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I looked at Mulan. “The missing women might be down there. Stay up here and cover me. If I need ya, I’ll call out. Watch for Conn to return and tell him what we found.”

Her nod of agreement was sober.

I let the sword and the fire fade away. Both would hinder me from climbing down the unsafe stairs.

Finally, I handed Mulan my backpack. “There are some small flashlights inside. If ya need light to see in here, use one of them. I installed red filters which should keep them from being noticed outside of the building.”

“I am good partner. I will guard your back,” she said.

I smiled at her claim, which reminded me of Rasmus saying something similar. I kept smiling as I got on my knees and eased myself over the edge and onto the ladder.

This basement had been dug to store cargo from ships docking at the Salem port. The climb down into the space was longer than it looked. Ya had to be careful not to slip and fall the rest of the way. I descended at least twenty feet before my feet finally felt a solid surface beneath them again.

ChapterTwenty-Two

After I left the ladder, I walked only a short distance before encountering a floor-to-ceiling wall blocking access to the rest of the space. The barrier was made of metal rods and bars like a jail cell, but many parts were older and well-worn.

It might once have been part of the old cargo hold, but someone had upgraded it. Like many modern security gates, the metal wall hummed with energy. This was electricity—a form of human magick. And nothing like what I’d felt at the sacred circle. Zara was obviously using whatever she thought she needed.

Beyond the wall, I saw several women lying on the concrete floor. They were curled into fetal positions against the cold hardness of their surroundings. I counted five of them. This had to be the five women who hadn’t been killed or turned yet.

I walked to the cage wall and touched it with my sword. The electricity sent a jolt back into my arm. Fortunately, the jolt was absorbed by the mantle of Conn’s energy surrounding me.

The drugs the women had been given worked well to keep them unaware. They didn’t stir at the sounds of electricity crackling or from me cursing to be on the receiving end of it.

I walked as far as I could before I came across a breaker box. I opened it and flipped all the switches until the humming ceased. That solved the most immediate problem, but the still unconscious women would need more help than I could offer. I needed to call this into someone with the power to help them recover.

I pulled out my phone and found I had no signal, so I returned to the ladder and started the long climb out of the basement to the ground floor.

When I exited the hole, I found Mulan’s staff pointed at me. It might have been funny if I hadn’t been so concerned for the women I found.

I nodded to the ladder and hole in the floor.

“Five of the missing women are down there. They’re restless and making sounds, but too out of it to realize I was there. We’re going to need professional help to release them.”

“Do we call police?”

“No, I have a better idea... and one that allows us to cover our tracks.”

We exited the building and found Conn in demon form with two wolves flanking his side. He morphed into human form when he saw us. “I found Lina Malcom... and someone else I have yet to identify.”

Mulan walked over to them. “They are bound in this form by very strange magick. I cannot identify it.”

I looked at both of them. “As crazy as it sounds, I think it’s Venusian magick. They were the second species ever to occupy the Earth around three thousand years ago. Zara remains enamored with them.”

Mulan looked back at me. “Why do I hear blah-blah-blah when you talk like that? Can you use different words?”

I laughed and shook my head as I lifted the phone and dialed Ben. He answered immediately. I wondered if Ben’s wife had kicked him out of their bedroom. Ben’s love life, or lack of one, wasn’t any of my business, but I hope he wasn’t giving his wife up for this work.

I got right to the point with him when he answered. “Sorry to be calling so late, but I need help. We found five of the missing women and need an extraction. After I hang up, I’ll send you the coordinates of their location. I think they’ve been drugged. Send both police and paramedics to the site. We’ll leave the moment they get here. Ya’re going to want to keep us out of the story.”

“Done,” he said, not asking me any other questions at all.

I hung up and held the phone out to Mulan. “Here. I don’t know how to get the coordinates of where we are for him.”

She frowned, said something in her language, and snatched the phone from my hand. “How old are you? Your witch mother could do this. Get someone to give you lessons for living modern life.”

Her fussing was done in clear and concise English, and it always amused me. “No, I just need Conn or ya here to do it for me. Since I never work alone, this sort of thing is not a problem. Please send it to the contact calledBig Ben.”