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We coiled downward, the tunnel now a true circular stairwell, the shaft dug straight out of the dirt. As we came to the end, I could see a metal door leading into what was probably another tunnel.
By now, I’d lost track of how far we were beneath the ground, but the airflow seemed fairly brisk, so the place had to be well-ventilated. I glanced up at the ceiling, looking for vents. Sure enough, running along the wall, spaced every ten feet or so on the way up, ran a series of ducts. Whoever had built this underground lair had been serious. And they must have had money.
I paused at the bottom of the stairs and quickly stepped back against the side of the wall. Delilah joined me. We waited, listening. In the distance, the faint cadence of voices rose and fell. I couldn’t tell just how far away they were, but I was ready to assume they were up to no good and therefore worthy of caution. I pressed my ear against the door then, but nothing filtered in from directly on the other side. With a glance at Delilah, who nodded her head, I carefully turned the wheel and opened the door a whisper.
A silent wash of air rushed past us, and I peeked through. The tunnel I had been imagining wasn’t there.
Instead, I found myself staring at the metal walls of an underground complex. Faint lights—like the Christmas tree ones, only round—ran along the ceiling in two strings. The corridor led straight ahead, and I could see doors spaced along the wall farther down.>Just then, Smoky stepped onto the astral again. “Come, Menolly. I’ll take you over.”
As I moved toward him, Roz and Vanzir vanished. Smoky stopped me. “We need to talk a moment now that they’re gone.”
“What’s going on?” He sounded so serious that he had me worried.
“You are making a mistake if you sleep with the demon,” he said.
“Which one?” I asked. “I’m a demon. Roz is a minor demon, too. And Vanzir—”
“I’m speaking of Vanzir. Rozurial is an incubus, and while I find him annoying, he’s basically helpful and listens to reason. Vanzir may be bound to you and your sisters, but he’s still wild. Think twice before opening yourself to him. The vulnerability may be more than you care to risk.”
As he stared down at me, I saw a kindly streak flash through his eyes. Usually, Smoky treated Delilah and me like hangers-on. Oh, he was nice enough, but if it weren’t for Camille, we knew very well he wouldn’t be helping us. But this expression—it almost read as caring.
“Why are you telling me this? Why do you care?”
He laughed then, low and throaty. “You are my wife’s sister. So now you are also my sister. Families matter to dragons. And so I protect my family—all of you. Come, Menolly. Let’s get back to the infirmary and see how Camille is doing. I want her to stay safe, if she’s to be the mother to my children.”
“What?” I stared at him. “Camille can’t interbreed with dragons!”
He grinned. “There are ways. Trust me, there are ways around the problem. But for now—no talk of it. She doesn’t need anything else to worry about right now. That’s for the future.”
As he enfolded me in his arms, I was stunned at his little announcement, yet things were much clearer. Smoky had claimed Camille. He may not be her only lover or husband, but he took his claim seriously.
Delilah and I also had a claim on her. Therefore, since we were bound to Camille, we were bound to Smoky, and in a way I’d never expected him to accept. And Morio probably felt the same way—and Trillian, too, which is why he’d been helping us out. Feeling less alone, I closed my eyes as we shifted off the astral, back to Camille’s side.
Camille was sitting on a table, wincing as Sharah tended to her burns. The red had faded somewhat, and I could see they were superficial but still painful.
“You won’t scar, not if we get this ointment on and pump you full of tegot tincture,” Sharah was saying. The tegot plant was a natural antibiotic that worked wonders on both Fae and mortal alike. “Meanwhile, you rest for twenty-four hours and stay out of trouble. You can’t risk spreading the damage any further.”
“But Menolly needs me—” Camille started to say.
“Stop,” Morio said, his voice firm. “Delilah can help Menolly now that the Karsetii is gone. It might come back, but you can be sure it will take awhile to heal and regroup after what Roz told me you did to it.”
“The fox is right,” Smoky said, pushing through to her side. “You will rest tonight, and if you don’t, I’ll tie you up and leave you in bed.”
“Like that would be anything new,” Morio said, grinning. “But don’t sweat it, Camille. We’ll help Menolly, too. All of us.”
“Not everyone. Someone has to stay home and protect Iris and Maggie and Camille, since she can’t fight.” I looked at the men standing there. “Morio, you stay with her. Smoky and Roz can shift over to the astral plane, and we may need their skills in that department. Vanzir knows Demonkin. So that leaves you on the sidelines this time.”
Morio nodded. “No problem.”
“Okay, first things first. We know that Harold Young is summoning demons. We’ve got to sneak into that place and see what they’ve got hidden in there.” I glanced at the clock. Midnight. “We have time. Let’s swing by the bar, grab Delilah, and head out. Harold won’t be expecting us again, and with our luck, he and his buddies will be out partying.”
“I’ll see that Camille and Morio get home,” Chase said. “Give Delilah a kiss for me.”
Smoky, Vanzir, and Roz fell in behind me as we headed out the door. It was time to get some answers and start putting this puzzle together.
Delilah jumped a mile high when I unlocked the panic room door. She’d been lounging on the sofa, scarfing a bag of Cheetos and watching a DVD, Jack Black’s School of Rock. Yeah, that was my Kitten, all right. She dusted her hands on her jeans, leaving a bright orange smudge, and broke into a wide grin.
“Did you get it? Can I come out?” She grabbed me and gave me a tight squeeze before I could disentangle myself.
