Lincoln (Ember Quest Book 3)

by Arcadia Shield

  Chapter 9

  Lincoln shot toward Anastasia and stood in front of her, before twisting back and glaring at Heath, daring him to say something.

  Heath was staring at him with wide eyes. “What the hell was that?”

  “We had no choice.” Lincoln took a step closer to Anastasia. “She was holding the baby when the alarm triggered. We had to run.”

  “You’re kidding me.” Kade called over his shoulder. “You took a prisoner?”

  “Like I said, we had no option,” said Lincoln, his fists clenching.

  “She’s not a prisoner or a test subject,” said Anastasia. “She’s just a child. I’d have taken them all, if I could.”

  Heath pushed his windblown hair out of his eyes and squinted at Anastasia. “I get that. None of us liked seeing that back there. But we’ve no idea what the State have done to these children, or what they’re treating them with.”

  “They’re treating them like things,” growled Anastasia. “Like they have no rights.”

  Lincoln rested a hand on Anastasia’s shoulder. “She’s right. All the babies we saw had their dragon hybrid abilities already.”

  Heath blinked, his expression one of surprise. “That shouldn’t happen until they’re older.”

  “Exactly,” said Anastasia. “None of them will survive if they aren’t given the right help.”

  Heath moved closer to Anastasia, his expression softening. “May I see her?”

  Anastasia undid the buttons of her shirt, cupping her hand around the baby’s head to stop the wind reaching her as the boat sped through the water. The little girl looked steadily at Heath, blinking her eyes slowly several times, before her gaze returned to Anastasia’s.

  “She is cute,” said Heath. “I still don’t agree with what you’ve done. The doctors could have been testing diseases on the dragon hybrids. She could be carrying anything.”

  “I don’t care,” said Anastasia. “If you won’t let her stay in the bunker, then I’m taking her and leaving.”

  “No, you’re not,” said Lincoln, his pulse racing at the thought of Anastasia leaving with the little girl. “You’ll be safe in the bunker. There’s a place for you both.”

  “There’s a testing kit in the Cobra,” said Kade. “I can screen her blood for anything infectious.”

  Heath nodded slowly, as Anastasia buttoned her shirt. “Do that before we get to the base. We have to be careful. We can’t risk everyone in the bunker.”

  Lincoln grudgingly agreed. “And if she is sick, we will help her to get better. You stay with us.”

  “Yes. Stay at the bunker,” said Heath. “We grabbed what we could from the supplies we found, but without knowing what medication they were giving her, it’s risky treating the infants.”

  The boat bucked in the water and Lincoln tensed. Were they under attack from another sea monster?

  “Don’t worry, just a rough patch of waves,” called Kade. “Hold on everyone. It might get bumpy for a minute, but then we’ll be back to shore.”

  Heath sat on the bench with Anastasia. “It will be nice, having a baby in the bunker. Our first bunker baby. We’ll have to celebrate.”

  “You don’t have children in the bunker?” asked Anastasia.

  “We have a few,” said Lincoln, settling next to Anastasia on the other side of the bench and placing his arm behind her. “But no babies have been born in the bunker. Everyone is too jumpy to start a family, given the circumstances we’re living under.”

  “We’ll need to make sure she’s well before we celebrate,” said Anastasia, her arms keeping the baby securely against her, her cries already stopped.

  “Has she got a name?” asked Kade.

  “It’s too soon to think about things like that.” Lincoln rested a hand on the baby’s back and could feel her heartbeat through his palm. It made him smile and want to scoop her closer.

  “I always liked Skyler,” said Anastasia. “It’s such a beautiful name.”

  “Sounds good,” said Kade.

  Lincoln leaned against Anastasia. “It suits her.”

  Anastasia shrugged. “It’s silly, giving a name to a baby who’s so ill. But she deserves a chance. Deserves to be called something.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll call her,” said Lincoln. “Keep her warm and safe until we get to the bunker.” He wrapped an arm around Anastasia’s shoulder. She leaned against him, and his heart swelled. Whatever this woman was doing, it was changing him. He couldn’t decide if he liked it or not, but seeing her cuddling Skyler, he wanted to keep her safe. It made him want to step up. Do whatever he could to ensure they were looked after and felt loved.

  The last ten minutes of the boat ride were spent in silence. Heath and Kade were focused on the waves, keeping a lookout for anything emerging from the water, or anything pursuing them from the island. But they were alone. The State weren’t chasing them, and the sea creatures let them pass.

  Lincoln took this is a good sign. As they docked and scrambled into the Cobra to make the journey to the bunker, he hoped it was a sign of things to come. They’d get back safely. Anastasia and Skyler would be well, and he’d finally get to figure out what the hell was going on in his messed-up head.

  SOME OF THE TENSION Anastasia carried faded as they arrived at the bunker. She climbed out of the Cobra, still clutching Skyler.

  Kade had tested Skyler’s blood on the journey back. He’d found nothing infectious in her system, not that it would have stopped Anastasia from keeping her safe.

  Apart from whimpering when Kade had taken her blood, Skyler had slept the entire journey. She was just waking as Anastasia marched behind Lincoln toward the medical bay.

  Heath had commed through, letting them know they were bringing a sick baby back. As Anastasia charged into the room, Clarissa and Sophia met her, an incubator waiting.

  “Give me the child.” Sophia held her hands out to Anastasia.

  “She’s a dragon hybrid.” Anastasia’s gaze went to Clarissa.

  Clarissa nodded, her expression softening. “Sophia knows what she’s doing. We’ll take good care of her.”

  Sophia pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. “I’ve helped hundreds of sick baby animals. I’m sure a baby dragon hybrid isn’t so different.”

  Clarissa smiled. “Ignore her. She’s amazing at what she does.”

  Sophia shrugged. “I try.” She clicked her fingers. “The child. Now.”

  Anastasia undid her shirt and eased Skyler away from her, her cries beginning the second she left the warm comfort of Anastasia’s skin.

  Sophia held the baby to her chest as she hurried to the incubator and placed her inside.

  “You can help her?” Anastasia followed closely, already missing the warm, soft feel of the baby in her arms.

  “We’ll get her stable, first,” said Sophia. “Then run a few tests and see what we’re dealing with.”

  “She’s been tested enough,” said Anastasia.

  Clarissa placed a hand on Anastasia’s arm and pulled her back a couple of steps. “She’ll get all the rest and help she needs. But we have to know what’s wrong with her, and what the State have been doing. It worries me that she has scales on her skin. It must have been stressful on her tiny system to endure her abilities arriving so young.”

  “The State will pay for this,” growled Anastasia, feeling incredibly helpless.

  “She could benefit from peace and quiet.” Sophia didn’t look up from the incubator. “Unless you’re ill, it might be a good idea to leave.”

  “I want to stay,” said Anastasia. “She knows me. The rest of you are strangers. She might get scared.”

  “Trust us.” Clarissa gently pulled Anastasia to the door, where Lincoln was waiting, a bag in his hand. “Go get Anastasia something to eat. And make sure she rests.” Clarissa looked at Lincoln.

  “I’ll do what I can,” said Lincoln. “You’ll need these.” He passed the bag to Clarissa. “It’s the medicine we took from the house. Co
uld be something in there they’ve been using on the babies to force their abilities to come through.”

  “We’ll take a look.” Clarissa nodded her thanks. “But you’d better go. We’ve just had word more infants are coming in.”

  Anastasia grabbed her arm. “The babies and female dragon hybrids are okay? The others got them out of that place?”

  “All the children are safe.” Clarissa smiled at her. “Nine female dragon hybrids made it, as well. They’ll be here within the hour. So we’ll be busy. We can use the time we have now to focus on the child you brought us and make sure she’s stable, before we tend to the others.”

  “I’ve called her Skyler.” Anastasia swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I don’t know if that’s her real name.”

  “It’s a lovely name.” Clarissa patted her arm. “Now go, before you fall over with exhaustion. As soon as I have news, I’ll come find you.”

  Anastasia took one last look at the incubator, before letting Lincoln lead her out of the room.

  They almost walked into a curvy blonde in the hallway. The woman smiled and giggled when she saw Lincoln.

  “Hi, handsome.” The blonde caught hold of Lincoln’s arm, completely ignoring Anastasia. “I hope you’re not injured. I was thinking we could get together later.”

  Lincoln removed the woman’s hand from his arm. “Some other time, Layla.”

  Jealousy flashed through Anastasia, as she watched the gorgeous woman flutter her eyelashes at Lincoln.

  “It’s been weeks.” Layla pouted. “I miss you.”

  “I’ve been busy,” said Lincoln, shooting a gaze at Anastasia.

  Layla finally glanced at Anastasia and her eyes widened. “With a dragon hybrid?”

  Anastasia’s anger flared. She’d been holding it in check ever since they’d escaped from the house, but this woman had just pushed her over the edge. “You have a problem with dragon hybrids?”

  “Oh!” Layla backed away. “Of course not. I mean, you’re all cool. I love what you do. It’s just that, well, I have an understanding with Lincoln. I didn’t know he was taken.”

  “So what if he is?”

  Lincoln hid a smile behind his hand. “It’s not like that. Layla, I’ll catch up with you later and we can have a drink.”

  Anastasia snorted and kept her glare pinned to Layla. The word mine drifted through her head, as her gaze shot to Lincoln.

  “That would be nice.” Layla backed away, not having noticed Anastasia’s stumble. “Only if you’re not too busy. I don’t want to keep you from… other things.” She turned and hurried along the corridor, shooting a worried glance over her shoulder as she rounded the corner.

  “You know, she was just being friendly,” Lincoln said to Anastasia.

  “I don’t care what she was being,” said Anastasia.

  “If you don’t care, why are your eyes red and there’s smoke coming out of your nose?”

  Anastasia stamped on her anger. “She was getting in my way.”

  “I don’t have to go see her,” said Lincoln. “She’s just a friend.”

  “One of those friends with benefits,” said Anastasia. “Don’t worry, I know all about your reputation.”

  Lincoln’s smile vanished. “Then you should know I’m loyal to the people I care about.”

  Anastasia blinked up at Lincoln and saw the intensity in his eyes. “What are you saying?”

  Lincoln took hold of Anastasia’s hand and stepped closer.

  “Lincoln. Anastasia.” Heath strode toward them, Danni by his side.

  “Is there a problem?” Lincoln dropped his hold on Anastasia’s hand.

  “We need to talk about this infant you’ve brought into the bunker,” said Danni sharply.

  “You’re going to tell me I made a mistake by bringing her here,” snapped Anastasia. “But wasn’t that the purpose of the mission, to get the women and the children out? I was the only one who succeeded. You should congratulate me.”

  Danni raised a hand. “Calm yourself. That’s not what I meant. You were advised to leave the children there because of the treatment they were undergoing. You’ve put this child at risk by bringing her here.”

  Anastasia swallowed the anger racing up her throat. “I had no choice. I couldn’t abandon her.”

  “You must learn to follow orders if you’re to remain here,” said Danni.

  “She will,” said Lincoln. “Anastasia is new to all of this.”

  “I’m not new to this,” said Anastasia. “But I only follow orders when they’re sensible. When someone is telling me to do something idiotic, I will ignore them.”

  Danni raised her eyebrows. “You might like to think about whether this is the place for you if you’re ready to disobey direct orders.”

  She scowled. “I’m not a member of your squad.”

  “This is the place for her,” said Lincoln, as he caught hold of Anastasia’s elbow. “We’ve been through a stressful time. We hadn’t expected to find all those sick children. It was a shock.”

  Sighing, Danni crossed her arms over her chest. “I understand. We were lucky. The bombs Arlo triggered caused enough chaos for a quick extraction. Tobias and Arlo are on their way back with them. But snatching a child and fleeing was a reckless thing to do.”

  “I’d do it again,” said Anastasia.

  “Then this conversation isn’t over,” said Danni.

  Lincoln’s wrist comms signaled a message. He checked it and frowned. “It’s Clive. He wants an update on the drop-off.”

  “You think he’s heard about what happened?” Anastasia’s gut clenched.

  “Everyone on Thunder Island has been reported as dead, so they won’t have told him,” said Heath.

  “But the State will investigate the loss of drone signal,” said Danni. “It won’t be long before they find out what happened. Then Clive will know. And when he does, he’ll figure out you were involved.”

  “But for now, he still wants us on board. He wants us to do another collection,” said Lincoln.

  Chapter 10

  “I can’t go,” said Anastasia. “I can’t leave Skyler.”

  “Who’s Skyler?” asked Danni.

  Lincoln sighed. This would only get worse if Anastasia kept digging her heels in. “The baby we brought back. We’ve named her Skyler.”

  Danni shook her head. “The baby is fine where she is. She’s being looked after. I know it’s a risk, but I have to have you on this mission. We’ve spent weeks working to get you inside. We can’t mess things up now. Not when we’re so close to breaking this trafficking ring. When Clive figures out your involvement, the opportunity will be gone.”

  Lincoln saw Anastasia look back along the corridor toward the medical room. “Skyler is in the best place right now. We’ll go see what Clive wants, get the job done, and be back before you know it.”

  Anastasia’s lips thinned, but she nodded. “I agreed to do this. I won’t let you down.”

  “Good to see you can follow orders when they aren’t idiotic.” Danni quirked an eyebrow.

  Anastasia shrugged and looked at Lincoln. “When does he want us?”

  “Tomorrow night.”

  “I suggest you get some rest before that,” said Danni. “We can’t afford any mistakes. There’s too much at risk.” She gave Anastasia a pointed look, before turning and walking away.

  Lincoln nodded. He looked at Anastasia, but she was already on the move, her shoulders tight. He went to follow her, but Heath caught hold of his arm.

  “Give her some time alone. Must have been unpleasant for her, seeing what the State are doing.”

  Lincoln grimaced. “For all of us.”

  Heath sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve got that right.”

  Lincoln gestured after Anastasia. “I just want her to know she’s not alone. She has me. I mean, all of us. Now she’s at the base, she has support.”

  Heath nodded. “She’s strong and stubborn. I can see why you like her.”<
br />
  “I don’t like her.” Lincoln shook his head. He was fooling no one. “I mean, I get her. Want to help her. She’s had a rough time.”

  “And she’s your type. Headstrong. Acts before she thinks. Fearless. Beautiful.”

  Lincoln stubbed the toe of his boot on the ground. She was all of those things, and more.

  Heath smiled. “Come on. Danni wants us to do a review of Thunder Island, see what information we have that will be useful for future missions.”

  Reluctantly, Lincoln let Heath lead him along the gray corridor, toward the briefing room. His head was still a mess, but focusing on work would help. And keeping clear of Anastasia might not be such a bad thing, even though his gut told him otherwise.

  Fifteen hours later, Lincoln felt calmer. Work, sleep, and food had helped. But his pulse kicked up a gear as he waited for Anastasia to join him for their visit to the fight club.

  “Let’s head on over and see what the scumbag wants.” She appeared behind him, striding past without a backward glance.

  Lincoln felt tension radiate off Anastasia as he caught up with her. He could tell she didn’t want to do this, but it was important to complete their mission, despite what was waiting for them in the medical room. His gut twisted at the thought of leaving Skyler behind. But they had to do this.

  “You sleep okay?”

  “Like a baby.” She shrugged and looked at the ground. “Spent most of the time with Skyler, until Sophia kicked me out.”

  “I checked on her a few times. Clarissa thinks she’s doing better.”

  Anastasia nodded. “Skyler smiled at me.”

  Lincoln’s heart clenched. “Of course she did. How could she resist you?”

  They arrived in the vehicle bay. Lincoln selected his favorite modified Harley. Clive’s message had said to bring weapons, so he selected a few pulse laser guns.

  Anastasia stood behind him as he sorted the weapons. Her hands were stuffed into her black leather jacket and her gaze on the floor.

  “Anything you need?”

  “I’m good.”

  “At least take a gun.” Lincoln handed her one. “Your fire breathing is incredible, but it’s always good to have a backup.”