Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 06]

by Penetrating the Darkness (epub)

  “What is it?” She took his foot in her hand and closely examined the bracelet.

  “It’s a tracker.” When she looked up at him, confused, he explained. “It’s an electronic device meant to keep track of the person wearing it. A really bad guy put it on my ankle to keep track of me. If he finds out I’ve escaped, he’ll hunt me down and lock me back up in a cell.”

  She gasped, her big blue eyes going wider. “He wishes to jail you against your will? I can’t have that. You are my protector, Dusty.”

  In the time it took him to blink, the tracker was gone. All that remained was a red ring around his ankle. “I could kiss you right now. Thank you.”

  “Kissing is an intimate embrace between two lovers.”

  “Right. It was only a figure of speech. Okay, so we have one door barricaded, but we need to see what other accesses there are to this place. The more secure the better.”

  “I could evoke a protection spell over this domicile that would prevent anyone other than ourselves from entering.”

  His brow shot up. “You can do that?”

  “I can, and I will, to keep us safe. Is that what you wish me to do, Dusty?”

  “Yeah. That would be great. A spell? That’s like witch stuff, right?”

  “Magic, yes. I will need silence and a moment to concentrate.”

  Dusty held his hand out, took a step back. “Have at it.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Go for it. Do it. The spell,” he explained at her look of confusion. “I’ll just be over here.” Walking to the back of the room, Dusty waited while she did her thing.

  Felicity was a strange one. An incredibly beautiful strange one. She had a naïve quality to her, an innocence about her that was rather appealing. Not to mention those funky powers of hers. He would have never believed it if he hadn’t seen it for himself. She was amazing.

  Then he remembered the piles of ashes on the ground around her and the bodies that had once been.

  She was amazing, but a little scary to boot.

  “There you go. We are protected.”

  “Just like that? How do we know it works?”

  “You do not believe me that it will work?”

  Shrugging, he slipped his hands in his jean pockets and noticed just how filthy he was. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but we won’t really know it works until someone tries to break in here. I need a shower and a change of clothes.” He just hoped there was a shower in this place that he could wash up in.

  “Where are you going?” she asked when he started off towards the door that led to the back area.

  “To find a shower and see if anyone left any clothes behind.” Something that he could actually wear without looking like a complete dork.

  When she followed directly beside him, he was mildly curious but figured she was curious as well. He walked from room to room, looking in the cabinet drawers, only finding examination sheets and gowns. There was no way in hell he was going to be caught alive or dead wearing one of those piss yellow examination gowns. Heading to the back of the facility, he pushed open a door labeled Medical Employees Only.

  He nearly drooled at what he found.

  “Oh, mommy. I am home.” Before him was a state of the art laboratory, complete with all the modern instruments.

  “I’m confused. This is your home?”

  He could tell by the absolute seriousness on her face that she wasn’t joking. “No, I don’t live here. It was a figure of speech. I love performing experiments and examining the human body, including the genetics that make up the whole. I’d planned to go to a special university for gifted learners. I was going for my Bachelor’s in Biological Engineering with a goal of investigating infectious diseases.”

  She stared at him blankly.

  “I wanted to find out what makes people sick and see if I could cure it.”

  “Ah… You would do that in such a place as this?”

  “Well…” he laughed as he moved through the room. “This is a smaller version of what I would be working in, but yeah, it would look like this.” As he moved through the room he realized just how much he missed his beakers, microscopes, and books. What he wouldn’t give to be able to do some experiments.

  “Interesting.” Felicity walked about the room, picking up items as she passed and examining them.

  As eager as Dusty was to get back to his normal life, he knew that part of him had changed. He wasn’t normal anymore. He was a vampire. Would he be able to go back to his old life? What would his family say when he told them? How was he going to tell them?

  He jumped when Felicity touched his shoulder.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Is this what you came in search for?”

  She held up a white lab coat, though it wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, he supposed it would do. He could always wash his clothes and wear the lab coat while they dried. “Yeah, it’ll work for the time being. Now to find a shower or someplace I can wash up.” Seeing a washroom at the back of the lab, he decided it was better than nothing. He walked into the room, she followed. “What are you doing? You can’t come in here with me. This is private.” He gave her a gentle shove, then closed the door, locking it behind him.

  He was going to enjoy this immensely.

  Chapter Four

  This place was so odd. Standing in the room filled with glass jars and strange metal objects, Felicity wondered what it was a person would do with all of these items. Experiment? She wasn’t familiar with that term. Or infectious diseases.

  She heard water running from behind the closed door and decided Dusty was doing what he had expressed. Washing himself. She had to admit he did look rather scruffy and in need of a bath. His clothing was in sad shape as well. The jeans he wore were torn and worn in the knees. His shirt was filthy with blood and other bodily fluids that made her wonder how it was they came to be there.

  She wondered how she could obtain such items of clothing that she’d seen other wear. Felicity gave her silky gown a tug, frowning. For so long now she had longed to be rid of the filmy garment, but her mother always insisted it was the appropriate wear for the Realm. Well, she wasn’t in the Realm now, was she? If she wanted to blend in with the normal civilization, she surely should dress the same.

  Felicity wondered if her mother had figured out she was missing yet and if so, had she attempted to find her? Felicity could only hope the spell she had cast would do as she hoped, keeping her mother inside the Realm. All she wanted was some time to discover who she was and who the people were who had given life to her. Was it so wrong for her to want to see if the ones who had created her were as evil as her mother stated?

  If her birth mother had such evil blood in her veins, did that mean as a child of such evilness, she would inevitably become bad as well?

  Felicity had to know.

  When the door opened, she turned to see Dusty exit. He looked cleaner, his curly hair was now damp and clinging to his round head, and he wore the white jacket she had given him. His legs, however, were bare along with his feet.

  He looked better now that he had cleaned up.

  “I feel so much better.”

  “You look better. Were you not able to wash before today?”

  “The last time I washed was probably a week ago and to call that a shower is a joke. They washed me down with a fire hose.”

  “They?”

  “The creeps who kidnapped me and held me hostage.” He shook his head, waved a hand in the air. “But that’s over now and I am not looking back. I need pants.”

  “As do I. I would like to wear clothing like yours. Do you know where I could obtain such items?”

  He gave her a baffled look, the corner of his mouth curving up slightly. “Um…a clothes store but I doubt anything’s open…
or maybe they are. I don’t know. I’ve been locked up for months.”

  “How horrible for you.” Feeling compelled to comfort him, she took him in her arms, stroking his back gently. He smelled fresh, clean, and the fragrance that came off of him was quite pleasing.

  “Yeah…thanks.” He patted her back, then pulled away. “Let’s see if there are some scrubs lying around.”

  “Scrubs?”

  “Medical clothes. Never mind. Just follow me.”

  She did as he instructed. When he began looking through drawers, she wondered what it was he was looking for. He cheered and held up an item of clothing in a soft blue.

  “These will do until my jeans are dry. Now, let’s see if there are some in here for you.”

  She watched as he scrounged through the drawer, pushing aside items of clothing until finally pulling up an item in yellow.

  “These have a tie-up waist which should work perfectly for you. The shirt might be a bit baggy, but it’ll do.”

  She took the clothes from him, set them on the table beside her, then began to release the buttons on her dress.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Disrobing so I can put on these other garments.” She continued undressing.

  “Whoa there.” He laid his hand over hers, stopping her. “You can’t just undress in front of me.”

  She cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Why not?”

  “It’s just not right. You should go into the washroom and change.”

  She didn’t understand why but did as he asked. Closing herself in the room, she stripped from her dress. Tossing it on the floor, she hoped she never had to wear it again. She dressed in the yellow pants and shirt, then looked at herself in the mirror and decided she liked what she saw. Aside from the river of hair that spilled from her head, down her back. She was so tired of the length of it and wished she could be rid of it.

  Stepping from the washroom, Felicity panicked when she couldn’t see Dusty in the room.

  ***

  Trinity sat in the circle, knees crossed, hands folded up, eyes meeting Basil’s. She should have known he wouldn’t let her try this one alone. Not after the last time when she’d been taken captive by Rajana. She didn’t mind having him along for the ride. Four eyes were better than two.

  And maybe if she was lucky she would get a chance to see him kick his mother’s ass. Cooper had told her about the fight between mother and son and she only wished she had been there to see it. Though it couldn’t have been an easy thing for Basil to do, given the fact that the woman was his mother. Still…Rajana had taken their child—

  “Trinity.”

  She jumped and shook her thoughts away. “What?”

  “Keep your mind open. You’ve got enough lines in your forehead to make up a road map. Relax.”

  Pursing her lips, she told herself to calm down, to stop thinking and just concentrate on her breathing. Yet she couldn’t. “I need a few minutes.” She stood, giving her arms a shake.

  “If you’re not ready to do this, Trinity, we can do it another time.”

  She shook her head at Starla, then stretched her back. “I just need to de-stress myself.”

  “Why are you so nervous, my love?” Basil asked, standing with her and laying his hands on her shoulders to ease out the tension with mild strokes. “We’ve done this before.”

  “I know. I know.” She lowered her voice. “But what if she overpowers us? I had no control when she took me over. What if she does that to both of us?”

  “Not to worry, sweetheart, I’ll keep her occupied while you go in search of our daughter.” He laid his lips on hers, left them there a moment before pulling away. “Now, relax.”

  She sat back down with him in the circle and did her best to relax. Closing her eyes, Trinity drew in several deep breaths, then turned to Starla. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  “Perfect. Now concentrate on your breathing. Deep breaths, in and out—”

  “Nix the in and out. Remember what it did to me last time?” It hadn’t relaxed her but instead had aroused her. “We’ll stick with counting them.”

  Basil grinned, gave her hands a slight squeeze. “Maybe later we can practice—”

  “Concentrate on now,” Starla interrupted with a shake of her head.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Basil snickered, then closed his eyes and began deep breathing.

  Following him, Trinity began to count each breath. She told herself to stop worrying, to let the anger she felt towards Rajana go and just relax. She heard Starla chanting her little verse of entry into the Realm like an echo at the back of her head. Feeling incredibly relaxed, Trinity let her body go. A warmth surrounded her like a warm blanket on a chilly day, and her body became incredibly light and airy. Then she felt something akin to an engine revving inside of her. It began to build and build until she felt every ounce of her vibrate.

  “Trinity!”

  She heard the screams and her eyes flew open. With the white light surrounding her, she thought she was in the Realm. Until she saw Starla throw a blanket over Basil and usher him swiftly from the room.

  Finally she recognized where she was.

  At home.

  “What’s going on?” She stood up, the light following her. “What the hell.” Looking at her hands, she saw that it was coming off of her.

  “Shut it down, Trinity!” Basil hollered from another room.

  She was lit up like a Christmas tree, yet she didn’t feel the heat.

  “Shut it down!”

  “I don’t know how?” She didn’t even know how she was doing it, much less how to stop doing it.

  “Try relaxing. Take some deep breaths. Try telling your body to shut it off.”

  Oh sure, if it was that easy—but as she thought it, the light disappeared, taking the vibration with it. Lifting her hands, she was baffled by what she had just done. “It’s gone.” She turned just as Basil and Starla reentered the room. She gasped when she saw the blisters on Basil’s face. “What the—did I do that?”

  “He needs to see Cooper. These wounds are bad.” Starla helped him to the sofa where Basil collapsed.

  “Basil…” Trinity rushed to his side while Starla went in search of Cooper. She took his hand in hers, wincing at the blisters all over his skin. “Oh, God. I am so sorry.”

  “You have a lethal power there, darling. You give new meaning to fiery princess.” His blistered lips curved up only faintly.

  “I didn’t mean…” She turned when Cooper rushed into the room. “I didn’t mean to do it. I don’t even know how I did it. Fix him, Cooper. Please.” If he was scarred, she would never forgive herself.

  Kneeling at Basil’s feet, Cooper lifted one of Basil’s hands to examine the blistered skin more closely. “And you say this was caused by Trinity lighting up?”

  “Yes.” Starla laid her hand on Trinity’s shoulder. “She didn’t even know she was doing it.”

  “But I did.” Trinity stood, angry with herself, more so, angry with Rajana for giving her these powers that she had no idea how to control half the time.

  “And it was only a moment?”

  Starla nodded at Cooper.

  “Very potent indeed. You’ll need to rest, but first you’ll need to soak in a bath. I’ll grab my ointments after we have you settled in the water.” Standing, Cooper turned to Trinity. “It is not your fault.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “It’s not your fault, Trinity,” Basil croaked out, lifting his blistered hand to her.

  “Did the light come off of me and burn you? Yes, so I would have to deduce it was my fault. I hate these fucking powers. Why did she give them to me without telling me how to use them?”

  “Because she wanted us to have a child with her abilities.”
r />   He had her attention.

  “Why else would Mother have done it? I told you once I was sure she had this all planned out long ago. I even have my suspicions that she allowed the Dark Mystics to release Avadur.”

  “But why?” Trinity sat at his side now, completely entranced with what he was telling her.

  “He should get into the tub.”

  “Yes, yes, right.” Giving herself a mental slap, she stood, holding her hand out to Basil. Carefully, she helped him to his feet. “I’m sorry seems so—”

  “Unnecessary.” Basil gave her a smile. “It’s not your fault,” he reiterated a little more firmly.

  Along with Cooper’s help, she guided him up the stairs to their bath. No, it wasn’t entirely her fault because she had no idea she even had that power, but that aside, it had still been her who had burnt him.

  And she would never forget that.

  Chapter Five

  Felicity’s bare feet slapped on the cold tiled floor as she raced down the corridor in search of Dusty. Where could he have gone off to? Had something happened to him? Had someone broken in, broken through her spell and taken him hostage? He’d said a very bad man was after him. Maybe the man had caught up with him.

  She rammed into him as he stepped out of a room to her left, sending them both tumbling to the floor. He landed on the bottom, she on top.

  “Oh mercy! I thought you had been captured or someone had harmed you or you had fallen and harmed yourself. I am so glad you are all right.” She kissed his cheeks repeatedly.

  “Um…no, I was just gathering some supplies.”

  She noticed a scattering of pointy tubes and flat glass plates strewn on the floor around them. “Supplies?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted as he shifted her to the side, then got to his feet. “Hey, you look good in those scrubs. Yellow is really your color.”

  Sitting on her rump, she glanced at her clothing and decided though they weren’t quite what she had in mind, they would do. She would still like to try a pair of those dark blue pants Dusty had worn when she first met him. “What will you do with these supplies?” She took Dusty’s hand as he helped her to her feet.