Hell or High Water (Gemini Book 3) (16 page)

Casting my gaze around the room, I was debating shifting my fingers to claws and drawing on my warg aspect’s strength to rip out the floor when the whole house trembled. I ran to the window, desperate to spot the guys, but they waited where we had left them. Three more giant rock men stood in the clearing, their bodies forming pebble by pebble, which meant they weren’t to blame for the earthquake.

My gut sank into my toes. There must be more of them. “They’re under the house.” I hauled Mom to her feet, primed to run if the floor buckled. “Oh crap.” Lightning-quick, it hit me. “Aunt Dot and Isaac are under there too. That’s what the pendant was trying to tell us.”

Her eyes rounded, and her fingers shook in mine. “Can we get them out?”

“Now would be a great time for rocks to learn how to bleed.” Stone skin would really come in handy right about now. Too bad monoliths couldn’t be donors. “Keep an eye on the guys through that window, but stay out of sight. I don’t want the monoliths focused on us. Not yet.”

Potent magic rippled over my body, aided by Graeson’s blood, and the now-familiar popping noises of my warg aspect rising filled the quiet room. Sensory information flooded me. Musty boards, damp from the rain. The hum of termites in the walls. The graveled rumble of waking giants under our feet. That last part was the worst.

I dropped to my knees, made a fist and punched a hole in the rotting boards. Through the gap, I saw the earth churning, pebbles rolling this way and that. A stone eye paused to blink at me as it tumbled past, then continued on its way. Sweat dampened my shirt as I stuck my head under the house to search for hints as to where my aunt and cousin might be. “I don’t see any sign of them.” A six-inch ridge of concrete near the outer edge of the foundation caught my eye. “There’s a cellar. Come on.”

We shoved through the back door and circled around the rear of the house, trying to keep hidden from the monoliths focused on Graeson and Theo out front. The cellar doors were bolted with silver chains fresh from a hardware store. The lock gleamed. It was new too. What had appeared to be concrete from a distance was aging plaster. The doors of the cellar were two flaps of corrugated metal similar to what had been used on the roof.

“Stand back.” I flung out my arm, and Mom retreated a few steps. “Here goes nothing.”

I didn’t waste time on the chains. I couldn’t break them, even with warg strength. They were too thick. I leapt onto the doors, which groaned in protest. A heartbeat later, they failed under my weight, and I went crashing to the bottom of the cellar. I landed on my hands and knees, and the metal sliced open my palms as rust flakes rained down around me.

Thank the gods the underground storage area was as large as the house. I had taken a calculated risk that might have meant me plummeting to my death—or Aunt Dot or Isaac’s. Considering imminent death was upon us thanks to the pissed-off monoliths, I figured the worst that could happen is the three of us crossed that finish line a little quicker.

“Cammie?” Mom called. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Mostly. Nothing that a drop of Graeson’s blood wouldn’t heal in the next few minutes. “I see a partition in the rear. Give me a minute.”

My tumble had attracted the attention of several mid-sized stones, which burrowed into the dirt and set off another earthshaking event. I got the distinct feeling they were tattling on me. Careful not to step on one of them, I picked my way to the plaster wall that sealed off a good six feet of space. I felt my way around it but found no door or hatch. Another spasm rocked me, and the fragile plaster split. The sour odor seeping from the cracks had me turning my head and coughing against my shoulder.

“Aunt Dot?” I pounded on the wall. “Isaac?”

No answer.

I sank my furred fingers into the cracks and pried chunks of wall free. Soon it became clear that where the seam had ruptured was fresh plaster. It crumbled into my hands while the walls to either side remained unmoved. The smell overwhelmed me, and my gut twisted while the worst-case scenarios ran rampant.

“Hey,” a scratchy voice whispered.

“Isaac?” I tore into the wall with renewed vigor. “Hold on. I’ve almost got an opening large enough for you to fit through.” My shoulders ached and nails bled with the effort. “Is Aunt Dot with you?” The darkness of their tiny room was absolute. “Is she okay?”

“Harlow did something to her,” Isaac rasped. “Mom hasn’t moved or spoken since she put us down here.”

A twinge rippled through my chest at the sound of Harlow’s name. She was a good kid, and Charybdis was ruining her.

“Don’t worry. It will be okay. I brought the cavalry. Mom, Theo and Graeson are here.” I sat back when the path was cleared. “Can you walk? Or do you need assistance?”

“I think I can manage.” He scooted closer to the hole and stuck his head out, breathing deep of the fresh air. “I can’t leave Mom.”

Worrying my lip between my teeth, I settled on the only course of action that made sense. “I can’t carry her alone, and you’re too weak to help.” I turned toward the light and the shadow Mom cast. “I’m going to have to get Graeson.”

Another tremor shook the earth, and he scowled at a bouncing rock. “What’s going on up there?”

“This whole property is a monolith den. It’s one giant landmine, and I stomped on the trigger.” I pushed to my feet. “I get the impression they haven’t been woken in a long time. It’s taking a while for them to get mobile.” Thunder crashed overhead, and my stomach tightened. “We don’t have long before they come looking for us. They’ll crush the house and bury the cellar if that’s what it takes to protect their home.”

He winced and adjusted himself. “You better hurry.”

Hurry I did. Back at the opening, a coil of rope bopped me on the head before I got a chance to call out to Mom. She peered over the edge, spotted me rubbing my scalp and called, “Sorry, baby. I didn’t realize you were back yet.”

“No problem.” If we survived this, I could always pop some ibuprofen later. “Is it anchored?”

“Yes.” She gripped a knot and held tight. “I’ll keep it steady for you.”

Jogging was about the only exercise I got, so my upper body strength was slim. I had to call on my warg aspect to climb out of there, and Mom gasped and stumbled back, falling on her butt in the dirt when she processed the extent of my transformation.

“H-how is this possible?” She stood and approached me with caution. “Wargs are born, not made.”

I worked my jaw to shake off the transformation before answering. “Isaac thinks my reset is resetting.”

“Remarkable.” Her lips parted. “You truly are a special girl, Cammie.”

No, I wasn’t, but parents weren’t great at seeing the reality of their kids, only the mirage of childhood sweetness they cast over them to soften the sharp edges forged in adulthood.

“Hold your ground, and keep an eye out for movement. I have to get Graeson.” The sounds of battle carried from the front yard, and I winced. “Aunt Dot is bespelled, and Isaac is weak. I have to get help.”

“They’re down there?” She dropped to her knees at the edge. “I thought when you came back alone…”

“I found them.” I patted her shoulder. “They’re safe.”
For now
, I added silently.

“I’ll keep watch.” She drew a pocketknife and flicked the gleaming blade open. “You go get your mate.”

Respect for Mom buoyed my spirit, and I jogged to the corner of the house. Wary of alerting the lumbering monoliths to our location, although the ones under the house must already sense intruders, I flattened my spine against the building and reached for Graeson’s mind, praying the distraction didn’t cost him.

“I need to borrow your muscles.”
I peered around the corner to pinpoint his location but came up empty.
“Aunt Dot is unconscious, and Isaac is in a bad way. I’m not strong enough to help. I’m going to have to tag you out.”

“No, you’re not.”
His mental snort had me gritting my teeth
. “I have another option.”

“What—?”
Howls cut short my question.
“The pack is here?”

“Haden and Moore are here.”
Smugness radiated through the bond.
“I figured better safe than sorry.”
A slight hesitation had me worried, but he added,
“Is this one of those things I should have told you ahead of time?”

Shaking my head where he couldn’t see it, I had to accept this was classic Cord Graeson, and I couldn’t fault him for it. Not when it might be the very thing that saved my family.
“You’re the strategist in this relationship. I trust you to make the right call for our people.”

“In that case, stay where you are.”

I smothered a snort.
“I never saw that coming.”

“I’ll bow out when they arrive. Four legs are faster than two. They can keep up the distraction while we get your aunt and cousin to safety.”

“Come around back. There’s a cellar. That’s where we’ll be.”

“See you soon.”

“The sooner, the better.”
Shoving off the logs, I returned to Mom and filled her in on the situation. “Now we wait.”

“Now we work. See that?” She gestured toward a small stone building up the incline. “It’s an old pump house. That’s where I found the rope. There’s another coil and a few tools if we need them.”

“Good thinking.” I touched her shoulder. “I’ll grab what we need and be right back.”

While she resumed the sentry position, I clambered up the slope. The door swung open under my hand, and I popped my head inside. The rope coiled on a railroad spike driven into the wall. I slid my arm into the opening and hiked it up onto my shoulder. Most of the tools were rusted from lying on the ground, which was damp earth. No floor in here. I tested a few, and they snapped under pressure, the metal or wood or both too rotted to be useful. Backing out the door, I was struck by how solid and heavy it was. Despite the years of exposure, it hadn’t warped, and the bottom hadn’t decayed. I latched it closed and returned to Mom, who had fashioned a loop and was tying a mariner’s knot where it joined the rope I had used earlier.

She lifted her work for my inspection. “If Isaac is as weak as you think, we can have him step in this and hold on while we haul him out of there.”

Small as the knot was, I had doubts. “Will the knot hold?”

“I grew up on the road in the days before the whole clan could afford RVs.” She scoffed. “I can tie knots for tents, laundry lines, horse halters and boats all day long, little girl.”

Fair enough. “What about Aunt Dot?”

A calculating gleam lit her eyes. “Did you notice the pump house door?”

“I did.” Seeing where this was going, I cut her off at the pass. “It’s solid, almost petrified. I bet it weighs a ton.”

“Your mate is a warg,” she said, as if that explained all the mysteries of the universe.

“That doesn’t make him indestructible.” A flash of his chest, soaked in blood, the knife protruding, stole my breath. “I’ll see if I can find a substitute.”

A quick scan of the area netted no suitable alternative for what Mom had in mind. There was only one reason she could want the door—so we could use it as a litter. I returned to the pump house and studied the hinges.

“What are you doing?” Graeson panted near my ear.

I soaked him in with thirsty eyes, but he was fine. Not a scratch on him. “I need this door.”

“Okay.” He ushered me aside and ripped it off the hinges. “Now what?”

I stared at him, dumbstruck. “Should you be doing that in your condition?”

“I told you, I was at ninety-five percent. One hundred percent after last night.” He leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose. “I won’t break.”

Instead of saying what beat in my heart, that where Charybdis and his schemes were concerned, we were all breakable, I jerked my chin. “Let’s get this down to the cellar.”

Mom was staring off in the distance, the snarls and growls of the wolves ringing out as the second wave tagged in for their turn. She startled when I touched her arm, and I wondered if the wolves frightened her. How could they? Compared to the monoliths, the wargs were like…fluffy puppies.

“I’ll go down and show you what we’re up against.” I grasped the rope and climbed to the bottom, then scurried out of the way. Graeson landed in a crouch beside me seconds later. “Show-off.”

He grunted and followed me to the half-demolished plaster wall. Isaac had climbed out and now sat on the churning earth, sweat beading his forehead. I searched the opening and spotted a nest of gray curls. Isaac must have spent his time dragging Aunt Dot nearer the fresh oxygen too. Gods knew that miserable hole where they had been reeked from their confinement.

As keen as his senses were, Graeson didn’t so much as wrinkle his nose. With a straight face, he hauled Isaac to his feet and slung an arm around his waist. “We’ll get you out first and then come back for your mom.”

Isaac put up a fight but was too weak to do more than annoy Graeson enough to swing him up into a fireman’s carry and walk him to the rope. He trussed Isaac up like a Thanksgiving turkey, then climbed the rope to help Mom haul him out of the cellar.

While they labored with Isaac, I examined Aunt Dot. I touched her skin and found it cool, her expression peaceful. Her utter stillness funneled my thoughts toward how Lori had appeared frozen in time too. I snapped out of it as an idea occurred to me.

A dull thump told me Graeson had landed back in the cellar. “I’ve got an idea.” I waited for him to join me. “Help me get her out in the open.”

He climbed inside the small room and lifted her in his arms. I hadn’t meant for him to carry her alone, but I stood back and let the man work. He settled her on the ground, head cocked as he listened to the crash and boom of rock colliding so near the house the floorboards groaned overhead.

“I want to check her pockets.” I tore the hem of my T-shirt and ripped off a handkerchief-sized hunk of fabric. If my suspicions were correct, the last thing I needed to do was go in barehanded. “Here goes nothing.”

I patted her down the way I would a suspect and was about to turn her onto her side when I found a zipper running down the seam of the sporty capris she wore. I pressed my hand to the outside and located a hard bump the size of my thumbnail. After pulling down the zipper, I reached into the compartment, careful to keep my fingers covered, and pulled out a shining pink stone. Quartz most likely, and definitely bespelled. Its magic seeped through the fabric, and my lids fluttered.