by Jools Louise
Cody knelt beside the wheelchair and took Ethan’s face in his hands, brushing the tears that began to fall away with his thumbs. “Baby, this tunnel can’t hurt you again. Nobody else will ever be buried here once we fill it in. You’re safe now.” He kissed Ethan’s cheek, then hugged him close, feeling the quiet sobs against his chest. “If you want, I can go punch those wolverines for you,” Cody added in a growl, and Ethan choked out a laugh. “In fact, I can go one better and bury them in this fucking tunnel, let them bully each other until they starve to death.” Cody had some lingering issues with what the four guards had done, but he didn’t really mean the last bit, and said as much. He regretted the words as soon as they were spoken aloud and sighed.
“I don’t want to bury them,” Ethan said, snuggling into his dad’s shoulder and closing his blind eyes. “Maybe I’ll punch them one day myself, once I’m feeling stronger.” He felt Cody nod emphatically.
“I’ll hold them down for you,” Cody promised. “Douglas will probably want a piece of them, too. The Horton family against a bunch of short-legged bullies—those wolverines won’t stand a chance.”
Ethan laughed grimly, and then eased back from his father’s embrace. “I was never really that afraid of them,” he admitted, staring blindly into eyes the mirror image of his own. “My reaction was linked to what I felt in the tunnel after we were sealed inside, and I knew utter despair, realizing we were done for. At first, I gave as good as I got with them, trash talking mostly, but then it all got to me. Their comments began to hurt because I was so miserable. They were all bluff and bluster, like little kids who like to talk big. I never sensed they would actually hurt me, not like the scientists did—or my mother.”
He grimaced at the memories of the woman who had done everything but be a mother to him. “But then we were all trapped in this last tunnel, and I got so depressed, I didn’t want to listen to them anymore. I didn’t want to be told I’d never get out when I was perfectly capable of understanding that myself. I don’t understand why they didn’t let us help them dig. We’re all shifters, me and the others who were trapped down there. With thirteen of us, we could have taken shifts and been free in days probably.
“The wolverines seemed like they couldn’t figure things out, like they were so shocked to be buried as well, they couldn’t think of the proper solution. The only time I tried to reason with them, they attacked me, yelling and telling me they had their families to protect, and if they defied the cult, their families would be killed.” Ethan sighed heavily. “Fear is a powerful motivation. Those boys couldn’t pull free from their conditioning to think for themselves.”
Cody stared at his son, so proud of his boy’s courage that he felt an ache in his heart and a smile on his face. “Ethan, I’m so proud of you, I hope you know that. Now let’s bury the past once and for all…or at least this part of it.”
Ethan smiled, nodding to the work crew, who used a large hose to start pouring the wet concrete down the hole. It would be done in stages, letting the first mixture set, then adding the next layer, and so on until the hole was filled in.
“I want to leave now,” Ethan said, staring uneasily at the hose and the flow of concrete.
Murphy stepped up and knelt beside him. “Here are the pictures we took of the whole tunnel,” he said, handing a set of photos to Ethan. “Take a long look, and know that nobody else is down there. We double-checked everywhere when the demolition crew were surveying it and blocked off each of the chambers.”
Ethan began to cry. “But I can’t see!” he said, falling apart.
Murphy jerked back, looking sick. “I didn’t know that. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you hadn’t regained your sight yet. The others are regaining theirs slowly. I thought…”
“Let’s go now,” Cody said abruptly, lifting his son’s slight frame into his big arms, wanting to hold him close, and carrying him up to street level. “You’ll get your sight back again,” he added, stroking Ethan’s hair as he went to sit on the curb. “I’m certain of it.”
“It’s been three weeks now, and I don’t see a thing,” Ethan cried. “Not even light and dark.” He still clutched the photos in his hand, his brown hair sticking to his cheek, damp from crying even more tears.
“Ethan, do you trust me?” Cody asked, and Ethan nodded, looking a little surprised at the question. “How about if I describe the photos to you? Maybe then your brain will be able to process the fact that you’re safe, and never going to be in that tunnel again, that nobody else will ever be put down there again like you were.”
Ethan nodded again, and Cody took the photographs from his son’s trembling hand. Sorting them into some sort of sequence, he began to describe to his son what was in each picture, making sure he told Ethan that nobody was down there, that the place was empty of people. Ethan gradually relaxed, beginning to believe that he was actually safe. Cody had seen people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress many times, and one thing that underlay their fear was that the trauma they had suffered could happen again, the brain struggling to cope with something it had never dealt with before.
He’d seen Murphy work miracles with soldiers who’d been in combat or injured by IEDs, terrified without understanding why. They thought the fear stemmed from the injury or the sights they’d seen, but they’d all seen those things before. It was the specifics of a particular event that could trigger flashbacks, of that one trauma. Ethan had suffered a lot, but the time he had shut down, when his brain refused to cooperate and allowed Ethan to hide away inside his head, had been in the tunnel, the fear that they would never escape, dying down there, absolutely real.
As each photo was described, Ethan relaxed more and more. Each section of the living tomb was detailed, until the last photo of Ethan’s room was laid to rest.
“Where are the guards?” Ethan asked after a long pause, swallowing hard. “You didn’t do something to them, did you? I didn’t like them, but I don’t like the thought that anything happened to them, like you suggested earlier.”
Cody reached for his cell phone, wondering if perhaps Ethan was suffering from a syndrome where a captive became enamored of his captors, he couldn’t remember the name of it. He would have words with Murphy if that were the case. No way were those bloody wolverines going near his son again. Dialing the ranch, he got through to Joe and asked where the guards were. Within a couple of minutes, he was transferred to the clinic, and Lash’s voice came through.
“Who’s this?” the man asked cautiously.
“The man who’ll rip you a new asshole if you make my son cry,” Cody warned, flicking the phone to speaker mode. “Now tell Ethan you’re okay. We just filled in the tunnel and I don’t want him thinking I buried you down there again.”
Lash snorted, snarling slightly. “Old man, you couldn’t even if you wanted to,” the wolverine bit out, full of sass. “You can tell Ethan we’re just fine, and if you want to go a couple of rounds with me and my brethren, I’ll be happy to oblige you. We are not some scared little bitches, afraid of a big, fat pussycat.”
Cody grinned, seeing the expression on Ethan’s face go from fear to irritation in a split second.
“That big, fat pussycat got us out of that fucking tunnel when you four morons were too afraid to try,” Ethan spat, looking furious. They both heard Lash’s sharply inhaled breath as he realized Ethan had heard his challenge. “If it hadn’t been for my dad, you scared little bitches would still be down there, chasing your fucking tails and whining about being in the fucking dark.”
“Ethan…” Lash said unhappily. “I didn’t mean…”
“No, you never mean it, do you?” Ethan shot back, grabbing the phone. “You’re always just teasing, just joking, just this or just that. Why bother to say mean stuff if you don’t actually have the fucking balls to back it up? You’re the fucking pussies, a bunch of idiots who wouldn’t know the difference between your own anus and the hole in the ground we just filled in. I’m glad you’re not dead, becau
se if I ever see you again, I’ll punch you so fucking hard you’ll see daylight through the top of your head!” He flicked off the phone, trembling now with fury, his eyes flashing with gold sparks of temper.
“Now that’s one way to tell a guy you mean business,” a familiar British voice drawled, and Ethan gave a startled laugh, smiling involuntarily in John’s direction as the man wandered toward them and came to sit on the curb beside Cody. “If you let us know when you intend to punch him in the face so he’ll see daylight through the hole in the top of his head, I’ll print tickets and we can all come to the show.”
Cody laughed at that one, along with Ethan, grinning at his friend, who winked back.
“Are you here for a reason, or just pitching a potential new business sideline?” Cody asked, nudging John with his shoulder. “Fancy yourself as a sports promoter, do you?”
John laughed and shook his head. “No, my friend, but I do think Ethan has a valid course of action. Those wolverines are just a little too dim-witted for comfort. I mean really. They really don’t understand a great deal of anything, do they?” He leaned closer to Ethan and lowered his voice. “If you ever decide to follow through with that threat, any one of the Two Spirit crew will be happy to help you oblige.” His tone was deadly serious as he patted Ethan’s arm, then squeezed gently before releasing the young man.
“I know you’re all there for me,” Ethan replied, still smiling. “Thomas said they’re breaking ground on the gym soon. Is that right?” He directed the question to Cody.
“Yep, we are. Ellison Hawkwing is helping design it. He had his own place over in the Southwest somewhere. Their town kicked him and his friends out for being too gay, whatever that means.” Cody shook his head in disgust.
“Douglas told me about Ellison,” Ethan said, then grinned. “I think he may be a little smitten. He goes all coy and sighs a lot when he talks about the man.”
Cody let loose a low growl, and Ethan laughed at him, punching his arm lightly. “Don’t start that,” Ethan said, grinning. “Douglas is a lot older than he seems. Whether you like it or not, the kid knows what he wants. He was forced to do sexual things before, now he can choose who he wants. I think he has his sights set on Ellison Hawkwing.”
Cody growled again. He couldn’t help himself.
John let loose a belly laugh, falling sideways as he took delight in Cody’s reaction. Cody ignored his idiotic friend and wondered if it was time to pay a visit to Ellison Hawkwing and have a friendly chat. Just to remind him that Douglas wasn’t fair game.
“Dad, stop it,” Ethan protested, laughing again. “I can almost feel the thoughts going through your head. Douglas has a kick-ass side to him, and a jaguar to back it up. Ellison is the one who needs protection. Douglas seems to have decided he wants the man, and I don’t see him slowing down. Ellison Hawkwing is toast.”
Cody curled his lip, not answering, knowing he was going to talk to Ellison, whatever happened.
“I came to tell you, boss, that the folks from the Idaho bunker are on their way. Ryder is coming with them in a large trailer converted into a mobile medical unit.” John sat up, wiping tears from his eyes, trying to be serious as he delivered his news. He couldn’t stop the grin on his face if he tried. Cody was so overprotective his boys would be lucky to find a relationship in three lifetimes.
“Why didn’t you just say that?” Cody said, rolling his eyes, his attention effectively deflected for the moment from images of disemboweling a Native American with a penchant for his son. It didn’t matter that it was his son who seemed to be after the Native American, the man was still toast.
“I tried, but you were just too funny,” John laughed, ducking an elbow to his ribs. “Anyway, they’ll be here in the morning. Twenty people in total, and Ryder said they all want to remain together, they were terrified when it was suggested they go to separate clinics.” John ruffled Ethan’s hair gently. “Ryder also said that you might know a couple of them,” he said. “One guy called Bryce and a second called Callahan.”
He grinned when Ethan let out an excited laugh, turning his head in John’s direction.
“I thought I’d never see them again,” Ethan replied, smiling with pleasure. “How are they, do you know? There were others as well. Sammy told me they were taken somewhere else, but I had no idea where.”
John’s smile faded and his eyes darkened as anger replaced it. “They were in a similar state to you and your friends that were found here, incarcerated in an underground bunker, but it had light and a little more food. They didn’t have guards, and we think they were forgotten about after we flushed the main facility. None of the guards who were interrogated last year seemed to know anything, and they were asked several times,” he said grimly, seeing Ethan flinch and curl into his father’s chest again as though a switch had been flipped, eliminating the laughter in an instant. “All are okay, and Ryder and his team have spent a couple of days stabilizing them all so they’re okay to travel, and are just clearance for the medi-trailer, the only thing big enough to transport them all. The convoy is traveling overnight to avoid traffic. Bryce said to say hi,” he said, his smile returning.
“How long were they down there?” Cody asked, stroking a hand down Ethan’s back.
“I’m not sure,” John replied.
“We were separated at the same time,” Ethan interjected huskily. “Bryce and his group were kept there, but we didn’t realize they were being placed in a bunker. My group, as you know, ended up here in Sage.
“Which means about eighteen months in total,” John said, doing the calculation. “From what Lash told us, the cult got scared and began to reduce the amount of people they moved around, dumping some when they began to panic. I think that’s why you were abandoned. Gibbons and his idiots didn’t want to be found out, knowing we were getting closer to shutting them down.” He gave a growl of distress. “I’m sorry, Ethan. Our actions precipitated what they did to you,” he said apologetically.
“No, don’t be sorry,” Ethan replied fiercely. “We would have been killed for sure if you hadn’t done what you did,” he said, reaching for John’s hand. “We were on a list to be executed, used as targets at a trophy ranch. When the ranch was uncovered, they moved us again and again, then split us up. It gave us a little more time…otherwise you would have never found our remains.”
Cody snarled at the admission, meeting John’s feral gaze.
“Aiden told me he was surprised when he managed to escape the trophy ranch, as he’d been expecting to see all the kids in the prison there, but they’d all gone when he got out and killed the last guard, then grabbed Doctor Pearson,” Cody said. “I guess now we know what happened to them.”
“Aiden?” Ethan asked. “Aiden’s okay?”
“Yeah, he’s doing fine,” John said. “He knows you’re here, but waited until you were feeling stronger to visit. He didn’t want to upset you, didn’t want to trigger more flashbacks while you were so weak.”
“I’d like to see him,” Ethan said eagerly, his voice tired now. He yawned, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m so tired all the time.”
Cody got to his feet, as did John, and they walked back to the clinic. “Let’s get you back now,” he said. “We’ll tell Aiden you’re raring for a visit.”
He felt Ethan slump against him, heard the even breathing that told him his son was asleep, exhausted by his trip down below.
“How bad are the others?” he asked John, who twisted his mouth into a grimace.
“The same as Ethan was when we found him,” John replied. “It was touch and go whether they survived, but Ryder reckons they’ll do okay. We found them just in time.”
“Do you ever feel like someone is helping us somehow?” Cody asked, feeling silly for saying it. “Before, we were always just two steps behind the cult, never quite catching up with the senior hierarchy. Now we’re uncovering all these places.” He shrugged, not looking at his friend.
“Aaron has said this w
hole town used to be protected by spirits of his ancestors,” John replied, unfazed by the subject matter. “I sometimes think I feel the presence of my mother and father nearby, when I’m feeling particularly down, even though I know they were nowhere near here when they were killed. I think perhaps there’s something to this whole spirit world idea…it’s like we’re now able to see more clearly. As though our eyes were shrouded. Now, all those who impeded us are suddenly helping.”
Cody stared at his friend, eyes widening. “That’s fairly deep, John.”
John snorted, then placed an arm around Cody’s shoulders. “I have hidden depths, Cody, just don’t tell anyone else,” he quipped, waggling his eyebrows. “Now, this is where we part company,” he added. “I have a café to run and I’ve left it in the hands of the Young Guns. Anything could have happened by now,” he sighed, then strolled off to work, while Cody took his son to the clinic.
He thought about the trailer he and Thomas shared with Douglas and wondered if it wasn’t time to start looking for that house they could all live in. He wanted something permanent with Thomas, and permanent many things. Love, life together, a home…and everything that went with it.
He felt a mixture of things as he walked back to the trailer, seeing the light fade into dusk, the calls of birds offering their twilight song. He felt sorrow and grief and an ache in his heart that would take a long time to heal, for all those lost souls, and the souls who were permanently damaged by a group of vicious thugs who knew nothing of what love and family meant. This town, the one he was helping to rebuild, was going to grow and grow, and he felt so much pride right then, for his lover and sons and the larger family he’d lived and loved and fought with over the years.
Sage was being reborn—and he along with it. He couldn’t ask for anything else. As the lights to his trailer came into sight, and he saw Thomas’s dark head at the window, preparing something in the small kitchen, he smiled. Yes, indeed, he wanted forever with that sexy man.
