Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #9)(26)

“Shit,” he muttered. “What?”

“If I’m going to pick up Ingrid’s scent I have to get closer.”

Without hesitation she pushed herself to her feet, as always completely fearless.

“Then let’s go.”

“Wait.” He straightened, taking her hands in a warning grip. “I want your promise that you won’t leave my side. Not even for a second.”

Cassie hesitated, chewing her bottom lip. “I’ll try,” she at last conceded.

“Cassie.”

“That’s all I can promise.”

His lips twisted as he met her candid gaze. “I suppose it is.”

He grasped her hand and led her along the lakeshore, ignoring the stone steps leading to the house. Cassie fell into step beside him, a puzzled frown marring her brow.

“Where are we going?”

Caine led her past the boat dock and at last halted at a line of Dumpsters near the gravel service road. “The entrance to the secret tunnel is hidden inside the Dumpster.”

“Clever,” Cassie said, only to slap a hand over her nose and mouth as Caine broke the lock and threw back the lid on the green metal bin set slightly away from the others. “And pungent,” she muttered, taking an instinctive step backward. “Yow.”

Prepared for the spell of revulsion, Caine ignored the foul smell billowing from the Dumpster as well as the magical “push” to turn and walk away. “It keeps demons from sniffing close enough to discover the entrance,” he said, vaulting into the bin and holding out his hand.

“A very effective deterrent,” Cassie gagged out, reluctantly taking his hand and climbing into the Dumpster.

Once they were both through the barrier the spell abruptly vanished to reveal a scrupulously clean container with a trapdoor cut into the metal bottom. Caine bent down, sliding his fingers along the outline of the door until he found the hidden lever. With a faint click the door abruptly swung downward to reveal a tunnel dug into the ground.

Reaching behind him, he grabbed Cassie’s hand and tucked her fingers into the waistband of his jeans. “Hold on and don’t let go,” he commanded.

She wrinkled her nose. “Bossy.”

“No. Terrified.”

Without giving her time to reply, Caine dropped into the tunnel, landing on the cement floor with Cassie descending lightly behind him.

He paused, searching the darkness with his heightened senses. There was . . . nothing.

No lurking enemies.

No waiting traps.

And no scent of curs.

He growled in frustration. “Ingrid didn’t come in or out of the tunnel.”

“Then we have to go on,” Cassie whispered softly. “We know she was in the wine cellar. We can pick up her scent there.”

He shot a glance over his shoulder, meeting her stubborn glare. “And what if this is a trap?”

She managed to look even more stubborn.

Stubboner.

Was that a word? If not, it should be.

“I’m not leaving until we find the trail leading to my sister.”

He turned to move down the tunnel, muttering beneath his breath. Man, it had to be the greatest cosmic joke ever. Fate had given him his deepest desire and transformed him into a pureblood Were only to punish him with the constant pressure of keeping the most endangered creature in the entire world safe.

He was supposed to be enjoying a carefree existence at the top of the food chain, surrounded by his adoring harem and collecting hordes of ill-gotten gains. Hadn’t that been his fantasy?

Certainly, it hadn’t been creeping through the dark, tormented by the fear that he was somehow going to fail the female who’d become an essential part of his life.

Fingers tightened on his waistband, and his bout of self-pity was forgotten as the scent of warm female and lavender wrapped around him.

Cassie.

He wouldn’t trade one hour with this female for all the harems and fortunes in the world.

Oh, how the mighty were fallen.

Shaking his head at his foolishness, Caine followed the tunnel that led straight to the cellars beneath Salvatore’s lair. Then, as they reached the heavy wood door imbedded with iron spikes, he sucked in a deep breath, not at all comforted by the strange void filling the air.

There should be some odors.

On full alert, he reluctantly shoved the door open, doing his best to keep Cassie behind him as they entered the room, which had a dirt floor and cement walls lined with towering shelves that held hundreds of dusty bottles. In the center of the room sat a collection of aged-wood barrels and across the vast space were a number of arched doorways that led to storage alcoves and high-tech refrigerators.

Focused on searching the nearby shadows for an ambush, Caine nearly missed the slender, blond-haired Were that was sprawled in a chair next to the wine racks, apparently knocked unconscious.

He did, thankfully, sense the moment Cassie prepared to launch herself across the room. Grabbing her arm, he grimly held on. “Wait.”

“It’s Harley,” she hissed, straining against his grip. “We have to help her.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist, speaking directly in her ear. “Cassie, there’s something missing.”

“What?”

“Smell.”

“I don’t smell . . .” She stiffened as she realized there wasn’t any hint of her sister’s scent in the air. “Oh.”