That was the moment the walls started to shake and the world seemed like it would fall in around us.
* * * *
“Kelsey!” Trent shouted and started trying to get to me. He leapt over the sofa and fell to the side when it bounced up to hit him.
The ground beneath me shook, causing me to start to fall back on my ass. Before I could hit the ground, big arms went around me and I was cradled against Gray’s chest.
“Keep your head down,” Gray commanded.
I heard the sound of tearing fabric and then a loud oof. Gray turned as the rumbling sound got louder, and I saw Fen had changed into wolf form and was covering Evan’s body with his own.
“I can’t breathe,” Evan managed to get out.
I couldn’t see her at all. Fen’s massive wolf had her totally protected from falling objects, though if the roof fell in and the whole metric shit ton of earth came down on our heads, I didn’t think it would really help her much. He would just die on top of her.
Trent stayed in his own form and finally managed to cross the room to join us. He pressed against me, his arms coming up to cover me better. “Is it an earthquake?”
“There’s never been an earthquake here,” Eddie shouted. His tail was out and it flicked around, proof that he was shaken. “I don’t think the Under has ever had one. It is magically fortified. I don’t know what this is.”
The mirrors and paintings on the walls shook but didn’t fall. What they did was seem to fade in and out. One minute it looked like the pocket world Eddie had created and the next I could see the rockface. Like last night when Gray punched through the wall.
When the magic was challenged enough physically, it couldn’t stay in the form it had been assigned and reverted to its natural state. Though the furniture seemed real enough. And the plates. I could hear them smashing to the floor in the other room.
“Master Trent, what should I do?” Eddie looked up at the ceiling, his horns tipping back. “It is too far to run. I cannot take everyone through this rock. I can manage a couple, but not everyone. It is why you were forced to walk in the first time.”
“Get Kelsey out.” Gray put me on my feet, and Eddie took my hand. “Take Kelsey and Evan and then come back for us if you can.”
Another round shook the nest, and I could hear some screams.
“We have to get everyone out.” I could help. There were too many for Eddie to take us all, but we could move to the exits and try to get as many out as we could. The witches could help stabilize the nest.
I wasn’t even sure what we would do with the primals. They were sleeping. We couldn’t move them out into the light. They would all die the minute the sun hit them. We couldn’t lose all their knowledge. Could they survive long enough for us to dig them out?
What the hell was happening?
Fenrir moved off Evan but stayed in wolf form. He could handle a lot more damage in his big canine body than in his human one.
“No arguments. Eddie, do it now,” Gray ordered as I started to stumble.
Eddie’s hand found mine, and in a flash we were in the daylight, the brightness nearly blinding me. I fell to my knees because I’d been trying to stabilize myself before, but now the ground was solid beneath me. I tumbled to the ground beside Evan, who seemed to have the same problems I did.
Eddie gasped and moved toward us. “My mistress, I am so sorry. I should have thrown my body under yours and caught your fall.”
Eddie could be a bit over the top when it came to his charges. It made him the best butler ever, but he could forget himself at times. “And then I would have been impaled by your horns. I’m good. Can you get back?”
Eddie nodded. “Yes, mistress. It is not difficult with a few. As I explained, my blood is in the nest magical system, so I can teleport around. I will get back to Master Trent and bring as many as I can to safety.”
With a pop and the faintest hint of brimstone, he was gone.
“Now I’m covered in Fen hair.” Evan sighed and started brushing the sleeves of her shirt. Dark hair came off. Even as a kid Fen shed everywhere. “What was that? An earthquake? If it was, it’s over now.”
I forced myself up, looking around. We were in some kind of natural area. I wouldn’t have called it a forest, exactly, but there were trees and no signs of manmade buildings in my line of sight. “Where are we?”
“We’re right outside one of the entranceways to a cave that connects with the nest.” Evan pointed to a tall rockface. “Atlanta’s about ten miles away. They only use this route if they don’t want to come out onto city streets, but let me tell you, it’s not fun. Some real small spaces in there. But it’s considered a meet spot if anything goes wrong in the nest. Shouldn’t Eddie be back by now?”
My stomach knotted because Eddie could move quickly when he needed to. “Maybe they’re trying to get the brownies out, too. You know how the men can be until the women are safe. Or maybe they’re trying to make sure the structure is solid enough for us to come back. I would like to know what the hell just happened.”
Evan glanced around. “I don’t know. It seems perfectly calm out here. The birds are chilling. I don’t see anything that looks like it’s been displaced. Shouldn’t some of those rocks have fallen?”