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“Yes,” Aiden said. “And we’re all okay, but it appears we’re stuck.”
The relief that ran through me was so fierce that I had to blink back sudden tears. Which was ridiculous given Belle had already told me they were alive. I took a deep breath, then released the repelling spell and moved around the tank, looking for the opening. There wasn’t one. “How in the hell did you get in there?”
“This sheet was loosely covering the opening,” Aiden said. The bit of tin rattled again as someone hit it. “But it must have fused when the backwash of heat hit the tank.”
I stared up at the sheet of tin in question. It had more than fused—the ends of the tin had melted and then set against the side of the tank. They were damn lucky to have gotten inside before that happened, because if that wave had hit any of them.... I shivered.
“I’ll see if we can pry it open.” I silently asked Belle to see what she could find in Aiden’s truck, and then added, “How come you were even close enough to climb into the tank? And why would the soucouyant hit the house rather than the shed and these tanks?”
“Eli and I concocted an illusion spell once we’d evacuated the house,” Ashworth said. “It made her think we were there when we were actually out here.”
“But she would have known the truth the minute you tried confining her.”
I looked around for something to stand on. If I were to have any hope of prying open the sheet of metal, it would probably be better if I did it from above rather than below. Especially given the melt factor here.
“We never got that far,” Monty said. “The bitch woke before Ashworth and I could finish placing our spell stones.”
“It was the illusion spell that saved us,” Ashworth said. “Her attack on the house gave us time to get in here.”
“But she must have realized her mistake the minute she demolished the house, so why didn’t she come after you?”
I found an old metal barrel and rolled it toward the tank—almost running over Aiden’s phone in the process. He must have tossed it clear before he dove into the water. I shoved it into my pocket and then stood the barrel on its end and clambered up. Belle came around the corner carrying what looked like a wood splitter and one of those hooked pry bars.
“She didn’t come after us because she couldn’t see us,” Eli said. “I cast a second illusion the minute she woke, and it provided a few brief but very vital seconds to haul our butts into this water tank.”
“If she’d hit this tank, you could have all been boiled alive.”
“Maybe,” Monty said. “And maybe not. I think the combination of our magic might have been able to hold off a second wave of heat—especially given her destruction of the house would have left her pretty close to empty energy wise.”
“Which means she’ll be on the hunt again,” Aiden said. “And that means you need to get us out of the tank.”
“Working on it, Ranger.” Belle stopped next to the barrel and handed me up the pry bar. “I’ll see if I can break the fuse line. You tackle it from the above.”
I nodded. “Guys, you might want to swim away from the opening, just in case the bar goes through the metal and hits someone on the head.”
There was a snort of amusement—Ashworth, I suspected—and then the sound of splashing as they swam away.
Belle began bashing the underneath section of the metal sheet. As dust and soot danced along its length, I shoved the curved end of the bar under the side edge and, once it seemed fairly secure, pulled back in an effort to leverage one sheet from the other.
It took a fair bit of time and cursing from the two of us, but we eventually managed to break the bond between the sheet of tin and the tank. Belle jumped up onto the roof of the tank and, together, we grabbed the edge of the sheet and peeled it back to fully reveal the opening. Aiden hauled himself up onto the roof, water sluicing off his body as he turned to help the others. Ashworth was the last one out, and his cast was, rather remarkably, dry.
He must have seen my surprise, because he gave me a look and said, “I have no intention of going back into the hospital, lass, so you can bet I made damn sure not to get the thing wet.”
“I would have thought it’d be the last thing on your min
d given the situation and the urgency,” Belle said.
“When you’ve confronted as many evils as I have, you learn to keep your head and never let utter panic take control.” Though he didn’t look at Monty, I rather suspected the comment was aimed that way. “Now what? Do we attempt to find her again tonight?”
“We’ve no other choice,” Monty said. “We can’t afford the older one to find another victim and become strong again.”
Aiden jumped off the tank, then turned and helped Belle, and then me, down. “I’ll need to call in someone to deal with this mess—”
“You’d better call in a tow truck, too.” I handed him his phone. “Ashworth’s truck is on its side.”
“What?” Ashworth said. “If that bitch’s actions have written her off, I’ll be royally pissed.”
He was a man who loved his truck, obviously. “Relax, she looks fine.”
