Page 66 of Shadow Weaver
I shot him a mischievous grin. “I’m not a quitter.”
“Then that makes two of us.”
Low moaning drifted up from the hole in the ground.
I lowered the cards. “What was that?”
Brady held a finger to his lips in a hush gesture.
I nodded, and then we stood in unison and crept closer to the tunnel.
The moan came again, soft and mournful as if someone was in pain.
I moved closer to Brady. “There’s someone down there.”
Brady unclipped his radio from his belt. “Stonewall to the fort, come in, fort.”
Soft static greeted him.
“What’s wrong?”
“No reception.”
“We need to call for backup.”
“I know.” He tried the radio again but got nothing but static. “Shit. Stay here. I’m going in.”
I grabbed his arm. “Like hell. We have no idea what’s down there.” I laced my fingers through his. “We either both stay up here and defend, or we both go down and attack.”
“There are two of us for a reason,” Brady said. “One to go get help if the other is injured.” He tilted my chin up and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “If I’m not back in five minutes, go get help.”
And then he climbed into the hole.
Shit. Shit. Shit. There was something down there, and I’d let him go in alone. It could be anything. What creature made a sound like that?
Long minutes passed. Two to be precise. Shit. “Brady?” I called down the hole.
Nothing.
Three-minute mark passed.
I took a step into the hole and then stopped. Brady’s instructions had been clear. If he was hurt, I needed to get help.
If he was hurt, I needed to get to him now.
And then a bellow, Brady’s bellow, echoed out of the tunnel. He was in trouble. There was no thought, only action. I clambered down the steps into darkness, stumbling and then righting myself as my nightblood vision kicked into gear.
There was the clang of metal on rock and another angry bellow.
“Brady! Brady!” I ran through the winding tunnel, blade at the ready.
An eerie moan echoed around me. Lights flashed, bouncing off the walls, seeping out of the walls, and then ghostly blue faces rushed toward me and claws passed through me, scraping at my mind.
Rage bloomed in my mind like a crimson stain. Blood. Lust. Fury. I needed to kill and maim.
A rumble of thunder accompanied the rage.
Thunder.
