“Who?”
It was all he could manage to get out. The woman stopped a few feet from him.
“I’m Bridget. Come with me, and I will protect you. I shall care for you and keep you safe.”
She extended a hand in a welcoming gesture. Darien blinked a few times and shook his head. He knew he heard those words before, but it was a fleeting thought that danced out of reach the moment his fingers tried to close around it.
The woman disappeared as she shifted into a tiger and sprinted at him. His body wouldn’t move out of the way and he couldn’t shift so he closed his eyes and waited for the impact. He felt her brush past, whipping his clothes with the wind she generated. He opened his eyes and saw her leap off powerful legs and land on a young woman holding a gun. Bridget reached up under the Shadow’s chin and clamped down with a powerful jaw while back legs raked at the abdomen with ferocity.
By the time the two struck the ground, the Shadow was dead. The tiger stepped off her prey, and took a few steps away. In mid-step she shifted back into a human, standing up without losing her balance. She stepped away from the body with no more regard than if it was a piece of scenery. She walked toward Darien, and he stumbled into the wall.
“Are you… the Arm?”
She barked out a laugh.
“No. I was with them once, for a brief time many years ago. I’m a bit too free thinking for them.”
Darien tried to fight the drugs coursing through his system, forcing himself into a more wakeful state, but it was an uphill battle that he was losing. The brief adrenaline boost from seeing her attack the Shadow helped but he still felt like he was shuffling around puzzle pieces that couldn’t fit together.
“Are you a Sheynan?”
She smiled and her eyes seemed playful. “Yes I am. Like you. And I’ve learned so much, things I can teach you. Come with me.”
“Why? Who do you work for?”
“I don’t work for anyone. Why should we, as special as we are, work for people weaker than us? It makes sense that we should be on our own, as a team. We’re two of a kind. For many long years there haven’t been any Sheynan, and now there are two. Think what we could accomplish together.”
Her grin became feral and her eyes glinted. His vision narrowed on that stare and he fell forward, the effort of standing too much to bear. Bridget rushed forward and caught him, grabbing one arm and putting it across her shoulders. He was aware of Bridget half carrying him down the tunnel before his eyes closed and the entire world went dark.
When Darien woke up, he found himself on a soft carpet thick enough to make him feel like he was floating on a pillow. He was staring at an elevated white ceiling and the world was silent around him. He rolled his head to the side and saw a flight of stairs leading up to a second floor. The woman from the sewers, Bridget, sat on the second step with her legs stretched out in front of her. When he moved she opened her eyes and smiled.
“You’re awake.”
“Where am I?”
Darien’s muscles were sore, but it diminished with each passing second. He rolled his head to the other side and saw a blank white wall. A few syringes—two empty ones and three full ones—rested on the carpet next to him. He tried to heave up to a sitting position but regretted it when his head pounded in protest.
“Antidote for the tranquilizers. The Shadows carry them since they don’t want to overdose their prey. I didn’t know how much to use, but it looks like it worked. Good thing I found you when I did. Otherwise you’d be in a coma right about now.”
“Thank you.”
“Glad I could help. We need to stick together.”
“Suz! Richard! I need to call them!”
Darien reached into his pocket to grab his cell phone, and noticed he was wearing different clothes. The jacket was the same, but the jeans and shirt were new and not drenched in sewage. He rolled onto his side and propped himself as best as was able to stare at Bridget.
“You were covered in filth. I had some clothes laying around in the car, so I thought I’d change you before bringing you into a clean house. Besides, it let me look you over for other wounds.”
Darien couldn’t help but check, and was glad to see he was still wearing his own underwear. At least he wasn’t that exposed.
“My phone was in my pocket.”
“It’s still in the car. My hands were kind of full when I dragged you in here. Let me go get it.”
Bridget stood up, but her knees shook as soon as she was on her feet. She took one step down from the stairs and let out a slight shriek as she dropped to the ground. She dipped her shoulder and rolled so she didn’t land hard. She rolled over onto her back.
“I think I shifted one too many times. Give me a minute. One more minute shouldn’t be too much, should it?”
“I suppose not.”
Darien tried to stand again, and this time he managed to get his feet underneath him. As he extended his knees, he overbalanced and crashed onto the carpet face-first. He managed to catch himself a bit on the arms and deflect the impact, but collapsed for the moment. He twisted to look over at Bridget in a similar state on the ground.
“Have we met before? Something you said back in the sewers has been stuck in the back of my mind.”
She closed her eyes and twisted around so that she could sit up, using the wall as a support for her back. She lowered her head but kept her gaze on Darien so that she was staring through a few wayward strands of hair.
“I confess, I’ve been following you for a while. Let me explain. I’m not like them. You know how rare and special we are; you shouldn’t be surprised that you had more than one person watching from the darkness. I wanted to make sure you were safe. Do you remember when I said those words to you? It was in a dream.”
“Yeah, now that my mind’s clearing up, I remember. It was during a dream I had when the Shadows were trying to enslave me. There was a voice from the sky and it chased the Shadows away. I thought that was Alyssa.”
She scoffed. “Alyssa couldn’t do that.”
Darien interrupted her, pushing himself back so he could sit against the wall opposite her.
“Wait, how do you know Alyssa? You’re the betrayer that she talked about.”
“You don’t have the whole story. I’ll tell you another time, if you want to hear my side of it.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?”
Bridget sighed and closed her eyes, looking like she wanted to sink into the wall. Darien waited until she spoke again.
“The short version is they knew what was going on with me, with us, and refused to help. They wanted to use me in their little war against the Shadows, but didn’t care one bit if I wound up burning out in the process. Once I realized that, I had to leave. Yes, I took one of their books when I left, but it was all about the Sheynan. I viewed it as appropriate payment for the time I spent with them.”
Darien nodded as he listened to her tale. Even with what little he knew of the Arm, he could readily believe what she was sharing with him. He closed his own eyes and let his mind wander. Bridget’s voice triggered another memory, and he jerked his eyes open to look at her.
“You’re the one who said you’d see me in Austin—in that dream with those pillars.”
Bridget nodded, her head drooping with each motion. She offered a weak shrug.
“I wanted to see who you were and what you’d do. I didn’t want to open up and reveal myself to you if you turned out to be a Shadow, or a member of the Arm—pandering to your superiors. They’re more similar than you realize. They’d both love to take control of my life again. I needed to see what path you’d take, and tried to influence that as little as possible. I wanted to see the man that you are, not just the ability you have.”
“An ability like yours. You’re a Sheynan too. Do you know Twitch?”
“Yes. He can be difficult, but helpful when it suits him.”
“Do you know about the ‘going crazy’ thing?”
Bridg
et sighed and licked her lips. He didn’t think it was possible, but it looked like she collapsed even further against the wall. Her eyelids eased shut and she reached up to rub her face.
“Sadly I do. It’s something I need your help with, and I’m running out of time. It’s why I need you and also why, sooner or later, you’ll need me. The madness, it’s an inability to keep control of your shape or your mind. There’s a way to counteract it, but it requires at least two shifters. Neither the Arm nor the Shadows would help without attaching a price tag that would makes us no better than slaves.
“But please, let’s talk about it tomorrow. I don’t have enough energy to give it the attention it deserves tonight. I need to talk with you about it, but not right now.”
Her mouth stretched open into a wide yawn that proved contagious. Darien shook his head and used the wall behind him to climb up to a standing position. He tested his legs by letting go of the wall and found that he was stable. In response, Bridget reached out for assistance. Even though he only gave a slight tug, she stumbled forward after standing and draped her arms around Darien’s shoulder for balance. Once he was sure her legs would support her, he uncoiled her arm from his body.
“Alright, we can talk about it tomorrow. But I need to call Suz and Richard and then get back to the hotel.”
Darien turned toward the door, but Bridget reached out and grabbed his wrist. Her strength surprised him as she pulled on his arm and forced him to turn back toward her. His brow furrowed as he looked down at her grip. Perhaps she wasn’t as tired as she claimed. She let go when she saw his glance.
“I’ll give you a ride.”
Chapter 15
Richard hit the floor hard when someone tossed him onto it. He tried to groan, but the impact knocked the wind out of him. The rough treatment had the side effect of rousing him from his drug-induced slumber. His right eye opened, fluttering as he willed it to move. The room appeared hazy, like looking through frosted glass, but it came into focus. He tried to force his head to move, swiveling it around to see where he was. The effort made him grunt in frustration as his body was slow to obey.
Underneath him, the floor was cold and made of smooth, polished stones that ran into a wall constructed of the same material. Richard couldn’t tell what kind of stone it was, but in the limited light it looked dark gray, almost black. Each of the individual stones was about the size of a cinder block. Previous visitors had decorated the floor and wall with scratches of all shapes and sizes. The scars stood as a testament to the effectiveness of this room as a holding cell. As he expected, most of the scratches were not dealt by human hands.
It took painstaking effort, but Richard found that he was able to move his right arm. He slid it in front of him—a process that felt like it took hours—and placed his palm on the ground. His arm shook as he tried to push himself up. After a few moments, he dropped his arm to the ground. He closed his eyes again and slipped back into the comforting embrace of unconsciousness.
The clicking of a latch echoed through the small room. Richard’s eyes snapped open with a lucidity lacking in his previous state. This time, the room was clear and his mind was active. Testing the waters, he tried to move his arm, and it slid across the stones. As the door opened, Richard tried to appear limp and still under the effects of the tranquilizers. He closed his eyes and listened.
Two sets of feet tromped into the room and stopped close to his body. He heard a heavy load dumped onto the hard surface. Each of the two new arrivals let loose a sigh when they dropped their burden. When they walked away, Richard sprang into action.
Launching himself off the ground, he lunged into the middle of one of his captors. The two of them fell over with all of Richard’s bulk driving through his shoulder and into the man’s abdomen. He coughed from the impact, struggling to get his wind back. Richard didn’t wait for him to recover. He sprang up to a standing position and turned to face the other Shadow. He rushed at his opponent, trying to catch him off guard. At the third step, his body betrayed him. His leg refused to carry his weight and he crashed to the ground. He managed to tuck his head and rolled. When his slide came to a stop, he rested two feet from the Shadow he tried to attack. The man sneered at Richard and kicked him hard in the ribs multiple times.
Richard reached out and grabbed the foot. He counted himself lucky that his arms still obeyed his commands. He tucked the foot against his shoulder, locking the toes in his armpit. His arms flexed as he refused to let go and the Shadow tried to bring his leg back. The force made him windmill his arms in the air for balance. Relying on his instinct, Richard rolled over, taking the foot with him. His aggressor fell down and stuck out his hands to keep from slamming his face into the ground. There was a sharp crack when the heels of his palms struck the unforgiving stone. He howled in pain and collapsed to his elbows.
The scream brought more Shadows into the room. Before Richard could assess the situation, he was surrounded by five pairs of legs all kicking at him. Somewhere in the carnage, there was a crackle sound and the unmistakable scent of ozone. Electricity shot through his body and his muscles went into spasms. Richard clenched his jaw to keep from shouting out.
“Enough!”
Whoever spoke managed to cut though the din without shouting. The assault stopped instantly, without even a final wayward blow.
“He’s not to be beaten. I will not have the Dark’s surprise unrecognizable or unable to talk. Anyone who disagrees will have to answer to me.”
Richard opened a swollen eye to look at his momentary savior. The crowd around him parted, and through the haze of his pain, he saw a man standing in the doorway. The shape was familiar, as well as the way that he carried himself. Cameron looked down at Richard with eyes that showed a complete lack of pity or contempt.
“Bring someone to look at his wounds as well. Sedate him if you need to. But if anyone lays a hand on him, I’ll make sure they answer for it.”
Cameron turned around and left the room. The other Shadows followed, not wanting to be left alone with the captive. Even the man with broken wrists stumbled out on his own, falling through the doorway in his haste. After a short while, a young woman came in to look at his injuries. She sighed with genuine sadness as she surveyed the damage. While she bandaged and cleaned his wounds, she spoke softly to him about nothing in particular. When she was satisfied with her handiwork, she left and locked the door shut behind her.
Richard winced as he rolled over. His body responded to his commands, but the downside was that the pain returned in full force as well. His body demanded rest and protested his refusal to listen. He needed to remain aware of his surroundings and figure out a way out. He pushed his way across the ground to the wall furthest from the door. Propping himself up, he managed to take a look around. The site that greeted him did nothing to lift his spirits.
The room was a cube approximately ten feet on a side. All six sides were comprised of the same hard stone. The only difference in the monotonous pattern was the door. It was solid metal on the bottom and a large metal grate on the top half. The holes between the metal slats were small enough that even a mouse would find it impossible to get from one side to the other. He wasn’t alone in the room. The burden carried by the two Shadows was another prisoner. The man lay on his left shoulder and stared at the blank stones in front of his face. He wrapped his arms around his body and rocked on his shoulder.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
Richard growled more than he intended, speaking through clenched teeth. He kept one arm draped across his midsection, holding his side where several kicks landed in quick succession. At least it didn’t hurt to breathe, so his ribs shouldn’t be broken.
The other captive stopped his rocking and rolled over to face Richard. He was a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, and appeared fit. His eyes were bloodshot and wide as he stared at Richard as if looking through him. On the back of his right hand, an intricate rune was burned into his skin. It was still red and raw wi
th blackened flesh around the edges.
“Jesus. You alright, kid? What’d they do to you?”
“Jason. My name’s Jason.”
“Richard. Why’re you here?”
“I don’t know. One minute I was minding my own business, and then, I black out. When I woke up, these guys were around me. They… They tied me to a table, and had a brand. It was so hot. It… it burned when they brought it over. They said somethin’ about bein’ one of them and said a whole bunch of words I didn’t understand. Then they burned me!”
Jason’s eyes drifted to the mark. His left hand shook as he reached over to the brand. His fingers grazed the edges of the injured skin and he let out a hiss before pulling his hand back down.
“Damn Shadows. Every single one of them should rot in hell.”
“Shadows?”
“Long story, kid, and one for another time. Just trust me when I say we need to get out of here right now, or things will get a lot worse.”
“How’re we gonna get out of here?”
Richard winced as he rolled around into a sitting position. It was a good question and one that he didn’t quite know the answer to. He could only offer a shrug in response, which he knew would not be comforting. He just needed to be ready. Whenever an opportunity did arise, it wouldn’t last long.
A gradual silence fell over the two of them as they stared at each other. Richard reached to his pants pocket and was not surprised to find his cell phone missing. It was worth a shot. As the minutes ticked by, Richard fell into an uneasy slumber and his body slipped down the wall. The movement jerked him out of his rest with shooting pain. He tried to get comfortable, but hard flat stone was not accommodating to a bruised and beaten body.
The same nurse who tended to Richard’s wounds after the attack came back to check on him. Both Jason and Richard watched her come in and lay her bag of supplies down on the floor. She got down on one knee and looked Richard over. The guard standing in the doorway was distracted by something down the hall and stepped away after giving the room one last glance. Richard looked over at his companion while the nurse rummaged through her things. It was impossible to tell if Jason read his look, but he had no choice. This could be their only opportunity.
The Bringer of War (The Sheynan Trilogy Book 2) Page 12
