Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 14

G ryph had been inside D'na Ileana's cave only once before. He'd been in his early twenties when he'd come with Balthazar, seeking information about the whereabouts of Jack and Jillian's mother, who'd disappeared a day earlier, leaving her small children with Mrs. Martin.

Ileana had seen Rebecca Miller huddled on a street in the cold, her body wrapped in newspapers and cardboard. Her descriptions hadn't been detailed enough to find the woman in time to save her from hypothermia or the ups and downs of her mental condition. Rebecca had been bipolar and completely incapable of dealing with small unusual children like Jack and Jillian.

By stepping out of the Lair into the blasting cold of a Chicago winter, she'd resigned herself to death.

Between Mrs. Martin and Balthazar, the children had grown up pretty normal for who and what they were. Better off in the Lair than on the surface, where, at the least, children their own age would have harangued them for being so very different. Worse, scientists would have poked, prodded and examined them to discover how this cross-species mutation could have occurred.

They were getting the best education possible under Balthazar's tutelage and when they were old enough, they could study at any college that would provide courses via the internet.

Ileana had been distraught when her future prediction hadn't led to finding Rebecca until too late. She'd withdrawn deeper into her cave and refused to join the people of the Lair for company or even celebrations.

Too caught up in building an empire and enough wealth to care for his extended family in the Lair, Gryph hadn't been back to visit the gypsy. Balthazar made an annual trek into the tunnels to check on her and make sure she was okay and wanted for nothing. She'd chosen to reject any of Gryph's improvements, preferring to live in the near dark, using more primitive means to chase back the shadows.

As they stepped into Ileana's cave, Selene switched off the flashlight. Candles burned on every flat surface, casting soft, warm circles of flickering light, calming in their quiet intensity. By the items scattered around the interior of the gypsy's home, it was clear she had a way of accessing the surface to acquire things. How she acquired them was her business.

Ileana pointed to a round wrought-iron bistro-style table with a dark red tablecloth draped over it. "Sit," she ordered.

Selene perched on one of the two mismatched chairs and Gryph sat across from her in the other.

Ileana dragged a cushioned straight-back wooden chair up between them. "Tell me about the wolf," she said.

Gryph explained what had happened on the streets of Chicago and in the hospital.

All the while Ileana remained silent, studying Gryph, then Selene.

"We need to find the wolf before he hurts another," Gryph said, ending his tale.

Ileana's eyes closed and her head tipped back slightly as if she basked in a warm ray of light.

Gryph glanced across at Selene. Her gaze was on him. She blinked and refocused on Ileana.

The gypsy swayed gently from side to side, a low hum rising up her throat. The more she swayed the faster she moved, until she was rocking back and forth, the humming turning to a distressed keening.

Gryph's pulse quickened.

Selene's brows drew together, her eyes narrowing. "I can't see what she's seeing," she said.

She reached out to touch the gypsy's arm.

Ileana screamed, a bright flash blinded Gryph's mind and the next thing he knew both women toppled out of their chairs, crashing to the floor.

* * *

Pain shot through the back of Selene's head where she hit the hard stone of the cave's floor. She lay for a moment, her head spinning with images, trying to make sense of them all.

"Damn you," Ileana stormed. "You shouldn't have come." She pushed to her knees, her long dark tresses hanging in her face, her eyes wide and wild. "Leave." She waved toward the doorway. "Go away!" She turned her focus on Gryph. "You shouldn't have brought her here. She'll die. They'll all die. Mark my words, hurry, before there's nothing you can do. Nothing." She buried her face in her hands and rocked back and forth, wailing.

Selene rolled over and pushed to a sitting position, her vision blurring.

Gryph kneeled on the floor beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No." She shook her head, as, one by one, the images shifted, bringing into focus the most prevalent and urgent.

She gripped Gryph's arm and her heart seemed to stop beating for a second, then leaped ahead, pounding so hard, her pulse banged against her eardrums. "We have to get back."

"Back where?"

Selene didn't wait to answer, she grabbed her flashlight from where it had landed on the floor, lurched to her feet and staggered toward the door.

Gryph ran after her. "Where?"

"The Lair!" Ileana screamed. "It's too late." She resumed her rocking and keening. "It's too late."

Selene burst through the doorway into the tunnel.

The troll stood as sentry to the gypsy's abode.

When she passed him, all he did was grunt. He did nothing to stop her or Gryph, who emerged on her heels.

Selene ran back the way they'd come, careless of the rails, the abandoned equipment and debris littering her path. She fell, dropped the flashlight, scraped her hands and knees, but got up and ran some more.

"Selene, wait!" Gryph called out.

She couldn't. She had to get to the Lair before...before...

A flash of tawny fur dashed beside her. Gryph, half changed, stood in her path, blocking her from going any farther, forcing her to stop.

Tears streamed from her eyes. "We have to get back."

"Why?" His growling, deep voice demanded an answer.

"They're coming." She tried to push around him.

His furry hand on her arm halted her movement. "Who is coming?"

"The authorities. They'll find the people, they'll drag them to the surface and expose them to the world."

"You saw this?"

"Yes!" She fought to free her wrist. "We have to get back and warn them. There isn't much time, the police are on their way. They're going to shoot anything that moves." She gulped back a sob. "Including Jack and Jillian."

His lion-man mouth tightened, the long incisors flashing in the beam of her flashlight. "Let me lead the way."

She nodded and took his hand, and they ran together. As they approached the sinkhole, Gryph slowed and edged to one side, holding tight to the pipe overhead and to her hand.

Frustrated by how slowly they had to move past the obstacle, Selene bit down on her lip and forced herself to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Midway across the abyss, Gryph's foot slipped.

Selene held tight to his hand, leaning hard against the wall to keep him balanced and to avoid being pulled into the dark depths.

"Thanks." He pushed on to emerge on the other side.

As soon as they'd passed the gaping hole, they ran again. Thirty minutes later, they emerged into the Lair.

Gryph ran to the center of the track switch, where a pole held up an old bell with a rope dangling from the middle. He rang it three times and moved to the side. In moments several men emerged from buildings, wearing pajamas, rubbing their eyes.

A large man whose face was normal and human on one side and more ape than human on the other, stepped forward. "What's wrong, Gryph?"

Gryph stared hard into the other man's eyes. "Nelson, help me evacuate the Lair. We may only have minutes before surface dwellers arrive bearing arms."

"Why?" Nelson asked.

"It doesn't matter why, just get everyone out. Now!" Gryph ran to the nearest doorway and banged.

"Keep your pants on." An elderly lady emerged. "Where's the fire?"

"Mrs. Martin, it's a Code Red."

"Oh, dear." She pressed her knuckles to her lips.

"This is not a drill. Surface dwellers are on their way down. We have to get out before we're destroyed.

"Oh, dear." Her eyes widened. "Oh, dear! The children."

Gryph gripped her arm. "Where are Jillian and Jack?"

"I don't know. They were out playing and didn't come in when I called. I must have lost track of time. Where could they have gotten to?"

"Pack only your essentials, hide what you can and retreat into the tunnels."

She pulled back. "I can't leave without the children."

"You can and will. I'll find them." Gryph frowned down at her. "I promise, I'll take care of them. We'll find them, Mrs. Martin." He gripped her elbow. "Now, go to the shelter. Hurry."

She flapped her hands, looking right and left. "I need to pack up my belongings."

"No, you need to go."

"Now," Selene insisted.

"But who will take care of hiding my home? What if they destroy it?"

"I'll hide it. If they find it and destroy it, we'll build again."

"They need to hurry," Selene whispered.

"I'm too old to start over. What if I get lost?"

Despite the urgency, Gryph hugged the older woman. "You're younger than you think." He turned her toward a woman hurrying by, carrying a tote stuffed full of clothes, books, yarn and knitting needles. "Please, Mrs. Martin, go with Jen Cramer. She'll make sure you take the right tunnels."

Jen Cramer, a woman with the glittering scales of a colorful fish glowing in the lights along her neck and face, overheard her name. She detoured to hook Mrs. Martin's arm and steered her down a tunnel, shining a flashlight into the darkness.

Mothers gathered their children and herded them after the disappearing Jen Cramer and Mrs. Martin.

Gryph ran to the doorway into Balthazar's home and flung it open. "Father!" He ran inside, Selene on his heels. "Father!"

No one answered.

"Father!" Gryph called out, searching from room to room. When they turned up empty, he ran for the doorway, hustling Selene with him. Once outside Balthazar's home, he pressed a brick on the wall and a panel slid in place, covering the doorway. He pressed another brick, extinguishing the overhead lights and those leading down the main tunnels.

Flashlights blinked on and men pushed heavy metal sliding doors over the otherwise normal wooden doorways. When they were in place, the panels blended into the tunnel walls, with a facade of old brick the same color and texture as the old tunnel walls.

By the time the last door was covered, Selene couldn't tell what was real and what was facade, allaying some of Selene's fear of the Lair's detection.

The sound of men shouting reached Selene's ears and her anxiety level pitched upward. "It's them." She stared at one of the dark tunnels. A light glowed far into the darkness. "They're almost here."

"Come, I think I know where Jillian and Jack might have gone to play."

Gryph led the way toward one of the half-dozen tunnels leading out of the Lair. They slipped into the darkness as the light from the other tunnel grew brighter.

Selene followed, glancing behind her every step she took.

"Turn off the flashlight."

A ripple of fear tightened her belly.

"Trust me," he said.

The crunch of dozens of feet on the gravel floor made her hit the button on her flashlight before they were seen.

Gryph grabbed her hand and continued down the tunnel until they rounded a bend in the tracks. Only then did he stop and turn back to see what was going on.

Over a dozen SWAT team members filled the Lair, semiautomatic rifles at the ready, headlamps shining from their helmets, the red of laser sights bouncing off the dull gray of the tunnel walls.

She could hear a dozen thoughts streaming through her head, as tension and adrenaline raged through each of the men. "Someone tipped them off," she whispered. "They think Amanda's killer is hiding out in the tunnels."

"You can read their minds?" Gryph asked.

"A little. And that's the overall impression I'm getting," Selene said. "Whoever tipped them off told them to be ready. The suspect is considered very dangerous. They're loaded for bear, and were told to shoot anything that moves."

His hand tightened on hers. "We have to find the children."

Selene let him lead her away from the little bit of light filtering through the tunnel from the SWAT team headlamps.

They moved slowly. Selene carefully placed her feet, afraid to make a noise, but unable to see anything. She prayed Gryph could see well enough to guide them to the children. If Jack and Jillian returned to the Lair while the SWAT team was there...

It didn't bear thinking about. The men wouldn't know what they were and would shoot first, clean up the mess later.

Her heart lodged in her throat, Selene sent out a fervent message to the children to stay hidden where they were. Gryph was coming to find them.

A shout from the tunnel behind her made Selene jump. She tripped over the rail and fell to her knees. Her extinguished flashlight banged against the metal tracks, the sound echoing against the tunnel walls.

"I heard something over here," a voice called out. Light shone at the corner they'd left behind, growing stronger.

"Run." Gryph hauled her to her feet and dragged her along behind him, racing over the uneven ground.

Struggling to keep up, Selene did her best, her lungs burning, her heartbeat banging against her chest. Another turn and the darkness consumed them yet again.

Gryph came to a halt and grabbed the flashlight from Selene's fingers.

A soft click sounded then he flicked the switch. Red light glowed from the flashlight, illuminating what was in front of them enough that Selene could make out a stack of pallets, an old bucket railcar that had probably been used to haul coal beneath the city. Behind all this, two small furry faces peered out, eyes wide.

Relieved they'd found the children, Selene didn't have time to waste.

Gryph dragged her back behind the stack of wooden pallets, where the little girl and little boy crouched. Gryph dropped to his belly and pulled Selene down with him, switching off the light as the SWAT team rounded the corner, their headlamps glowing brightly. Three men stood with their hands on the triggers of their wicked-looking weapons, the red laser sight tracking through the tunnel until it landed on the pallets and railcar.

Jillian shrank against her, so scared, Selene had difficulty telling where the child's thoughts ended and hers began. As the adult, Selene couldn't let fear take control.

The men approached, their headlamp beams swaying right, then left.

Selene's arm slipped around Jillian, tightening enough to be reassuring.

At one point, one of them nudged the pallets with the tip of his rifle.

Jack, who was beside Gryph, let out a soft gasp, masked by the scuffling of the boots.

Selene stared hard at the three headlamps, the men's faces barely visible in the shadows. She concentrated on projecting her thoughts, not certain it would work. These men were focused, on a mission. If she could make her thoughts theirs, they had a chance. The suspect is not here. There is nothing of interest in this tunnel.

The more she thought it, the more her head hurt, until she thought it might explode.

Finally, one of the men touched his empty hand to his temple and shook his head. "There's nothing of interest in this tunnel. The suspect isn't here."

One by one the other two agreed and backed away from the pile of debris behind which the man they were searching for lay.

As soon as the SWAT team members backtracked around the corner of the tunnel, Selene let go of the thought and lay her cheek against the back of her hand, her body and mind drained.

For twenty or thirty minutes more Selene, Gryph, Jillian and Jack lay still, listening to the sounds of footsteps and voices echoing from the Lair. Nothing indicated the team had found anything that would show Gryph had been there.

Too far away now to read their minds, Selene contented herself with soothing the two children. Jillian's furry body snuggled up to hers. After a while the little girl fell asleep from inactivity.

Selene wasn't sure how long they'd been there. Finally, Gryph stirred and whispered, "I'm going to check things out."

"No." She reached out where she'd last seen him, touching his arm.

"I need you to watch out for the children. Keep them safe. Stay here—don't make a sound until I give the all clear."

She knew it was the right thing to do, but she didn't like the idea of him getting caught in the crosshairs. "I'm not the one they're looking for. Wouldn't it be better if I went?"

"I'm going to shift. I move quietly on all fours."

Not happy, but aware of how important it was to the people of the Lair to maintain their secret existence, Selene bit down on her tongue and let him go.

The shoosh of clothing falling to the ground was followed by complete silence.

Selene counted to three hundred, waiting for whatever all-clear sign Gryph would give. She'd about given up when the tunnel lights flickered on.

At first blinded by the glare, she blinked several times.

Jack was up and running toward the Lair before she could stop him. Jillian stirred beside her, yawning. "Is it over?" she asked.

"I suppose so," Selene responded. "The lights are back on."

Jillian rubbed her eyes and sat up. "That's the all-clear sign. We can go home now."

Selene climbed to her feet and stepped around the pallet and railcar.

Jillian slipped her furry hand into hers and led the way back to the Lair.

The inhabitants returned, one by one or in groups, carrying what few belongings they'd escaped with and talking in low, hushed tones.

With Jack coming to a stop beside him, Gryph stood at the open doorway to Balthazar's home, wearing trousers and a clean white shirt. He was buttoning the cuffs. "I was about to come get you."

"Thankfully, it wasn't necessary. My capable helpers knew what the all-clear sign was, and got me back here safely." She ran her hand across Jillian's smooth golden hair. "You all act as if you've run this drill before."

"Quite a few times. The people of the Lair like things the way they are. They've gone to a lot of trouble to keep their secret for the past thirty years."

"I'm impressed."

Mrs. Martin emerged with Jen Cramer. Her worried frown cleared as soon as she spied Jillian and Jack. She opened her arms and the little girl and boy ran into them, hugging her tightly.

Balthazar emerged from one of the tunnels, hurrying through the throng of people, talking softly, reassuringly. When he reached the door to his home, where Gryph stood, he raised his hand above the crowd. "If I may have you attention, please."

The talking ceased and all eyes turned to their leader.

"I know you all are worried about the return of the police. And rightly so. Our emergency procedures are in place for that very reason. As you can see, the protocol served us well. I ask that we all remain aware and diligent in assessing outside contacts to insure no one leads others into the Lair. Rest assured I will look into the construction of additional barriers to close off little-used tunnels and installing more early warning devices so that we can evacuate sooner should this happen again. In the meantime, you can all go home."

When Balthazar finished, he turned toward Gryph and Selene. "From what I gathered as I hid in the tunnel, the SWAT team was looking for Amanda's killer, and apparently they know something about our little community. This is the first time we've had an actual breach. People are scared."

Hell, Selene was scared down to the depths of her soul.

"They blame us." Gryph's mouth closed in a tight line.

"Did you get what you needed from the gypsy?" Balthazar asked.

Gryph nodded. "I think so."

"You know I love you, but right now there are so many more people at risk than you. Come inside and tell me all you learned. Then you and your friend must leave."

"I understand." Gryph took Selene's hand and led her into Balthazar's home.

Now that she had time to breathe and think back through what had happened, her thoughts whirled.

She'd seen what was going to happen with the SWAT team, but getting back to the Lair before they did precluded an all-out attack. Though D'na Ileana could see the future, it was only one possible future.

It gave Selene hope. Because the other image was of a huge attack by a pack of wolves, led by one big black wolf with green eyes. In that attack, she, her sisters and Gryph were all killed.