Page 32 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

PADMA

“ O rina, we have a strong lead on the missing persons case. The symbol is on a boarded-up building in Brimswood somewhere near a Williams and Johns and a laundromat. We’ll investigate it and get back to you. Hope you’re healing well.”

I leave the message on her machine and tuck my phone into my pocket.

It’s time to scout.

Brimswood is a huge part of Dracul territory, the central part, housing the fanciest places. But Citynet helps us find the four stores owned by Williams and Johns. They’re spread out across the area, but we work our way inwards, searching each locale for the matching description, and come up short until we get to our second-to-last stop.

We take a turn around the block and find a laundromat.

“This is it.” I hurry forward, eagerly. “There should be some?—”

And there they are in front of us. Four buildings in a row with for lease signs on them. It’s quiet down this street, eerily so, and I have the urge to leave.

“I don’t want to be here,” Merry says abruptly. “Let’s go.”

I’m about to agree even though the logical side of my brain is against it because this is the place. I know it is.

“There’s a spell at work here,” Holly says before I can speak. “A turnaround lookaway spell. I’m surprised that Jacqueline was able to withstand it. It’s strong. Come on.”

She leads the way down the street, past the first two buildings that sit squat and dark on the grimy pavement. The road sweepers haven’t made it down here in a while. Probably on account of the spell Holly’s detected.

“I don’t see any symbols,” Merry says. “Dammit, the urge to leave is making my stomach hurt.”

“It’ll pass,” Holly says calmly. “Focus on something to ground you. Like my voice or hold my hand.” She offers it to Merry, who takes it with a smile. “Better?” Holly asks .

Merry nods. “Yes, actually.”

“You okay?” Holly asks me.

I feel antsy, but I’m fine, and I tell her that, stepping closer to the building because I think I see something. It’s dark because the streetlights don’t work and the moon has dipped behind a cloud. “I think I see something here.” I point at a spot low down by the side of the door.

They both join me in staring at the spot, and I catch a little gleam. “There, did you see it?”

Holly pulls her phone out and shines the flashlight but all that does is turn the wood dead and dull. She frowns and looks up at the sky. “Wait for it. Step back.” She shoos us away from the door.

A moment later moonlight bathes the street, washing everything in silver, and the symbol lights up like a beacon.

“There you are, you little bastard,” Holly says. “There is no way we would have found that if we didn’t know it was here.”

Something about that sentence niggles at me but Holly starts to work on the boards with the crowbar she just happens to have in her rucksack.

“You came prepared.” Merry looks impressed.

“You said boarded-up buildings” is her only response as she pries off a couple of boards. Enough to get us inside.

“Shouldn’t there be a secret way in?” Merry points out. “I mean, if this is some kind of hideout or meeting spot?”

“Possibly,” Holly replies. “But do we want to spend time searching for it?”

“Good point.” She stands back to let Holly work, and a few minutes later, we have a way inside.

“This could be a storage place…”

Comprehension tightens Holly’s eyes. “We’d smell it surely.”

“What do you…” Merry trails off and places a hand on her mouth. “No.”

Yes, this could be where we find our missing people or…the missing peoples’ bodies.

There’s no one and nothing inside the store. Aside from a few empty boxes and balled-up old invoices, the place is home to layers of dust that haven’t been disturbed in forever.

“I don’t get it,” Merry says. “The symbol is out there. Why is it there if it doesn’t mean anything?”

Holly stands, one hand on her hip, the other shining her phone flashlight as she scrutinizes our surroundings. “We must be missing something.”

I pull my phone from my pocket and activate the flashlight, shining the light on the floor to search for anything out of the ordinary. Hidden hatches maybe ?

Nothing.

Merry walks over to the store counter then around it before ducking out of sight.

“Anything?” Holly calls out.

“Nope.” She pops back up and shows us a bit of paper. “Except this candy wrapper. Still smells like peppermint. And it isn’t covered in dust.”

We hurry over to join her.

“Okay so someone has been here recently.” Holly takes the wrapper from her and sniffs it. “Strong smell, so very recent?”

“I’m going to call Orina again.” I lean back against the counter and pull out my phone.

There’s a soft click and a depression at my back.

My gaze whips up to meet Holly’s just as the floor beneath us opens and swallows us.

“You okay?” Holly helps me off the soft ground.

Soft because it’s piled with sandbags to break a fall.

Above us, the hatch we fell through is now closed. No way out that way, which means there’s another way out somewhere down here.

Here…

A dry tunnel fitted with electricity.

“This is it,” Merry says.

“I’m calling this in. We need backup.” I pat my pocket. “Where’s my phone?”

“You must have dropped it when we fell through,” Holly says. We search the area to no avail. “Must be above us.”

Merry has her phone out and holds it up, shaking her head. “No bars.”

Holly checks hers. “Same, but I downloaded a map of Brimswood before we came out.” She pulls it up on her phone, and we gather around. “We’re here, right under this street. The tunnel leads that way, so toward the park.”

“An area where we tracked every missing person to,” Merry reminds us.

We have no choice but to go that way. Deeper into the tunnels. I draw my sword. “The priority is to find a way out.”

“Agreed,” Holly and Merry say.

Because if this is the lair of the new gods, then we’re undoubtedly outnumbered.

The tunnel seems to track forever. Holly keeps checking the map on her phone.

“Where are we now?” Merry asks.

“Passing beneath the southern side of the park, headed toward the pavilion plaza. ”

An iron ladder appears up ahead. Fixed to the wall, it leads up to a metal hatch.

“Is that a manhole?” Merry asks.

It fucking is. I climb up and push, but nothing happens. There is no mechanism to open it either.

Holly sucks in a sharp breath. “The hatch in the van floor! Edwin said there was one, remember?”

My blood goes icy cold as the pieces fit together. “The kidnappers used it to lower bodies into this tunnel.”

“Just park over a manhole and…” Holly takes a deep breath. “Which means that this is a transport route, and those exits can probably only be opened from above.”

Merry pulls out her phone and checks for service and Holly follows suit.

“Still nothing,” Holly says.

“Same,” Merry says. “So we continue.” Her jaw sets in determination. “We check all the manholes and hope we find one that we can open from this side. We continue checking for reception too. If we get no joy on either front, there’ll be another way out.”

“Oh, there’ll be a way out, but it’s highly likely it will be manned,” Holly says.

Merry’s hands go to the daggers on her belt. She might be our healer, but she has the same combat skills as all Order operatives even if she isn’t blessed.

Holly takes the crowbar from her rucksack. “I didn’t want to freak you out earlier, but there’s a blocking spell on these tunnels preventing the use of magic, probably to stop any supernaturals they bring down here from escaping.”

Which means our mageri is out of commission. “We can do this. Even if the exit is manned, it’ll probably be two, maybe three people at the most.”

Holly and Merry nod in agreement, and their faces relax. Good. This is what leadership is about, except my stomach is a tumult of chaotic emotions as part of my mind relives the moment where I ordered my team into a burning building.

“It’s all right.” Merry takes my free hand. “We won’t take any risks.”

I swallow my doubts and smile. “Let’s get out of here.”

Every manhole is entrance only.

The tunnel passes out from under Brimswood Park and crawls toward the Church of Blood, and a shiver of foreboding pinches my skin. The walls go from stone to brick to plaster, and the ground smooths out.

A set of steps takes us down a level into flagstones facing a stone arch. It smells of incense and something bitter and strong that I can’t name.

The chamber beyond is pitch black.

“We’re under the church,” Holly whispers .

“Why are we whispering?” Merry whispers back, and then… “Oh, what is that?”

I’m not sure, but I feel it. The sense of otherness, or impending doom, like a fist squeezing my lungs.

Holly backs up a step. “We can’t go inside there.” Her eyes are wide and dark.

“We don’t have a choice. There is no way out.”

She shakes her head and breathes heavily in and out. “You’re right. Okay. We need light.”

She switches her phone to flashlight to join Merry’s phone flashlight, and they walk forward, but it’s as if the darkness is alive. It eats the light and shows us nothing.

Holly stops, shoulders tense. “It’s a barrier,” she says. “We’re going to have to walk through it.”

“Might be an exit,” Merry says hopefully.

“Or one of those port doors like at Midsommer.” I tuck my sword away and hold out my hands to the two ladies. “We stay connected.”

We link hands and step into the darkness together.