Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1)

by William Bernhardt

  Memphis grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the mansion. “Come on. We’ve only got ten minutes before the security cameras reactivate.”

  We left the Revens and reentered the house through the side doorway. Laughter and chatter came from the ballroom, but we stuck to the back hallways where a few people passed by. The huge stone tiles made our footsteps echo.

  We passed the elevators and found the doors marked Stairwell. Memphis pushed the doors open and we traded hallways for stairs.

  “Downstairs,” he said. I followed him. We descended the stairs, taking two at a time. My breath came out in quick gasps. Blood fueled my muscles. Memphis’s heart beat slower than mine. I focused on the sounds of our heartbeats as we descended one floor, then another, then another.

  My head spun with dizziness. Maybe I’d pushed myself too hard, but I couldn’t stop now. We had to find those maps before the Revens came back. “How far does this go?” I asked between breaths.

  “The maps are in Basement Four.”

  I glanced at the marker on the wall as we descended another level. It read Basement Level Two. Only two more flights to go. I lost sight of Memphis as he rounded the corner. My clattering heart beat loud in my ears, making it hard for me to listen to his heart’s rhythm. A door slammed. The sound of booted feet echoed through the stairwell.

  I almost collided with Memphis as he stopped at the landing. Three guards hurried past us. One of them mumbled something about cameras as they raced up the stairs.

  We stopped at the next landing, marked Basement Level Four. A metal door blocked our path. In large red letters, a sign on the door read Authorized Personnel Only.

  Memphis stepped to the door. “Can you hear any heartbeats inside?”

  I listened, letting my Shine ability enhance my hearing. I heard the three heartbeats up the stairs, I heard mine and Memphis’s hearts, but none inside. I leaned against the wall, feeling the stairwell spin around me.

  “You okay?”

  “I nodded.”

  “Just dizzy. The room checks out. There’s no one in there.”

  A glass panel was attached to the wall beside the door. “Is that a retina scanner?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “How do you plan to get inside?”

  A half-smile lit his face. “I have my ways.”

  He pulled a marble-sized bead from his pocket.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  He pushed a button on the panel and then held the bead in front. A red laser beam scanned the bead. The panel beeped, and then I heard the door click.

  He grabbed the latch and pushed on the door. It swung inward. He pocketed the bead.

  “What is that thing?” I asked.

  “A proto eye. They issue these to Special Forces so we can get into secure locations. It’ll open any door equipped with a retina scan.”

  “That seems pretty handy.”

  “It is. Just don’t tell the military I’ve still got mine.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Memphis pushed the door open. We looked inside a dimly lit room. Screens lined the walls. They flickered with gray fuzz.

  “Are you sure about this?” I whispered as Memphis stepped inside.

  He only nodded.

  I pushed aside my nervousness and followed him. Breaking into unauthorized security quarters wasn’t my thing, and I felt a little guilty about doing it. But I’d come this far. I couldn’t turn back now.

  Beneath the screens, rows of metal cabinets lined the walls. Memphis crossed to the nearest cabinet and read the label. “We’re looking for a file labeled maps or blueprints. Why don’t you start on that end.” He pointed to the far wall.

  I paced to the filing cabinets. Crouching, I read the labels on each drawer. My stomach fluttered with nervous anxiety. If those guards got back before we got out of here, what would they do to us? Would I go to jail? I’d never contemplated the situation. What would my parents think? Would they understand that I was trying to help an imprisoned Shine? I prayed they would. I didn’t think I would get so lucky when I explained my motivations to the authorities.

  Pushing my thoughts away, I instead focused on the labels. Agendas, work schedules, SSS addendums 12-146.

  “Any luck?” Memphis asked.

  “Nothing so far. You?”

  “The same.”

  I scanned the next row, but nothing said anything about maps or blueprints. “Are you sure they’re down here?”

  “I’m positive. I researched this for months. They’re down here. They have to be.”

  I moved from one cabinet to the next. Needles and haystacks came to mind as I moved toward the other end of the room. I glanced at my watch. “Five minutes,” I called to Memphis. “We need to leave soon—”

  “Got it.” He jerked a drawer open.

  I crossed to him. He removed an armful of rolled blueprints. He handed me half of the stack. “Look for the one labeled for Arizona.”

  I rifled through the rolls until I found one marked, Shine Facility 8, Arizona, Phoenix. “Found it.” I unrolled it and Memphis helped me smooth it across the cabinet’s top. I didn’t have any experience in reading blueprints, so the jumble of lines and fancy names didn’t mean much to me. Still, something looked familiar about the layout of the structure.

  Memphis creased his brow as he studied the print.

  “Is something the matter?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer as he read the dimensions. “Not sure.” He pulled out the stack of blueprints and found one labeled. Mansion, governor’s.

  He laid the blueprint on top of the first. The dimensions matched. Exactly.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “Are they the same building?”

  “Can’t be. I haven’t seen any imprisoned Shines around here, have you?”

  “Then why are they built with the exact same dimensions?”

  Memphis pulled the top blueprint off and I inspected both more closely. Their outer dimensions fit, but inside, rooms and hallways had been reshaped.

  “Look at this.” He pointed to a list of names on the mansion document. “This tells us how the levels are numbered. Floor Levels one and two, and then basement levels one through four.”

  He pulled off the top document to reveal the Shine facility blueprint. I read the list of floors, although this facility only had one floor. Basement Level 5.

  “Good Gandhi,” I gasped. “It’s right below us.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive.”

  “But look, the stairway ends here. If these two places are connected, where’s the entrance to the Shine facility?”

  “Maybe they aren’t connected.”

  “You think there’s a hidden entrance to the Shine facility?”

  “It makes sense. If they wanted to keep the place hidden, they would have put the entrance where no one could find it.”

  Memphis looked from one map and then to the other. His heart sped up. I’d never heard it beat so fast.

  “Memphis, are you okay?”

  “It’s got to be somewhere.”

  I placed my hand on his shoulder. The nervous patter of his heart made my own heart rate increase.

  “Where is it?” His knuckles turned white as he held the maps.

  The screens popped on. Images of the house and grounds replaced the whirring fuzz. “Time’s up,” I said. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Memphis—”

  “I can’t leave yet. Not until I find the entrance.”

  I grabbed his wrist. He shrugged me off.

  “What are you doing? We have to go.”

  He pulled the map closer, ignoring me. “Found it,” he said. “At least I think so. Odd place for an entrance.” He ripped a corner off the paper’s edge, then stuffed the blueprints back in the drawer when the doorknob turned with a click. Three guards entered the room as he crammed the scrap of paper into his pocket.


  My throat tightened. They’d found us.

  “What are you doing in here?” one of the guards shouted. “This room is for authorized personnel.”

  I couldn’t answer. I’d never been in this sort of situation. Except for fighting Revens, my life had always been uncomplicated because I followed the rules. I opened my mouth to give some sort of answer, but the words wouldn’t come out.

  The bulkiest of the three guards stepped in front of the others. His hand rested on a taser gun at his side. “Did you open the files?” he asked, his voice smooth.

  “We didn’t see anything,” I stammered, my heart like a freight train in my ears.

  “Those files are classified information. Are you sure you didn’t see anything? Even by accident?”

  “Yes. I’m sure. Really sure we didn’t see a thing. I mean—I’ve already forgotten.”

  He took a step forward. “So you did see something?”

  “No, I didn’t say that.”

  “But you did. Why else would you need to forget it?” He smiled, a leering kind of grin that sent shivers down my spine. I took a step back when Memphis grabbed my waist. He pulled me so close my body pressed against his. I felt the thump of his heart against my chest. It beat loud in my ears, but not as loud as before. Now it beat with a steady cadence, the rhythm I’d become so accustomed to.

  “My girlfriend and I were just looking for somewhere private, if you catch my meaning.”

  The guard took another step. “Were you?”

  “I suggested we find an empty stall in the bathrooms, but she’s too much of a germ-o-phobe for that. So we ended up in here.”

  The guard worked his jaw back and forth, as if debating Memphis’s answer. “How do I know you aren’t lying?”

  Memphis pulled me closer, if that were possible, his hand wrapped possessively around my waist. I had trouble breathing. Perhaps I should have felt flattered, instead I wanted to stomp on his toe, but I imagined that wouldn’t help in convincing the guards of our supposed relationship.

  “Why else would we be in here?” Memphis spoke with a deep, controlled voice, the sort of tone that demanded attention. His words weren’t important, but the way he said them made me believe him, although he spouted complete lies. His heart continued its steady beat. “We just needed someplace quiet.”

  “You’re telling the truth?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “You didn’t see anything in here? You didn’t look through the files?”

  “We were a little busy to notice the files.”

  The other two guards stayed back, watching, their eyes wary. “Ammon, did you enable the retina scan?” the big guard asked.

  The other guard, Ammon, touched the rim of his glasses. “Yes.”

  The big guy rounded. “Then how did they get in here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The big guy ran a hand through his thinning hair. “I don’t need this on a Saturday night,” he said to himself.

  “We weren’t causing any trouble, were we?” Memphis asked, his voice so polite I thought he must have switched bodies with a long lost twin brother. “June’s father would get really upset if he found out.”

  “Who’s her dad?”

  “Senator Brighton. From New York.”

  The guard cursed. “He’s here?”

  “He’s in the lobby.”

  “I haven’t seen him.”

  Memphis’ heart continued its steady beat. “He was down by the bar last time we checked.”

  The guard’s face reddened. “Look, kid. I’ve got enough trouble going on tonight. You’re wasting an awful lot of my precious time. If I let you two go, will you swear to me you’ll stay out of here?”

  “I swear it.”

  “And you promise you didn’t see anything?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine,” the big guard spat. “Get out of here.”

  I stared, shocked. He let us go? Just like that? Memphis was a better liar than I’d realized.

  The guards parted and we made our way outside. I didn’t let out my pent-up breath until we reached the ground floor. My head still didn’t feel right after the wreck, and I had trouble concentrating. We found an empty hallway and I fell onto one of the plush white benches. Memphis stood over me.

  I hugged my arms around my chest, feeling chilled and exposed. Maybe I should have been flattered that he’d called me his girlfriend. Instead I felt freaked out.

  I couldn’t understand what bugged me so badly. But he felt different, even if I wasn’t sure why. He knelt beside me, his eyes on me. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, hoping he believed me.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I guess I’m still shook up from the wreck. Plus I’m not as good at evading the authorities as you are. That was a little intense.”

  “This coming from the girl who fights Revens in her spare time?”

  “I fight bad guys, not the good guys.”

  “Who says those guards are the good guys?”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  He smiled, that half-smile that I’d only seen a handful of times, a look that I’d hoped he only reserved for me. “You’re shaking.”

  “Am I?” I looked at my hands and found them trembling. He took off his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders.

  I took a deep breath, hoping it steadied my nerves. “Are we going after your sister?”

  “Yes. But only if you feel up for it.”

  I nodded, though I couldn’t find the words I needed. The dizziness was almost gone, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. I looked up at Memphis, hoping, praying, that I’d made the right decision in following him halfway across the country. My stomach knotted at the thought that perhaps I’d made the wrong decision. “You would never hurt me, right?”

  He rested his hand on my knee. “Why would you ask something like that?”

  “Because all we’ve done so far is break the law. It’s wearing on me. I just need to know that we’re doing this for the right thing.”

  “We’re saving Alexa and bringing her home. You decide for yourself if it’s the right thing.”

  I couldn’t answer. Not yet.

  “I’m not fond of breaking the law either, but right now, the law isn’t on our side. Trust me. You’ve made the right decision. Now let’s go find Level Five.”

  He turned, but I stayed on the bench. What was I doing here? Why had I followed Memphis halfway across the country? I thought about my time back in New York. I’d fought Revens for almost two years, but the fights never seemed to end. They wouldn’t end as long as Shines existed. Or as long as Revens existed.

  I couldn’t let what the Revens did to me happen to other girls. It had to stop.

  I looked up, feeling the determination swell within me. I pushed away my pain, my anger, and stood.

  I’d come here not to save just one Shine, but all Shines. That’s why I had to finish this, that’s why I had to trust Memphis. I would stop the Revens. I wouldn’t save Shines from every threat out there, but I would stop one threat, and that’s the best I could do.

  I followed Memphis outside the mansion.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Laughter and music drifted from the house as Memphis and I made our way across the back lawn. The chirp of cicadas came from the wide-branched oak trees, their limbs stretching across the pool’s water. Recessed lights illuminated the water’s rock-strewn bottom. Its musical trickle calmed my frantic thoughts.

  Thick tree limbs stretched overhead as we made our way to the back of the property. We stopped by a wrought-iron fence. Past the fence, the landscape changed drastically. A pale silver moon hung above the sand dunes. Cacti and scrub brush dotted the open desert.

  Memphis glanced back at the mansion before grabbing the fence and leaping over. His feet landed silently in the sand.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I fou
nd the entrance to Level Five on the map. It’s a quarter-mile south of the house, give or take.”

  “A quarter of a mile?”

  “I guess they didn’t want anyone to find it easily. Come on, I’ll help you over.”

  “No, I’m okay.” I grabbed the top bar. Cold metal chilled my hands as I climbed up and then over. My boots landed in the sand with a thud. I stared across the desert, thankful I’d worn my boots instead of the stilettos.

  I glanced back. The flickering red lights of an ambulance shone from the opposite side of the mansion. I couldn’t see the wrecked van, but I knew the ambulance was close. Good. If the Revens were in a hospital, that meant they couldn’t get to me. I turned back to Memphis.

  He pulled the ripped piece of blueprint from his pocket. “See,” he showed me the paper. “The facility’s entrance is located due south of the back veranda.” He pointed behind us. I looked back at the mansion, noticing how the windows on the bottom floor jutted out like an arrow’s tip. Yellow light glowed from the glass, a bright spot against a dark sky. The mansion’s other windows were covered and cast a weak glow.

  “As long as we stay in line with those windows, we’ll be able to find the location.”

  “Don’t you think someone will notice us?”

  “That’s the genius of the building. As long as the entrance stays hidden, the owners of this Shine facility don’t need to hire anyone to guard it. Besides, if anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’m transporting you to the facility. It’s a perfect cover.”

  My heart fluttered. Perfect, yes. Maybe too perfect, and too close to the truth. Only a few days ago he had been my captor. I had been his prisoner. How did I know he wouldn’t try to use me again and trade me for money?

  But I’d grown to know Memphis better than that. He’d never been motivated by money.

  I followed behind him, my footsteps muted by the sand. The night air brought a chill. I pulled his suit coat close around my arms, its scent of his aftershave a deep sandalwood that filled my nose.