“Please don’t tell the Council yet? I don’t want to be locked up and experimented on or anything.” She gives me puppy dog eyes, and who am I to say no to the woman we gave a mate mark to?
“I won’t,” I promise, and she practically sags against JP’s shoulder.
“Let’s concentrate on what’s before us. Knox, do you smell something weird here?” JP questions and waits for me to take point.
That stuff can wait in line with the rest of everything else going on. We’re here for Zeke. Focusing again, my nose tickles as it elongates, allowing me to pick up the extra olfactory senses along the dirt path. My lip curls at the new smell. “I’m getting Hellhounds but they smelloffsomehow,” I reply.
“You know what Hellhounds smell like?” Rez questions in awe and takes a step back, looking over my shoulder as if they might be behind us. I should have told her that they were long gone.Oops.
“One summer, Dad had the Kent Triplets come in and show our team potions making and ascertaining, different strategies in tracking, and how to identify Shifters and unique skin types. One of them brought in a Hellhound puppy.”
“Aww,” Rez coos.
“He ate through his cage, and his saliva burned a hole through our concrete floor.”
“Eek. Okay. Note to self, don’t get a Hellhound puppy,” she jokes, leaning into JP’s side and he squeezes her tight.
“Not unless you don’t mind the stench and living in a dirt shack.” Smiling, JP gives her a side hug and kisses her head.
There’s a slight pain in my chest as I watch how easy their relationship is. JP doesn’t have to worry about his beast marking her or if she will accept him in the end. I don’t want to pressure her into an answer, but the anticipation of her accepting us is slowly driving me mad. I wouldn’t say I was last in this race, but what the fleabag did—giving her a mate mark without her conscent—sure as fuck didn’t put us in the lead. I give her a yearning look before schooling my face and glancing down the tunnel, only to look back at her. By her furrowed brows, I’m not quick enough at disguising my features.
“The smell’s not strong, so I don’t think they’re here currently,” I add before moving on, trying to bring her attention back to the situation at hand.
We walk along the dirt path, lighting our way until we hit wood.Where in the hell are we going?A low clicking noise comes up behind us and I turn to see Lisa crawling along the ceiling.
“Lisa’s coming. Maybe she can show us where we’re going,” I give them fair warning so she doesn’t spook Rez when she gets closer.
JP and Rez nod as we walk around a corner. Lisa slips between us and slams into a solid metal door before she paws at it with her shadow hooves, showing us where to go next. Opening the heavy door latch, I walk in and take in the sight of a surprising room. It’s straight out of a Dr. Frankenstein movie.
“What is this place?” Rez asks while walking in and stopping beside me.
The wooden floor continues into the room, but there’s deep gouges all over the walls and floor, and from the looks of the pitted holes here and there, and the stronger smell of acid, I would guess the Hellhounds were here also. By the looks of the computer equipment, I would say this is Zeke’s place, but all of the computers are smashed and the parts are strewn across the room. The lights that are on flicker, and I don’t see any sign of Zeke.
“This looks like a mad scientist’s secret lab!” Rez says with wide eyes as she takes in the room. Lisa slides up next to her and clicks loudly to get Rez’s attention.
“Where’s Zeke, Lisa?” Rez urges.
JP walks over to the mini fridge and looks in. “His mini-fridge is bare. I wonder what he’s been eating,” he points out. Lisa moves over to an altar that’s by the wall and starts chittering and weaving back and forth.
We follow Lisa over and I take in the solid form.
“That’s one creepy altar,” Rez gasps.
“Agreed, but what is she trying to tell us?” JP questions.
I push against the top of the altar, hoping the top will slide, but nothing happens. Lisa snaps her jaws and stomps her hooves at the bottom of the altar opposite the wall, and Rez squats down to look at the ground.
“It looks like it’s been moved. There’s grooves on the ground here,” she explains, looking up at me with hope.
“Okay, stand back and let me try to move this damn thing,” I nod.
She doesn’t back up but joins me and JP at the side of the altar. Pushing as hard as we can, the altar shifts until it hits the wall and shows a small portion of a shallow hole. Even with my superior night vision, I can’t make out what’s inside before Lisa slips in. We can’t push it any further and the opening isn’t big enough for JP or myself.
“Wait,” I try to command Rez as she drops to her knees and slides through the crack, completely ignoring me. “We don’t know what’s down there yet.”
“Zeke!” she cries and JP drops down to his belly to look inside the crack. He scrambles back quickly as the altar shifts and moves away from the wall
Shock crosses JP's face and he halfway dives into the hole after her, only able to get his head and one shoulder in as he uses the other to brace himself from falling in. My adrenaline spikes hearing the grunts he's making as I watch him struggle, and I drop next to him, ready to pull him out if I need to. Rez is in there—I'm sure I could squeeze in if I let my wolf out. After another moment of struggling, JP begins pulling himself back out. Grabbing under his arms, I add my strength to his efforts.
