudged her aside, having no patience for the methodical approach. Instead, he wrapped his fingers around two of the wooden bars, claws still fully extended, and then heaved backward with a loud snarl.
The whole door came apart in his hands, wood splintering and vines snapping. He tossed the remains aside, ducking down to step inside the space beyond, only to see a group of terrified people in front of him. Even Ada and Nicole, who’d at least met him before, were staring at him like he was more dangerous than the ghouls.
Didn’t these people understand he was here to rescue them?
Shouldn’t they look more relieved?
Then he abruptly remembered his claws were still extended. In a panic, he ran his tongue across his teeth, feeling razor-sharp fangs.Crap.No wonder they were freaking out.
Then, from somewhere in the back of the cell, Esme and Isaac shoved everyone forward.
“Let’s go, people!” Esme shouted.
“He’s here to help,” Isaac added. “Let’s not make him wait.”
Trevor stepped out of the way, and with a little more nudging, everyone was quickly moving out of the pens. Some of them—almost certainly the ones who’d been there the longest from the looks of them—seemed as terrified of leaving as they were of staying. But Esme and Isaac—along with Hannah—got them all headed in the right direction.
“Where’s Jenna?” Trevor asked Esme, Connor right there at his side as the last of the prisoners were herded out of the pens.
“I don’t know for sure,” Esme said as she helped an older man take his slow first steps to freedom. “Three ghouls came to get her about fifteen minutes ago. They took her down that smaller tunnel over there.”
Trevor looked toward the passage Esme motioned at. He closed his eyes and breathed through his nose, picking up his soul mate’s scent. He turned that way, ready to follow, only to realize Connor was about to go with him.
“We both can’t go after her,” Trevor told him. “We can’t leave all these people without protection.”
“Hannah can lead them out,” Connor said, his heart beating faster and his eyes already starting to glow yellow gold. “She has a weapon and knows how to fight.”
Trevor bit back a growl but didn’t say anything. Didn’t his pack mate realize the impossible position they’d been put in? He understood what Connor was going through, but he needed his friend to recognize this was simply the way it had to be.
After a moment, Connor nodded, even if it looked like the last thing in the world he wanted to do. “You’re right. I’ll go with Hannah and everyone else, then get them to the surface and the vehicles that Davina has waiting. But then I’m coming back. So you’d better not get yourself killed before you find Jenna, or I’ll kill you myself. You got that?”
The threat sounded stupid, but Trevor didn’tpoint that out. “I’m not going to get killed. I’m going to find Jenna and then we’re all getting out of here together.”
Without another word, Trevor turned in the direction of his soul mate’s scent and started running.
CHAPTER 23
