The hound woofed, and then stood still as a statue, one paw lifted, nose pointing down an old, wet-looking pa.s.sage.
"Seriously?" Errata asked.
Yaref gave her reproachful eyes.
"Lead on." She sighed.
The tunnel was narrow and slimy. About a hundred yards on, Talia noticed a salty smell clinging to the old brickwork. "I can hear water," Talia said.
"Parts of the waterfront are riddled with caves," Joe said. "Watch where you put your feet. The tide has washed out the floor in places."
"What were these tunnels used for?" Errata asked, looking more catlike than usual as she picked her way over the slippery floor.
"In the old days, they could deliver from the ships straight to the storage rooms under the hotels."
Yaref was trotting ahead, making excited woofs. Joe was keeping up with him, but Talia and Errata lagged a little behind. The dog reached a junction in the tunnels, did some more loud sniffing, but then continued on ahead. The air got colder and danker, and Talia envisioned the tunnel ending and dropping them all in the Pacific.
Yaref started to bay, the deep awoowoo that seemed to be their warning cry.
Errata gripped Talia"s arm. "Hold on. Something"s gone wrong."
Talia pulled herself free and crept forward, her gun in both hands.
"Talia!" Errata hissed.
A huge, angry fireball whistled down the corridor. The enemy! It was bigger, brighter, and faster than anything Talia had seen. Growling and snarling erupted and she heard Joe"s angry shout. Talia turned and ran back to where Errata waited. The reporter was unarmed.
"Run! " Talia ordered.
Errata obeyed. Neither of them looked back until they reached the last place where two pathways joined. They crouched for a moment just inside the mouth of the intersecting tunnel, both silent and still in the dark. There was an angry growl, and then stillness. The hypnotic slosh-slosh of the ocean sounded right beneath Talia"s feet.
"Now what?" Errata whispered.
A fireball burst past the tunnel entrance, making them jump. Talia could hear Errata"s heart pounding fast. Yaref flew past, legs churning. Pause. Then a huge s.h.a.ggy wolf burst past.
"Was that Joe?" Talia whispered.
"I think so." Then Errata raised a finger to her lips.
Four figures ran past, two vampires and two Hunters. Talia recognized both Hunters as lieutenants of her father. Seeing them together with the Undead was just weird. Unexpected tears filled her eyes, as if trying to wash away the sight. Her old tribe was violent and filled with hate, but now they"d betrayed everything they stood for in a bid for yet more power.
One of the vampires stopped, called fire to his hand, and threw it with the efficiency of a sportsman. Talia itched to shoot, but she couldn"t take him and the other three in time to prevent return fire.
The vampire ran on. Talia waited a long moment until the sound of their footsteps had fallen silent before she stirred.
"Do you remember the way back?" Errata whispered.
"Baines is still down that tunnel. We"ve got to try finding him."
"We don"t have Joe or the hounds." Errata looked doubtful. She pulled out her cell phone. There were no bars in this part of the underground.
"We could at least go look for Baines," Talia argued. "Yaref thought he was down here. It can"t be far. This tunnel has to end sometime."
Talia could see Errata thinking, the call to adventure warring with caution. "Okay. Let"s look."
They slowly slipped back into the main tunnel, stopping to look and listen every few yards. They stayed at the edge of the pa.s.sage, close to the brickwork. In places, the floor was spongy, no more than rotten planks.
As Talia suspected, there wasn"t much tunnel left. Soon they could see the end of it, a round brick mouth looking out at the gray ocean. Flakes of snow made a diagonal curtain across the opening. The wind was freezing cold.
There was a power boat tied up at the tunnel mouth. Errata pointed the camera at it. "Want to bet that"s where those guys came from? Think they were patrolling this entrance?"
"Watch it!" Talia cried.
Errata froze, pulling the camera from her face. About twenty feet from the tunnel mouth was a gaping hole in the floor. Errata looked down. "OmiG.o.d! Baines!"
Talia rushed over. The detective had propped himself against the wall, his gun in his hand. He looked white-faced and pinched with cold.
"Are you hurt?" Talia asked.
"I blew my knee falling."
"Maybe I can pull you out."
"Watch out for the cat," he said.
"Huh?" said Errata.
"A different cat. I used up my pepper spray getting it to back off. It"s still around."
Errata pulled back from the hole, whipping her head around and sniffing the air. "Is it very big?"
"Let"s just say Fluffy"s on steroids, and he"s mean."
With quick motions, she shut down the camera and stowed it safely inside her leather knapsack. "Take this," she said to Talia, pa.s.sing her the bag. "I"m going to get changed."
Talia set the knapsack to one side and lay down on her stomach, peering into the hole. She remembered you had to lie flat when rescuing someone from an icy pond. She guessed falling through soft ice and rotten wood involved similar physics. Spreading out her weight would be a wise idea. Many vampires could levitate, but she"d never mastered the trick. "Can you reach my hand?"
Baines holstered his gun and hopped over on one foot, hissing through his teeth with pain. Their fingertips brushed. "Not quite," he said.
She wriggled forward a couple of inches, listening for ominous moans from the flooring, and reached down again. This time, she got a firm grip on his hand. He was as cold as she was, all of the usual human warmth having fled his fingers.
It was at that moment she heard a low, feline murmur. She twisted to look behind her. "Oh, s.h.i.t."
Baines hadn"t been kidding. A long, wiry tabby was stalking around the hole, staring at Talia with brilliant green eyes. As cats went, it wasn"t pretty. One ear was torn. She could see its ribs. Its tail was missing patches of fur. And it was the size of a St. Bernard.
Talia froze, mesmerized by the lime-green stare. She could reach for her gun, but by the time she could draw it, she"d be vampire pate.
"It"s there, isn"t it?" asked Baines.
"Uh-huh."
"It"s fast. I"m a good shot, but I"ve only managed to wing it."
"That"s so not what I want to hear right now."
A second yowl rippled down the tunnel. Errata.
The cat sprang to attention, forgetting all about Talia.
Talia immediately took advantage of the reprieve. Bracing herself the best she could, she gripped Baines"s hand and hauled with all her vampire strength. She heaved him up, up until his other hand could grab the edge of the hole. That gave her a bit more stability, so she used her free hand to clutch a fistful of his coat and drag him forward. It was an awkward maneuver. He landed with a flop, using his elbows to lever himself the rest of the way out of the hole.
Talia got to her feet, grabbing Errata"s backpack. Baines got to his feet, but it was obvious he wasn"t up to much walking, much less running away. Talia wrapped his arm over her shoulders, taking his weight. Step one was accomplished. She"d found their man. The next order of business was to get him aboveground, preferably without getting chewed on along the way.
The first obstacle was the Evil Kitty. It was hunched into an unhappy ball, tail lashing, sending up a nonstop chorus of warbling yowls. Errata was answering in kind, her own tail whipping against the floor.
The werecougar was smaller than Talia would have expected, her body only about four feet long. Errata was packed with muscle, her fur a tawny golden brown except for her white chin and underbelly. Rather than hunkering down, she had one paw in the air, ready to swipe at her opponent.
The caterwauling blended into a continuous meeeoww w w w w owrr . Talia would have given a lot for earplugs.
She struggled to think past the racket. She"d never get Baines back through the tunnels to the Castle entrance, but there was a boat a short hobble away. Under the circ.u.mstances, a bit of piracy didn"t bother her, especially when the rightful owner was a villain.
A hop at a time, they started toward it. Baines was silent, his face gone ashen with pain.
"Do you know how to hotwire a boat?" Talia asked.
"Not. Done it. Long time," Baines replied through his teeth.
But you have. Interesting. Talia eyeballed the vessel as they got closer. It was a small Ranger, okay for traveling close to sh.o.r.e. "It"s got an old Evinrude outboard. There"s a red plug on the main wire harness. Disconnect it and jump the starter straight from the battery. Just choke it down to kill the engine later."
Baines frowned at her. "I thought you were a Latin teacher."
"English Lit, actually, but I can say all that in Latin if you want."
The cat picked that moment to pounce on Errata. Talia and Baines wheeled around to see the tabby grab Errata"s head and flip her, clawing her belly with its hind legs. The cougar raked the tabby between the ears.
"Into the boat!" Talia ordered, grabbing Baines by the arm and half lifting him over the side. "Call the cavalry. Try the werebears. Tell them we need more help down here. Bring everything they"ve got."
Baines gave a single nod, discipline warring with worry in his face. "I"ll do that."
In the tunnel, the cats separated, but only for seconds. Errata boxed her opponent, using strength where the other had speed. The tabby caught her in another grapple, but this time Errata threw her weight against the cat, bearing down and gripping with her long, curved teeth.
Talia glanced back at Baines. He was already working on the motor.
"If you call in your cop friends, keep them out of the tunnels. This fight isn"t for humans. Your guys can make their arrests topside."
Errata howled in outrage as the tabby clawed at her eyes.
The outboard motor sparked to life. Talia suddenly felt light-headed with relief. He would make it out of danger.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.
"I"ve got to help Errata," she said, getting to work on the rope tethering the boat to the mouth of the tunnel.
"Watch yourself."
"Dead already, and I probably taste like it." She cast the rope into the boat and walked away back into the tunnel.
One life saved. Now for the catfight.
She pulled her gun. This was getting to be one h.e.l.l of a night. Just call me Dirty Harriet.
She braced her feet apart, raising the Airlite in both hands. "Here, kitty, kitty."
Chapter 32.
"It looks worse than it is," Errata insisted. She"d wadded up some paper napkins she"d found in her knapsack and was pressing them against her head. "Scalp wounds bleed like crazy."
They"d come to another tunnel junction. Talia looked both ways, her gun cupped in two hands. In the end, she"d frightened off the cat, but Baines had been right-it was too fast to get a clean shot. Not without risking Errata, who"d already been giving her all. Now the werecougar"s hazel eyes peered out of a mask of blood. The cat had ripped open her scalp badly enough that she hadn"t completely healed changing back to human form.
Good thing werebeasts didn"t smell like dinner, because she was starting to get hungry. "You look like you"re trying out for a role in a slasher flick."
Errata rewadded the paper napkins, looking for a dry spot. "Harsh. Remind me not to take you shopping for bathing suits. My self-esteem wouldn"t survive it."
"Actually, you"ve impressed me. Not everyone can fight."
Errata gave a low laugh. "I have four older brothers."
"That"d do it. Are you sure you don"t need to rest for a minute?"
"And risk a repeat visit from Whiskers? I don"t think so."
When Errata fished her camera out again, Talia decided she had to be feeling okay, and kept moving. By now, they had to be near the spot with the hotel signs. She"d been hoping to meet up with Joe or Yaref, but no such luck.
"Sh!" Errata c.o.c.ked her head, listening.
Talia strained her ears. Footsteps in the pa.s.sageway. Silently, Talia got to her feet and slipped around the corner to see who was nearby.
She saw a man up ahead wearing a vest with the crossed-sword design. Max. What"s he doing by himself?
Errata was behind her. "Isn"t that your brother? The one who shot Perry?"