The troll in front of her cocked his head back and forth, staring at her like he was trying to figure her out. “Vampires and witches are the same.”

  “We most definitely are not, but if you’re going to kill him, I want to see him first.”

  The troll’s leathery lips were wetted with a tongue. Faye cringed at the scent of his breath and waited to see what they would say. This had been unexpected. If she’d known they were going to kidnap Malek, she would not have taken him down there.

  “Let him go.”

  “No.”

  “Then take me to him. I can make him do whatever you want him to.”

  Once again she was regarded carefully.

  “It’s that or you talk to me about these drugs.”

  “We try to find them.”

  “I know that. Who is making them?”

  “Lamek first.”

  Growling, Faye’s frustration grew. “Answers first.”

  “No.” A large hand came up over top of her and flung down.

  Faye found herself encapsulated in a giant fist. She pushed as best as she could to try and pry open his fingers but didn’t make a dent. Shifting into her vampiric form, she tried again to no avail. Scratching and clawing at his skin didn’t seem to make a difference either since she barely managed to cut his thick leathery skin.

  She was dumped unceremoniously onto the ground, hitting her head against a stone before a large metal frame was latched around her. Looking up and around, Faye had no clue where she was. It wasn’t pitch black, but she was definitely in a cage of some sort. She touched the bars and tried to bend them, but her strength proved futile. Looking around, she saw Malek pressed against the far end, blood coming from the side of his head like it had hers.

  “Fuck.” Racing to him, she knelt down and pressed a hand to his cheek. “Wakey, wakey!”

  Malek groaned in pain.

  “Malek. Wake the fuck up already.”

  His eyes blinked. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Couldn’t agree more.”

  “You’re bleeding.”

  “I can heal myself in a minute.” He coughed. “Just need to catch my bearings.”

  Faye nodded and stood up. She walked around their cage, which was larger than she had originally anticipated. She hoped Ben was still with her, but she hadn’t seen him since they’d first gone into the sewers. He could be their only hope to get out of there.

  “What do they want?”

  Malek surprised her coming up right behind her. She sighed. “Molly put one of their buddies in a prison, not sure if you knew that, and they want you to get him out.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I know that.” Faye turned to look through the bars on their cage again. “I mean, I’m sure you could with more information, but Molly is tricky, and I wouldn’t put it past her to put some surprises in there for anyone who did try to get him out.”

  Malek grabbed her arm. “No, I can’t. I don’t have the magic to do it.”

  “You’re a witch, and you’re older than Molly, so you’re more powerful. Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

  “Long story, but trust me on this one.”

  “Sure, okay. Whatever.” Faye went back to trying to find a way out of where they were. “First things first, we’ve got to get the fuck out of here.”

  He snorted. “Agreed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Molly couldn’t get Faye out of her mind, and every time she sat to concentrate on a counter-agent to the drug, she would go right back to thinking about Faye. They had been gone for hours at the very least. Surely they wouldn’t have gotten themselves into trouble. Staring from her computer to her notes on her tablet in front of her, Molly gave up, knowing that trouble followed Faye no matter where she went.

  Walking to Benjamin’s work area, she stopped short when he still wasn’t there. Curious, she moved to his computer and booted it up. She checked to see who had left the house through the gate at least and found no one except Faye and Malek leaving.

  Sighing, Molly gripped her phone and called Joel.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “Have you seen Benjamin? I need him for something.”

  “Nope. I think he’s working.”

  “Working where?”

  “His computer?” Joel sounded suddenly suspicious.

  “I’m in his work area, and he is not.” Molly glanced at the door. “I came here earlier and he wasn’t here then either.”

  “I’ll be right down.”

  Molly slipped into Ben’s chair and clicked through his computer. She pulled up the cameras in that room specifically to figure out when he’d been in there last. The computer was still rewinding the footage when Joel joined her.

  “He said he was going to work in here before he started on that soundproofing problem with the skoll habitat.”

  “He still hasn’t worked on that. Faye has reminded me endlessly.”

  Joel smirked. “Have you called him?”

  Molly’s lips parted, and she shook her head. “I haven’t.”

  With his phone to his ear, Joel stood back while Molly continued to go through the video footage. Finding Benjamin was not normally an issue. He was always around when she needed him, and he was never far from his tablet or his computer, both of which were on his desk. Curious she picked up the tablet to look at what he’d bee working on last. Sure enough, it was plans for the soundproofing that pulled up first.

  “No answer.” Joel slipped his phone into his pocket. “You try.”

  Molly called, but she already had a feeling there wasn’t going to be an answer. As soon as it went to his voicemail, she set the phone down and shook her head at Joel. “Do you feel him nearby?”

  “No.”

  Cursing under her breath, Molly went through what footage she could find until he popped up on the screen. It was over seven hours ago. She followed him as he worked a few minutes in the room she and Joel stood in and then left to walk down the hall. It took some trial and error for her to follow him down to the habitat wing.

  Her heart thundered when she caught sight of Faye and Malek on the cameras. Joel pressed a hand to her shoulder and gave her a slight squeeze. Molly wasn’t sure she wanted to see whatever they were doing, but she couldn’t rip her gaze away. Something still didn’t sit right about Malek being there. It wasn’t because of the fold. It wasn’t because he wanted her to rejoin. Something else niggled at the back of her mind.

  Malek pressed Faye up against the wall. Ben stopped short before he stepped behind a door and they couldn’t see him anymore. Molly paused the video and tried to find another camera that aimed in that direction, but there was nothing. She went through camera after camera and never found him again.

  Eventually, giving up, she checked on the footage of Faye and Malek, watched as they walked together toward the elevator and then followed them to the garage where they left. “I’m going to check the videos again. It’s as though he just vanished.”

  “You don’t have some weird secret room in there, do you?”

  Molly pressed her lips together tightly. She knew it was a running joke that she had hidden rooms and hallways all over the house, and while it was mostly true, she wasn’t about to share that with anyone who didn’t need to know. Faye had discovered some of them in her late night explorations of the house when everyone else was sleeping and Molly was still in the middle of work. Faye had been most interested in the underground tunnels that led to different buildings in the nearby areas, new and different ways to escape Molly’s clutches, as Faye had so bluntly put it. Though, she’d never used them to run away. Faye always walked right out the front door with all the confidence Molly wouldn’t chase after her.

  “We should go check to be sure he’s not still there.”

  Standing, Molly gripped her phone tightly in the palm of her hand. Her magic was strong and ready for whatever may lay ahead. Maybe Ben was stuck in one of the rooms. As they walked, Joel kept pace with her.

  “Where do you think Malek and Faye went off to?”

  “I’m willing to bet they went to seek out some of Faye’s contacts.”

  “Without telling you?”

  “Hmmm, yes. Malek is trying to prove his worthiness.”

  “So he took Faye?”

  “He doesn’t have the connections she does, and he’s trying to get her help as well.”

  “For what?”

  Molly didn’t answer him as she pushed open the door to the room she’d seen Ben walk into. There was nothing in it except some storage items shoved into the back corner of it. Joel stepped out, but something caught Molly’s attention out of the corner of her eye. She paused for a moment as she focused on it. Joel popped his head back in.

  “Find something?”

  “Clothes.”

  “What?”

  “Ben’s clothes. He shifted.”

  “He did what?” Joel’s eyes were wide as he pushed Molly to the side and grabbed the neatly folded clothes in the corner of the room. He pressed them to his chest. “Oh my God.”

  “He’ll be fine, especially if he is where I think he is.”

  “And where’s that?”

  “With Faye.” Molly stalked out of the room, her heels clacking against the cement floor as she swiftly moved toward the elevator.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To find Faye!”

  Joel muttered, “Well, that’s a comment you say about every day.”

  She shot a glare over her shoulder as she pushed the button for the elevator. “You can join if you’d like, or you can stay here and take over. Your choice.”

  “I’ll come.”

  “Good.” Molly stepped into the elevator. “I’ll meet you in the garage in ten minutes.”

  “How do you even know where we’re going?”

  “Because I know Faye.”

  “You’re the only one.”

  “Joel, watch your tone. Faye has been an asset to this team for years, you can’t deny that.”

  “I like her better when she’s sober.”

  Molly wanted to voice her agreement, but she kept her mouth shut. It wouldn’t do good to share that with him. They all knew it anyway. As the elevator doors opened on the main floor of the house, Molly walked ahead of him and into her room. She had to find Faye, again, but she would. This time she only hoped it wouldn’t be as dangerous as the last.

  ###

  Faye heaved her shoulder into the metal to try to make it budge. She did it so hard, she popped her shoulder out of the socket. Wincing and crying out from the sudden pain, she dropped to the dirt ground and shook her head at Malek. “It’s useless.”

  “Let me help you.” He gripped her arm and popped it back into place.

  Faye scrunched her nose and let out a sigh. She shouldn’t have gotten high so much. It had been weeks since she’d drank from Molly, but between that, the Trankyn attack, and the drugs, her body was wearing out far faster than she intended. Maybe there was a long-term effect to the drugs she hadn’t anticipated.

  “What are you thinking?” Malek’s voice was strong as he spoke as if he hadn’t been injured at all, but Faye could see the paleness in his skin and the slowness to his steps.

  “We have to get out of here. They’re going to go berserk when they figure out you can’t do what they want you to.”

  “Do you know what spell Molly used on Lamek?”

  Faye shook her head. “We’ve never really talked about it.”

  “What?”

  Faye snorted. “Why the hell does that even surprise you? She’s a closed book. You know that. I knew she was the one who put him there, but I never asked and she never shared why until just the other day and even then she wasn’t very forthcoming about it.”

  Standing, she walked around the cage to try and find a weak point in it. They hadn’t been bothered since Faye had been thrown in there with Malek. They would only have so much energy for so long, and while the others had likely noticed their absence, being found was a different story. Faye wasn’t even sure where they were.

  “She needs to share with you.”

  “No shit.” Gripping the bars, Faye shook them, but they were welded together so tightly they didn’t even rattle.

  She nearly sneezed when she felt something crawling on her face again. Resisting the urge to smack it away, Faye nodded toward Malek. “I need to piss. Stay over here.”

  “I’ve seen all there is to see of you, Faye.”

  She glared. “Stay here.”

  Faye stalked to the far side of the cage over by some large boulders that had been imprisoned with them. She hid behind one of them and held out her hand. Ben crawled down her arm and over to her palm. He again didn’t move. Faye had no idea how the hell she was supposed to communicate with a spider, so she just stared at Ben to see what he would do.

  Ben spun web and glided from her hand to the dirt floor. She watched as he walked toward the edge of the cage and vanished. Still not sure what the hell he was doing, Faye stared and waited. She only had so much more time before Malek would be wondering what she was up to because she definitely wasn’t taking a piss.

  She turned to glance at Malek to make sure he wasn’t coming closer, and when she turned back around she nearly jumped out of her shoes. Ben stood before her, fully human and fully naked. She kept her gaze up toward his eyes and grinned at him, still not speaking in case Malek heard. He held a finger to his lips to indicate she had been right in not saying anything.

  Faye hugged him around the middle before Ben drew in the dirt a crude picture of something breaking and a foot. Ben’s body melted in front of her to a small creature no taller than her knee. He moved close to the metal barrier and glanced at her. Faye squared her shoulders as he coughed and a splat of liquid moved from his mouth onto the metal. Faye coughed to cover it up.

  “You okay over there?” Malek asked.

  “Yeah, just lost my breath for a second.”

  Ben shifted again, this time vanishing completely from her sight. Faye tuned her ears into the metal, and it didn’t take long before she heard what was happening. His arachnid form crawled up her leg and back onto her shoulder. Normally she would hate to have a spider on her, but since this was her best friend, she let it go for now.

  Stepping from around the rock, Faye kept her ears attuned to the metal as it melted away. Ben had been brilliant. “I think I found a way out. There’s a weakness in the metal over here.”

  “Really?” Hope littered Malek’s voice.

  “Yup. I think I can pry it open.”

  “Try it. Maybe I can help.”

  They went back over to the part of the cage Ben had spat on. Faye gripped two bars above where the saliva had come out. She just needed to make the opening wide enough for them to slip through without touching any of the saliva itself. That wouldn’t hurt her, but it would do actual damage to Malek.

  With a deep breath, Faye pushed against the bars. They didn’t budge. She hadn’t waited long enough. Faye moved her boot against them and kicked hard, her shoe slipping on the wet metal until she fell into the salvia. The acid burned her skin, eating away at it. Hissing, Faye jerked back and tried to wipe it off her arm and shoulder but got it all over her hand at the same time.

  Malek moved in and gripped her hard to keep her still. He stared at the injuries and shook his head. “What is that?”

  “I don’t know.” Which was true. She hadn’t known whatever the hell creature Ben had shifted into, but whatever it was, it fucking hurt, and she wasn’t healing. Malek reached down into the dirt and threw it onto the wounds.

  Faye cried out as her pain doubled, but the continuous spread of the acid did stop as soon as the dirt hit. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she leaned against the boulder she’d hid behind before. Calming her racing heart, Faye waited until she could see through the pain again. Malek leaned right in front of her.

  “You need to feed.”

  “No.” Faye sniffed hard. “I’m fine.”

  “Faye, this drug you’ve been taking—”

  “I said I’m fine, Malek.” And she meant it. If she could avoid drinking from him, she would. Faye pushed herself up, sure that she could try it again. If anything, she’d rather take the hit of the acid than Malek. She was much better at healing. Water-like liquid poured from her injuries, wetting the dirt he had put into her wounds.

  Faye kicked out and managed to break the metal this time, shattering it until he could safely fit through. She helped him get out first and avoid touching the acid still left on the metal. Faye, however, wasn’t so lucky when she slipped through the bars, her leg hitting it again. Hissing, she rolled onto her side and then her back to get away from it. Malek didn’t hesitate as he threw the dirt in it again.

  Faye gripped his arm and stood up, running. Malek followed behind her as best as he could, but she knew he must still be weak from that head injury. He was far too slow with following her even though she was in her human form.

  Keeping her eyes peirced for some place to hide, Faye moved forward without looking back. As soon as they noticed they were gone, they were going to be pissed as fuck, and she did not want to be on the receiving end of that. Faye found a cave and aimed for that. She paid barely any attention to their surroundings as she pushed forward. The more she moved, the harder it became.

  Her body ached. The wounds on her arm, shoulder, and leg opened back up. Cursing her own stupidity, Faye dodged into the cave and shoved Malek against the wall, her body covering his as a troll stepped right by them. He held his breath, Faye put her forehead to the cold stone in cold air to her lungs. It felt so good. Maybe she had even accidentally inhaled the damn acid. She was going to have to ask Ben what the hell kind of creature that was because she wanted to murder each and every one of them and suck them dry.

  Not that she would, but the thought at least calmed her racing heart. As soon as she could tell the troll was out of the way, Faye stepped back from Malek and shook her head. “We have to hide. I have no clue where the hell we are.”