“Umm.” Misty looked around, trying to assess the situation before she answered. “I was looking after the cubs?” She let the statement end with a questioning note. Eric nodded once, subtly, and Misty put on a smile. “You know how they like to run off.”
Diego was looking hard at her, his eyes, so much like Xav’s, holding warning. What kind of warning, Misty had no idea.
“Yeah, they do like to play,” Eric said. “And get into so much trouble. You know how kids are.” Eric gave the lead soldier his laid-back smile. “Thanks for bringing them home, Misty.”
“Not a problem.”
Eric had glanced into the basement, his eyes flickering when he saw Graham. He moved his body a little, barely changing his stance, but Misty knew enough about Shifters now to realize he must be saying something to Graham without opening his mouth. Shifters were masters of nonverbal communication. Misty wished she could read the signals, because she was swimming in the dark here.
One of the armed men turned to Eric. “What’s down there?”
Eric shrugged. “Don’t know. I’m not into construction. Where the plumbing and electricity will go, maybe?” He gave the perfect impression of a man who might be strong but kind of slow.
“Sir?” The man turned to Diego with a lot more deference.
Diego also shrugged. “Same answer. I really don’t know. You’d have to ask the construction team.”
“We need to lock it down,” The soldier who seemed to be in charge said. “Corporal, take a team and check it out.”
One of the younger men signaled to another, shouldered his weapon, and started down the metal ladder to the basement.
Misty glanced down in alarm, but saw no sign of Graham or Dougal. They’d vanished.
“Are these the ones who’ve been missing?” the commander asked Diego, gesturing at Misty. Diego gave him a grim nod.
“Missing?” Misty asked as Eric reached for Kyle. Kyle clung to his arm, a wolf cub, looking fearfully back at Misty and Matt. “We’re not missing.” Misty tried her smile again. “We’re right here.”
The commander answered. “Your mother in L.A. called in a missing-persons report on Melissa Granger five days ago. Said she couldn’t get into contact with you, and your neighbors said you left with a Shifter at that time and haven’t been home since. Business owners around your store say Shifters have been at your shop, but no one has seen you.” He looked her over, from her tank top and shorts, torn and covered with dirt, to her scratched and gouged legs and arms. “So you need to tell me, ma’am, exactly where you’ve been and what happened to you.”
Misty listened, her lips parting. “Five days . . . ?”
More humans came hurrying to join the commander, these looking more like paramedics. One caught Misty by the arm and tried to lead her toward an open ambulance. “We need to check you out,” the paramedic said. “Make sure you’re all right. Commander, interrogate her once we’ve taken her vitals and given her some water, all right?”
“Five days?” Misty couldn’t help repeating.
“You went through an ordeal,” the paramedic suggested. “But you’re fine now. We’ll take care of you and get you away from these Shifters. It will be all right.”
“Wait.” Misty held Matt closer. “This one’s hurt more than me. He needs help.”
Eric reached for Matt and took him out of Misty’s arms. Kyle wriggled in Eric’s arms, trying to lick his brother’s face. “Poor little guy.”
“You need to come with us, ma’am,” the paramedic said, in his stern but friendly voice.
“I’m not hurt that much,” Misty tried. “I—”
She broke off as a familiar man with broad shoulders but not much height reached to Eric for Matt. “I’ll take the cub.” Ben gave a wide smile to the commander. “I’m a vet,” he said. “I specialize in Shifters.”
Ben really did have a reassuring smile, in spite of his prison tatts and once-broken nose. Plus, he didn’t wear a Collar, and obviously wasn’t Shifter.
“I’ll have to clear this,” the commander said, not changing expression.
“Sure you do,” Ben said. “My name’s Ben Williams. Look me up. I’m ex-con but served all my time. Now I take care of animals.”
If Ben truly was a veterinarian, this was the first Misty had heard of it. Eric, however, seemed perfectly sanguine to hand Matt to him.
Ben leaned near Misty as he carefully took Matt, his movement putting him between Misty and the impatient paramedic. “Misty, you need to blow the basement.”
Misty blinked at him. “Sorry?”
“Cave it in.” Ben kept his voice quiet, his face set only in compassion for the cubs. “Bury the ley line; close the portal. Humans will be screwed if they find it, and Shifters will be screwed if these guys find the basement.”
Misty understood the why. What she didn’t know was . . . “How?”
“Roots,” Ben said. “You did the mastering spell. I can see it in you.”
“But . . .” Dougal and Graham might still be down there.
“Do it,” Ben said. He straightened up, a cub on each arm. “I’ll take care of these cuties.”
He walked away.
Misty stared after him, the man looking no less human than the soldiers around her. But then, Ben had written the book, more than a hundred years ago, he’d told Misty how to use it, and to trust herself. He’d been right every time.
Was Graham still down there, hiding with Dougal? Why was he? Only one way to find out.
Misty gasped and slapped at her pockets. “My cell phone. I dropped it.” She stared wildly at the hole behind her, then before the commander could reach for her, she swung around onto the ladder and descended to the basement.
She saw no sign of Graham or Dougal anywhere. They could be hiding, or they could have gone back through the ley line to the cave.
Misty darted under the darkness, but it was too intense after the first few feet out of the sunshine for her to see anything. “Graham,” she whispered.
No answer. He was gone, Dougal with him.
“Corporal, find her,” the commander snapped.
Roots. Misty looked up. The Shifters who’d dug out this cellar had carefully left the earth around the house whole above it. The basement ran a long way underground, well past the house for which it was intended. The planted trees as well as the native brush were intact above it.