The Midnight Watch

Chapter 26

"Did the sun set yet?" Alex asked.

"No." That was Nate, and he didn't sound happy.

A minute passed, the seconds ticking so slowly. "How about now?"

"No."

Alex hummed his disapproval. His fingers began tapping at the wall, annoying everyone. "How'd you know?"

"I don't. You do. When you can shift, the moon must be out. So tell me when that happens, and in the meantime, shut the hell up," Nate said shortly.

There was another brief pause. I let my head rest against the wall, fighting the urge to stretch out my legs. They were cramped and tingling, but there wasn't room to solve that. Standing up in this dark, cold tunnel made me feel too vulnerable.

And it certainly was cold. Shivers racked my body every so often. After an hour of that Nate had, very grudgingly, offered to share body heat. I had refused because Kai was there too, even though he couldn't reach me.

Hours trickled by. Not a steady, seamless flow of time, but rather a halted dripping which left me uneasy and drained. We had no way of telling what was going on outside. For all we knew, the rest of the world could have ceased to exist.

And then, just when I had given up hope of ever escaping the blackness of the tunnel, Alex shouted triumphantly. There was a scuff of claws on stone, a grumble from Ben, and then a wet muzzle was nosing at my hand.

Laughing, I shoved the wolf away from me. "Well, that was stupid. Now your clothes are in shreds."

Alex whined piteously, but he didn't make any attempt to reach the mind-link. Quite happy to let his IQ speak for his actions.

"It's alright," Nate said softly. The earlier tension was gone from his voice-along with the strain. We had a way out now. "The exit is a staircase. He should be able to manage it without shifting."

"Then let's go."

I stood up, stretching my aching muscles. It felt good to be on my feet, even if they were about to carry me into danger again. One hand on the rough stones and the other keeping track of Nate, I edged along the wall. It was only a few metres before he stepped up abruptly, and I knew we had reached the steps.

It was a steep staircase. Steep enough that I had to use my hands as well as my feet while I fumbled in the dark. Alex had it harder, true. He slipped and skidded without any purchase for his claws, and the sounds echoed dangerously loudly.

Nate whispered a warning too late — my head hit something very solid. I swore. It turned out to be a trapdoor, wooden and half-rotted. The Shadowcat leant a shoulder against it, and the wood groaned as it gave way.

Light. Dim light. With the sun down and only a sliver of the moon showing, the outside world was hardly illuminated at all. But now I could see Nate's silhouette in the entrance, framed by starlight.

We climbed out slowly. One by one. Kai, healed now, was helping Ben with Marcus Rochester. Our prisoner had woken twice in the tunnel, only to be knocked out again before he could even think of mind-linking. I was trying my best to forget his existence. Because the more I thought about him, the more I felt my fingers creeping towards my knife.

Seb had been family. And if Marcus had helped kill him, even escaped punishment for six years... Then I wanted blood. Well ... probably. I didn't really know what I wanted. But it sure felt like I should want him dead.

"We can't take him with us," Nate pointed out, with a vague gesture at the unconscious guard. He must have been thinking along the same lines. "I'll take care of it."