Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

G ryph stopped to play with Jack and Jillian for a brief moment, then promised he'd be back when he had more time.

"Oh, don't go, Gryph. You hardly visit us anymore," Jillian cried.

Being a busy businessman meant staying at the office more than he preferred and the relationships he cared about had suffered. The ones with the man who'd raised him as a son, his brother, Lucas, and the people of the Lair had all taken a hit lately.

"I promise. I'll be back to play soon." Gryph grabbed Selene's hand and headed back the way they'd come.

Jack ran ahead of them. "Can I go where you're going? Are you going to the surface? When can I go? Are the people up there as mean as everyone says? Why can't we live in the light?"

"Not everyone is mean who lives on the surface." Gryph rubbed the boy's head. "Selene is from the surface and she's not mean."

"Only when I haven't had my morning coffee." She smiled down at the boy.

Jillian raced up behind them. "Are you taking Jack? May I come, too?"

Gryph stopped, blocking the way ahead. "You two have to stay here. It's not safe where we're going. Besides it's way past your bedtime."

Jack puffed out his chest. "I'm strong and brave. I've gone all the way to the sinkhole on my own. And I can stay up very late and never get tired."

Gryph gave the boy a stern look. "You should never go that far without an adult. You know the tunnels can be tricky. You could get lost."

"But I didn't and I looked down into the sinkhole, and I could see all the way to China."

"Could not," Jillian said. "It was just a dark hole."

Gryph gripped her arms, his pulse pounding at the thought of these small children teetering on the edge of the sinkhole's abyss. "You went with him?"

Contrite, Jillian nodded, her eyes round. "Yes, sir."

Squatting in front of the two children, Gryph stared hard at them. "Promise me you will not go back to the sinkhole without an adult."

"Ah, Gryph." Jack rolled his eyes. "It was easy."

"And you probably didn't run in to any Kobaloi."

Jillian shook her head. "No, we didn't. Jack said he saw a light, but I didn't."

"Promise." Gryph stared from Jack to Jillian and back to Jack, the older of the two kids.

Jack ducked his chin and scuffed his sneaker on the ground in front of him. "I promise."

"I promise, Gryph. I didn't want to go anyway." Jillian flung her arms around Gryph's neck. "I'll be good."

"Thank you." Gryph stood, with Jillian on his arm. He hugged her tight, then set her on her feet and touched Jack's shoulder. "You have to protect your little sister. She's younger and smaller and needs a big brother to make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

"I didn't want her taggin' along, but she always does." The boy glared at his sister.

Jillian crossed her arms. "I don't, either."

"Enough. You two stay in the Lair. Selene and I have an errand to run and can't be worried about two hooligans following us through the tunnels." He turned them around, gave them a pat and sent them on their way. "Go back home to bed."

"Are they always so precocious?" Selene smiled after the children.

The twinkle in her deep brown eyes made Gryph look again. "You're beautiful when you smile."

"Thanks." Her lids closed over her eyes, hiding the shine. "And you're good with children." She straightened and looked him in the eye. "We should be going. The wolf could be planning another attack as we speak."

"Right." Gryph took her empty hand, liking the feel of it in his. Smaller, more delicate, yet strong. She'd surprised him in the pool hall. He'd never known someone who could stop an attack by thinking it.

One thing he'd learned in the Lair was that there were all kinds of people and creatures living on or beneath the surface. He shouldn't have been surprised.

Wanting to get their meeting with D'na Ileana over with, he hurried through the tunnel, wishing he could shift to his lion form. He was much more sure-footed on all four feet.

"You should make the change," Selene suggested, her warm voice echoing softly off the cool brick walls.

He slowed and shot a glance her way. "Were you reading my mind?"

She shook her head. "No, but if I had the ability to shift, I would. You'd be able to see better in the dark and four feet are steadier than two."

He hesitated, knowing he would be in a better position to protect her as a lion, but not willing to shift when he had to lose his clothes in order to do it unrestrained. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, but only halfway. Enough to see better in the dark and sniff out trouble ahead of time." He stopped in the middle of the rail track they'd been walking along, slipped out of his leather jacket and handed it to her, his hands tugging the T-shirt from the waistband of his jeans.

Her gaze followed as he lifted the shirt up over his head.

Gryph's pulse quickened and jumped into overdrive when her tongue came out to moisten pretty pink lips. "Stop that."

She glanced up, her gaze meeting his. "Stop what?"

He reached out and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. "That."

She swayed, her hand reaching toward his naked chest. "Do you want me to take that?"

He wanted her to take him, all right. Instead, he handed her the jacket and shirt, and then grasped her hands in his. "When we get close to D'na Ileana's we can't lose focus."

Her knuckles rested on his naked chest. "Unfortunately, I'm completely focused." Her voice was low and gravelly and so damned sexy.

Gryph dragged her closer, his hands circling to the small of her back and downward to cup the curve of her bottom. "What is it about you that makes me forget everything?"

"I could say the same." Her mouth was so close, her breath warm against his chin.

Before he could think through his actions, question his sanity, he lowered his head and claimed her lips. At first tender, the animal inside surged and demanded more. The gentle kiss hardened, changing with the flash of molten blood coursing through his veins. He crushed her to him, lifting her legs to wrap around his middle.

Selene dropped the items in her arms, the flashlight clattering against the metal tracks, the beam flickering, then shining down the rail into the pitch-black. She intertwined her arms around the back of his head and deepened her connection, her tongue lashing out, thrusting through his lips and teeth to tangle with his.

He ground the ridge of his erection against the apex of her thighs, not satisfied to mimic the motions of making love, wanting all of her now, against the cool brick walls of the tunnel.

Out of the corner of his vision, Gryph saw the glimmer of a pinprick of light. At first he ignored it, unable to drag his lips from the sorceress consuming him. When it twinkled again, then again, he slowly came back to his senses and broke the mind-numbing kiss, resting his forehead against hers. "Now is not the time, nor the place."

As her legs slid down his sides, he eased her to the ground. She was breathing hard, her hands resting against his chest. "You're right. We need to move."

"And if I'm not mistaken, one of the Kobaloi have found us."

Selene jerked her head to the right, staring into the darkness. "I thought I felt something else here with us."

"Watch," he whispered, gathering her into the curve of his arm.

A moment of silence passed and the flash of light recurred—it was like a firefly, only bigger.

"Did you—"

She gasped and pointed. "There!"

He nodded. "Don't try to follow it. They're known to be mesmerizing."

"But it's so pretty."

"When you live in the darkness, you tend to appreciate anything that gives light. Except the Kobaloi. Now that they know we're here, they won't leave us alone." He gathered the clothing and flashlight she'd dropped and handed them to her. Then he concentrated all his control on transforming just enough to allow him the nocturnal advantages of the lion. Fine hairs sprouted from his skin and his muscles bulged, stretching, changing. He willed his metamorphosis to slow and stop before he dropped to all fours.

His night vision sharpened and he could smell the sticky sweet scent of the Kobaloi ahead in the tunnel. Unfortunately, he and Selene had to pass the Kobaloi and the sinkhole before they reached Ileana's cave, carved out of the oldest tunnel in the maze beneath Chicago.

"Hold my hand and whatever happens, do not let go," he said, his voice coarse, almost the growling rumble of a lion. He held out his hairy hand, not quite human, nor lion.

She stared at it for a brief moment.

Gryph didn't realize he held his breath until she placed her hand in his. The air rushed from his lungs and he curled his thick fingers around her thin, hairless ones. That she would place her trust in a beast made him want to prove to her that he could protect her. That he wasn't just an animal.

He continued on, leading her away from the relative safety of the Lair and into the darkness and danger of the outer tunnels inhabited by all manners of creatures less human, and less benevolent, than himself.

As he neared a turn, he slowed, trying to remember exactly where the sinkhole was. He sensed it was close and could smell the water of the reservoir beneath the city. Gryph rounded the corner.

The single Kobaloi was joined by another, and another, until there were three small blinking lights farther along the tunnel, luring them with their cheerful promise of illumination in the darkness.

Selene stepped up beside Gryph. "Oh, look, now there are three." She started forward, eagerly continuing the journey.

Gryph's hand tightened on hers, jerking her back.

Her foot slipped on loose gravel and she fell, nearly jerking him off his feet. He braced himself, her hand slipping through the fur on his.

"Help!" she cried, shining the flashlight beam into the black abyss of the sinkhole below her dangling feet.

Willing his fur to recede, he laid back on the track, pulling her body up and over his. For a long moment, she lay on top of him, breathing hard. She released the flashlight and it clattered against metal, settling on the ground beside him. Her fingers curled into the hairs on his chest as if she was afraid to let go, lest she slip back into the hole.

"Are you all right?" he growled.

"I think so," she said, her breath warm on his body. Selene made no move to roll off him, still clinging to him like a lifeline.

He closed his eyes briefly, liking the feel of her body on his, her soft curves pressed into the hardness of his muscles, her legs tangled with his. If only the train rail wasn't digging into his back and the Kobaloi weren't waiting to tempt them into more danger.

"I should have remembered exactly where the hole was."

She laughed shakily. "And you were right about the Kobaloi. They're like the dragonflies my sister keeps. Always looking for trouble." Finally, she leaned up, her hands pressing against him, and glanced over her shoulder at the hole that had almost taken her. A shiver rippled across her body. "I shouldn't have been so careless. Are there any more sinkholes we should be worried about?"

"I haven't been deep in the tunnels for years."

When she moved to get up, his hands reached out to grasp her face, dragging her down to his, which was distorted into that of half lion, half man. "I want to kiss you."

"Then why don't you?"

"I'm not myself."

"I think you are." She cupped his face and leaned down, pressing her lips against his mouth. "Your fur tickles me," she whispered before her tongue slid between his lips and slipped along the length of his. When her head came up, she smiled. "And your tongue is raspier."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I think it's very sexy and could be a definite asset in other areas." She winked and rolled carefully to the side.

If he was not mistaken, the color in her cheeks had darkened to a deep rosy hue.

She grabbed the flashlight and stood well away from the hole, refusing to lock gazes with him.

Gryph climbed to his feet.

"How do we get around it?" Her beam circled the edges of the hole, then shone down into the center, barely penetrating the blackness. Another shiver shook her body.

Gryph slipped an arm around her waist. "We should go back."

"No." She stood straighter. "If the gypsy can help us, we need to get to her."

"She might not be willing."

"Then we'll convince her." Selene pointed the light toward the far left of the sinkhole. "I believe there's a ledge along the side."

"If my memory serves me right, it's wide enough for a person to traverse and there are pipes above to hold on to for balance." He held out his hand. "Stay close. I'm not sure how sturdy the sides will be. They could have sloughed off since my last visit."

"Reassuring." Selene gaze moved ahead. "Let's do this." She aimed the light at the nearest edge of the hole.

Gryph inched his way around to the left, gripped a pipe secured to the ceiling above and sidestepped with his back to the wall.

Selene followed his lead, juggling her flashlight and reaching for the pipe overhead. She was too short to grab it and held even tighter to Gryph's fingers.

The Kobaloi danced in the air on the other side of the sinkhole as if laughing. If Gryph wasn't mistaken, they moved closer each time he glanced up.

"Those things don't bite, do they?" Selene's whisper was like a shout in the complete silence of the tunnel.

"No. They're like a pesky mosquito. They irritate." When they were only halfway around the hole, one daring Kobaloi darted across and buzzed Gryph's face, the flutter of its wings causing him to blink. His foot slipped and he clung to the pipe above him.

"Gryph!" Selene pulled hard on his hand to keep him from dropping into the gaping maw.

He regained his balance and chuckled. "Like I said, irritating."

The Kobaloi flickered past Selene's nose. "No kidding."

Gryph continued on, swatting at the Kobaloi, careful not to lose his balance again. If he fell, he'd take Selene with him. And if she didn't fall to her death, she could be lost in the tunnel and have to face the troll on her own.

No, he didn't have time or the desire to disappear into a black abyss. It could be only a short drop, or all the way into the reservoir. As dark as the hole was, even his excellent nocturnal vision couldn't see down into it very far.

Finally, he stepped onto solid ground past the hole and into the tunnel on the other side. He helped Selene the last couple steps and continued on.

"How much farther?"

"Not too far. Try to keep the noise down. The troll will be nearby. He guards the entrance to her cave."

"Oh, goody." Selene swatted at the three Kobaloi hovering around her face. Now that she had time to examine them, she realized they had tiny little humanoid bodies with wicked gargoyle faces. And they didn't want to let up their attack on them. "I think these little buggers must work for the gypsy, as well."

"Could be. I've only run across them in this tunnel."

"Wait just a moment. Let me try something." She stopped in the middle of the old rail tracks and closed her eyes.

After a moment or two, the three Kobaloi stopped their frenzied fluttering and backed away.

Gryph shook his head. Amazed. "What did you do?"

"I let them know we weren't there to harm the gypsy and that we only wanted information."

"That's it?"

She shrugged. "I'm glad they were receptive. Not all creatures are."

"I just hope that if we run across the troll, he's as easily persuaded."

"You and me both." Selene shined the light down the tunnel, the beam only reaching five feet ahead of them. "I like the lighting you had installed in the Lair."

"The people of the Lair should live in light."

"Then why don't they move to the surface?"

"Many of them would like nothing better. But they also want to live their lives free of the kind of torment some have been subjected to on the surface."

"Why can't people accept others for who they are inside instead of what they look like?"

"Unfortunately, it's part of nature. Birds are attracted to the most beautiful of their species. Some animals shun those of their kind that aren't strong or appealing. It's survival of the prettiest, strongest, most genetically sound."

A resonant thumping sound broke into their whispered words. Gryph raised his hand and stepped in front of Selene, urging her back against the tunnel wall. "Shh."

"What?" Selene asked.

"I heard something," he said softly, pressing a finger to his lips. "Turn out the light."

She hesitated. "Will you be able to see?"

"Yes."

She hit the off switch and the light blinked out. Only the Kobaloi provided any kind of illumination, but it was barely enough to surround them and not sufficient to see anything coming.

Selene rested a hand on Gryph's arm. "I can sense it."

"The troll?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's confused and angry and headed this way."

The thumping grew louder and the ground beneath them shook.

"When it gets closer, be ready to flash the light in his eyes. It will blind him temporarily and give us the chance to run past him. Trolls are generally slow," Gryph said, his voice barely a whisper. "Once you blind him, keep the beam focused on his face."

"Can he see in the dark?"

"As well as I can." Gryph touched her arm. "There he is."

"I don't see him."

Thumping became loud pounding against the ground, vibrating up through Gryph's feet into his body.

"Now."

Selene fumbled with the flashlight beside him and the beam flashed into the tunnel ahead, filling it with light and bouncing off the giant form of the troll.

"Run." He grabbed her hand and raced straight for the troll, praying they could get around him before the creature's eyes adjusted to the bright light.

* * *

Selene's heart beat frantically against her ribs as she ran, tripping and stumbling over the rails and discarded debris in the tunnel. The closer she came to the troll, the stronger her panic mingled with the fear and anger of the troll.

His huge bulky body stooped beneath the ceiling, filling a majority of the narrow tunnel. He shouted, swinging his beefy arms right and left.

Gryph waited for the troll to swing away from them, then practically jerked her arm out of the socket dragging her past the creature.

Once past, Selene's light no longer blinded the troll. He spun, knocking his shoulders against the tunnel walls, roared and thundered after them.

Selene ran, her feet flying over equipment left behind. A few steps ahead, Gryph stopped. "Keep going."

"What are you going to do?" She slowed as she passed him. "You can't fight him. He's huge."

"I'm not going to." As soon as Selene ran past him, Gryph pushed a big rotting crate into the middle of the tracks, turned and continued to run. "Go!"

Selene turned and ran, tripped over a rail and fell, hitting her forehead on the hard metal track. Pain shot through her temples. The flashlight's beam dimmed where it lay on the ground just out of her reach.

"Selene!" Gryph dropped down beside her at the same time the troll crashed through the wooden crate and reduced it to splintered kindling.

Selene tried to rise, to get to her feet and run, but her head spun every time she lifted it.

Gryph leaped to his feet, changed the rest of the way into his most ferocious form and leaped at the troll.

The troll swung a club-sized arm, backhanding Gryph, sending him flying through the air. He slammed into the brick wall of the tunnel's interior and slid to the ground. Shaking himself off, he scrambled to his feet as the troll threw a ham-hock-sized fist at him.

Gryph dodged the blow and sprang to the troll's side and onto his back, sinking his teeth into the giant's neck.

With an eardrum-shattering roar, the troll reached over his head, snagged Gryph by his mane and threw him down the tunnel.

Selene shook her head and pushed to her hands and knees, forcing back the gray cloud. She reached for the only weapon she could find, the flashlight. Heavy at one end, she balanced the lighter end in her hand.

When the troll started toward Gryph, Selene went after him, tiptoeing so as not to alert him to her presence.

Ahead of the troll, Gryph staggered to his feet. He spotted Selene as she raised the flashlight over her head.

"No!" he yelled.

The troll ground to a stop and braced to turn around and look behind him. Only he didn't get that far.

Selene wielded the flashlight like a baseball bat, aiming for the back of the troll's thick skull. She nailed the swing, connecting with his head.

Her arms jolted and vibrated with the force of her swing. The glass over the bulb cracked, but the metal remained intact. And a good thing, because the blow didn't fell the troll. However, it made him angrier.

He spun on clumsy feet, swatting at the back of his neck as if the flashlight had impacted him as nothing more than an irritating bee sting. The troll spotted her, his heavy brows dropping low over his eyes. Then he snarled and snorted through his nose like a bull in a bullfighting ring.

"Uh-oh." Selene stared down at the flashlight in her hands, debating, for a split second, whether it would help to hit him again. It wasn't going to be the weapon she'd hoped for. Perhaps it was time to run. She turned and sprinted back the way she'd come.

A lion's roar echoed through the tunnels.

Selene shot a glance over her shoulder. The troll had switched direction and was headed back toward Gryph.

"Oh, no you don't." Selene stared at the troll's back, concentrating all her effort, all her inner strength, and even called on the power of her sisters to help her stop the troll before he ground Gryph into mush.

The troll's steps faltered, but he didn't stop and just plowed forward, like a runaway train on a downhill slope, picking up speed as he lumbered on.

"Stop!" A woman's voice sounded in Selene's head. She glanced around, but the answering echo never reverberated against the tunnel walls.

The troll skidded to a stop and stared past Gryph to a shadowy figure in a flowing skirt, standing in the middle of the track.

Selene moved closer, despite the danger of being within range of the troll's mighty hands. She sensed the troll was being controlled by this creature in the darkness. As she stepped past the giant, he grunted and tightened his fists. But he stood so still it was as if he was cemented to the floor.

Who are you? Selene wondered.

I am who you seek.

Gryph, his body slipping back into human form, stood and glanced over his shoulder. "D'na Ileana." He turned fully and bowed.

"What brings you to disturb my sentries and privacy?"

The Kobaloi flitted around her head and landed in the thick, flowing hair that piled high on her head and tumbled down her back in long loose jet-black curls.

"We need to see the future," Gryph said.

"I do not tell fortunes anymore. Go away." Her words were for Gryph, but her gaze remained on Selene.

Selene returned her gaze with a steadfast one of her own. We need your help. Lives are at stake.

"Please," Selene begged aloud. "We need to know where a wolf will try to kill again. We have to catch him before he takes another innocent life."

The gypsy's gaze ran the length of Selene and her lip curled in a snarl. "Why should I care?"

"Your gifts come with responsibility to help others."

"And you share your gifts?"

Selene nodded. "I do."

"More fool you."

"D'na Ileana, will you help us?" Gryph asked.

Ileana's lips curled upward, her gaze zeroing in on Gryph.

Selene blinked, and in that short moment, Ileana had closed the four yards distance between herself and Gryph. How she'd moved so fast, Selene didn't know. She suspected Ileana was more than a simple fortune-teller.

The gypsy ran a long fingernail down Gryph's jawline. "I will help you, my dear Gryphon." She drew a line down his bare chest to the waistband of his tattered trousers, which had been ripped by his instant shift into his lion form and back again. "What will you give me in return?"

"What do you want?" he asked.

Her gaze shot to Selene and back to him. "A night alone with you." Her ruby lips trailed along the curve of his muscled shoulder.

Selene's hackles rose and she stiffened, ready to rip the gypsy apart.

The other woman cast a sly glance her way. "You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Selene wanted to scream and scratch her eyes out. But she had no hold on Gryph. He wasn't hers to claim. If he wanted to give the gypsy a night in the sack, he could. Never mind they'd made love less than twenty-four hours ago.

"No." Gryph caught the gypsy's hand and held it in his fur-covered one. "I'm not here to trade sexual favors."

The gypsy tsked. "Such a shame. It's been a long time since I've had a worthy bed partner."

"Find someone else."

"Very well. I will help you, if it is in my power to do so." She glanced at Selene. "But why did you not ask the witch to help you?"

Gryph didn't glance Selene's way, his jaw tight, the muscle beneath the skin twitching with his effort to control his anger. "She cannot see into the future. You can."

"Then why bring her along? She is of no use to you." Ileana leaned into his body. "Which brings us back to me and you. I'll make your body sing."

"Enough. Time is running out. We have to find the wolf responsible for a woman's death before he strikes again."

"I cannot see the present. Only the near future."

"Then tell me where he'll strike again in the near future so that I might catch him before he succeeds in killing another innocent."

"Follow me." Ileana turned, the length of her colorful skirt swirling around her ankles.

Gryph followed D'na Ileana and Selene brought up the rear, not liking that they would be at the gypsy's mercy once inside her home.

Selene shot a glance at the troll. The giant creature glared down at her, his gaze following her every move as she entered the door leading into the dark depths of the cave.

Selene hoped they'd be able to leave unharmed. If they happened to anger the gypsy, would she sic the troll on them as they left?