Immortal Ties

by Jane Hinchey

  "What the hell?" He stood, and the chair rolling away from him snagged on something and tipped over. Rushing to the wall where minutes before plastic sheeting had hung, he raised his hands and pushed.

  "What did you do?" he accused, glancing at me over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the wall and applying his shoulder to it. I shrugged. I didn’t really know what I did. I just thought of a brick wall and one appeared. Despite the headache pounding at my temples and the woozy sensation from blood loss, I seized on that realization. What if it was as simple as thinking things into reality? With nothing to lose I closed my eyes and concentrated on the straps holding me in place. I visualized the leather pulling back through the buckle, the catch releasing then falling slack by my side.

  Opening my eyes I peered down, watching in wonder as the straps undid themselves, sliding open, freeing me. I spared a thought for my hands, trapped in the silver bags, and before my eyes, the bags disappeared. The scientist was still at the wall, slapping his palms against the bricks and paying no attention to me, which was a good thing. But just in case, I waved a hand and froze him in place, exerting enough pressure to keep him silent but still allowing him to breathe.

  Sitting upright, I pulled the needle from my arm and pressed against the wound. I didn't know how my Druid healing powers worked, but I needed them to work fast. Sitting up had made the room spin and I didn't have time to hang around and wait. I needed to get out of here before the director returned and discovered I'd bricked us in. And speaking of being bricked in, I hadn't left myself an exit. Just as I thought it, a heavy metal door appeared.

  Sliding off the gurney, I grabbed the bottle of water left sitting on the bench top and gulped down the remainder of its contents while I thought about my options. I had to destroy this place. I had to make sure they had nothing of my DNA here and the best way I knew how was fire. But I didn't want to barbecue the doctor. He was my witness against the director.

  Heading to the door, I cracked it open and peered outside. No guards. No one was around. All I could hear was the breathing of Carter, deep and even. I pushed through the plastic and approached him. He was restrained like I was, and hooked up to an IV, a clear liquid pumping into his veins. Keeping him sedated I guessed. Freeing him from the restraints, I removed the IV and ran my eyes over him, looking for injury. Nothing was apparent. Seemed Vince hadn't had the chance to attack Carter with the baseball bat. Tugging his limp body into a sitting position, I draped him over my shoulder in a fireman's hold and with a grunt, lifted him, taking his full weight.

  Returning to the doctor, I adjusted my magic and used an invisible leash to drag him toward me. It was an effort, both mentally and physically, to bring them both with me, but I couldn't leave either of them behind. Crossing the warehouse floor to the far side, I paused next to a filthy window and peeked outside. It was dark and I couldn't see much. I spotted a vehicle some distance away and wondered if it belonged to the doctor, or if someone else was here. I thought it strange the director didn't have the place heavily guarded. If she'd gone to all this trouble to conduct her experiments, surely she'd keep her investment protected?

  I wasn’t sure if I willed it into existence with my newfound power or if it was just coincidence, but at that moment a minivan pulled up outside and six armed men climbed out, heading for the warehouse. Damn it. I couldn't hold the doctor captive for much longer, or support the dead weight of Carter over my shoulder. I was still weak. And I needed to keep some of my energy for starting the fire to wipe this place out.

  Again, as if the mere thought of it triggered it, a fireball erupted where I'd been held.

  "Shit!" With a squeak I dashed sideways, pulling up a shield to protect the three of us from the blast. It barely held as the giant fireball barreled across the warehouse, rolled up the shield and to the roof. The rafter caught fire and, judging by the condition of this place, the whole building would be ablaze within minutes. We had to get out. Now.

  Releasing the doctor from my hold, I grabbed him by the arm and looked into his eyes. "You're going to have to do as I say if you don't want to die. Understand?" My voice was a snarl, threatening all sorts of pain if he tried to run. He nodded, his eyes round with fear as the fire raged around us. We had one shot at this.

  "Move. That way, toward that window." I nodded further along the warehouse to a broken window. Over the crackle of the fire, I heard the guards shouting on the opposite side of the warehouse.

  "Climb out. Then take him." I sagged against the wall, Carter's dead weight pulling on me. I had to trust the doctor wouldn't run, that he'd help us. I listened as he scrambled up and out the window. I could hear shouting, but the smoke was so thick I couldn't see anything. Which meant they couldn't see us. As far as they knew, all three of us were trapped in the blaze.

  "Pass him up." The doctor appeared at the window and I shoved Carter at him, pushing his legs through and heaving myself up and over behind him. We landed together in a pile of arms and legs. Bruised and shaken but still alive.

  20

  The doctor had fallen backward, Carter landing on top of him, still unconscious, his weight pinning him to the ground. I left him on top of him while I sat there and caught my breath, dragging in deep gulps of fresh air. Above my head, black smoke billowed from the broken window, and although it was dark outside, it wouldn't be long before the blaze was spotted and the authorities arrived. I hoped.

  My throat hurt and my eyes burned and I was as weak as a newborn, yet I found enough energy to form a snare around the doctor's ankle and tether him to the ground when he wriggled out from beneath Carter. He pulled at the invisible binding holding him captive, but he was stuck fast.

  "Check on him." I coughed, voice raw. He looked at me, then nodded, his face blackened by soot, and I imagined I looked the same. Rolling Carter onto his back, he pressed his fingers against his neck, checking his pulse. His face was relatively clean and I suspected having his face pressed against my back protected his airways significantly.

  "He's fine. Still sedated. Pulse strong, breathing okay." He tugged at his ankle again and my magic stretched and twanged from pulling taut. I couldn't hold him for much longer, I was spent, but there was no need for him to know that.

  "Sit down and stop struggling, or I'll freeze all of you, not just your foot," I grumbled. Surprisingly, he did, settling onto his backside and drawing his knees up, resting his arms and head on top of them.

  Leaning back against the warehouse I was pondering my next move when a vehicle tore in and skidded to a halt, its headlights briefly flashing over us before being extinguished. The light momentarily blinded me and I raised a hand to shield my eyes, but by then it was dark again and now I couldn't see a thing.

  "Raven?" Footsteps running toward me.

  "Nate?" What was he doing here?

  "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He slid onto his knees by my side, a puff of dust kicking up around us.

  "I'm okay. Tired. Can you take this guy?" I nodded at the doctor who had raised his head and was now eyeing Nate with trepidation.

  "I've got him." Nate was dressed all in black, almost invisible against the inky blackness of the night. He grabbed the doctor by the scruff of the neck and hauled him to his feet.

  "You have an SIA vehicle?" I coughed.

  "Stole Carter’s when I got your call."

  "I called you?"

  "Initially I thought you were drunk, that you butt dialed me, didn't think much of it. Then heard on the news of your demise in a car explosion. And Carter had apparently disappeared off the face of the earth at the same time. Didn't take a genius to figure the two of you had been taken. By Vince I assumed."

  "There's a cage in the back of the car. Put the doctor in it. I'll explain the rest after." I didn't want the doctor privy to our conversation. I released my hold on the doctor's ankle, grateful not to have to maintain the connection any longer. Nate hauled him to the car before returning to me seconds later.

  "How did
you know I was here?" I was dog-tired, my head was pounding, my knees were scraped from tumbling headfirst out of the window, and I'd never been happier to see anyone in my life.

  "Let me see, one big ass explosion in an abandoned warehouse? Had your name all over it." He chuckled. "And I did not buy for one second that you'd been blown up in that car bomb. It stank like a cover up, to stop anyone from looking for you. I've been systematically searching every abandoned warehouse on my list. I figured you were being held in one of them."

  "Your list?"

  "Carter had given a sample of the brick dust to Ethan. He came up with a list."

  "I thought the SIA was working on that?"

  "Carter said something about a backlog."

  "More of Ridgeway’s lies! She's behind all of this." Struggling to my feet, I clenched his shirtfront in my fists to hold myself upright. I shivered in the cool night air, suddenly self-conscious in the thin cotton hospital gown I was wearing.

  "Let's get you to the car." Scooping me up in his arms, ignoring my protest, Nate had me deposited in the passenger seat of Carter's car within seconds before disappearing again.

  "Are there any survivors?" Nate was back, this time carrying Carter, whom he laid on the back seat.

  "I think we were the only ones inside when the blast went off, but I can't be sure. A group of guards had just arrived. They entered after the fire started. I'm not sure if they're still in there or if they got out."

  He turned his gaze on me. "Have you seen Vince?"

  "He was here earlier. He's the one who caught us. I think he was shot."

  "Injured then. Probably hiding somewhere while he heals." Nate shot away and I didn't protest at being left alone in the car with an unconscious Carter and the doctor under lock and key.

  "Tell me what happened." Carter's groggy voice made me jump and I swiveled in my seat to look at him.

  "You're awake! Are you okay?"

  "Now that I don't have them constantly pumping sedatives into my blood stream." Grabbing my headrest, he pulled himself into a sitting position.

  "More importantly, what about you?" He cupped my cheek in his palm, his warmth soothing. "Vince beat you so badly. I thought he'd killed you."

  "Nah." I tried to shrug it off, not wanting to relive the horror. "I'm okay. See?" I waved a hand at myself, indicating I was still in one piece. A little bruised and sore, but not suffering any long-term ill effects.

  “Raven, what did they do? How did they heal you? And don’t lie to me, I know they did something because I heard your bones breaking each time Vince swung that fucking bat.”

  "They didn’t do anything. While I was out...I healed myself."

  "What? How?" Carter was aware I had the healing capabilities of a human. Slow and limited.

  “I’ll explain it all later,” I told him “I heard a gunshot, did she shoot him? I assume it was Ridgeway?”

  “Yes, she shot him. In the head. Pity it didn’t kill him,” Carter grumbled.

  "What about you? What did they do to you?" I ran my hands over his face to assure myself he was in one piece.

  "Shot me with another tranq dart when I went ballistic trying to get to you. I came to strapped on that bed. They were just shoving the IV needle in. Fast acting, whatever it was they used. I didn't wake up again until now."

  "Specifically designed for wolves," the doctor said from his cage in the back. "You burn off tranquilizers so fast we had to develop a strong dose to bring you down initially, then keep it pumping into you intravenously to keep you down."

  "Who's this guy?" Carter jerked his head to indicate the doctor in the back.

  "He's the hired brains. He's been combining vampire venom and werewolf venom and injecting victims to try and make a super species."

  "And they wanted you because?"

  "They think because my species is undetermined that I'm the—I'm not sure, catalyst maybe? That my DNA mixed with the vampires and the werewolves is the key."

  "So they took more from you?"

  I nodded. "Spinal fluid and blood. Which is why I'm a little wobbly right now. They knew they could push me to the brink and I'd survive. Heal."

  "Shit.” He cursed, “how did you get away?"

  "I'll tell you later." I cocked my head to indicate the doctor who, although he was trying to look like he wasn't listening, was obviously listening intently.

  "I managed to get free, start a fire to destroy all of their samples and equipment, and I rescued him because he's my witness that Ridgeway is behind this."

  I'd just finished telling my story when the driver's side door opened and Nate slid in.

  "No survivors. No Vince. Let's go." Nate wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, cleaning away the drop of blood that clung to his lip. I suspected he'd drained the guards dry.

  Nate started the SUV and we headed out. I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, focusing on healing myself. I'd already learned that I couldn't heal as fast as a vampire or werewolf, but definitely faster than a human. In my mind's eye I pictured the blood they'd drained from me, only this time it was flowing back into my veins, the fluid they'd drained from my spine being replaced. I felt a sting in my back and winced, but then it settled and I started to feel...better. The headache eased, my back stopped aching, and I no longer felt woozy and weak.

  "Why are we stopping here?" We'd been driving in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts so that when Nate suddenly pulled over and spoke, I jumped. We were almost at HQ.

  "This is where I leave you."

  "You should come in with us," I protested, swiveling to catch Nate's eyes. "We'll clear your name, I promise."

  "Oh, my name will be cleared, don't you worry." Nate's face was cold, expressionless, and I shivered. He was a man you did not want to make an enemy of. "I'm going to get Vince. He's pivotal in this whole thing. He's setting me up and he can also dish the dirt on your director. This guy with the needles?" He jerked his head to indicate the doctor. "He can only give you so much. Enough to implicate Ridgeway, sure, but she's not behind the human auctions. She just bought produce from him. Bring Vince in and you close two cases." Suddenly he smiled, a dimple flashing. "I see promotions in your futures." He chuckled, then let himself out of the car, the door closing almost silently.

  "He's right." Carter climbed from the back of the car to the driver's seat. "It's not just Ridgeway we should be focusing on. Humans are still being taken, and the victims, were they part of an auction or specifically procured?"

  "We need to order a team up to Wolf Hill, there may be a hunt in progress," I said. Carter was right. If the victims were bought at auction, and Ridgeway had me under her control, she'd procure more humans, keen to accelerate her experiments.

  A movement in the back of the vehicle caught my attention and I looked at the doctor, who was looking out the window.

  "What do you know?" I asked. His eyes darted to me, then away again. A shoulder hunched.

  "Don't question him yet," Carter muttered.

  "Why not?" I needed answers and I needed them now. If there was another auction taking place, we needed to stop it. Or at least try and save the humans already sold.

  "We need it on record." He kept his voice low. He was right. If we wanted any of this to stick, it had to be done through the appropriate channels; we had to record everything. I wondered if the director was at HQ if we'd run into her, and what would happen if we did. Was she aware of the fire at the warehouse? Doubtful, unless one of the guards had alerted her before Nate took care of them.

  Carter took the doctor to an interview room while I retrieved a spare uniform from my locker and took a quick shower. I stood for several seconds staring at myself in the mirror. I looked the same. Nothing had changed and yet, fundamentally, everything had. My thoughts touched briefly on the Druid's realm and how I felt about them evicting me as a baby. I couldn't wrap my head around how they could have done that to a defenseless child. Hurt warred with anger and my skin prickled
at the conflicting emotions surging through me. I knew for my own peace of mind I'd have to return and have it out with Enna, the Elder who'd greeted me on my first visit. What they'd done was wrong, and they needed to understand that. Did I want to get to know them? Learn about my race and my heritage? Right now, the answer was no. I'd lived my whole life not knowing. They'd abandoned me. They didn't get to show up now and act like everything was okay.

  The doctor's name was Wesley Keller and he was a bio-medical engineer. He didn't have anything new to tell us, not that we didn't already know. But now we had it on record that Director Keri Ridgeway had hired him to engineer a new super species, that she had provided him with humans to experiment on. He also recounted how I'd built a wall from nowhere, then a door, then sent a fireball barreling through the warehouse, destroying everything.

  "We need to delete the part about what I did. My new skills," I told Carter once we'd delivered Keller to the holding cells. "I don't need any more attention, from anyone, about what I can and can't do."

  "Something else happened, didn't it?" Lacing his fingers with mine, he fell into step beside me.

  "I know what I am. While I was out of it, I visited my home realm. I met my...I'm not sure if family is the right word."

  "You don't sound happy about it."

  "They deliberately left me here as a baby, Carter. On purpose. Alone. And haven't contacted me since. I was a baby!"

  "Hey!" He stopped, cupping my face in his hands. "I appreciate you had a tough childhood, it wasn't easy for you, and you feel damaged because of it. But know this—you grew up into a beautiful, talented, strong, woman."

  "No thanks to them," I muttered, jerking my head out of his hands and continuing down the passageway.

  "So…who are they? What are you?"

  "Can I tell you later? Away from here? I don't want anyone to discover that I know. I'm not ready for things to change just yet."

  "You think they will? Once your species is known?" He sounded surprised and I didn't blame him. I suspected nothing would actually change, but until the director was apprehended and anyone involved in her scheme dealt with, I couldn't trust word getting out. As it was, Keller hadn't been able to identify what I was. I was the only one who knew and I intended to keep it that way. For now at least.