The Morgan Sisters Complete Series Boxed Set

ISBN 9789899734890-29

'Home sweet sweet home home.'

Walking past the train still stuck inside, he glanced up at the frozen people before reaching the invisible door in the ground.

'Arf caboddle arf Jimble,' he muttered before the door materialised beneath him.

The moment he said the words, he shrank back to his usual size.

'That's better,' he sighed.

Turning the handle on the door, he pulled it open and slipped inside. Sitting down on the smooth surface, he gave his body a push and began his way back home.

'Woop Woop!' he yelled as he slid down the long winding chute, eventually stopping in front of an intricately designed triangular door. 'Ethelle,' he whispered. Pushing it open, he stepped inside. 'My Queen?' he asked as he bent his head

'Jimble?' replied a gentle voice.

'Yes, Queen Ethelle, it is me, Jimble.'

'Jimble,' she sighed.

Stepping forward, Jimble looked up at the object of his desire and grinned with delight at the sight of her.

Slightly larger than him, Ethelle sat in her golden hive which hung down from the ceiling. Huge eyes looked down on him, her mouth in a permanent gentle smile.

'Tell me, Jimble. What's happening? You all left me and I have been lost here, all alone.'

'I'm sorry, my queen. We were awakened by the joining of the three stones.'

Ethelle gasped and plopped out of her hive, onto the floor beside him.

'Oh no,' she muttered. 'Where are they? Where are my people?'

'He who joined the stones took them, put them under a spell and made them do bad things to the humans.'

Ethelle's eyes filled with tears.

'Please don't cry, my queen. I have met some of the... the... Watchers and the...'

Ethelle stepped backwards, 'The Watchers?' she whispered.

Jimble nodded and continued, 'Yes, we have become friends, my queen. And they need our help.'

'Tell me, Jimble. What can we do?'

'There is only one thing you can do, my queen,' he murmured.

The Queen looked to the floor, 'Yes, I understand.'

Jimble took her hand in his. 'If you make this sacrifice, then the pixie trolls will be able to return home and continue life as it should be.'

'It is the only way to save us,' she answered. 'I will leave my hive, Jimble. But first, I must lay the egg. She will become your next queen.'

Jimble nodded and gulped back the tears.

oOo

'Lana, Lana,' whispered Emma as her sister began to shudder on the sofa.

'Wake up, my angel,' Barber said as she finally opened her eyes and immediately scrambled up on to her feet.

'We've got to hurry,' she shouted as she left them in the room, looking at each other in confusion.

Following behind her, Emma quickly grabbed Diarmuid's hand as they pushed through the throngs of supernaturals in the hall until they reached Eleanor's office.

Lana was panting. Her eyes had dark shadows beneath them and she struggled to stand.

Eleanor rushed to her side and led her to the sofa to sit down but Lana shook her head. 'There's no time for that. Give me a map,' she cried.

Eleanor didn't hesitate. She pushed everything from her desk onto the floor while Declan grabbed a map of London and laid it out flat.

'There,' pointed Lana. This is an entrance to his network of tunnels. But it's locked. Grycan carries the key. We've got to move quickly. Sthenelaus said the annihilation is on schedule and I've no idea how long ago that vision was from. They've got the Krakor ready. They've been torturing him to make him super angry so he lashes out at anyone in his path. And that would be us. He's scared, he's so scared, Eleanor. I hope we don't have to hurt him,' she cried as she finally let herself be diverted to the sofa where she sat down and sobbed.

Emma opened her eyes wide in amazement. Lana must have witnessed some awful things. She doesn't normally care about animals like that.

Eleanor nodded in response to everything Lana was telling her.

'But there's something else,' Lana cried. 'They've killed... one of us....' she sobbed.

Eleanor stood up and closed her eyes.

'And the other?'

Lana shook her head, 'I don't know if it was Rita or John and I don't know where they're keeping them. All I know is that Grycan did it.'

Emma stroked Lana's hair and pulled her towards her.

'It's okay now,' she whispered gently.

But Lana stood up again, losing her balance as exhaustion began to take its toll. 'We must leave now. We must.'

'You are not going anywhere,' Eleanor insisted. 'You've done so much for this fight already, Lana. For now, you must rest. Wilbur, please take Lana to the nursing station and make sure she gets some sleep.'

Wilbur stepped forward and helped Lana to her feet.

'There there,' he said softly. 'Come on, my girl.'

Lana barely argued. She'd never felt so awful. 'But... I need to tell you exactly which way to go, which tunnel to take.'

'Declan, if she pictures the tunnels in her mind, can you read it?'

Declan nodded, 'I should be able to.'

'Declan will walk with you,' she smiled. 'No go and rest.'

Before the three of them left the room, Lana turned back and looked at Emma who stood up and ran to her. They hugged each other tightly.

'Be careful, Sis,' she whispered. 'Be careful.'

'Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on her,' said Diarmuid who looked across at Barber. They both nodded.

'Let me carry her, Wilbur, you can stay here,' Barber said as he lifted Lana up into his arms and followed Declan out of the office.

The others looked across at each other briefly before Eleanor turned her attention back to the map.

'Right, so we'll start here...'

CHAPTER 36

Several groups waited at strategic locations along the tunnels, both above ground and below, while Declan, Eleanor, Ava, Elliott, Emma and Diarmuid entered first. The others waited patiently for Ava's telepathic instructions as to when they should make their move.

After burning down the locked door, the six of them entered the tunnel. Without making a sound, they ran through the darkness, lit up by the boyfriend and girlfriend team, until they reached their destination. But the moment they approached, Declan knew something wasn't quite right.

'I'm not picking up anything,' he whispered, rubbing his temples.

'What do you mean?' asked Emma as Eleanor waited for a moment before peering round the corner.

'I should be hearing their thoughts, but I'm not.'

'That's because they've gone,' Eleanor said.

Walking into the large tunnel, the only one lit up by several fluorescent light bulbs, she dropped her arms and sighed.

'But they've not been gone long,' Emma added. 'Look, this coffee is still warm.'

'Alert the others, Ava. If Sthenelaus is on the move, they might in danger.'

Ava nodded and immediately began communicating with the other Watchers, Mentors and Supernaturals.

In the meantime, Eleanor began to take in her surroundings, trying to find clues as to where they might have gone.

'Do you think they were on to us?' asked Diarmuid.

'Perhaps. Although I don't know how.'

'Maybe they've got some telepathic Skulls or something,' suggested Emma as she bent down to pick up a strange object on the floor.

'What is it?' asked Elliott.

'Not sure. But it looks like a claw or something.'

Eleanor rushed over and inspected it. 'You're right. It is a claw. It's probably from the Krakor.'

Emma screwed up her face and handed it over.

'You keep it.'

'So the Krakor's been here then?'

'I doubt it. That was probably just brought in by Drake or one of the others. That beast is probably too big to be let loose down here.'

'What do we do now, Eleanor?' asked Emma as she and Diarmuid locked fingers.

Standing still for a moment and looking around one more time, she replied, 'We go to the next location.'

Emma's eyebrows furrowed.

'The docks.'

Just as they were about to turn back, Declan hesitated.

'What is it?' whispered Eleanor as she looked back at him.

'There's something... someone down there.'

Pointing to a tunnel they hadn't yet investigated, Diarmuid and Emma lit themselves up and began to walk into the darkness.

'Wait, you two. We'll go first. Just keep us lit up from behind,' Declan insisted as they shoved past them.

The echo of their quiet footsteps soon became louder as Declan's urgency increased, as did their speed.

'It's Rita,' he yelled. 'She's injured.'

As he rounded a corner, he came to an abrupt stop, almost tripping over the body that had been dumped so casually beneath a hatch.

'Rita, can you hear me?' Declan whispered as he very carefully turned her over so that she lay on her back.

'She's got a pulse, but it's weak,' he said as Eleanor approached and crouched down.

Emma and Diarmuid stood just behind them, their eyes wide.

Cuts and bruises covered the woman's face, making her eyes barely visible beneath the blood and the swollen skin.

Declan quickly removed his jacket and draped it over her.

'Her heart beat's slowing down. We're losing her.'

'Stay with us, Rita. Stay with us,' Eleanor almost shouted as she pounded her chest. 'It's no use. We need hospital equipment. We need... Diarmuid!' she suddenly added. 'Shock her, Diarmuid.'

Declan nodded, 'It might work.'

Diarmuid's face dropped and he glanced at Emma before wiping sweat from his forehead.

'You can do it,' she whispered.

Nodding, he knelt on the floor beside the woman and placed his hands on her chest. Closing his eyes for a second, he then let a charge of electricity shoot through his hands. Her body reacted, lifting slightly off the floor.

Eleanor checked her heart beat. Leaning back, she shook her head.

'Again. Stronger this time,' she said, placing her hand on Diarmuid's arm.

He looked into her eyes.

'She's going to die, Diarmuid. You're her only hope.'

Something in him seemed to click and he turned back to Rita and put his hands back on her chest. Closing his eyes, he let the charge course through him, making him glow bright white.

Emma gasped. It was like he was surrounded by a beautiful bright halo, tinged with blue and red. She watched as the charge continued until the halo faded, leaving the tunnel darker than before.

Eleanor placed her ear against Rita's chest and smiled.

'You did it, Diarmuid. You saved her. Ava please communicate with Wilbur. Tell him we need him and Beau to come down and get her.'

As Ava began to instruct Wilbur as to their whereabouts, Diarmuid slowly stood up. He looked down at his shaking hands.

Emma took them in hers before pulling him into her, hugging him tight.

'You have healing hands,' she whispered.

'No, it was just electricity.'

Eleanor turned her head upwards and shook it, 'No Diarmuid. Emma's right. It wasn't just electricity. You had a special aura about you. It was a combination of the electrical charge and your hands.

'E...E...Ellie?' croaked Rita.

'Rita?' Eleanor whispered. 'You're going to be alright. Shhhhh.'

But Rita tried to shake her head, 'N...n....n....o. They... kill....killed J....J...John,' she sobbed.

Eleanor nodded sadly. 'We know, Rita. But you're going to live. Stay strong, Rita, stay strong.'

'Rita?' Declan whispered.

She turned her head slightly and looked at him through the slits of her eyes, wincing from the pain.

'Do you know where they've gone?'

She closed her eyes and tried to nod.

'Try not to move,' Eleanor said.

'They're releasing the Krak...' she sighed before closing her eyes.

'Where? Rita, where is the Krakor?' Declan asked but it was no use. Rita's exhaustion and pain were too much. She'd slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

'I'm not leaving her here alone. We'll wait for Wilbur and Beau to arrive and then we'll head to the docks. She's been through so much,' Eleanor said sadly as she held the woman's cold hand and gently stroked it.

'I reckon they were taking her with them but something must have spooked them and they just dropped her here,' Declan said as he looked upwards at the hatch.

'They had no need for her. They probably thought she was as good as dead.'

Declan nodded.

'We'll get them, Ellie. We will.'

Eleanor looked down and adjusted Declan's jacket over Rita as they waited.