Witch Unbound by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Eighteen

The smell hit me first. Dank and musty with an acrid undertone that hit the back of my throat. I swallowed a cough and pressed myself into the shadows we’d materialized in. With no idea what floor we were on, or even what direction we were facing, we were at a distinct disadvantage, trapped in a deep alcove built into the stone wall.

A corridor ran by us, and a thick tapestry of yellow and maroon patterns hung from the wall.

No clues here. We’d have to step out of our hiding place to explore.

Rune squeezed my hand once before releasing me. His bright hazel eyes gleamed in the gloom as he nodded and then made to lean out.

I caught the sound of footsteps and yanked him back. He gave me a puzzled look.

Someone’s coming, I mouthed.

The footsteps were super loud now, so loud they had to be right by us, but no one appeared, and then the sound just…died.

Rune frowned. “There’s no one coming,” he whispered.

What the fuck. I’d heard someone.

Rune leaned into the corridor to scope it out before fully stepping out of the alcove and ushering me to follow.

Heart pounding with confusion, I headed after him. Wren clung fast to my back with his face pressed to the crook of my neck. The stone floor did little to muffle our steps, but we were light on our feet to minimize the sound. A window came into view with an arch opposite it. Rune slowed his pace and carefully peered through the arch. The droop of his shoulders told me the coast was clear.

I glanced out the window and noted we were pretty high. Prisoners would probably be at basement level.

“Rune, I think we need to head down.”

He nodded in agreement. “This is a turret space.”

The room beyond the arch was sparsely furnished, with a threadbare rug, a couple of wooden chairs, and a single table between them. A door waited across from us.

“Once we get on a stairwell, there’s a high possibility we could meet someone coming up them,” Rune said.

I pulled my dagger from its sheath. “Then we deal with them.”

Rune crossed the room and listened at the door for a long beat. I stretched my senses too, but this time there was nothing but silence.

He opened the door, peeked through, then beckoned me to follow. We climbed down the gloomy stairwell, lit sporadically by candles clutched in iron holders bolted to the stone wall. Some candles had burned so low the flame licked at melted wax, flickering weakly as they drowned.

My night vision kicked in, sharpening the world, and for a few moments, as we descended, there was only our soft breath and the scuff of our boots on the stone steps. Rune’s broad shoulders bobbed in front of me as he took the lead. Beyond that, silence reigned.

How fucking long were these stairs?

A voice drifted up to greet me.

“Can’t see it. Can’t take it anymore. Pain, so much pain.”

Rune kept walking. What the heck? I grabbed hold of his shoulder and yanked him back. He threw a confused frown my way.

I tapped my ear and gave him a wide-eyed look that I hoped said listen.

“So bad. So, so bad. Can’t go. Why can’t I go?”

“Cora?” Rune kept his voice low, and his frown deepened. “What is it?”

Was he serious? “You don’t hear that?”

“Please…please please, please…”

“Wren not hear anything.”

What the heck? I pushed past Rune and continued down the stairs cautiously. The stairwell curved up ahead, so I slowed. A low moan filled the air. I looked at Rune to see if he’d heard.

He shrugged.

“Wren, you hear that?”

“No, Cora.”

Great, I was going insane or…Wait a second… I rounded the corner and sagged in relief at the sight of the specter hovering there.

Male, youngish, with a mop of hair and large, mournful eyes. He was dressed in modern clothes—jeans and a T-shirt that had bloody patches on it.

He swayed from side to side, looking at me apathetically.

I raised a hand in greeting. “Hey.”

He balked and glanced over his shoulder down the stairwell.

“Hello?” I waved to get his attention.

“You…you can see me?”

“Yes, I can see you.”

“Cora, who are you talking to?” Rune asked.

“A ghost. One I assume you can’t see.”

“There’s a ghost?” Rune said.

“Wren not see.”

Weird. Back in our world everyone could see ghosts, but maybe the rules in Faerie were different? In which case, why the heck could I see him?

“Hello?” He hovered closer, his face elongating as it leaned toward me.

I pulled my head back. “Whoa, dude, space.”

“You see me?” His voice cracked on a sob. “You really see me. I’m here. I’m not there. I’m not gone.”

His spectral body shimmered and solidified a little, as if being seen and acknowledged fueled him somehow.

“Thank you. Thank you. Please, I need to go. I need to find…I have to be elsewhere. I don’t… I don’t belong…” He became visibly upset, wringing his hands.

“Calm down. What’s your name?”

“Name? My name is…” He squeezed his eyes closed for a long beat, as if working to dredge up the information.

This happened with specters if they remained too long on the earthly plane without being reaped, but it took decades, sometimes longer, and this spirit, from the look of his clothes, couldn’t have been dead that long. Things were obviously very different in Faerie when it came to the dead.

“Relax, just let it come to you.”

“Jamie!” he gasped out. “My name is Jamie and I…I have to get home. This place is not right. She’s waiting for me. She was expecting me…Leana.”

Wait…Jamie…as in Leana’s missing human lover, Jamie. The clairvoyant. My heart sank. Oh, shit.

“Jamie, hey. My name’s Cora. I know Leana.”

“You do? Can you take me to her?” His eager expression fell. “I…I know I’m dead, but I can see her, speak to her. Be with her for a while before…”

Yeah, I got it. Back home he’d have time with Leana before he was reaped. Maybe years if he was lucky, but could I get him home?

Could a spirit go through a rift? “I’m going to try to get you to her, but first I need your help. There are other people here, right?”

“Yes. Pain…There’s pain here.”

“I need you to show me where they are. I want to free them.”

He nodded eagerly. “Yes, I can do that. I can show you.” His throat bobbed. “Then you’ll free me too?”

I could lie to him, tell him that I’d definitely free him, but he deserved the truth. “I can’t promise you’ll be able to leave with us. I don’t know what the rules are here, Jamie. But like I said, I will try.”

He dropped his gaze, seemingly considering this. “If I can’t leave, if I’m stuck here, will you tell her …Will you tell Leana I loved her and that I’m sorry.”

My throat tightened. “I’ll tell her, but I’m going to try and get you out of here first. Okay?”

He nodded. “There are…people…like me, different. They have them trapped and below. I can show you. But they’re bad. Not human. The energy is…malicious.”

He looked more solid now.

I glanced at Rune. “Can you see him now?”

My mate shook his head. “No. Nothing.”

“This is Jamie, Leana’s boyfriend. He was brought here, and…”

“I died…” Jamie shook his head. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“He died here.” I smiled at Jamie. “You don’t have to think about it. Show us where the others are.”

“Follow me. They’re not here right now but they’ll be back. They always come back so we need to be quick.”

He slipped down the stairs and we followed, and it was only when I recognized the heat of hope in my chest that it hit me how pessimistic I’d been about the chances of success on this mission.

But with our ghostly guide, we might be able to get the people out before whoever was running this fucked-up operation returned.

* * *

With Jamie to guide us,we passed through unlit stone corridors that looked like tunnels and descended below ground where the air was cold and damp. The candles here burned so low their existence was pointless. But my eyes adjusted and the world bloomed silver and sharp.

I guess whatever changes my body had undergone included excellent night vision. I hoped the rest was just as useful. There was a metal grill archway up ahead, which Jamie passed through before turning to face us.

“The lever opens it,” he said.

“What now?” Rune asked, scanning the rockface around the arch.

“Jamie says there should be a lever.”

“Got it.” He tugged the metal knob jutting from the stone.

The grill opened with a grating sound that set my teeth on edge. We pushed through into the dingy chamber beyond. Cages lined the walls. Occupied cages.

Shit. “Ursula?”

The woman propped against the wall at the back of the nearest cage scrambled up in shock. “Cora?”

I rushed forward and gripped the bars. “Thank God you’re alive.”

She scanned my face as if she couldn’t believe it was really me. “How did you get here?”

“Long story. We can chat all about it over hot chocolate and brownies once we’re out of here.”

She nodded eagerly. “The keys are over there.” She pointed across the room, and I noticed her bandaged hand for the first time.

Rune headed for the keys.

“What happened to your hand?” Oh, God, I kinda knew, but I had to know.

She gritted her teeth. “I lost a couple of fingers.”

My stomach rolled. “The darklings?”

She nodded, jaw clenched.

“Right.”

Rune unlocked her cage door and my attention slipped to the Magiguard body behind her. He lay on his side, blood-soaked, bandaged arm cradled to his chest. His eyes were closed, and his face was as white as a sheet.

“We couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Ursula said as she climbed out of the cage. “He slipped away.”

“And the others?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Gone.”

Eaten.

I felt sick.

Ursula blinked rapidly and sniffed. I gave her a moment to collect herself, to push down whatever memories were surging to the surface. Had she seen her colleagues be devoured? Fuck, how was she keeping her shit together?

Finally she took a step and staggered. Rune’s arm shot out to steady her. “I’m okay.” She smiled up at him bravely. “Just…exhausted.” She jerked her chin toward a wooden door reinforced with metal. “We need to get through that door. That’s where they hold the people they steal from our world. I heard children crying.”

While Rune wrapped his arm around Ursula’s waist to support her, Wren and I crossed to the door. I expected it to be locked, but it wasn’t. I was about to tug it open when Jamie materialized right next to me, his expression grim.

“That’s where it happened.” His solid form wavered and grew translucent.

He was afraid. “You don’t have to come with me, Jamie.”

“Who are you talking to?” Ursula asked.

“Jamie. Leana’s missing boyfriend.”

She looked taken aback. “Jamie’s here…Oh…Oh no…” She scanned the area around me. “I guess we can’t see ghosts here.” Her gaze flitted to me. “But you can.”

“I don’t know why, but I’m glad. He got us down here.” I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped into a cream-tiled, magnolia-walled room lined with glass chambers filled with amber fluid and containing…people.

“It’s a lab…” Ursula said from behind me. “A fucking lab.”