Page 13 (1/2)

The very thing he didn’t need

He intended to s pay for every moment of this lancing over his shoulder "The curs have entered the tunnel"

Salvatore’s pace never faltered "They won’t be the only ones"

"What do you mean?" Harley demanded

"If Caine has any sense at all, he’ll have sent a few curs overhead to try and cut us off at the exit"

"So you have effectively trapped us down here?" she accused, her angry tone unable to hide the fear he could sense in the air

"Of course not," he sreat leader was convincing others you knehat you were doing, even if you didn’t have a clue Besides, he didn’t want to listen to any"Levet, can you cut off our pursuers?"

The gargoyle sniffed "My talents are boundless"

"Can you do it without bringing the entire tunnel down on our heads?"

He lifted his tiny hands toward the ceiling "We shall see"

Not entirely reassured, Salvatore grabbed Harley’s arht want to give hiht speared through the darkness, he abruptly turned his head "And hide your eyes"

"Not again," sheher lips when the explosion sent the on top of Harley, Salvatore protected her fro debris, relieved that they were the usual rocks and clumps of dirt to be found in a tunnel He wasn’t in the s flapping with pride as Salvatore rose to his feet and pulled Harley upright They all silently studied the seely solid wall of dirt that now blocked the tunnel behind the had actually gone right, Levet glanced toward the low ceiling "Oops"

"Oops?" Salvatore growled

"Maybe we should hurry"

Salvatore heaved a resigned sigh "Daer concerned about whatdown on their heads

The dash to stay ahead of the cave-in lasted nearly two ain became stable, and better still, the tunnel widened and branched into two separate passageways

Salvatore ca for Levet to skid to a stop at his side Despite his perfect vision in the dark, this craoyle than a Were

"What do you sense?" he demanded

Levet sniffed the air and pointed his hand to the right "This tunnel has an opening thirty or forty feet past the curve" There wasHe pointed to the left "That one…"

"What?" Salvatore prompted

"It continues on, but I cannot tell more than that It has not been used for several years"

Salvatore hesitated only a et past any curs ill be waiting?"

"If you are atte to insult rabbed his arm and jerked him around to ?"

"We have to split up"

"Split up? Are you kidding?"

"If Levet can get past the guards, he can contact Styx and let him knoe’re in trouble"

She blinked in surprise and Salvatore smiled wryly Hell, she couldn’t be any more shocked than he was Before this estion he would deliberately seek out the leeches for help So far as he was concerned, the only good vaed

Unfortunately, the suspicion that Briggs was still alive changed everything Lunatic curs he could handle A Were siphoning black ic meant that he had to s his considerable pride

The vampires were the only ones he could trust to keep Harley safe

"The vari to need his help"

"You’re going to use the vaet away froed

She tried to hide her shiver "Then shouldn’t we be trying to get out of these tunnels?"

"I don’t doubt we could fight our way past the curs, but they’ll be right on our tails I prefer to slip away unnoticed"