Page 35 of Mattox
“I’ll have to go with them.”
“I know. And I would give anything to be able to go with you, but I need to stay here.”
She nodded. Her face remained buried in his shoulder. “I know. The damage…the people…this compound needs you.”
“Youneed me,” he corrected her. “I’ll be here. Anywhere you go, you know I’ll be here when you need me.”
“Mom, are you really going to leave to search for him?” Mistelle asked softly.
“If you are, we’re going with you,” Lucien stated. Behind him, Warren Paxton placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.
Atty lifted her face. “As soon as it’s safe, we’re leaving. One way or another, we’ll find him.” She stared up at Yulen. “I’ll find him and I’ll bring him home. I promise.”
“I know you will.”
He couldn’t ask her how’d she’d find their son if she could no longer feel him, but he trusted her. Atty always came through. She always kept her word. Somehow she’d find Mattox and bring him home.
So they could give him a funeral worthy of a battle prince.
* * *
It wasJohna who voiced it first. “The storm’s over.”
Tory got to her feet and peered upward. “It is. It’s over.”
“So soon?” Echo stepped out of the cell she and Renken shared, along with their son.
“I don’t hear any wind,” Nevo remarked. He glanced at Fortune. “Think it’s safe to open the door?”
“Won’t know until we try,” the Mutah hunter replied. “Yulen?”
“Go ahead.” The battle lord strode into corridor and unsheathed his sword. The others also drew their weapons and waited.
Mastin took down the heavy length of iron they’d used to bar the entrance and slowly opened the door. Not a breeze stirred the still air. Not a sound permeated the silence.
It was dark. The true dark of night.
Climbing the steps up to the surface, Yulen and Fortune peered into the inkiness. The only light came from the torches inside the dungeon.
“Well?” the battle lord whispered.
The man nodded. “It’s hard to tell, but from what I can see, it’s as bad as we’d hoped it wouldn’t be,” Fortune admitted.
“We need more light,” Atty said. “There’s no stars. No moon. There’s still a lot of cloud cover. Even we Mutah need some source of light.”
“Except for Johna,” Lucien reminded them.
Tory reached out to take Orvis from Johna’s arms. “I’ll watch him. Go on, all of you. Keelor and I will watch the babies.”
“Thanks.”
Grabbing a couple of the lit torches, Nevo handed one to Paxton. Slowly, they all emerged from the underground dungeon. As they took a stance on the surface, they tried to peer past the debris-laden ground before them. The eerie silence was nearly oppressive.
“Johna, tell me what you see. Or don’t see,” Yulen requested.
“The bell’s gone.”
“What else?” Yulen questioned her. “Do you see any buildings still standing?”
