Page 43 of Sweetwater and the Witch

Sure, taking out a Sweetwater was risky, but this was a hands-off third-party arrangement. There was nothing that could be traced back to him.

He touched the pyramid crystal that he had found on Bowen. The shiver of power hit him like the jolt of a high-rez drug. He smiled, satisfied. It had been a good night’s work so far, but it wasn’t over yet. He needed to get down into the tunnels and see Glass House for himself.

Chapter Twenty

Sound, like everything else in the psi-laden atmosphere of the Underworld, often played tricks on the senses, but there was no mistaking the footsteps Ethan heard pounding on the floor above the basement an instant before he got the vault door closed.

“They’re inside the house,” he said. “They’ll find the hole-in-the-wall and realize we made it into the tunnels. That should be enough to discourage them. But just in case they get through that old lock of yours and decide to take a look around, let’s not hang out here where we can be seen if they get the door open.”

“All we have to do is disappear around a corner,” Ravenna said. She stepped out of her heels and bent down to pick them up. “Once we’re out of sight they won’t be able to track us.”

“We’re going to stash you somewhere and then I’m going to come back here and see if I can grab one or both of those guys. I want some answers.”

Ravenna gave him an uncertain look. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t know how many of them there are, and they probably have pistols.”

“Which don’t work down here,” Ethan pointed out. “Let’s go.”

They hurried toward the nearest intersection. A sleeked-out dust bunny, all four eyes showing, appeared from around a corner and raced toward Ravenna.

“Harriet,” Ravenna said. She scooped her up and tucked her under her arm without breaking stride. “How did you know we were in trouble? Never mind.”

Apparently satisfied that Ravenna was no longer in immediate danger, Harriet fluffed up, closed her amber hunting eyes, and chortled a cheery greeting.

“She’s obviously got a psychic bond with you,” Ethan said. “Makes sense.”

Ravenna shot him a curious look. “It does?”

“According to the legends, a witch often has a familiar, right?”

“That is not amusing, Sweetwater.”

“I apologize.”

They reached a vast rotunda and paused to give themselves a few beats to orient their senses. A half dozen glowing corridors branched off the circular chamber. The currents of energy flowing in from the six hallways created a small, invisible whirlpool in the center of the rotunda.

Ethan chose a corridor at random and they entered it. At the first arched doorway he stopped and motioned Ravenna and Harriet into a small antechamber.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Ravenna said.

“In spite of appearances, I do know what I’m doing,” he said. He reached inside his jacket and produced a miniature flamer.

She glanced at the weapon, startled. “You brought that on a fake date?”

“Sorry. I’m a Sweetwater. Family tradition.”

“Never mind. If you’re going up against a hit team, you need backup. I’ve got some talent, remember?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to have to worry about you while I’m dealing with those guys. Stay here.”

Sensing action, Harriet wriggled out from under Ravenna’s arm, scrambled up onto her shoulder, and then vaulted the short distance to Ethan’s shoulder.

Ethan knew another hunter when he saw one. “I’ll take Harriet as backup.”

He was braced for an argument but Ravenna did not give him one.

“Be careful,” she said. “Both of you.”

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