Kendrick carefully scrambled down and over stones, making his way to them. The rock fall sloped downward farther on, flowing out of an open door. The doorframe had remained upright, the lintel supporting the walls, but the entire ceiling inside the room had collapsed.
Kendrick spied a hand poking from this debris. He dropped the sword near it and started pulling rocks away from the man buried beneath. The groans increased as Kendrick moved the concrete away to reveal a Shifter, one of the ones who’d joined Lachlan. Lachlan had trapped him in here to die.
The Shifter—a Lupine called Darien—opened his dark eyes, and his next moan became a sigh of relief. “Thank the Goddess. I won’t die without a Guardian.”
Kendrick felt Darien’s chest, arms, legs, neck, and gently slid his hands across his abdomen. “You might not die at all. You’re pretty tough.”
Darien’s dirty face split with a grin. “Yeah, so my mate tells me.”
Kendrick knew Darien’s mate, and his cubs. “You’ll see them again. I promise you. There’s another down here with you. Can you help me find him?” The other voice had grown fainter still.
Darien tried to raise his head, grunted, and gave up. “Five of us. Lachlan told us to wait for you here in case you came back this way.”
“Bastard. Why the hell—?” Kendrick bit off his question. Rescue now, interrogate later.
Darien put his dirt-encrusted hand on Kendrick’s arm. “Because we needed a leader. We’re Shifters, Kendrick. We like hierarchy and alphas. Life is hard to figure out—we need someone to lean on when it gets too tough.”
“I was still there for you,” Kendrick said in a hard voice. “Even if you didn’t see me.”
“I know, but like I said, we’re Shifters. We need someone to hold our hands sometimes—literally.”
And Lachlan had played on that need and dependency. A leader’s Shifters weren’t much different from his own cubs—his followers thrived on attention as much as the basics like food and a safe place to sleep.
“I’m sorry,” Kendrick said. “Truly. You’re right. I should have been there for you.” He closed his hand around Darien’s fingers where they rested on his arm. “Tell you what, when we get you and your friends out of here, you can smack me upside the head.”
Darien grinned again. “I wouldn’t have hurt you.” His other hand came to rest on Kendrick’s as though he took strength from the touch. “Much.”
Kendrick grunted a laugh as he continued to unbury Darien and helped him to sit on the pile of rubble. He left Darien to catch his breath and crawled to where he heard movement. Kendrick began pulling away rocks and gravel, the Sword of the Guardian lighting the way.
Kendrick’s heart dropped when he uncovered a Shifter, dead. The man had been crushed, no hope of survival.
Kendrick knew him, as he knew Darien, as he knew every Shifter under his command. Immense grief flowed through him as he lifted the sword and plunged it into the dead Shifter’s heart. There was a faint whisper, and the Shifter disappeared into dust that dispersed and vanished.
But there was still someone alive under here. Another groan sounded, and rocks moved near where Kendrick crouched. Kendrick let the sword drop with a clatter and dug through the rubble with both hands. Darien joined him, and soon they uncovered another Shifter.
It was the Feline who’d been Lachlan’s main supporter. The man opened his eyes, dark orbs shining among the white dust that coated his face.
“Guardian,” he whispered.
The Feline’s body was broken. Blood seeped from between his lips, and his bones had been shattered.