I rushed to Wulf and ripped the blindfold and duct tape off him.
“Don’t touch me,” he said. “If I move, the bomb will go off.”
“It has a digital clock attached,” I told him. “It looks like it’s set for a timed explosion.”
“How much time do I have?”
“Almost five minutes.”
“Leave. Get out of the building.”
“What happens if I pull the wires off you?”
“If you do it in the right sequence you might defuse the bomb or at least free me from it. If you do it wrong the bomb will go off.”
“What’s the right sequence?”
“Only Anarchy knows that. And she’s so insane, she might not even know the sequence. You need to leave now.”
I looked at the digital display ticking away seconds, and I felt my scalp prickle. “The wires are color-coded. Does that mean anything to you?”
“No.”
Damn! I looked at the open door, and I looked back at Wulf. I blinked back tears. “This really sucks,” I said to him.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You need to leave and get as far from the building as possible.”
“Can’t do it,” I told him.
There were two wires. Red and green. I ran to the counter, found a pair of shears, and ran back to Wulf.
I could feel sweat collecting in a pool between my breasts and rolling down the side of my face as I bent over Wulf and the wires. The time was ticking away. I had to make a decision. I pressed my lips together to keep from whimpering, said a small prayer, and slipped the strap to my shoulder bag over my head so the bag hung down my back and out of my way.
“Here goes,” I said. “Go with green. I’m cutting the green one first.”
I held my breath and snipped the wire. No explosion. My heart was racing and my nose was running. Some sweat dripped onto Wulf. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m really scared.” I had two minutes left, and I was working hard to keep my hands from shaking. I cut the red wire. Wulf was completely detached from the bomb, but the clock was running. I cut the rope attached to his neck, threw the shears away, grabbed the chains attached to Wulf, and dragged him to the door.
“Jeez Louise,” I said, putting my weight behind it. “How much do you weigh?”
I managed to get to the door. I gave one last tug and we tumbled out. I yelled for help, and Diesel came running.
“Bomb!” I said. “Get him out of here.”
Diesel and Hatchet picked Wulf up and we all ran about forty feet before the building exploded and we went flat to the ground. The back door and kitchen fan blew out and shot off like missiles. There was smoke and fire inside, but the exterior of the tomb looked intact and unscathed.
Diesel unlocked the shackles, and Wulf flopped onto his back and lay stretched out, spread-eagle, for a couple beats, breathing hard. Diesel gave Wulf a hand up, and we all moved away from the Sphinx. People were running from all directions and emergency vehicles were screaming down the street.
“What happened?” Diesel asked Wulf.
“Apparently, the ridiculous rumor that we should not have relations with our own kind is true. I met a woman who neglected to mention her special abilities to me. And now as time goes on she becomes more and more powerful, assuming my skills, and I’m left with very little. Obviously, I was the loser in this latest attempt to stop her.”
“Anarchy,” Diesel said.
“Yes. Also known as Deirdre Early. She’s the heiress to the Early candy fortune. She has all the power and no ability to control it,” Wulf said. “She was a monster in her own right, and I’ve created an even more powerful monster.”
“Is there a way to uncreate her?” I asked him.
“Not easily,” Wulf said.
“Sire,” Hatchet said to Wulf, “perhaps if we had relations, I could obtain some of your skills and I could take over the business.”
Wulf gave Hatchet a smack to the back of his head that knocked him to his knees. “I still have the strength to kill you,” Wulf said.
We were almost back to Marblehead, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open.
“Crawling around in dirt tunnels and swimming in grottoes is exhausting,” I said to Diesel. “I’m going to bed early.”
“And I’m sleeping on the couch,” Diesel said. “That was a freaking sobering experience. It’s not bad enough that Wulf is losing his power . . . the recipient went batshit.”
“What are you going to do about her?”
“I’m going to try to locate her through the Early family. If no one’s heard from her I’ll go back into the tunnels to see if I can find her.”
“She has the tablet.”
“True,” Diesel said, “but we have the stone.”
“Omigosh!”
Diesel turned onto Washington Street. “I don’t like the way that sounded. Should I be worried?”
“I don’t have the stone.”
“You lost the stone?”
“It was in my purse.”
“And?”
“I don’t have it. I think I left my purse in Hanover. I dropped it when the Sphinx exploded. And I sort of remember Hatchet picking it up, but then I turned my attention to Wulf.”