Page 24 of No Man's Land

“No,” Alex said sharply. “Absolutely not.”

The other man suppressed a sigh. “What then?”

To Josef, Alex said, “Can you walk?”

God only knew the answer to that, but he was bloody well going to try. He pushed himself up, stomach roiling and head pounding. He put his hand to the back of his skull, and it came away wet. “Shit,” he said, staring stupidly at his bloody fingers.

“Dutta, take his other arm,” Alex ordered.

“Saint’s going to love this.”

“Then don’t tell him.”

Dutta grunted but did as Alex asked, and between them—barely fitting in the narrow tunnel—they frog-marched Josef back towards the ladder. His head throbbed, his vision swung violently, although that might just be the wildly dancing lantern light, and his whole body felt… Well, it felt like he’d just fallendown a flight of stone stairs with a monster riding him. Which he had. All of that, plus a stomach in revolt, kept his jaw locked and voice silent.

“You go first,” Alex ordered when they reached the foot of the ladder, sounding every inch Captain Winchester. He didn’t look at Josef but turned his back to keep watch along the tunnel. Dutta did the same, facing the other direction. Soldiers, Josef thought. No doubt about that.

Josef didn’t object to leaving first; frankly he couldn’t wait to get out. Besides, he had no energy to argue. All his effort went into gripping the cold, gritty rungs of the ladder and climbing. Excruciatingly slowly. The pain in the back of his skull was unbearable, and he focused on that instead of on the wild pounding of his heart, his fear and utter disbelief.

He couldn’t begin to process what had just happened to him and so he concentrated on the physical sensations of his body, on the climb, and at last on the sweet, sweet smell of London’s fog.

Crawling out on wobbly arms and legs, he celebrated his escape by vomiting. From the pain and shock. He’d seen soldiers do the same, and now he knew why. Had he been alone he might have cried with the sudden, abject misery of it all, kneeling there shaking and shivering in the cold night.

A warm hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to find Alex crouching next to him. His usually slick black hair was dishevelled, falling forward over his forehead in a way that tarnished his aristocratic polish, the scant city light turning his elegant features monochrome. He wore a Norfolk jacket and held a Webley revolverin the hand that wasn’t squeezing Josef’s shoulder. “Come on, old boy. Let’s get you home.”

Josef felt a powerful desire to lean into that warm touch, to feel the man’s strong arms around him. Pathetic, and aggravating as hell.

“We need to make sure he wasn’t bitten anywhere.” Dutta appeared at the head of the ladder as if he’d hopped up in one elegant bound.

An irritated expression crossed Alex’s face. “I know. I’ll check.”

“Yes.” A lift of one eyebrow, not quite a smile. “I’m sure you will.”

The two men exchanged a speaking look. “You’ll fill him in?”

“He’ll want to talk to you, too.”

“Tomorrow.”

“He’ll expect you tonight.”

“Tomorrow.” Alex put a hand under Josef’s arm. “Can you stand? We shouldn’t stay here.”

“To get away from that thing, I can fucking run,” Josef said, letting Alex help him to his feet. After heaving his guts up, he felt marginally better and was highly motivated to get the hell away from the dark maw of the sewer. “But I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the bloody hell is going on.”

Dutta cocked his head, looking at Alex with an expression that said,I told you so.

Alex’s face darkened. “I warned you to stay away,” he told Josef. “You know I can’t tell you—”

“Bollocks.” Surprising how fury could sweep away all your aches and pains. “I nearly got fuckingeatenby your little experiment down there. Now, you either start talking or I’m going straight to theClarionand—”

“I told you we should have…” Dutta made a throat-slitting gesture.

Josef jolted in shock. “What?”

“He’s joking.” Alex’s glare didn’t leave Josef, his eyes dark shadows. “Although, right now, I’m reevaluating.”

“Are you serious?” Josef stared between the two men in disbelief. “Who the bloody hellareyou people?”

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