Eventually they’d have to start making noise, calling out for the kids, risking unfriendlies being drawn to them. The Snake Eaters were down here somewhere, and friend or foe, if they startled those men, blood would be spilled. Ty wanted to go under the radar for as long as possible.
When they finally reached the bottom of the staircase, there were only two passages to choose from: right or left. Ty should have been able to breathe a sigh of relief, but there wasn’t enough room in the subterranean hallways to even puff out his chest. He closed his eyes, bringing his gun up to rest the cool barrel against the bridge of his nose.
“You okay?” Deuce asked, his whisper harsh in Ty’s ear.
Ty nodded and swallowed past the knot of panic in his throat. “Okay, Nick would have been leading them, acting on instinct,” he muttered, trying to put himself into the mind-set Nick must have been in. He’d rather be in Nick’s mind-set than his own right now anyway.
“Is he a lefty or a righty?” Deuce asked.
“Lefty, why?”
“Given no time to think it through, he’d go with his dominant side. He’d choose left.”
Ty raised an eyebrow, and Deuce shined the light toward his chest so they could see each other.
Deuce nodded. “Trust me. Go left.”
Ty picked the left passage and they hurried down it, trying to be silent and listen. Water dripped, and some unidentifiable banging sound echoed in the distance. It could have been the pipes of the old house, or someone moving on the main level above them, or even the Snake Eaters down here searching.
When they reached another intersection, the space opened up. It looked as if they were nearing an older part of the house, or maybe even tunnels that predated the mansion. Ty instructed Deuce to shine a light on the stone, and when he did, they stared at it with matching frowns. There was a jagged line of mismatched masonry. The bottom half was smooth, gray stone, worn with time and put together with such precision and skill that no mortar had been used. The top was a mixture of darker rock and brick and mortar.
“This looks like ruins from that castle,” Deuce said, running his hand over the bottom half of the stone.
“Oh God. If this was part of the castle complex, these tunnels could go all over the island. Livi said there were lava tubes and caves. They would have used those to connect these things.”
Deuce put a hand over his mouth, shaking his head.
A wave of desperation and fury swept over Ty. He was completely powerless to do anything to help his brother, or any of the people he loved, right now. He had rarely experienced that kind of helplessness, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. “Nick couldn’t have taken them far in the time he was down here; they have to be close.”
“What if they got tired or impatient? What if something scared them and they moved?”
“I’ll get her back, Deacon. I swear to you.”
Deuce just nodded, still covering his mouth.
A voice echoed off the damp walls, and Ty grabbed Deuce’s shoulder and pushed him against the wall, flattening himself beside his brother at the corner of the intersection.
“Should have been marking these fucking walls!” someone was saying.
“We’re never getting out of here,” another voice commented, sounding calm and collected despite his prophecy of doom.
The echoes made it impossible to tell, but Ty thought it sounded like English and Frost.
He whistled low to get their attention. Their shuffling footsteps halted, and everything went silent. A light played over the walls.
“Identify yourself,” English finally called.
“It’s Grady.” Ty didn’t step into sight, though. He handed his gun to Deuce and put his finger to his lips. Deuce nodded. “Did you find her?”
“No. We didn’t realize how fucking big these tunnels were down here,” English answered. “Thank Christ you’re here, though, do you know where we are?”
“Yeah, I can lead you out.” Ty put one hand out into the passage to let them know where he was, then carefully stepped out into the light of their flashlights. The three remaining Snake Eaters all looked relieved to see him. None of them made an untoward move, but then, he hadn’t told them where they were yet so it didn’t ease Ty’s suspicions.
“We’ll help you keep looking for her,” Frost offered.
Ty nodded, both grateful and still wary. He pointed the way he’d come. “We’re a straight shot from the stairs up. That way. If you need to get out. Small spaces, man.” He patted his chest, then held his breath, waiting to see if they’d make a move or if they were on the up-and-up.
English came forward, his light aimed toward the ground. “Got anything to mark it with when we come back this way?”