Shadowwalker

by Rhonda L. Print

  Step two was to get me kidnapped. Leah and I would go “shopping” and get temporarily separated, giving my would-be captors a chance to grab me. Once I was inside the compound, I’d gather as much information as I could and signal them to get me the hell out of there. The information would be “anonymously” leaked to SINS, who would then have enough evidence to search the place legally. I only had one question before Leah and I left the safety of the Nightwalker estate.

  “What did you do to me that night, Falcon? How did you make me just faint?”

  “You didn’t faint.” He grinned broadly. “You slept.”

  “But how?”

  “”You’re just giving him an opportunity to show off,” Cougar warned, but the pride in his brother was clear.

  Falcon placed his hand on my cheek and said, “Laugh.”

  That was all it took. One word and a single touch, and I was laughing out loud during a time in my life when I was scared shitless. He touched my cheek again and said, “Sit down”. Just like that I took a seat on the couch. I had to; there was no other way to describe the compulsion—I had to do as he commanded. “Wow. That’s really something.”

  “Yeah,” he said, “now stay safe.”

  I smiled. “Will that work too?” I asked, knowing it didn’t work that way.

  “I wish it did,” Falcon replied.

  I took a deep breath and stood. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  After we’d belted ourselves in the car, Ian asked, “Is there anything you want me to tell Raven when he gets back?”

  I thought of our conversation just before our car was driven off the road. Raven had told me that love was a weakness. It was his declaration that he didn’t love me and never would. “Tell him that I wasn’t weak,” I said sadly. “He’ll know what I mean.”

  The problem with trying to get kidnapped is you never know if it’s going to work until you’ve been taken. So far, Leah and I had hit the mall and several out of the way shopping centers, oftentimes wandering off alone to give whoever wanted me a fair chance.

  There’d even been quite a production of us leaving the estate, as paparazzi had been camped just outside the gates since Leah had announced her pregnancy. Yet I was still safe and sound. Damn it! I did not want to face Raven if he returned before I had a chance to do this.

  We’d decided to call it a night after one last stop at a bakery. Leah was craving something chocolate, and I wanted a cup of coffee. While Leah paid the bill, I walked in the back hall toward the restroom, resigned that I was going to have to wait another day. I never saw who hit me or what it was with, but the accuracy of nailing the same spot I’d just had stitched up knocked me out cold.

  Chapter 26

  A pinpoint of warmth blossomed on my forehead and then grew increasingly wider until a piercing light lanced pain into my eyes. I turned away from it only to discover that I wasn’t in bed. I popped open my eyes and sat bolt upright in the narrow stream of blinding white light. Sun! I turned toward Raven to wake him or shove him out of the way of the light, only to find him gone. Clarity sank in like the remnants of a bad dream. I wasn’t with Raven in the safety of Ian and Leah’s home. I was alone, on some kind of cot. Forcing my eyes to focus revealed that I was in a very small room.

  “Welcome back,” a man’s gruff voice called from a slight distance away. It was as cold and hard as the cot I awoke on. “You made it too easy on me, Zen.”

  I didn’t quite understand what he meant. Everything seemed so hazy. Memories quickly returned, bringing with them the overwhelming knowledge that I’d been successfully kidnapped. “Where am I?” I didn’t need to fake the fear that laced my words. I was absolutely terrified.

  “Right where you should have been all along,” a second, somewhat familiar voice replied.

  I jumped when another voice sounded in my ear. “You’re supposed to be here,” Raven growled through my head.

  “I’m sorry, Zen,” Leah’s voice chimed in. “I couldn’t keep him out of here.”

  Having no way to respond, I ignored them both. Raven must have returned quickly from wherever he’d run off to. I had hoped for all of this to be over before he came back.

  “Stubborn woman.” Raven sighed. “Tell me what you see, Zen.”

  “Are we in a clinic?” I blinked hard and swiped my hand over my face. Judging from the condition of the room, if we were in a medical facility, it wasn’t in the best of conditions. It looked more like the units my parents had set up when we were in third world countries. “It looks pretty old and grim,” I said for Raven’s benefit. “I’m a little dizzy.”

  I stumbled toward the outline of both men and took the glass of water extended toward me. I took a long, cool drink and then poured part of it on my face. The cold water took some of the shock away, but I kept my fingers firmly wrapped around the glass.

  “Hit the lights,” one of them said, and suddenly the entire room was washed in blinding light, shards of pain stabbing behind my eyes.

  “What the hell?” I lifted a hand to shield my eyes. “Why are there so many lights?”

  “Shit,” I heard Raven grumble and knew why. The lights would keep him from getting in.

  “These are just a precaution, Zen. As far as we know, you don’t have any ability to ShadowWalk.” The second man spoke softly this time, revealing his identity. The man who was holding me captive was the same one who had once helped me to escape, the one who raised me.

  “Dad?”

  “Dad?” Raven echoed.

  “You always were naïve,” he said.

  “I don’t understand.” I blinked rapidly, willing my vision to adjust.

  “You really do have no memory of your childhood, do you?”

  “Jesus, Zen. I’m so sorry,” Leah said softly.

  Chapter 27

  “I’m impressed; I didn’t know vampires could erase a mind so effectively,” my dad said to the other man.

  “Vampire? Erase my memories? What the fuck! Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” I demanded, my anger chasing the fogginess that was clouding my brain away and allowing me to clearly see the only man I’d known as my father sneering down at me.

  “I don’t understand.” I shook my head. This had to be a bad dream. If only I could force myself to wake from it, I’d find that everything was as it had been.

  “I’m sorry. You don’t know who I really am, do you?” The smile I once loved took on a decidedly evil look.

  Nightmares had plagued me most of my life, and while they’d been vivid, there had never been scent. Alcohol and disinfectant burned at my nostrils, mingling with a damp, mildew odor. As much as I wanted to wake, this was no dream. The man before me had been my father, the man I looked up to. But the look in his eyes now and his harsh words made me think my life seemed to be only a series of lies and deceit. Pushing that thought away helped me think clearer. What I had to do right now was stay alive. And get the hell out of here. I could dissect the rest later.

  “Allow me to properly introduce you, Zen.” He swept his hand wide. “This is Brett, the vampire that erased your childhood memories.”

  “Get on that!” Raven said to someone on his end. “I want to know who the fuck Brett is!”

  Brett bowed low and deep, very theatrically. It was difficult to keep my attention on the vampire in front of me when the vampire in my ear was cursing so vehemently.

  “Brett, I believe you’ve already met my daughter.”

  “I’m not your daughter,” I ground out through clenched teeth but couldn’t stop the tears of betrayal from leaking down my cheeks.

  “Oh, but you are indeed blood of my blood. I went to considerable trouble and expense, I might add, to create you. You may have begun in a test tube, but the components are from me.”

  “And my mother?” My stomach twisted, threatening to heave, but I had to know the answers. He’d just said I’d been conceived in a test tube, and while I’d known that my mom couldn’t conceive any more children
after my birth, I didn’t know she had difficulties before me as well.

  “Sadly, I chose my mate poorly.” He pouted in a mock look of sorrow.

  Fear forced my stomach to heave. “Where is she?” I demanded through a choked breath. “What have you done with her?”

  “Accidents happen. Tragic, but, nevertheless true. I’ll tell her your beloved Raven killed you.” He rocked back on his heels and pursed his lips. “He doesn’t love you. You do know that, don’t you?”

  I wanted Raven to deny it, but when the silence stretched on in my ear, my heart sank.

  “You bastard!” I snapped at both my father and Raven. Raven remained silent so long I thought, hoped, we’d lost connection. Maybe he didn’t tell me that my father was lying and that he did care for me because he hadn’t been able to. That hope died when I heard Raven say, “Keep him talking, Zen.”

  My father’s eyes darkened, his jaw tensed, and anger exuded from his every pore. His breath hissed through his teeth as he drew in a long breath. Then he smiled. The fucker smiled. After he moment he said, “The truth can be so painful, Zen.”

  He had no idea how painful it was, but now was not the time to think about that, so I pushed the sorrow from my thoughts.

  With a dismissive wave of his hand Dad replied, “Anyway, I couldn’t let your mother know that we’d reopened the project again. She threatened to expose the operation once. I only appeased her by giving her you and convincing her we’d failed.”

  “Failed at what, exactly?” I found myself moving closer to him, the need to hurt him so intense I thought I’d crush the glass I was still holding.

  “Keep him talking, Zen. We’ve almost got your location,” Raven encouraged.

  “At you, of course. You were to be the beginning of a new human race with supernatural abilities. Soldiers capable of infiltrating the most secure places and sold to the highest bidders.”

  “This is about money?”

  Dad—no, Roger—I refused to think of him as my father any longer, stood there, eyes glossy with something I couldn’t name and pursed his lips in mock thought. “Not just money, Zen. Think of the power!” He tsked. “Imagine my disappointment when you turned out to be just another failure. At least in one aspect.”

  My hands rolled the glass between my fingers as if it was the last solid thing in my world. “Your mother thought the effect would be delayed, that you would come into your abilities as you aged. I’ve waited long enough.”

  “So you hired someone to kidnap me? Why not just kill me?”

  “I’ve always admired your spunk, Zen.” His lips curved bitterly, the smile sinister.

  I took an instinctive step back. He laughed.

  “You weren’t only bred to be a ShadowWalker.” The clanging of metal on metal was the only sound in the room for a few stretched moments.

  Without warning, Brett grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me terrifyingly close. “I have no doubt that your blood will taste divine.”

  I shuddered with disgust. “Wh-what else am I?”

  “Get her out of there!” I heard Raven shout the order to someone.

  He shook his head slowly with that cold, cold smile on his face. “You are so gullible, Zen. It’s one of your most endearing qualities.” Brett released his grip and I scrambled away.

  “What,” I sucked in a ragged breath that did nothing to cool the flames within me, “did you do to me?”

  Brett let go and I staggered back. “Fuck you!” I spat the words out with much more courage than I felt.

  “Enough!” Roger shouted. Grabbing my shoulder, he spun me toward him and jammed a long, long needle in the center of my chest. Fire and pain ripped through me, pulling a scream from my throat.

  “It’s your second chance, Zen, a new experiment. You get to be the first human whose blood will give vampires the ability to walk in the day and live past the rising sun.”

  “My blood?” I didn’t know if the words were audible, the pain in my chest was all consuming.

  “Congratulations, Zen. You get to be the human that every vampire will want.”

  I could barely breathe as the weight of his words sunk in. I would be a human blood donor.

  He cocked his head to the side as if considering something. “Of course there are your offspring to consider.”

  “My…” I could barely push the words out. “If you think I’m going to…”

  “I’m sure you won’t,” Roger interrupted. “You’ll be artificially inseminated with the correct mixture of vampire DNA and your day-walking blood. You will be the mother of a new race of supernatural beings.”

  “No.” I heard Leah’s shocked whisper echo my own horror, and wondered briefly where Raven had gone. Was he there, still listening?

  Roger tossed the syringe back on a counter. “Perhaps even your Raven will find you desirable.”

  Rage, thick and bittersweet, swallowed the last of my fear. “You’re a sick son of a bitch.”

  “Take her!” he ordered Brett, and then turned on his heel and strode away without so much as a backward look at me, the woman he had once called his daughter.

  Chapter 28

  I ran. Fear propelled me forward and out of the room, but not before I could shove a rolling cart into the path behind me. Turning the corner, I heard the satisfying crash of metal and glass as Brett toppled over the heavily laden cart. Not willing to risk losing any ground, I didn’t look back.

  Small feet ran across the hard gray floors. They were coming. Coming for me and it would hurt. Why? What do they want me to do? I don’t want to go to the dark place again. Please, don’t…

  This is what had haunted my dreams. This floor and the terrifying panic of running away. But I wasn’t that child anymore.

  Remembering my task I ran, looking in every doorway for more of Roger’s victims. Each cell I passed was empty. “There’s no one else here,” I said, for the benefit of the wire attached to me and then ducked behind a cobweb-covered metal container.

  “Are you sure, Zen?” Leah asked.

  “It’s just you and us,” Brett called.

  “I-I thought there would be more,” I said, cringing when I realized he was only toying with me, trying to find my hiding place.

  “Don’t make this harder, Zen. Come on out.”

  “Find the shadows, Zen,” Leah’s voice ordered in my head.

  As loud as I dared, I whispered, “None, too bright.”

  “Go!” I heard Leah’s command but didn’t know if she was talking to me or someone on her end.

  Remembering clearly now the path I had once taken to escape this place, I shored up my courage. One door at the end of the too-bright hallway would lead to a stairway, and if I could make it there, a thick forest would provide cover until I made it to the road. Sucking in a deep breath through my nose and blowing it out of my mouth gave me an extra jolt of speed as I jumped from my hiding place and rounded the next corridor. I spotted the exit, the door open and welcoming. Heart pumping, lungs burning, I pushed myself harder. Fifty feet, then twenty-five, and I’d be there.

  A high-pitched screech to my left froze my steps. I turned my head toward the sound and found someone, something, crouched on the filthy floor.

  Brett grabbed my arm, my own momentum yanking me off of my feet. I struggled but his grip was iron tight. “Now you’ve gone and spoiled the surprise,” Brett said with mock disapproval.

  The thing in the cell swayed from side to side. Dark and matted hair swept along the floor until it rose with a growl reverberating from inside. With a quick head flip, the hair whipped to the side, revealing amber eyes set in the very delicate features of a small child. Only this kid came equipped with lethal looking fangs and razor sharp claws. Metallic rattling drew my attention to the silver bar wrapped around her waist like a harness and attached to thick steel chains.

  “We weren’t planning to introduce you two until later.” Brett sneered. “This is your father’s latest creation, taken from the notes of Ph
oenix himself and enhanced with his own sense of flair. I guess you could call her your sister.” He laughed loudly.

  Something flashed in the girl’s eyes but passed too quickly for me to decipher.

  “Oh my God!” Leah whispered through my mind, but I ignored her. I needed to know more about this little girl before I could help her.

  “How old is she?” I whispered through the horror I felt. “What’s her name?”

  “They call me It Two.” Her voice was soft, but the ferocity was there.

  My brows furrowed, highlighting the pain that was blossoming in my head.

  “It Two.” Brett snorted. “You were One.”

  I sucked in a breath that scorched my lungs. The painful memory of being referred to as “It” clawed its way out of my mind, and the revulsion that oozed through me at the thought of this small child carrying that legacy with her for twelve years staggered me.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Zen,” Leah ordered, sharp enough to pull me out of my thoughts.

  I blinked hard and tried to think of a way to describe to Leah what I was seeing. “What’s wrong with your hands and teeth?” I asked the girl gently.

  “That’s enough!” Brett bellowed. “It’s time to get you in your cage.” He jerked me up to stand and then half dragged me down a narrow hallway, farther and farther away from freedom. My heart rate slowed and my blood turned to molten lava as sheer terror coursed its way through my veins.

  Leah cursed long and creatively in my ears.

  “You won’t get away with this. Raven will see you dead,” I said, with more bravado than I felt.

  “Your vampire lover never did love you, but at least he might find your blood appetizing now.” His chuckle was cruel, but I couldn’t speak past the pain—physical and, I had to admit, emotional.