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Camille, Menolly, and I stopped to kiss Maggie good-bye. “Take care of her, Johnson,” I whispered as I tousled the fur on her head.
“Come back, Delilah…all of you.” Chase gave me a solemn nod.
As we headed out the door, I stared into the darkened sky. The rain had let up, but it was threatening to return. A sliver opened in the clouds and a single star shone through. I held on to the glimpse like a lifeline. A promise that this time, we’d all make it through unscathed. Superstition? Maybe. But sometimes wishing on a star was all we had to hope for.
The drive down to the Energy Exchange was quiet. We took Morio’s SUV and Camille’s Lexus. Morio drove Shade, Vanzir, Menolly, and me. Camille took Smoky, Roz, and Shamas. We had decided to go in from a block away. There was an entrance to Underground Seattle near there. It looked like an old sewer grate, but it actually led down to the tunnels.
We’d come prepared this time with gloves. The rungs were iron and would hurt Camille and me. Iron burned Menolly, too, but she’d heal from it a lot faster than we would. But with thick fleece gloves, we were able to climb down the ladder into the tunnels without a problem.
Underground Seattle was a spooky place, filled with cobwebs and memories of times long gone. The tunnels were cool and damp, and they smelled like an old tomb—musty with a tang of mildew. The floor and walls, unlike the sewers, were brick and wood, with nooks that had once been the basements of shops. We’d gone down two stories in this area, a good fifteen to twenty feet.
I flipped on the light that was clipped to my belt. We’d discovered a delightful mountaineering store with all sorts of wonderful gadgets, including belt lights, rope as strong as the rope made out of spidersilk, and other goodies. Roz had taken a buttload of money down there and gone wild a couple of months back, and now we had gear out the wazoo.
The passages were narrow in this area. I took the lead with Shamas and Menolly; behind us came Camille and Morio, then Smoky and Roz. Shade and Vanzir brought up the rear. We started down the passage, cautious not to touch the sides of the walls. There were viro-mortis slimes down here, and while the green variety was a nuisance, the purple could kill. Trouble was, neither was easy to see and clung to the walls just waiting for victims to put their hands, or any other body part, against the bricks.
I nervously glanced to the right and left, keeping an eye out for any ghosts. The shadows that hung out in Underground Seattle were dangerous and usually pissed off. Glancing over my shoulder, I said, “Camille, can you or Morio sense any supernatural activity here?”
We paused while she, Morio, and Shade lowered themselves into trance. After a moment, Shade’s eyes flew open.
“Incoming behind us! Something, though I’m not sure what. It’s from the Netherworld, all right.”
We turned just in time to see a woman come running toward us. She was translucent, a look of horror splashed across her face. She looked like she was screaming, but no sound came out of her mouth and she raced through us—a cold breeze rattling by as she ran on ahead. Suddenly, she stopped, turned, and flailed. It looked like something had grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over its shoulder, though we couldn’t see what was carrying her. The girl reached out, a knife in her hand, and slit her own throat. As the blood began to pour, she faded from view.
“What the fuck was that?” I was still cold from her passing through us.
“I don’t know,” Shamas said. “But let’s go look where she disappeared.”
We stopped where she’d faded, and I knelt down, aiming my light toward the ground. There, on the bricks, was the stain of dried blood. It didn’t look terribly old, either. I glanced around. Off to one side, something caught my eye. A knife—it looked like the one that the girl had been holding.
“Well, we know she was real. And that her spirit hasn’t rested.” There was an alcove near me, and something was sticking out of it. I peeked in, cautiously, just in case it was a bloatworgle or something equally noxious. But it was a body, probably dead for around three weeks. And it was our girl.
I leaned down to examine her. “I wish we had a corpse talker with us. She hasn’t moved on, she’s still here.”
Shade looked over my shoulder. “She was a Were. I can see her astral form still around the body. A werewolf.”
“Crap. But they don’t capture female werewolves for Wolf Briar.” I shook my head. “I have no idea what they were doing with her, but I’ll bet you anything that she was kidnapped by Van and Jaycee for some reason. Maybe prostitution, maybe just to have a little…fun…”
“We can’t do anything for her. See if she had any ID—that way we can let her family know—and let’s get moving.” Morio turned to Camille. “Let’s prep a protection spell for the group.”
While they prepared their spell, I gingerly hunted through her pockets and found a wallet—it was a small clutch, with a checkbook in it. I eased it out of her skirt pocket, wincing as I tried to avoid the decomposing flesh. Opening the purse, I glanced at the name on the checking account. Clarah Rollings. I flipped through the contents of the wallet.
Thirty-two dollars in small bills. Fifty-seven cents. A picture of Clarah—I thought it had to be Clarah by the spirit we’d seen—hugging another girl who looked a lot like her. Maybe a younger sister. They looked so happy it made my gut hurt. And—a driver’s license. Clarah Rollings, all right. I tucked the license, the money, and the picture in my pocket. The gods willing, we’d at least have these things to give back to her family. And we could come back to pick up her body when we were done with the bar.
“That’s all we can do here. Let’s move.”
Re-forming ranks, we headed down the passage. As we neared the area leading into the tunnels directly below the club, we came to a wall stretching across the passage.
“Looks like somebody decided they wanted some private space.” Shamas moved forward, looking at the wall, but not touching it. He motioned to Morio, who joined him. “Can you find any traps, or maybe, the entrance?”
Morio examined the bricks. “The trigger to open the secret entrance is down here, but I think there’s something…stand back.” He moved to the side and held out his hands. With a soft whisper, he flexed his fingers as pale blue light began to emanate from them. It clung to the wall, creeping across the bricks like a misty cloud. As it reached the central point in the wall, a crackle of sparks raced through the fog, and the scent of sulfur filled the air.
After the light cleared, Morio examined the wall again. “It’s clear now.” He reached down and a soft click sounded. An entrance appeared as a secret door swung open.
“We’re in,” he said, moving back to his place beside Camille.
Shamas and I took the sides of the doors. We peeked around the corner, and—surprisingly—saw a string of dim lights running along the artificially lowered ceiling. The passage was empty, and so we cautiously entered. I motioned for Vanzir to close the door behind him.
“They could have built a level between the basement of the club and where we are.” I kept my voice low, just in case the place was bugged, or in case somebody came down from above.
