They picked their way over to the unmoving figure. The illumination from the sunlight above was indirect and slanted. Pia got the impression of a large space arching into darkness. Kneeling, she felt at the unconscious man’s neck for a pulse.

“He’s alive,” she said with relief.

Dragos’s Power flexed again as he scanned the man. “Couple broken ribs and a concussion.”

I can help him, she said telepathically. All she had to do was prick her finger and let a little of her blood trickle into the unconscious man’s mouth, and all his injuries would be healed. We’re far enough away from the surface, the others shouldn’t sense anything.

He shook his head. He’s not in danger of dying. Besides, if you heal him, by the time we get him to the surface he wouldn’t have any injury at all, and that would cause speculation. It’s not worth the risk of exposure.

What he said made sense, but it was still difficult to hold back. Dragos cast a few simple healing spells while she assessed the area.

The other rescuers had located the second victim partway down the hill of rubble, and they were in the process of lifting his limp figure out.

Watching the rescue from below, she decided jumping down into the hole for Dragos was a lot easier than trying to jump out. The cavernous space was big enough for him to change into his dragon form, but he wouldn’t have enough room to launch out of the opening. The dragon could climb his way out, but with his massive size and weight she was pretty sure that would cause more collapse.

She shouted, “We need a stretcher down here!”

One of the people working at the surface shouted back in reply, “We’ve almost got one ready!”

They lowered a stretcher down. Dragos picked up the man and they strapped him in. Tugging on the rope, he stepped back, and they watched the rescuers haul him up.

“You guys okay down there?” a familiar voice called down. Graydon had arrived on the scene.

“Yes,” Dragos shouted. “We’re going to need ropes to get back out—but first, I want to have a look around.” He looked at Pia. “Are you coming?”

What? Widening her eyes, she waggled her head, silently sassing him. Fill in the blank, Dragos.

He grinned. “I heard what you said, and you didn’t utter a word. I don’t know how you did that.”

“You know me so well.”

His amusement died as he turned his attention to the cavernous area. “What a clusterfuck.”

“I know, but you had the area surveyed and assessed before anybody started building here. You did everything you could.” She scratched along the edge of her jaw with one fingernail. “Who was it that recently mentioned something about ancient buried Roman cities?”