15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Greg and I hit go on the bomb's timer and started scrambling back through the tunnel. Greg marked a place on the wall with bright-yellow spray paint. ‘Make sure you're behind this line when the explosion is due to happen. The charges are small but powerful, so you need to stay out of the way.'

‘Got it,' I promised.

When we broke into the relative brightness of the moonlight, my brother gasped. ‘What on earth happened to you?' he asked, gesturing at my dishevelled appearance. Kissing against muddy walls wasn't the brightest way to stay clean.

‘I fell over,' I blurted out at the same time that Greg said, ‘Camouflage.' My face reddened and I hoped it couldn't be seen in the dim light. My brother's smirk suggested that it could.

I cleared my throat. ‘Right. It's go-time.'

‘I think it's already been go-time,' Tarkers snickered.

Without changing his expression, Wakado reached out and cuffed his ears. ‘Ow!' Tarkers complained, rubbing his head.

‘Thanks, Wakado.' I shot him a grateful smile. ‘Okay. The timer is counting down. Our explosion will go off at 20:45. Make sure your explosion does the same.'

‘We're on it,' Greg said confidently. ‘Let's move!' He gave me one last kiss before he moved away with Debbie and Wakado.

I turned to Tarkers and Ben. ‘It's tunnel time. It takes about five minutes to get to the end.'

Ben looked around one last time and his shoulders slumped when he didn't spot whatever he was looking for. I took Tarkers' hand in one of mine and Ben's in the other. We had no time to wait for whatever Ben was hoping for because the timer was literally ticking.

I released their hands when we were inside the dank tunnel and walked into the bowels of the earth again. It was odd that the smell now reminded me of good times. Lucky me.

We reached the yellow line. ‘I'm going to check how long we have left,' I said.

‘Not you,' Tarkers said firmly. ‘I'll go, Your Maj. Can't have you risking your royal neck.'

I agreed, albeit reluctantly. ‘Go on then. Just check the countdown still corresponds with the 20:45 explosion then get your butt safely back to this yellow line.'

‘You got it.' He saluted me cheerfully and walked into the darkness.

There was a strange scraping sound; it wasn't coming from Tarkers' direction but from where we'd already been. Shit! Intruders. But were they brethren, dwarven or something else entirely? ‘Someone's coming!' I hissed to Ben.

He almost collapsed against the wall with relief. ‘Thank God.'

I shot him a questioning glance – but that was when Xander rounded the corner. ‘Xander?' I exclaimed. ‘What the hell are you doing here?'

‘I'm here to help, my Queen.' His chest was puffed with pride. ‘Your brother said I was needed but that you didn't want to risk me. Whilst I appreciate your concern, I am here to serve – whether you want me to, or not.'

Jaw clenched, I turned to glare at Ben. ‘You knew I didn't want him here.' I prodded him hard in his chest.

‘I did.'

‘Goddamn it, Ben! Here I am Queen. You do not go behind my back and you do not undermine me. This is not okay. If you're going to remain a part of my pack, you're going to need to toe the line. I am not your sister, I'm your goddamn boss!'

Tarkers strolled back. ‘Having fun, are we? All set. Four minutes to boom-boom time.' He blinked at Xander. ‘Hello, what have we got here?'

‘A stowaway,' I muttered crossly.

‘I really am,' Xander confirmed. ‘I was hidden in the car boot. It took a while for me to figure out how to get out of it without the alarm going off.'

I groaned as Tarkers grinned at him. ‘Nice. Fancied an adventure, did you?'

‘I wanted to serve my Queen.'

Tarkers slid a glance at me. ‘She's clearly delighted by that.'

‘I don't want him to come to any harm,' I protested.

Tarkers threw an arm around the boy's shoulders. ‘I'll keep an eye on him, Your Maj.'

‘See that you do,' I groused. ‘Get your butt over this yellow line,' I ordered Xander.

He obediently moved next to me on the right side of the bomb-warning line. ‘What do we do now?' he asked brightly.

‘We wait,' I said firmly. ‘In silence.'

‘For what?'

‘An explosion.'

Xander winced. ‘I'm not sure being in a tunnel when an explosion is due is a good idea.'

I sighed. ‘It is a small, controlled explosion, not a huge demolition one. Greg, Debbie and Wakado are outside creating a diversion. When it's gone off, we go in, collect a hammer and a magic orb then hightail it out of here. Easy.' Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't going to be that simple.

Law of the Sod, Esme said wisely.

I was on tenterhooks so I didn't bother correcting her. Exactly, I agreed.

My stomach was tied in knots. Intuition was telling me that things were about to get very, very messy. I was fairly certain that Murphy was about to shaft us up the ass – and he wasn't even going to use lube.