by Eden Ashley
They advanced down the steep slope that led to a fenced perimeter mostly in silence. Kalista was consumed with emotions but hid the confusion, anger, and fear quite well. Rhane wondered if she knew the truth about Bailen, that he was really theirs. Back in the caverns they had spoken of her pregnancy and the missing child neither of them knew existed. Then as Kalista shared her suspicions about Bailen, within the memories of the wolf, Rhane felt a sense of deeper connection between himself and the young kin who had never taken a human form in his presence. Jethra’s declaration in the desert had all but confirmed it. Bailen was his son…was their son.
He studied Kalista in the darkness, but her focus remained on the compound. There was a fierceness in that gaze, primal intensity, and a little bit of crazy.
She knows, he decided.
The night got quieter when the electric fence stopped humming. The power grid was down. Rhane touched Kalista’s arm, signaling it was time to move. Together they raced toward the heavily guarded facility that held their son.
The first guards were deposed of easily enough. Kalista took down her guy almost as quickly as Rhane did. Inside the compound and within a narrow corridor, the fight coming toward them was much tougher. These men were soldiers. They were faster and stronger, as well as more skilled in hand to hand combat. Rhane would have chalked it up to military training, but something in their movements was almost animal-like. From a distance he had only suspected. But up close, the truth was unavoidable.
Kalista’s opponent landed a blow that pounded her into the opposite wall. Rhane made a step in her direction, intending to help. But she was already on her feet, exacting a swift and brutal revenge that started with a knockout and ended in fire. Rhane hadn’t thought it possible for his desire for her to be any stronger than the inescapable force it already was. In that moment, Rhane realized he’d been wrong.
Tugging her by the hand, he led her further along the hallway and deeper into the facility. Using a second radio swiped from a fallen guard, Rhane switched to the alternate frequency. It was standard procedure during an operation like this, and the others should have already tuned in.
He was confident in their ability to handle whatever came their way, especially paired in twos. But still, Rhane kept his voice as low as possible. “I need everyone’s status.”
One by one, each of the kin checked in. All had successfully entered the building and were clearing rooms in a clockwise direction. Understanding why he hadn’t heard from Matthias, Rhane swore.
“What is it?” Kalista asked with worried eyes.
“I didn’t tell him to grab a radio.” Rhane felt uncertain. The mind of the wolf held little about the kindred except a standing directive to kill them. There was a more recent memory of a shaky alliance made with the alpha Ian, cemented by the death of a young but formidable kindred sent to help guard Kalista at school. War had filled him in on a lot more during the flight back to the States, but it sure felt like he was missing so much more.
He clicked on the radio again. “Someone needs to make contact with Matthias and check in.”
War volunteered for the assignment immediately. “I’ll find him.” There was a pause. “I think Rion has bad news.”
“Go ahead, Rion.”
“Uh,” he started hesitantly. “I’m pretty sure a silent alarm has been triggered. Some of the cameras appear to be running on an auxiliary power source. I’m headed to the control room now to see if I can manually shut them down, but it might require a more direct, less delicate approach.”
Rhane grimaced. “Understood.” Good thing he had banned the use of skins. It was possible they’d already been recorded at some point. “Everyone got that? Take out the cameras.”
A few minutes later, he and Kalista had cleared two rooms, five cameras, and three more guards. His boot was resting on the throat of a fourth one when the radio crackled to life again. “Rhane, it’s Rion. I think I’ve found Bailen.”
Rhane snatched the radio from his belt. “Tell me where.”
From the control room, Rion had spotted everyone’s position via a black and white video feed streaming live from about twenty different monitors. Midway through shutting everything down, he noticed an insanely large amount of power was being fed into Zone 4. Consulting a diagram of the compound, he found the same zone. According to blueprints, Zone 4 was an area labeled for storage. Curiosity begged him to go in for a closer look to make sense of it, but the cameras in Zone 4 were positioned for a limited scope, intentionally omitting the secret of whatever was held in that room. Extra guards convened inside, and more were piling in. Rion counted three shy of a dozen but suspected more were off camera. No matter what buttons he pushed, nothing from his station controlled anything in that room.
Mapping out the best route and an alternate one in case he hit trouble, Rion fed Rhane the directions he needed. Then he killed the rest of the cameras and raced to meet him.
Chapter 44
Rhane, Kalista, and Rion stood outside a code-locked, reinforced steel door. A loud hum came from the other side, overruling any other sound that might have reached Rhane’s ears. But this was the most promising lead they had on locating Bailen since entering the facility. So far, no one else had checked in with better news.
Looking at Rion, Rhane jerked his head toward the door. “Can you open that or do I need to force it down?”
“Take it easy, Clark,” Rion chided jokingly. “I saw the secret password on the security feed.” He swiftly entered the code, thinking how much more fun it would be to watch Rhane kick that massive door in. Plenty of action would be coming their way soon enough. Rion adjusted the strap securing the automatic weapon across his chest somewhat self-consciously. Rhane had made certain he and the others knew how to manage all sorts of firearms a long time ago, but Rion was far more comfortable fighting as a wolf or with pointy objects. Besides, the smell of gunpowder made him sneeze.
As the locking mechanism released, Rhane stood wishing York had known to bring Bellefuron. The men inside were packing some serious artillery. Using their own weapons against them would have to do. Rhane hoped the stupid gun didn’t jam. Although military grade, it wasn’t the most reliable model. He looked at Kalista, allowing his uneasiness to shine through. “Hang back, okay?” he said, hoping she wouldn’t argue.
“I can help.”
“I know you can.” Rhane forced a smile. “I just don’t want you doing it from the front line.” When she nodded, Rhane relaxed. “Aim first for the lights,” he said softly to Rion and then stepped through the doorway.
With the first shot, madness erupted. Rion did a good job concentrating his fire on the overhead lighting. The bulbs were small targets, but half of the room was rendered dark before they were forced to dive for cover. They all would have been pinned down by the subsequent barrage of blind shooting if not for Kalista.
Reciting words of an old language Rhane had either never gotten around to learning or had lost in decapitation, she bombarded the remaining lights with balls of fire, pitching the room into total darkness. As she started another strange chant, Rhane touched her arm. “Wait,” he whispered. Wolf eyes had found the slightest traces of lingering light and used them to see the enemy. Once their night goggles were in place, he whispered, “Now.”
An instant later, gray fire was blazing beneath the boots of the soldiers, driving them back. Building in height, the flames flashed up as high as ten feet. Several men screamed. Whether from burns or because their eyes were seared by the sudden blinding light, Rhane did not know. But it was the perfect opportunity. Signaling for Rion to follow, he ran toward the fire and into it. He carved through their lines, disarming the men before their ranks could recover. Seized guns were wrenched in two, and once or twice delivered the clubbing blow by which the next man fell.
Most of the soldiers were regular humans, but a few displayed the same heightened senses and exceptional strength as the guard Rhane had encountered in the main corridor. Superhuman or n
ot, between his rage and Kalista’s fire, none of the soldiers stood a chance.
As the last human fell, the radio came alive with Orrin’s voice. “Back up is on the way, and headquarters is sending in a chopper. ETA in thirty. I suggest you get out in fifteen.”
The others affirmed receipt of the message, but there was no reply from Zone 5. Rhane, Kalista, and Rion were motionless before the globe-shaped device over twenty feet tall. This machine was the source of the strange hum, and imprisoned within it was the prize so many had died trying to protect.
When Rhane finally managed to speak, it was through clenched teeth. “Get him out of there.”
Inside the structure, Bailen lay on his side, impossibly flat and unmoving. He didn’t whimper. Didn’t cry out. Rhane couldn’t even tell whether he breathed or not.
“Rion,” Rhane said tersely.
“I’m trying. I’m trying.” Rion had located the control panel and was working as quickly as his fingers could fly. He pulled up screen after screen, navigating scrolls and scrolls of data. Everything about Bailen was being monitored and recorded. Some of it was continuous. Much had been catalogued. He was definitely alive, though his respirations and heart rate indicated significant distress.
“It’s a kind of gravity generator,” Rion said, spewing facts to both calm himself and curtail Kali and Rhane’s obvious distress. “Global Cures has managed to build a machine that can simulate a field twenty times greater than Earth’s natural gravity. It’s essentially the perfect prison. If you can’t move, you can’t escape.” His fingers flurried over the keys. Beads of sweat formed at his brow. “This thing is one of a kind. I don’t know if I can get him out. I don’t have the code or enough time to hack it.”
“Try,” Kalista said. “Please.”
Rion stopped working to meet Rhane’s eyes. “A failsafe was triggered with the alarm, putting this thing in lockdown. I can take a stab at going around their protocols to disarm the field but I don’t know what will happen if I do that.”
Watching over Rion’s shoulder, Rhane understood exactly what the boy had not said. Attempting to tamper with the system holding Bailen prison could make things worse. A lot worse. Once security was compromised, the machine’s function had switched from containment to suppression no matter the cost. The people who put Bailen inside this cage had gone to extreme lengths to make sure he stayed there. “Screw the computer. We can just pull him out of there.”
“Bad idea,” Rion said, shaking his head quickly. He pointed to a line of data on the screen. “There’s like a million volts of electricity running through the frame of that structure, waiting to barbeque whoever touches it.” Okay, he may have exaggerated about the exact voltage, but Rion needed to be sure the point was made.
Orrin came through open channel again. This time his tone was more urgent. “Rhane, everyone else is out. You guys have five minutes.”
“Rion, do something. Or I will.”
“You might have to,” Rion muttered softly. Things weren’t looking good. Mentally crossing his fingers, he keyed in a final command sequence. What happened next was precisely what he’d been afraid of. The monitor flashed a warning. Every alarm sounded as the gravity field increased beyond safe limits. Bailen’s pulse shot through the roof. His ensuing yelp was a pitiable, miserable sound of absolute suffering.
Rion attacked the keys with every shred of hacker’s might he possessed. But it was no use. He shouted Rhane’s name even as the white fur rippled across Rhane’s face and forearms. “You need to get him out. Get him out now.”
Waves of energy vibrated the machine’s surface, and they could feel its pull dragging them to its center. The structure began to buckle. Bailen was silent now, even as his small, dark form was slowly crushed by the power of the device. Blood started to trickle from his nose and mouth as Rhane completed the transformation and Kalista screamed helplessly.
When Banewolf’s claws touched the globe’s surface, his body was electrified. It was an excruciating, mind-hollowing pain that sought to blacken his vision. Rhane shoved aside the agony and pushed through the blindness, demanding everything Banewolf was and could be.
It started with a crack. Then the fissure succumbed to Banewolf’s power, and the entire globe was ripped in apart, sending a concussive wave through the room that knocked Kalista and Rion from their feet. Tiny fires started, quickly erupting into a bigger and more dangerous threat.
Grabbing Bailen by the scruff, Banewolf pulled him free of the prison. Rion was already on his feet and helping Kalista up. The wolf paused long enough to listen to their escape into the hallway, and then it staggered behind them, carrying an unconscious Bailen to safety.
“We gotta get out of here,” Rion said. “Secondary explosions are going rip this place apart.”
Severe burns covered his body. Rhane felt the damage with every step, especially as his shoulders wedged into either side of the corridor. The space was far too cramped to move as a giant wolf. Laying Bailen at Kalista’s feet, Rhane abandoned the wolf form. He immediately kneeled next to Bailen and poured the remainder of his strength into the canine’s ravaged body, bringing him back from the brink.
Kalista touched Bailen’s blood soaked fur. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be fine.” Rhane rubbed a thumb across her cheek. “You need guys need to get out of here.”
“Correction. We all need to get out of here,” Rion urged as an explosion boomed in the adjacent chamber, rocking the steel wall to near collapse.
But Rhane shook his head, noticing how wide and beautiful Kalista’s gray eyes had become. “I’ll only slow you down. Take Bailen and get to safety. I’ll follow when I can,” he said.
And then another part of Zone 5 ruptured with a violence far surpassing the primary blast.
Chapter 45
As Kali watched the white wolf carry Bailen’s limp body, she didn’t know who to be more worried about. Banewolf was charred and bloodied. Not even a fleck of pure white existed on the once gorgeous coat of fur. When Rhane ditched the wolf form and became human again, his forearms shook as he knelt beside their son. The gash in his skin used to heal Bailen continued to gush blood, refusing to mend itself. Gone was the usual brightness of his green eyes. Weariness had dulled them, making Kali very much afraid. But she would not panic. If things were going to be okay, they’d have to make them okay. They had to stick together.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You need to take our son and get out of here. I’m immortal,” he added when she didn’t budge. “I’ll be fine.”
Kali gently held his hand against her face. “But what if all of you doesn’t survive?”
After the beheading in his homeland, Rhane had lost over four centuries of life, only retaining fragments of memories from the years preceding that. How much would he lose if he died again? Kali couldn’t bear to think of it.
“Kalista…Kalista, go,” he pleaded. “If both of you were to get hurt—don’t force me to make that choice.”
A third explosion shook the foundation beneath their hands and feet. Kali gritted her teeth. “Damn it, Rhane.” She watched fire roar toward them like a starving beast. “Lean on me this time,” she whispered and touched her forehead to his.
“Crap-ola,” Rion said as the wall of flame came down.
Closing her eyes, Kali thought of her own fire. Shades of gray and black were already dancing in her mind, ready to do as she commanded. She pictured an interlocking of her flames with the orange madness that blazed all around. When they had intertwined she ordered them back and not to harm those in her circle, but to protect them from the raging monster hungry to taste flesh. When Kali opened her eyes again, an orb had surrounded them.
The sphere itself burned with gray fire, but patterns of orange light streaked across the solid surface, originating from the inferno beyond it. Inside the circle they were safe. Nothing touched them. Even the air remained cool.
Rion and Kali observed the incredi
ble display with varying degrees of awe and delight. Kali glanced at Rhane and those beautiful green eyes held her gaze, refusing to let go. She leaned forward and kissed him, letting the caress of his lips quell the ache stirring deep inside her. Fingers entwined her hair, and he pulled her closer as his tongue moved against hers. A rush of heat flooded into her belly, and Kali fell deeper as his spark called to her. But she dared not drink. Rhane was far too weak.
