Merging Darkness

by Marissa Farrar

  Lorcan remained in the background. He looked even more dangerous than his dark hair and tattoos normally alluded to, but this time it was because he was surrounded by guns. Multiple cases lay open, displaying the weapons within. We weren’t going to go into this without being prepared, and it looked to me like Devlin assumed we were going to need some serious firepower.

  “How’s the patient?” Kingsley asked.

  Clay waved a hand. “Hey, I am here, you know. Everyone is welcome to speak to me directly.”

  Kingsley ignored him and continued to talk to Alex. “I assume he’s fine.”

  Alex chuckled. “Yeah, and ready to go.”

  “Too damned right,” Clay agreed, rubbing his hands together. “No way am I going to let that fucker abduct Darcy and then hit me around the head without me delivering some justice.”

  I lifted my eyebrows at him. “I have some justice of my own I want to send his way,” I reminded Clay.

  “Then we’ll do it together, sugar. A regular ol’ Bonnie and Clyde.”

  I frowned. “Weren’t they the criminals?”

  He laughed. “You know what I’m sayin’.”

  Devlin stepped in. “Okay, enough of that. We need to focus. Transport will be here for you in an hour, and you need to be ready when it arrives.”

  Nerves tumbled in my stomach. I wanted to get out of here and start our mission—my first official mission, and possibly the most important I’d ever have—but the thought still made my mouth run dry. There was always the possibility things would go wrong, and, as always, the fear of losing one of the guys hung over me. I guessed it was something that would constantly haunt me now. We had dangerous jobs, and I’d lived most of my life with a father who’d also had a dangerous job. Trouble was, he hadn’t come out of it alive, so my fears were perfectly rational.

  “As you can see,” Devlin continued, “we have plenty of weapons for you to take, together with ammo. I’d like to say I hope you won’t need to use them, but you don’t know what you’re going to find. Remember the other bases don’t yet know we have a way of contacting them either, so there’s a chance they may be hostile until you’re able to prove who you are.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Isaac interrupted.

  “I’ll give you ID and a code word. Ask to speak with whoever is running the show. They’ll know the word. It’s the one thing that allows us to coordinate in case of an emergency, or something bigger than one unit can handle.”

  “Such as multiple terrorist units infiltrating the government,” Lorcan said.

  Devlin nodded. “Or homegrown terrorists like Hollan. That man is dangerous, and not just on a personal level. He wants to manipulate government to make decisions that will benefit him financially—for the companies he’s invested in. He’ll happily create a situation which might end up with the United States declaring war on another country if it means lining his own pocket. And he’s not the only one. That’s why we exist, and the other bases like ours. When the people we trust to keep us and our country safe are as corrupt as our enemies, we’re the only ones who can keep this country and its inhabitants safe. They may not realize it, but the lives of the American people lie in our hands.”

  Isaac gave a sharp nod. “We won’t let you down.”

  “Let me take you through the equipment. We can’t assume all the bases are underground, like this one. I’m not saying they won’t be, but they’re as likely to be in an industrial building, or hell, even disguised as offices. I’m not expecting them to be in the middle of any built-up areas, however. Questions would quickly be asked if suspicious looking people were seen coming in and out.” He produced a piece of equipment and laid it out on the table. “These are thermal imaging goggles. As you know, even with the coordinates, the possible locations still cover large areas. If it looks like the base attached to those coordinates might have the same setup as this one, you can use the heat sensors to find it. With this many people and this much equipment underground, it will give off an obvious reading compared to the rest of the surrounding area.

  “I’ve sent the aerial screen shots of each of the locations to your laptop, Isaac. I struggled with a couple of the locations due to cloud cover, but I’ve done what I can. I wish we could be more specific about the exact positions of the bases, but the coordinates would have had to have been multiple digits long to be that precise. What we’ve got should be close enough for you to figure it out, however. You’ve grown up in this place, and you know what to look for.”

  Isaac nodded. “We’ll find them, and before Hollan does, too. That we already know how these bases operate is one big advantage we have over him.”

  I prayed Isaac was right, and we did have an advantage over Hollan. It gave me a little flicker of hope that everything would be all right.

  “It makes sense for you to head to the closest base first. It’s about five hundred miles from here, in an area outside of Atlanta.”

  Five. Zero. Zero. The numbers appeared in the space around my head.

  The spark of hope I’d experience fizzled and died. Damn it. It would take us hours to get there, almost the whole day. I wondered how far all the other locations were if that was the closest. Of course I knew how big our country was, but I’d been holding on to the idea that they’d have been located in at least the same state so they could coordinate with each other.

  “How much time have we got before we need to leave?” Isaac asked.

  Devlin checked his watch. “We’re down to forty minutes now, and I need you and all the gear above ground in that time, too.”

  I chewed on my lower lip. “Have I got time to go and say goodbye to my aunt?”

  He nodded. “You’re not to tell her anything about where you’re going, though.”

  “I understand.”

  I didn’t blame him for being cautious. After what my aunt had done, contacting Hollan behind our backs, I wouldn’t have trusted her with this information either. But that didn’t mean I didn’t love her, and if anything happened to me, I’d at least want to know that we’d said a final farewell. I’d never had that with my dad. He’d been snatched from me so suddenly, and what followed had just been confusion and panic. He’d taken the time to tell me the numbers to unlock the memory stick, but hadn’t told me how much he’d loved me, or that he was proud of me. I knew it was a necessary thing now, and my life would currently be on a whole other track if he hadn’t, but that didn’t prevent me from doing everything I could to make sure I never lost a loved one without saying goodbye again.

  Leaving the guys still talking with Hollan, I got back into the elevator car and went in search of my aunt. There were two places she’d most likely be—her room, or in the living area. She’d started to teach the boys domestic duties—cooking from scratch, and basic things such as how to wash dishes or clean a toilet. The boys acted as though they hated it, loud moans of protest always following the cleaning duties, but they seemed to enjoy the cooking. These were things that had been taught prior to my aunt arriving, but she was able to put a feminine flair to their work.

  I found her where I thought I would, in the kitchen, elbow deep in flour. She’d have smacked anyone around the head who suggested what she was doing was menial work. Keeping people fed and homes clean was a vital part of society, and anyone who thought it wasn’t necessary was an idiot in my aunt’s eyes.

  “Hey,” I said, causing her to glance up from what she was doing. “That looks messy.”

  Aunt Sarah sighed and didn’t respond directly to my comment. “When am I going to get to go home, Darcy? I enjoy helping out here, but I still have a life. I have my business, and my clients are only going to wait for so long.”

  I reached out and covered the back of her floury hand with mine. “I know, Aunt Sarah. I’ll have a word with Devlin and see what he thinks.”

  Hollan had the memory stick now, which meant his obsession with finding me was now pointless. I had nothing more I could give him, and if he no longer n
eeded to find me, he had nothing to hold over my aunt either. I couldn’t see any reason for her not to go home and continue with her life. The house would be hers for as long as she wanted it to be. I knew I wouldn’t be going home any time soon. I needed to be here, with the guys. This was my life now, though I knew I’d miss both my aunt and the home I’d grown up in.

  “You’re leaving again?” she asked, eyeing my jacket.

  I nodded. “Yes, I have to go now, but you know I can’t say where. I just wanted to say bye.”

  She exhaled a second sigh through her nose. “I’m going to assume I can’t talk you out of it and get you to come home with me, away from all this craziness.”

  I pursed my lips and shook my head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s those men, isn’t it? They’ve got you under their spell.”

  My cheeks heated, and I glanced away.

  She continued to pound away at the dough. “Can’t say I blame you, Darcy.” She looked up and caught my eye. “If I was twenty years younger ...” Her cheeks twitched with a held back smile, and she gave me a playful wink.

  I laughed, my shoulders relaxing. “Okay, they might be a fringe benefit.”

  “Just don’t go losing your head over some guy,” she warned me. “Or guys, for that matter.”

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  “Any idea how long you’ll be gone this time, assuming you don’t just hand yourself over to the bad guys again?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not totally sure. At least a couple of days, I think. And you be careful down here, too. Nowhere is completely safe right now.”

  “Which is another reason I think I should go home. I’m not stupid, Darcy. I see people carrying guns when they weren’t before. I see how the surveillance has skyrocketed from practically nothing to Fort Knox. It’s all to do with Hollan, isn’t it?”

  I didn’t want to give anything away, but I chewed on my lower lip, thinking. She had a point about it being safer back at our house now than it was here.

  But Devlin had more important things to think about than my aunt, and I couldn’t bother him right now about getting her back home. I wished I’d thought of it earlier. Maybe he could let her take one of the vans so she could drive herself home? I made a mental note to mention it to him before I left.

  Time was running out, and I needed to get above ground.

  “I really do have to go.” I leaned across the counter to place a kiss to my aunt’s soft cheek. I slipped my arm around her neck and gave her a quick squeeze. “Love you,” I told her. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “See you soon, Darcy, and be careful, okay? Get those men of yours to look after you, and don’t do anything reckless.”

  “I won’t, Aunt Sarah.”

  Why did people keep saying that to me?

  Chapter Three

  On my way back up to the surface, I stopped where I knew I’d find Devlin.

  “What are you doing here, Darcy?” he said as soon as the elevator doors had opened and before I’d even gotten the chance to step out. “The rest of your team is already waiting on top.”

  A thrill and a sense of pride shot through me from him referring to the guys as the rest of my team. I’d never really belonged to anything before.

  “I know. I just wanted to run something by you quickly.”

  He checked his watch again and frowned. “Better make it fast or they’ll leave without you.”

  That was the last thing I wanted. “I want you to consider letting Sarah take one of the vehicles home. She doesn’t belong here, and now Hollan isn’t out to get me, she’s not in any danger by being out in the real world. If anything, she’s probably in more danger by being here, given the situation.”

  I remembered how Sarah was going to stay with the younger boys should the base come under attack, and experienced a pang of guilt for suggesting she leave them now.

  His eyebrows lifted. “I’ve kind of got more important things to think about than your aunt right now, Darcy, and so do you. I’ve always told you this isn’t a prison, and she’s free to leave, if that’s what she wants, but considering how things went down last time, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  I wanted to protect my aunt, but this was bigger than just one person.

  I put up both hands. “You’re right. I only wanted to throw the idea out there before I left.”

  He didn’t say anything, his eyebrows lifting farther as though daring me to continue.

  I backed away, my hands still held in the surrender position. “Okay, okay. I’m going.” I didn’t want to give him an excuse to tell me to stay, or drop me from the team.

  “Bye, Darcy. Stay safe.”

  “I will.” I was back in the elevator car and reached out and hit the button to take me above ground level. I exhaled a long sigh of relief as the doors slid shut, closing off my view of Devlin and the control room. I’d been pushing my luck by stopping to talk to him. I’d always thought Isaac was the dominating, controlling one, but Devlin outranked even Isaac.

  The elevator doors slid open again, revealing the greens and browns of the surrounding forest and the almost perfect blue of the sky. It was one of those days where you could feel summer slipping away to fall, a faint nip to the air that wasn’t there a week or so ago. Standing around, waiting for me, I guessed, were the guys.

  “Come on, Darcy, you’ll be late for your own funeral,” Clay said, grinning at me as he looked over at me through the curtains of his hair.

  I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, don’t even joke about that right now.”

  A number of bags sat at their feet. As well as the bags were several of the silver cases which had displayed the guns and ammo down in the control room. It certainly didn’t look as though we’d run short on that front, but I didn’t like to think about the situation where we’d need to use them. I’d known how to handle a gun most of my life—my dad being in the FBI had precipitated that—but that didn’t mean I liked the things. I was a decent shot, though, and my time in the base had helped. Knowing what I might be going into, I’d made sure I’d spent plenty of time down in the shooting range, and Lorcan had helped me improve my aim. It also meant I got to spend a little one on one time with him, which was a nice fringe benefit.

  The plan was that we’d go to the nearest base, warn them, and then we’d have two teams to send to the next two bases, and so on. With each base we warned, we’d gather more men. We’d be able to coordinate our movements, with the final goal being that we’d take down Hollan.

  For me, that was the ultimate focus. Yes, I wanted to make sure the other bases were safe, and I was pleased I’d been able to provide them with a way of coordinating with each other, but none of this would be over until Hollan was dead, and I wouldn’t rest until I made that happen.

  “It’s a shame the memory stick didn’t contain the phone numbers of the other bases, rather than the locations,” Clay quipped. “It would have made warning everyone about Hollan a hell of a lot easier.”

  “It would also mean Hollan wouldn’t know where to find the other bases,” I pointed out.

  Isaac frowned. “He’d have been able to use the phone numbers anyway. He’d have the equipment to track them. But there was never any point in putting phone numbers on there. Phone numbers change.”

  “Locations of things change, too,” Alex pointed out. “We don’t know for sure that the bases are still in the same places they were six years ago. When everyone went dark, some of them might have gotten spooked and moved locations.”

  Isaac shook his head. “Unlikely. Unless they had a reason for doing so that we’re unaware of, no one would move a setup like this voluntarily. Think of all the technology and infrastructure. Plus, if they moved, they would have destroyed the one chance of getting in touch with the other bases again.”

  I sighed and put my hands on my hips. “Okay, so we just go and hope we can find the locations before Hollan does.”

  I hated that I’d let that son of
a bitch get away. I turned every moment of what had happened over in my head, trying to figure out if there was something I could have done differently. I should have grabbed the gun and shot him. I should have run faster.

  “This isn’t all down to you, Darcy,” Kingsley reminded me. “We were all there, too. You weren’t the only one who wanted to stop him.”

  He was right, of course. I didn’t know why I constantly felt as though it was me against Hollan.

  “I guess it’s because I know he killed my father,” I admitted. “We have a history. That bastard used to come to my house, bring us gifts, and drink beer with my dad. And the whole time he was living this other life that went completely against what my dad believed in. I know this is bigger than just me and him, but it feels personal.”

  He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I get it, Darcy, but you have to remember you’re part of a team now. Our team. We have to work together.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, and we will. We’re good together, I know that, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to get my hands on Hollan.”

  “And we will,” he assured me.

  I looked around for one of the vans, and then back down at all the bags. “Are we going to have to carry all these down to the transport?”

  Isaac frowned at me. “That’s not the kind of transport we’re getting.”

  “It’s not? What are—” A familiar sound cut off my words. I frowned back at Isaac, my brain trying to piece together why I recognized it, and then realization dawned, and with it came an unnerving stomach flip.

  “Oh, shit. We’re traveling by helicopter?”

  “Yep.” He looked a little smug, pushing his hands into his pants pockets.

  “I’ve never been in a helicopter,” I admitted. “And I’m kind of not great with heights.”

  Kingsley laughed and stooped to pick up two big bags, one in each hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you.”

  I was doubtful. “Protect me from falling hundreds of feet to my death? How are you going to do that? Act like my cushion when I hit the ground?”