The stop-start felt endless and had her heart pumping like a piston. She made it to the front of the building, where she heard the chatter of the rest of the crew. Everyone in the manor was caught up in an expectant buzz while they awaited the arrival of their reinforcements.
Julia made out the whirring buzz of helicopters in the distance and knew her time was short. A bubble of guilt popped in her stomach, but she knew in her heart that what she was doing was right.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she almost didn’t catch the brothers until it was too late. She gasped and ducked, eliciting a response from one of the brothers as the other two sped by. One of them, either Don or Graham—she hadn’t yet managed to differentiate between the two—paused and sniffed the air, an eyebrow cocked as he whirled and looked for something he could not see.
Julia’s heart stopped.
“Lost your flow?” Jerry cackled. “Knew you’d be the first to surrender.”
Don-or-Graham furrowed his brow. “I thought I heard something.”
“The sound of you losing!” Graham-or-Don crowed before speeding around the corner.
Tugged by his pride, Don-or-Graham—Julia finally decided it was Don—shook his head and sped after his brothers. Julia exhaled once he was out of sight and made for the wrought iron gate that bordered the property. There was no cover on the way there; the lawn had been mowed, and there was nowhere to hide. She’d have to move fast.
She made a dash for it, her arms pumping by her side, hair flying behind her. She neared the gate, had it within reach, and managed to ease it open and close it behind her when Don’s voice made her stop in her tracks.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Julia spun and looked at the trio through the gate. “Out,” she replied, trying to sound casual. “Is that a crime?”
Don scratched his head. “I mean, no, but you’re sneaking. That means you’re up to something.”
Graham clapped his hands and chuckled. “I smell deviousness. What are you up to, little bird? Out to go find Jiao solo?”
“No! No!” Jerry cackled excitedly. “Out to find the bad guy by yourself, ain’tcha? Or, off like that other little bird flew. The one that escaped our clutches and hasn’t come back. Jennie said to keep an eye out, yes, she did. Ooo, what will she think when we tell her about you?”
Julia’s skin prickled. There was no way she’d allow these freaks to mark her as a traitor.
“I’m going out, okay?” she replied sharply. “It’s not a crime, I’ve got something to do. Someone to see. Last I checked I wasn’t a prisoner.”
“We should bring her back inside, yes we should,” Graham crooned. “Raise the alarm and let everyone know that there’s another traitor in their midst.”
Julia closed her eyes briefly. She had been rumbled, but she wouldn’t allow her reputation to be tarnished. She had only just worked her way into Jennie’s good books. “Raise an alarm if you want to, or you can trust me. I’m not Jiao. I’m not out to hurt anyone. I just want to see Roman, okay? I want to make sure he’s okay, and I don’t need everyone giving me shit about it.”
Don clapped his hands to his cheeks. “Sweety-chicky is in love! Why didn’t you say?”
Julia narrowed her eyes. “No, I’m not.”
“Oh, how delicious,” Jerry roared, slapping his thighs. “Lovey-love-love!”
Julia flinched at his noise. “Keep it down, please. I’m not wasting another minute here. I’m going, but I’ll be back before dawn, I promise.”
“We should stop her,” Don declared. “Grab the birdy and make sure she can’t fly away.”
“Why?” Graham asked.
“What if she is a traitor?” Don replied.
Jerry nodded. “Good point. We don’t want Jennie to punish us, do we?”
“No, we don’t,” Graham answered. “Getting thrown against a wall was not on my to-do today.”
Jerry raised an eyebrow. “The only thing on your to-do is losing our race.”
“She’s leaving,” Don told them.
Julia’s eyes widened as the poltergeists rushed as one toward her. There was a flash of light when they hit the border of the property, unable to pass beyond their boundaries.
“Damn!” Jerry cursed.
Julia let out a relieved laugh. “Sorry, folks. Guess there’s no capture for you.” She moved as close to the gate as she dared. “I promise you, I’ll be back. I just… I need to see him.”
With that, she turned and dashed down the hill. Behind her, she heard the poltergeists raise the alarm. However, the sound of their wailing was lost as the helicopters closed in, staggering their arrival above the property as they came in to land on the back lawn.
Julia continued running down the hill toward the city. When she was under the sodium arcs of the nearest public street, she dialed a number on her cell phone. A cab arrived a few minutes later and took her to her destination.
She paid the fare and exited the cab. Difficult to miss, the hospital was an impressive building with a red brick square out front that had the large letters “VCU” announcing its purpose. Julia made her way inside and asked the receptionist where she would find him.
“We don’t allow visitors this late,” the receptionist told Julia when she asked to see Roman. She was tired, her hair a gray tangle and her eyes were bloodshot.
Julia informed the receptionist that she was a blood relative and would only be in town for the next couple of hours. She must have been convincing because she somehow managed to appeal to the woman’s kind nature.
It was either that, or she was too tired to argue.
The corridor was dimly lit. Glass walls allowed Julia a glimpse inside each room as she was guided toward a room where a large man who barely fit the bed slept soundly. Roman’s was one of six beds divided by pastel blue curtains. His leg was suspended in a traction sling and was wrapped entirely in a cast.
Roman had never looked frailer and more vulnerable to her.
Julia thanked the nurse, who emphasized that she’d only have a short amount of time. She took a seat beside Roman’s bed, still uncertain why she had felt such a compulsion to come all of this way in secrecy to see him. Avoiding the teasing was only part of it.
A steady beep of monitors played a chorus in the room. Julia leaned forward and took Roman’s hand in hers, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.
“This is crazy,” she whispered, conscious of how loud she sounded to the room. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here, I just… For some reason, when I heard you were hurt, I couldn’t help myself.” She let out a soft chuckle. “You probably have no idea that I’m here, so hopped up on painkillers that this will all be a dream to you if you remember it at all. I guess…I think the others have got inside my head. I don’t want to see you hurt. I want to see you well, and… Well, I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but I…”
Someone coughed in the room and Julia trailed off, her face flushing. She imagined Roman waking and asking why the hell she was there. Scorning her emotions. He had no time for emotional affairs of any kind, being the honorable man that she knew him to be. He was cold, calculating, dedicated to his mission.
Yet she had felt something, she was sure.
She hadn’t had much luck with relationships in the past, but she could tell when there was something between her and someone else. Something special, maybe.
Julia rose and stroked Roman’s forehead. It was clammy and warm. He murmured gently.
A voice from behind made Julia jump. “He’s been dreaming about you, you know?”
Julia spun sharply, surprised to see Triton’s face appear around the curtain. He smiled warmly, but that didn’t stop her heart from racing.
She stumbled for words. “How long have you been there?”
Triton drew back the curtain to reveal Rhone lying peacefully in his bed. His midsection was bound with white bandages, his face a mass of scratches and scrapes.
Tr
iton ignored her question. “I’ve never known the man to talk in his sleep, but whatever drugs they’ve given him have amped up the visions he’s seeing. Most of it was gibberish, but I heard your name pretty clearly. Quite a few times.”
Julia’s ears grew hot. She couldn’t hide the grin appearing on her face. “Really? What was he saying?”
Triton’s brow creased. “Something about calzone, I think. Then your name a few times in a short space of time, then he went quiet.”
Julia hid her delight by turning back to Roman. “Is he going to be okay?”
Triton considered this. “I think so. The nurses seem hopeful, although they won’t know how well his leg is going to heal until he wakes up and starts physio. That cave-in screwed him up pretty badly. Rhone too, to be honest. We were lucky enough to escape with the bare minimum of damage, but there were some casualties we can’t afford along the way.”
They fell quiet for a moment. The machines continued to beep their rhythmic music.
“I’ve never known Roman to show any interest in a woman,” Triton confessed after a time. “He’s always been dedicated to his work, a truly emotionless soldier. It wasn’t until our powers as conduits became clear and we teamed up that he showed any sign of loyalty outside of his unit. If you’re into him, just know that you’ll have a rough journey ahead of you. He’s tough to read and can be a real asshole at times, but his heart is in the right place.”
Triton gave a small laugh. “God knows, maybe it’s time for something to melt his stone-cold heart.”
Julia couldn’t stop smiling, the heat spread to her cheeks. She stroked his hair once more, and he moved beneath her hands as if nestling into them for comfort.
“I want to be here when he wakes up,” Julia announced, turning to Triton. “How are you allowed to sit by Rhone’s side outside of visiting hours?”
Triton tapped the side of his nose. “I’m a convincing liar. Plus, I arrived with both of them and showed them my military ID. I made a sob story about them both being brothers and promised not to kick up a fuss. I think the nurse has the hots for me, so as long as I stay out the way and be a good boy, I’m fine.”
The nurse who had brought Julia returned to the entrance of the room. “Time to go, miss. You can come back in again at eight AM for morning visiting, okay?”
Julia spared one longing glance at Roman before conceding and following the woman out of the room. She waved at Triton as she left and let him know she’d wait downstairs until the morning came.
When she was gone, Triton shook his head in disbelief. “Can you believe it? All that kidding around, and it turns out she really does have the hots for him.”
The curtain shifted a little more, revealing another woman who had been sitting out of sight and eavesdropping the entire time.
“I knew it,” Ula boasted. “The minute I saw her leaving the manor, I knew where she was heading.”
“How did you beat her?” Triton asked with a grin.
Ula smirked. “Do you really need to ask?”
Ula ducked out of sight as a nurse walked past the room. When she was gone, they both turned their attention to Roman.
“Do you think he heard any of that?” Triton asked.
“I hope so,” Ula replied. “I think it’s about time he made a connection. All these years of isolating himself and living a solitary life; it’s about time he had a chance for love.”
They fell into quiet discussion, their topics turning from Julia to Rhone and onto events at the manor. Ula confessed she couldn’t stay long and had to return to the manor to take care of things for Jennie, but she admitted she had to at least see that Roman was okay first.
Soon enough, she left the hospital and sneaked back into the city. Triton turned back to Roman, noticing the smile that hadn’t been on his face before the arrival of Julia.
“That’s it, big guy,” Triton whispered. “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Washington DC, USA
Baxter followed Jennie closely as they rounded the corner into the shadow of the tall buildings surrounding them. “What are we doing here? You really think you’re going to find a witch in the center of the city?”
Jennie marched ahead without slowing, latched onto Baxter in her spectral form so no one would see her coming or going. “We’re taking a quick detour. It’d be wrong to come to Washington without seeing that he’s okay.”
Baxter knew instantly who Jennie was talking about and decided to let the matter drop. If there was one thing he’d learned over his time with Jennie, it was to trust the woman. Her methods were often strange and unorthodox, but had she ever failed to deliver?
No.
In spectral form, it was easy to enter the hospital. Little did the pair know that a few of their crew were doing exactly the same thing in Richmond at that moment. Jennie’s face was emotionless as her mind ticked over thoughts that she’d rather leave behind in the dark. Her mind forced her to mentally count the number of people who had been injured and hurt because of her.
Not because of me. Because of the situation. Without you, these people would already be dead.
She told herself this repeatedly, but it did little to convince her. It worked even less when she managed to locate the man she’d come to see in the isolation ward. Two sides of Rogers’ room were made of glass, which left him little privacy.
Jennie melted through the wall and stood at Kurt Rogers’ bedside. He looked at peace, although his body was a messy painting of the pain he had endured in trying to defend the SIA HQ.
“Is he okay?” Baxter asked.
Jennie picked up his chart and flipped over the pages. “Vitals seem okay. He’s had a couple of surgeries already to remove the bullets from his body. They’ve got him on OxyContin and morphine. That’ll keep him out of it for a while.”
Jennie placed the chart back just as a nurse came into sight. She did a double-take at the monitor she’d just seen changing screens by itself.
Jennie moved to stand beside Rogers. “I wish there was something more we could do for him.”
Baxter nodded. “He’s resting. That’s what he needs right now. When do you think he last had a break?”
“Hard to say.” Jennie cocked her head and looked at his tired face. It was the first time she’d seen him look truly at ease since she’d known him. “A man in his position, I bet he hardly gets time to sleep, let alone actually rest.”
“You know that feeling, don’t you?” Baxter stated.
Jennie smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
Rogers shuffled uncomfortably, his face tightened into a grimace as he moved. He gave a small snort then continued to breathe deeply and sleep.
Jennie drew a vial out of her pocket, this one smaller than the others. She eased it into Rogers’ curled fingers and cupped them tightly around it.
“What’s that?” Baxter asked.
“A little gift.” Jennie smiled at Rogers. “Something to speed up his recovery. A gift from Hendrick.”
Baxter nodded in understanding. While he didn’t know the specifics of the formula, he had learned not to doubt Hendrick’s tricks.
Baxter’s brow creased. “What about the others in Richmond? Roman and Rhone?”
“Hendrick is working on it. He had time to concoct this batch for me while we were trapped underground. More will be made for the others in due time.” Jennie sighed. “What a mess.”
“Suck it up,” Baxter declared.
Jennie looked at him quizzically.
“Double entendre.” Baxter grinned. “One: we can be the vacuum cleaner that sucks up the mess. Two: get over it.” He puffed out his chest proudly.
Jennie turned away from Rogers and gave Baxter a patronizing pat on the shoulder. “Sure. If you say so.”
She spared one last glance at Rogers before heading back outside.
* * *
Jennie couldn’t believe what she was seeing when they arrived at the W
ashington Monument. Only a few weeks ago, this had been a site of devastation. There was no sign of the damage caused by the bombs that the Shadows had set off to flush out Jennie, the conduits, and the specters from the hidden space beneath the memorials.
The bombs had obliterated this area. Dirt had blown in chunks, police had surrounded the area, putting up yellow tape kept journalists and civilians at a safe distance from the destruction.
The area was pristine, returned to its former glory. Only a few patches of juvenile grass showed that anything of significance had happened here at all.
“They wasted no time in clearing up the mess,” Jennie observed. Moonlight shone silver on the grass, the water feature reflected the stars in the sky.
Baxter half-shrugged. “Are you surprised? This is one of the city’s main attractions. Tourism would be slashed dramatically if people couldn’t access this historic place.” He glanced up at the stoic white statue of Abraham Lincoln. “Imagine if he had been blown up. That would’ve been a bitch to fix.”
Jennie nodded. Luckily it had only been the side of the building where the hidden entrance to the underground caverns had existed. Where the door had been, was now nothing more than a plain white brick wall.
They crossed the grass to where they knew the tunnels lay beneath. Baxter crouched to one knee and touched the grass. “What do you think it’s like down there? Can’t be much left after what happened before? You were lucky to get the conduits out of there when you did.”
Jennie’s mind flashed back to that night, the devastation caused as they battled alongside the SIA against the Shadows and the SIS. A whole clusterfuck of allegiances fighting among each other. What a shitshow that had been.
She crouched by Baxter, something niggling at the back of her mind. There was still a residue from that battle, she could feel it in the air. “Only one way to find out,” she replied. “The question is, how are we to best manage this? We don’t have any equipment to scan and look for open pockets that have been left.”
Baxter grinned. “We swim.”
Agents, Agreements and Aggravations: In Her Paranormal Majesty’s Secret Service™ Book Three Page 43
