The space itself was bare. There was a twin-sized metal cot, a table with two chairs, a fridge, and cupboards containingnonperishable food items. The bathroom at the end of the hall had a toilet, a sink, and a stand-up shower. There were no books or sources of entertainment. They’d found a few scratchy blankets, but the space had clearly been designed to keep one person safe over an extended period of time. Maybe two.
Certainly not six, one of them a prisoner.
Nikhail couldn’t imagine staying down here for weeks, let alone months or, gods forbid, years.
A hand touched Nikhail’s shoulder, pulling him out of his dire thoughts, and he looked up. Taliyah stood before him, her hands covered in dirt. The vampire’s black eyes seemed dimmer than normal. She placed the battery-powered lantern she’d been carrying on the ground at her feet.
“We’re going to take a break,” Taliyah said softly, gesturing to Crystyna, who had been working with her.
If Taliyah looked tired, Crystyna looked dead on her feet.
“Of course,” Nikhail said. “I’ll take over digging.”
When it became clear that the tunnel had collapsed, Nikhail had tried using his magic to clear the debris, but the dirt was too tightly packed and strewn with rocks and pebbles. He’d quickly realized they would have to dig themselves out the old-fashioned way.
Thanks to his team’s injured state and the limited room in the tunnel, they were being forced to work in shifts.
An hour ago, when the bear shifter began to show signs of stirring, Nikhail injected the rebel leader with their last sedative. Doing so had made the already-dire situation even worse. If the sedative wore off, they’d have to contend with Harringdale.
They’d already subdued the bear shifter once, but Nikhail didn’t think they’d be able to do it twice. Not as easily, anyway, now that they’d lost the element of surprise, and everyone was weaker.
Getting to his feet, Nikhail folded the blanket that had been draped over his legs. His side pinched at the movement, but he ignored the pain.
“You should both try to rest, if you can,” he said.
Crystyna headed to the cupboards that held packets of dried food, but Taliyah sank to the floor and rested her head against the wall. Though the bunker was stocked with food, it wasn’t equipped for vampires. Earlier, Taliyah had insisted she’d be fine without blood, but Nikhail knew that vampires, especially younger ones, could only go so long without feeding.
He was keeping an eye on his fellow soldier, and if the vampire needed blood, he planned to insist she drink from his wrist. He wouldn’t allow anyone to get weak on his watch if he could help it.
Nikhail caught Therian’s eye and pointed to the chair in the middle of the space, where Harringdale was tied and sedated. Therian scrubbed a hand over his face.
The silent conversation was over nearly as quickly as it had begun. Satisfied that Therian would watch over the rebel leader and make sure he stayed put, Nikhail turned his back on Harringdale.
Right now, the rebel leader didn’t look all that dangerous. If Nikhail hadn’t known that the man had ordered the murders of Representatives in cold blood, if he hadn’t watched Harringdale’s hours-long rant about overturning the government, he wouldn’t have believed this man was capable of such things.
In his nonshifted form, Harringdale looked rather nonthreatening, all things considered. He was of average height, with sable brown hair and a face that looked like a hundred others. His brown eyes were unremarkable, and other than the distinctive scar above his lip, the rebel leader looked utterly normal.
Of course, the sedative probably helped with that.
Holding the battery-powered lantern with his left hand, Nikhail made his way through the bunker. He passed through the open door, and the cool air wrapped around him. The metal walls gave way to packed dirt, and it wasn’t long before Nikhail was at the site of the cave-in.
Placing the lantern on the ground, he picked up the bowl that was serving as a makeshift shovel. A sigh gusted out of him as he got to work.
Nikhail lost track of time as he dug. Minutes flowed together, the repetitive motions of scooping up packed dirt and rocks and depositing them along the tunnel’s edges gave his mind plenty of time to wander.
And wander it did.
Nikhail thought about River. Her smile. How she looked at him, as if he were her whole world. How his heart warmed every time she stepped into the room. How merely being in her presence was a gift that he had never deserved but would forever cherish.
He thought about her until his heart ached, and then, his mind wandered to this never-ending, godsforsaken mission. Capturing the rebel leader was the only thing that had gone right so far.
As a rule, Nikhail didn’t believe in curses. He never had. But if hedid,he would think that this expedition had been cursed from the start. He should’ve been done and back in the Central Region with River by now, but instead, here he was. Shoveling out piles of dirt, wondering if Harringdale was right, and they were going to die down here.
The thought of never seeing River again, of never hearing her laugh or pressing his lips against hers or holding her against his chest, spurred Nikhail onward. His arms burned, and hisshoulders ached as he dug and dug and fucking dug, but he didn’t give up.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before there was movement beside him. With a nod in his direction, Stephan picked up the other bowl and started to dig alongside Nikhail.
They worked in silence, their grunts of exertion the only sound for several minutes.