• • •

They came out in the basement of the unfinished Shifter house. The ley line, Misty surmised, must decide its own direction, or else they didn’t know how to navigate it. She hoped Reid, chasing Oison, was all right.

Misty emerged into the basement, blinking at full afternoon sunlight. They must have been in the cave for hours. Kyle shivered in her arms, Matt too limp.

Graham and Dougal supported each other behind her, both of them growling in irritation. The sound gave Misty heart. When Graham and Dougal were arguing, they were fine.

But they weren’t. Dougal had been cut by Oison’s sword, Graham still under his spell. Matt was hurt, possibly dying.

She climbed awkwardly up the ladder first, supported by Graham. She had to hold Matt, and had Kyle clinging to her shoulder, so the going was slow.

When she reached the top, she knew there was something very wrong in Shiftertown. Shifters were everywhere, and humans milled among them, wearing black fatigues and carrying automatic weapons.

But these weren’t DX Security men. She didn’t recognize any of them, and behind them, in the heat, she heard sirens and saw flashing red and blue lights.

“Damn,” Graham said softly, and he disappeared back down into the dark basement. Misty started to follow, but too late. One of the humans had seen her, and they were running her way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"What the f**k?” Graham said in the darkness behind Misty.

Misty stood straight at the top of the ladder, holding on to the cubs, trying to pretend she hadn’t been down in a hole under a Shifter house, a hole that wasn’t supposed to be there.

The human soldiers reached her, along with Diego and Eric. “Misty,” Eric said in a loud voice. “There you are. See?” he said to the soldier in the lead. “Here she is. You all right, Misty? Where’ve you been?”

“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.