We followed my magic teacher out of the room through another set of stairs leading upward, after she checked a door for any other Syndicate members to dispatch. It apparently led to a bathroom, and she didn’t find anyone inside. She wanted to go check downstairs as well but seemed pleased when we told her about our escape from our cell, and how we had already checked the other cells.

The next floor was a warren of stone hallways with rooms branching off them. These hallways were much better lit than those two floors below where our dungeon cell had been, and a look in the rooms told me that these were probably private quarters for members of the Syndicate. The rooms were lavish and seemed to have electricity like the floor below that hosted the bar, as well as most of the modern comforts that electricity could provide.

I figured that they probably had some sort of generator stashed somewhere, or perhaps a Wisp like Jenny providing their electricity as we did at the club. There was no way that they would be living it up like this underground otherwise. I knew we were underground since Melody told us that the base we were in was in The Caverns, but that didn’t surprise me at all given that the Chimera Syndicate was involved.

The reason we checked all the rooms was twofold. One was because Ms. Norstrom wanted to do a room-by-room check for any stray Syndicate members since the plan was to destroy this Syndicate cell completely and send them a message. Yup, Carmilla and everyone else at the club were pissed that we had been targeted, and they wanted to ensure that it never happened again.

The second reason for the room checks was to search for anything like a way of transporting ‘merchandise’ or any type of communication devices they might have for contacting the main branch of the Chimera Syndicate. Anything of the sort that we found would either have to be taken with us or destroyed so the Syndicate couldn’t send for reinforcements.

The first room had nothing interesting except for the usual occupant’s clothing. They were men’s clothes, too big and obviously not made for a woman’s body, but Ms. Norstrom took care of that since she correctly assumed that I was still hiding the existence of my Divine magic from Delilah. She used her own Divine magic to remake some of the clothes into clothes that would fit us a lot better since not all of us were as comfortable being naked as I was.

My teacher also took the opportunity while we were in a more secure and private setting to cast healing spells on the four of us who had been prisoners. Dressed and healed of most of our injuries, our moods were much improved except perhaps for Delilah, who was strangely quiet and looked like she might break down in tears at any moment. Though the Fire Mage was trying hard not to show it in front of us as we changed into the clothes that Ms. Norstrom had magically made for us. I chalked it up to her experiences before we joined her as captives of the Syndicate and figured that she was going to need some major counseling once this was over.

We had only checked five more rooms and found them to be empty of anything else useful to us when we started hearing shouts and the sounds of fighting. A Troll was thrown into the wall at a corner ahead of us, where it slumped down to the floor. That wasn’t the end of his suffering though as a bundle of fur, fangs, and fury descended upon him before he could get up, tearing out his throat to end him.

The Werewolf, for that was surely what it was, turned toward us, and the moment that she spotted us, she let out a spine-chilling howl. Immediately after, she cautiously approached us, probably more to not freak us out any more than we already might be than due to any fear on her part. I was absolutely sure that it was a female, going by the general body shape and the remains of her clothes.

Those clothes were shredded and bloodied, but I was pretty sure that none of the blood was hers and she seemed fine when she said, “Thank goodness Melody and Elsa managed to get you girls free.” I had never seen Lou’s mother in her wolfed-out form before, but her voice told me that it was her even if it was a little grittier than usual.

“Actually, Genevieve, they were already making their escape when we found them,” Melody quickly pointed out. “We just needed to help them take care of some assholes who weren’t keen on letting them go.”

“All of the Syndicate’s people downstairs have been taken care of. We were just looking for the rest of you and any stragglers that need to be put out of our misery,” my magic teacher quickly added.

“The entrance is on the floor above this one, that floor is clear as well. There were…” Whatever she was going to say was lost to us though when another familiar figure raced around the corner squealing like a mad woman, “You found them, Gen!” Then Nixie hugged my sister, Mallory, and me in turn as she told us how good it was to see us safe and sound. She practically crushed me when it was my turn.

“It’s good to see you too, Nixie,” I told her with a relieved smile. Jess and I had all grown closer to the dancers and other people who worked in the club since we started our own employment there. I had thought that it might make our relationships with them more professional, but it only seemed to cement it in my mind and heart that these people were family now, even if that family was a little strange.

While she crushed me in her arms, I whispered quietly enough so only she could hear, “I’m guessing that the obliteration of those wards was Mom’s doing?”

I didn’t want to risk Delilah overhearing, not that it looked like I had anything to worry about on that front. Now that we had met up with some of the others, were dressed, and seemed relatively safe for the moment, Delilah looked… disconnected. I couldn’t really think of another word that fits, she was just staring off into space again like she was earlier in the dungeon and I when caught sight of her eyes, they looked empty.

I almost… no, I did feel bad for her. She was going to have a long road ahead to learn to live with what happened to her and she was going to need counseling and friends. Real friends, not those people who hung out with her because she was rich and popular, who sucked up to her and couldn’t call her on it when she was going overboard.

Well, that probably wasn’t going to be my problem. There was bad blood between us, and even if I was willing to put it in the past, she probably wouldn’t. At least, not the Delilah that I knew. Maybe Mallory could help her through this, she was looking genuinely concerned for her and I wondered if their friendship was really as hollow as she made it out to be. It looked like there might be some feelings there still, at least from Mallory’s side.

I was so focused on the pair of them and those thoughts running through my mind that I barely registered Nixie’s whispered reply as she finally set me free from her hug. “Yeah, I’ve never seen Tiff that pissed off before. She’s upstairs with Merry and Annika guarding her and the entrance, in case reinforcements decide to show up. Krysti is with them as well.”

Nixie then offered, loud enough for everyone to hear, to take us upstairs to join Mom and the others, so we could be sent home, and everyone could stop worrying about us. Ms. Norstrom offered to help Genevieve finish the room-by-room search of the base for any Syndicate survivors. However, it didn’t sound like they would be survivors for long once Genevieve and Carmilla used their sharp senses to track them down. Everyone in this base who worked for the Chimera Syndicate was going to die, painfully if Carmilla had anything to say about it.

She took us back the way that she and Genevive had come to find us while the Werewolf and my magic teacher went to check the rest of the rooms in this tunnel. Jess took my hand, and Melody the other, and I took comfort in being close to them and safe as Nixie led the way and Mallory, pulled Delilah along and spoke to her in a quiet, reassuring tone. I probably could have heard what she was saying if I tried, but I figured it was probably between the two of them and did my best to not eavesdrop.

There were bodies to avoid while we walked, mostly Trolls and Goblins, but the occasional Mage as well, at least, I was pretty sure the larger bodies were Trolls. They were kinda hard to identify though. The Goblins and Mages that I was able to identify were slashed to ribbons or had their throats torn out, which was probably Genevieve’s doing.

The other bodies looked like they had exploded, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know for certain how Nixie managed that with Water magic. My imagination was already filling in the blanks and it was enough to know that it was probably not a pleasant way to go, even if it was probably very quick. Seriously, there was blood everywhere, still dripping from the ceiling in places and running down the stone walls, and we had to avoid stepping into pools of it. And the smell, my poor sensitive nose was not happy and I imagined that it was worse for Jess with how she was tensing up.

Still, it wasn’t too long before we made it to a small room where we found the stairs heading up. Three main stone hallways branched off from this room as well, including the one we had just traveled, and Nixie explained that they had split up. She and Genevieve had taken one tunnel while Carmilla took another and Mallory’s mom, Calliope, took the third.

“That’s a lot of Mages and goons for so few of you,” Mallory said with a look of concern as she glanced down the center hallway, which smelled strongly of smoke and ash.

“If you’re worried about your mother, there’s no need,” Nixie told the Efreeti kindly. “Calliope is a really strong Efreeti who has very good control of her fire. It would take a relatively powerful, Fire or Water Mage to stop her, and even a top-tier Divine Mage would think twice before facing off against Carmilla. Speaking from experience, it would be a small miracle if they had anyone strong enough to take on any of us at full power and as pissed off as we are.”

“Yeah, they rely on hired muscle and slaves with control collars for a reason,” Melody agreed with a tired grimace. “The Syndicate attracts a certain type of Mage, those who have just enough of a taste of real power to want more. More powerful and talented Mages can make a lot more money by hiring out their services legally, either through working with the PDA or by opening up a business of their own.”

That did make sense, now that I thought of it. That Earth Mage I took out had felt like the most powerful of the four we faced, but even he wasn’t very powerful, he just had a bit of talent and learned some control. Once I realized that, he wasn’t all that hard to beat, and I’m still training with my magic.

“So, what you usually see is maybe a dozen Mages per cell or two dozen at most, and they’re all like the guys we just wiped out. They hire a bunch of Paranormal goons with flexible morals to fill out the numbers and the head of the cell might have a few Paranormals with magic control collars to boss around if the higher-ups like him enough. Usually, that’s enough for most of their criminal ventures and they snatch people like you girls by surprise, drug them first, or overwhelm them with disposable numbers. Sometimes all the above,” Nixie continued to explain as she ushered us toward the stairs and then up.

The room upstairs looked like a war zone that had once been a foyer of sorts. There were bodies everywhere, though thankfully none that I recognized, and the melted remains of a pair of huge steel doors led outside, probably to The Caverns. Some bodies were on the threshold of the entrance, meaning they likely tried to get in after Mom and Carmilla’s strike team hit. I assumed they were either Syndicate members and their goons who had returned to base to find it invaded or opportunists from the Caverns trying to take advantage now that those wards were gone.

The only four people standing in the room were Krysti, Annika, Aunt Merry, and Mom. Krysti was healing some injuries that Aunt Merry and Annika got while they were very obviously acting as Mom’s bodyguards. The moment that Mom saw us though, she rushed across the room to squeeze me and Jess in a hug.

“Are you girls alright? I was so worried about you when I got the call… if it hadn’t been for Selina being able to track you…” I guess she thought she might be babbling, or maybe she just realized that no words were needed right then.

So, she didn’t say any more for a moment, just held us both tight and then quietly reassured us that this was never going to happen again. Mallory got similar treatment when her own mother came flying up the stairs on wings of fire to crush her in an embrace. Mom hugged me and Jess, Calliope hugged Mallory, and neither would let us go until Grundle arrived to take all of us back home.

Mom came back to the club with us, partly because she still didn’t want to let us out of her sight and partly to reassure Aunt Merry and Annika that we were all going to be safe at home. Delilah still wasn’t responsive, and Melody had to carry her through the back road Grundle had made to return us to the club. It was like she had completely shut down the moment that she realized we were safe. I guess I couldn’t blame her after what she went through at the hands of the Syndicate, but we were all a little concerned by this.

Everyone who wasn’t still dealing with the dregs of the local Syndicate cell in The Caverns was in the club when we arrived. Sorcha and Selina were the first to glomp us, but Carmen and Lou weren’t far behind. Well, I guess Carmen didn’t really glomp us, but she was still nursing injuries from the crash, and I couldn’t blame her since my pain relief spell was starting to wear off.

Even with the healing spells Ms. Norstrom had used on us, I hurt all over. But, hey, that pain and the horrible cramps from my period meant that I was still alive and free. Not that it stopped me from quietly casting the relief spell again as soon as I could work up enough concentration.

After everyone had shown me, my sister, and Mallory how glad they were that we were safe and sound again, Carmen’s mother insisted on giving us all a checkup herself and applying some healing spells of her own. Ms. Norstrom was a powerful Divine magic user, but she wasn’t a Healer. My teacher had told us as much earlier, saying that she was more used to quick spells to keep herself or her allies alive and able to continue fighting on the battlefield.

While Isabella was looking us over and casting her healing spells on us, including Delilah, Brock and Cindy disappeared into the kitchen to make us all a nice hot meal. They made something for Delilah too, but I wasn’t sure if she was going to snap out of whatever daze she was in to eat it. Mom had already called her father, and he would be coming to pick her up soon. Maybe her parents could get through to her where we couldn’t.

Brock and Cindy brought out our meals just before Mr. Devereaux arrived, but he and Mom let us all eat before explanations were due. As I expected, Delilah didn’t eat. She was completely shut down, just sitting where we sat her in a booth like a zombie, and wouldn’t respond to anything we said. As we ate, Isabella took Delilah’s father aside and had a lengthy and quiet discussion with him. When he returned, he looked like he’d seen a ghost, and I had a pretty good idea what that discussion entailed since the doctor had spent a lot longer looking at Delilah than at the rest of us.

Then Mallory, Jess, and I told them what happened. We told them that the Chimera Syndicate had gotten their hands on Delilah on Friday and after what they put her through, she buckled and told them about me and Mallory. So, they planned the attack to capture us as well and took Jess because they thought they were getting a two-for-one deal on Snow Nymphs.

Yeah, okay, so we left one little detail out, we didn’t tell them that she had gone to the Syndicate in the first place with the intention of selling us out. It wasn’t a lie; it was an omission. Besides, it wasn’t like we had any proof of it, it was mostly conjecture and the taunts of one of our captors, and I think that we all felt that Delilah had suffered enough already. Worse yet, she had brought it upon herself.

Delilah’s father took her home soon after that, and it was about an hour later that Grundle returned with Carmilla, Calliope, Nixie, Aunt Merry, Genevieve, and Annika. Jess was on the phone, reassuring her girlfriend and our other friends that we were all home and safe now, and Mallory looked like she was getting really anxious about her mother’s safety until they appeared via Grundle’s back road. I was too drained, tired, and sore to do much other than cuddling with Melody and Selina in one of the booths.

I think they needed the physical assurance and comfort as much as I did, and I made sure to tell my daughter how proud I was of her for finding us. Melody was still thinking she failed us as a bodyguard though, and I needed to get those thoughts out of her head. “You were injured, outnumbered, and very nearly died while trying to protect us, and still led the charge for our rescue. I’m here, and I’m safe, so you didn’t fail. I had no doubts in my mind that Selina could find me and that you would be my Demoness in shining armor. So, shut up, take the win, and kiss me dammit. I’d do so much more to you, but I kinda feel like hell right now.”

Thankfully, she took my advice, and we were still kissing when the others returned. I didn’t even really notice until Pandora asked, “How did it go?”

“The Chimera Syndicate won’t be a problem again anytime soon, at least, not locally,” Aunt Merry replied and I turned to see a grim smile on her face. And that was when I noticed that we had company, in the form of two other young women I didn’t recognize. One looked like an Earth Nymph and the other was probably a Death Mage or a Vampire going by the magic I could sense on her.

“Calliope and ‘Milla went all in on the wrath, heavy on the fire and brimstone,” Krysti commented. “Not that I blame them!” she quickly amended when both the Efreeti and the Vampire looked her way.

“We killed every last one of those fuckers, except for a few Paranormals with control collars who were acting against their will. Carmilla just knocked them out and we removed the collars after,” Calliope explained. Damn, I was glad that Cinder was able to melt that damn thing off me, the thought of being controlled by someone that way sent shivers crawling down my spine. I made sure to give Cinder some loving thoughts and mental snuggles for a job well done.

“One was a local Divine Mage who vanished a couple of years ago, she doesn’t even remember how they managed to get to her, she just woke up one morning in a cell with that damn collar on,” Annika spat bitterly. “She was the one responsible for the wards on the place. Grundle took her to the PDA office to give a statement and try to get her life back.”

“These are the other two captives,” Carmilla said before gesturing to the pretty, dark-haired young woman. “This is Sophia, she’s a Vampire, one of mine actually. I turned her over thirty years ago in London. The Nymph is Garnet. I’m afraid that I have offered them our hospitality for now since they have no other options.”

The elder Vampire was looking at Pandora and Mom as she said the last and both nodded as Mom replied, “Of course, ‘Milla. Our doors are open for as long as they need it. I trust you’ve gone over the rules with them?”

She said them, but she was looking at the dark-haired Vampire. Even as both young women nodded, Carmilla answered, “I have. I do not believe that either of them will be any trouble. Sophia was the one who created the Shadow Gates the Syndicate was using to get around the city. Tomorrow, she will assist me in locating them all and destroying them, while we clean up The Caverns.”

That did not bode well for anyone in The Caverns, except for other girls being held against their will or drugged and forced to work for the gangs or in the whorehouses Rhissa told me about. I had a pretty damn good idea of what Carmilla meant from her tone alone and I had a feeling it was going to be a bloodbath.

Carmilla then went on to explain what happened after we left. They checked the entire Syndicate complex, killing any goons and Syndicate Mages, and the man in charge of the cell was the last that they found. He tried using the three women as bodyguards/meatshields to get away from Carmilla and slow her down but ran right into Aunt Merry and Annika.

They left him alive enough to talk, after ensuring he couldn’t try running again in the most expedient way possible, breaking both of his legs. Then Carmilla made him talk and he was very cooperative once she mesmerized him. Apparently, he had planned the job after they got the details on me and Mallory from some new girl that one of his men had caught and broke, that being Delilah.

The only part of it of interest to him was the big payday he could get for a Snow Nymph and an Efreeti when he told the higher-ups in the organization. Thankfully, there was no suspicion that I was anything more than a Snow Nymph and unexpected windfall. So, he hadn’t been able to tell the higher-ups anything of interest yet.

Then Carmilla found out how he contacted the organization to arrange sales, transport, and such. There probably wasn’t much they could do for any Paranormals that had already been delivered to the Syndicate for sale. They didn’t trust their cells completely and had someone come to set up temporary Shadow Gates whenever a delivery needed to be made so the cells had no idea where the delivery was being sent to and had no way to find out once the ‘merchandise’ was sent through. So, Sophia hadn’t been there and couldn’t help with that.

Sadly, the Syndicate kind of had a point since it would save their asses in case one of their cells, I dunno, kidnapped the wrong girls, got themselves obliterated, and pissed off the Night Princess into a homicidal rage in the process. While their forethought and paranoia worked out for them in this instance, it sucked for us because we couldn’t make the people at the top pay too. There was, however, a mirror in the cell leader’s quarters that was enchanted to be able to see and speak with whoever at head office held its match, similar to the Shadow Gate enchantment. Carmilla had him use that mirror to send a message to his superiors: their operations in Edmonton were over.

She made it clear to them who exactly she was and that they had made the grave mistake of targeting girls from her nest. Then she casually announced that we had just destroyed their cell in The Caverns beneath Edmonton completely in a single night. She further stated that if she ever saw or heard of the Chimera Syndicate anywhere near her city again, not only would she spend the rest of her immortal life hunting down and killing anyone with ties to the organization, no matter where on Earth they might be hiding, but she would appeal to the Night Queen herself to join her in the hunt.

If anyone in Carmilla’s nest was targeted again, ever, she would do the same. As if the threat of Carmilla herself wasn’t enough. Nobody with any real knowledge of the Paranormal, at least those in their right mind, would dare stoke the ire of two of the most powerful Paranormals on the planet, especially when those two had a well-earned reputation for leaving a deluge of bodies in their wake when pissed off.

So, in summary, The Caverns were going to be dealt with tomorrow, the higher-ups in the Syndicate were probably shitting themselves right now, and their operations in our city were most likely at an end. Carmilla was off to a good start with that last one since she had Garnet already undo her unwilling work for the criminal organization. The Earth Nymph completely collapsed the base as they were leaving, burying it and the bodies inside, so the Syndicate couldn’t use it again.