His jaw clenched at the memory of thatthingthey discovered the last time he was here. With its pale, hairless body and red and black spine, it was hideous. He hoped never to see another one, but he didn’t think he’d be that fortunate.
Those things were plotting something with the Savages, and he didn’t believe the demon they killed was the only one in existence. It was only a matter of time before they encountered its brethren. He hoped the army they were building would be big enough to destroy the growing threat before it was too late.
However, he didn’t think there was another demon down there now. The new hole the Savages created was big enough to crawl through, but he didn’t see one of those bastards crawling on their hands and knees through anything.
He didn’t believe they’d trapped one in there when they collapsed the tunnels either. The Savages would have come for it sooner if they had. No, only one demon had ruled here, and they’d killed it, but were the Savages trying to create a home for another one?
“Do you think they were trying to repair these tunnels?” Asher asked as he came to stand beside him.
“Maybe,” Declan muttered.
“That can’t be good,” Logan said.
“No, it can’t,” Declan agreed.
“I brought enough explosives to make sure they never get back into these tunnels,” Saber said.
After their first encounter with the demon here, Ronan insisted more members of the Alliance have training in explosives. Saber was the first to volunteer. Declan still didn’t know what to make of the man. Saber was as standoffish as Lucien, but he didn’t sense anything evil from him. In fact, he barely sensed anything from Saber at all; it was rare when Saber revealed any hint of emotion.
“You can’t blow it up before we go in there,” Vicky said. “What if my sister or Lucien or one of the others is down there?”
Much to Simone and Kadence’s delight, and Nathan’s frustration, Vicky won the battle of wills and Nathan remained with their son. While collecting his money, Asher promised Nathan he’d stay glued to her ass. Nathan glowered at him in return.
Declan sensed Vicky’s impatience to find her sister, but he wasn’t concerned that she would do something foolish. She wouldn’t leave until they had answers, but her main priorities remained her child and mate.
“I’ll go in and check it out,” Declan said.
His skin crawled at the idea of returning to the gloomy bowels beneath them, but he didn’t have a choice. He had to know if Lucien or Willow was down there before they destroyed the tunnel again. Declan glanced at the sky; a couple hours of the day remained, but that didn’t matter in the tunnels.
Chapter Eight
Declan pulleda stake from the inside pocket of his bomber jacket before shrugging it off and handing it to Asher. He removed the holster keeping his sai swords strapped in an X across his back and set them on the ground; he couldn’t take the chance they’d get caught on the debris jutting into the tunnel and hinder his retreat. He should take off his shirt to avoid getting it snagged on the wreckage of the tunnel, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m coming with you,” Logan said.
“No,” Declan said. “If it becomes necessary, I’ll have to retreat fast, and I can’t if you’re behind me.”
Logan clamped his lips against a protest and nodded.
“Here’s a flashlight,” Vicky said and handed him a small light.
“Thank you,” Declan said as he took it from her.
Kneeling on the ground, he turned on the light and shone it around the chunks of concrete jutting out like monstrous teeth looking to devour him.Now is not the time to develop an imagination.
Gripping the edges of the tunnel, he pulled himself into the opening. Before, a ladder descended into this pit of misery, but if that ladder still stood, the rubble had buried it.
The opening was bigger and easier to navigate than he anticipated, but it still had the stifling, claustrophobic feeling of a tomb. Hopefully, it didn’t becomehistomb as he used pieces of concrete to keep his descent slow.
He could have descended feet first as the debris created hand and footholds that could be scaled, but this way, he would see if something came at him. With the concrete muffling all sound, it would be too easy for a hand to snake out, capture his ankle, and tear him away before he was aware anyone was there.
If Savages were hiding down here when Lucien and the others arrived, he understood how they were able to get out of the tunnel to overwhelm them. And that had to be what happened. It was the only thing that made sense.
They probably had a few hunters who could better tolerate the sunlight standing guard in the woods. Those guards would have alerted their cohorts to a threat and helped in the ambush. If there were enough Savages—and there must have been because the Alliance wouldn’t have gone down without a fight—they would have been overwhelmed.
After twenty feet, the ground leveled out, and he realized he was in the main part of the tunnel. Dust danced in the beam as he played it over the rubble littering the floor and the jagged pieces of rock, dirt, and tree roots over his head.
Propped against the walls, pieces of wood attempted to keep the structure from collapsing. How it hadn’t fallen yet, he didn’t know, but he prayed it held up until he was out of here.
