Page 68 of Hers to Claim

Light poured into the building as Cisco burst through a door. He headed straight for her, inspecting her briefly to make sure she was alright. “What happened?”

Mari blinked up at him. “I pulled Vincent apart. Can you check on Dante?”

He moved away from her reluctantly and crouched next to him. “I think he’s okay, just knocked out. He should come around soon.”

The rest of the guards had come in behind Cisco and were busily checking various corners of the room to make sure there were no more threats hiding. Grim was already being restrained by Tilly with some magic nullifying cuffs.

When Halcyon and Clarion drew closer, she pointed the way she’d sent Rio. “Vincent said he’s down there.” The two of them turned as one and headed to the now open trapdoor. “I’m not sure what they’ll find down there, but I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Cisco hefted Dante up into his arms. “Let’s go check.”

They crossed the room and looked down into the darkened basement. The sounds of an argument rose up to meet them, voices not yet raised, but certainly getting there. Mari headed down the stairs first, wary of tripping during the dark descent.

As soon as she hit the concrete floor below, she wanted to be anywhere else. This was a space that had been used to torture people for a very long time. It smelled of blood and piss and unwashed bodies, and under all of that, the distinct scent of decay. The filthy drains in the floor made her skin crawl.

Pain and hopelessness very nearly bled from the walls. At the far end of the space was a line of cells. Halcyon, Clarion, and Rio were crowded into one of them, blocking her view of what she assumed was Tristan within.

The only other occupied cell was the one that drew Mari’s gaze. Inside a dark-skinned man was strapped to a table. There was some sort of mask strapped over the man’s head and attached to a machine next to him. His mouth was held pried open so that tubing ran inside. The slurping sounds made it clear that something was being forcefully drawn from his mouth. He was awake and in terrible pain.

Without thinking, Mari closed the distance to the cell. Cisco made a noise of protest, but she refused to listen. She ripped the cell open with her magic and ran inside. The moment her hands touched the man, he jolted.

She pulled as much pain as she could away from him, but it was an endless ocean and she was barely making a dent. Karma was across from her a moment later, taking in what was going on with a quick sweep of her eyes before setting on the machinewith a vengeance. She smashed it to bits while Mari looked on in mute desperation. His pain rattled through her. No matter how much she drew there was always more.

As soon as the machine was no longer making noises, Karma moved to try to get whatever it was off his head. It took her a few tries, and some anguished grunts, but she finally managed. She carefully pulled the tubes out of his mouth with a disgusting squelch and then looked to Mari.

Now that the pain was no longer compounding, she was finally making progress. The man stared up at her, his eyes empty. He was clearly confused about what was happening, but he had no strength left to fight.

Mari’s heart sank. He had given up. She couldn’t blame him. He was broken in ways beyond counting, but she could only heal the physical. He’d have do the rest himself, if he had the fortitude to do that, and she couldn’t worry about that right now. She patched him up as best she could over the next few minutes. Healing was not her strength, but she managed to close the wounds in his mouth at least.

When she looked up a while later, Cisco was standing outside the cell watching her with Dante still in his arms. “Greta is already en route,” he said quietly.

Mari sighed. She rested her hand on the man’s shoulder as carefully as she could. “I’ve done all I can. We’ve got a better healer coming.”

He stared up at her with no expression at all. She wasn’t even sure if he understood her.

Karma smoothed a hand over his head and made a soothing noise. “It’ll be okay, Luis.”

The argument in the next cell had quieted while she was distracted. “Everything okay next door?” she asked Cisco.

“There was a disagreement about where Tristan was going to be taken. He’s still out and will likely be for a while. Thehellhounds finally agreed to come to the compound so Rio didn’t have to get out his claws.”

It took the rest of the night to secure transport for the two people who needed to be carried and monitored. Greta barked orders for the care of her patients that everyone around her jumped to obey lest they catch the even sharper side of her tongue.

Dante came around after a while and Mari stood quietly with her arm around him, watching the orchestrated chaos. She was more restless than tired. She’d reached the end of the help she could be and she had entirely too much time to think.

Dohal was determined to stay in his prison to protect her, but as soon as she’d seen the captives in the basement, she knew she had to permanently get him out of there as soon as possible. She just had no idea how to do that.

Chapter 21

Once they got backto the manor and were locked behind the wards and the door, the guards peeled off. Halcyon carried the unconscious Tristan, and Kima carried Luis. Kima said she could handle getting them all settled, and that was a load off Mari’s mind, because once the lion shifter put her mind to something it got done in the most expeditious way possible.

Rio carried Mari across the expansive foyer. He had shot a disgruntled look her way when she’d started to protest that she was perfectly capable of walking.

Dante headed off toward the stairs that led to the guest rooms. “See you in the morning,” he said with a wave.

Rio stopped. “Where are you going?”

Dante glanced his way. “To my room. It’s up there.” He pointed.

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