by Mikayla Lane
Grai moved out of the way as several men moved forward with pulse weapons and he cautioned them, “Start with the lower settings. We don’t want her harmed if she’s near the door.”
The men nodded before flipping what looked like a safety on the side of the weapon. Taking aim, both men fired and were a little surprised when the door didn’t even vibrate. One of them looked at Grai before turning up the charge on the weapon. This time when he fired the door appeared to waver and shimmer, before absorbing the energy of the weapon.
“What the hell?” Niklosi whispered as they again turned up the power on the weapons.
This time when the energy pulse hit, it looked like the door put up a shield a split second before impact. Grai growled and held out his hand for one of the weapons. When it was in his hand he turned it up to its full power level and turned to everyone in the hallway.
“Just in case, you may want to step back,” he said warningly, before taking aim at the door.
When no one moved, he pulled the trigger and watched the entire door and the wall around the door turn into a massive shield of energy. It looked almost like a wall of water with waves as it shimmered and danced in front of them.
“What the fuck?” Someone asked as everyone stared in wonder at the wall of energy.
“How the hell do they do that?” Another asked before Grai turned back to them.
“I want full scans of what the hell that is and how we can disable it and get the door open. And I want someone to find a way to see if True is still inside there,” he said before he stormed back out into the control center.
Grai turned to Scaden, Niklosi and Amun, and spoke to them through the Shengari’. It was clear that the men were arguing privately before the three left, followed by all of the Sibiox. Grai waited until he knew the men and cats were safely outside of the cave before he turned to the screen.
“I want to know if True is still in that room and I want that door opened so we can make sure she is alright,” he said, keeping his anger and fears for True under control.
The silence continued for several minutes before the voice boomed out, “She is well and resting. You have no reason to fear for her.”
Grai clenched and unclenched his fists, trying his best to keep his anger in check. “I would like to see her for myself,” he said through gritted teeth.
Again, several long minutes passed before Leif responded. “It is unnecessary for you to be concerned for her. We would never harm another hybrid. True, Rebecca and Gibly are well. As is the Valendran.”
Grai straightened himself to his full height and puffed out his chest as he roared in rage. “What you have done is kidnap four of our people and refuse to return them. I have sent the Valendrans from the area, so they can prepare an appropriate response to what I consider an act of war! You have twelve hours to return my people. Gibly of the Sibiox. Rebecca Carson. Gracus Adrastor and True Demetrios. Or I will level this whole fucking mountain range if I have to.”
Leif laughed. “Give it your best shot, mutant.”
As Grai expected, the door to the cave closed, sealing him and the rest of his team inside. He sighed in relief that he’d gotten the two mated Valendrans out of the cave before it sealed. He only hoped that they had gotten off the mountain already and were heading to Dillon.
Chapter Twenty-One
Rebecca and Gracus had picked Gibly’s brain until the cat laid on his side and put his feet up in the air in mock surrender. Rebecca laughed at him and couldn’t resist a quick pet on his soft belly.
“You did amazing, Gibly,” she said through the Shengari’, in case they were being spied on.
Gracus nodded his head. “You did. We need a new tactic to divert their attention so we can check out the other side. I’m expecting there to be more tunnels, like near the farming area, but we need to make sure,” he said, a lot more optimistic about getting out of there since talking to the cat.
They’d been there for almost a day in total and he didn’t want to have to admit to Rebecca that something was wrong. Otherwise, Grai and Scaden, would have gotten them out of there by now. Whatever communication the hybrids were having with Grai, could not be going well if there were still stuck inside a mountain and Gracus wanted to make sure they had a backup plan to get out. Just in case.
Rebecca, unaware that anything was wrong, smiled at Gibly. “If we go to the tunnels at the farming side and make some noise, can you sneak to the other side and check it out?”
Gibly grinned, his teeth gleaming. “I would be happy to test their skills again, now that I know I do not have an advantage,” he said.
Rebecca and Gracus laughed, knowing the cat’s pride was still smarting from the humiliating capture earlier and he was probably looking forward to outsmarting the hybrids to get even. Rebecca couldn’t blame him, she’d want to do the same thing.
Gracus looked at Rebecca and asked, “What do you mean, ‘make some noise’?” He was pretty sure he knew what she meant, but he wanted to make sure.
Rebecca grinned. “I mean we go and ask the guards to let us out. Argue with them… you know, keep them occupied with us so they won’t be thinking about where Gibly is and what he’s doing.”
Gracus smiled, he’d been right. “That’s exactly what we need to do. Gibly,” he said turning to the cat. “I want you to walk beside us, out in the open, all the way to the guards. When Rebecca and I get their attention, I want you to sneak off and come back this way to check out the other side. We’ll all meet back here. Ok?”
Gibly, still on his back with his legs up, nodded his head and sighed in contentment. “I am ready to leave when you are.”
Rebecca looked at the seemingly calm cat. “Gibly, are you sure you want to do this? They might catch you again,” she asked worriedly.
She honestly didn’t believe that the hybrids would harm the cat, or she and Gracus, but she really didn’t want to take any chances either. Rebecca knew that something was going wrong with Grai getting them out of there. Although, Gracus had tried to hide it in his energy, she had felt it when he and Gibly were speaking privately.
She may not think that the hybrids would harm them, but she also didn’t want to stay down here. Wherever here was, she thought. And she damn sure was going to do whatever it took to get the hell out of there. With her man and her cat friend.
Rebecca stood, uncaring that it was still nighttime in the cave and probably still dark outside. At this point, it might work in their favor to disturb some sleep. The commotion may well help Gibly remain undetected.
Straightening her shoulders, she looked down at Gibly and then Gracus. “Let’s do it. The next time I sleep, I want it to be out of here,” she said determinedly.
Gracus grinned at his brave and strong-minded mate as he stood and took her hand, kissing the back of it gently as he looked adoringly in her eyes. She nodded her head, answering the unspoken question in his eyes before he led them out of the front door.
The first thing Rebecca noticed was that the cage Gracus had thrown outside was gone and the streets were completely empty. The streetlights and the moon sliver cast eerie shadows along the small street as Gracus led them down the side of it, towards the farm area and the tunnels Gibly had seen before he was captured. The shops and homes that they passed were dark and silent, the lack of any sound but their footsteps had Rebecca more freaked out than she wanted to admit.
The activity she’d seen during the daytime had made the place seem more cozy and homey than it appeared right now. Rebecca couldn’t imagine living here full time, it would drive her mad. Even though she wasn’t the least bit claustrophobic, she was definitely beginning to feel like the place was closing in on them and the longer they stayed, the more she wanted to leave.
They passed a planter along the street, almost at the edge of the small town area, when Rebecca felt the blast of air hit her face. She stopped and allowed her hand to slip from Gracus’s as he continued a few steps before seeing why she’d stopped.
Rebecca looked around the planter area and a few seconds later, she grinned when she felt another blast of air. She dug in the planter and grinned when she found the small pipe. She moved aside so that Gracus could see it before covering it back up and pretending to hold a flower bloom in her hand.
“I don’t know how they get these to grow so beautifully down here. I can’t even get them to grow aboveground,” she said, winking at Gracus as he smiled at her.
They had just found out that they were far enough below ground to require fresh air to be pumped down below to ensure enough oxygen for the inhabitants. The bursts of air and not a continuous flow told them that the air systems were heavily monitored and set on an automatic system to pump air when the levels dropped far enough to require it.
Rebecca had no idea what it all meant and how it could help get them out, but she was glad they had the information. Everything they learned was making her feel better about being able to get out of the place.
Gracus looked around as they walked, trying to figure out where the pipes were running at and trying to memorize every detail he could about the place while they could. He wasn’t a fool. He knew they would be escorted back to the home, if not locked inside it this time and he wanted a mental map in his mind for when they actually escaped.
The longer they were there, the more apprehensive he was becoming and the more worried he was for Grai and the others who had been right behind them on the mountain. It didn’t help that the hybrids made it clear that they were not impressed or even happy about the Valendrans being there.
Which was even more confusing since Fiorn Erikson, a Valendran, had apparently created the place and the hybrids flourished because of his contribution to their safety. Not a bit of it was making any sense to him and he was struggling to figure it out. And he’d rather be figuring it out while not inside this place, he thought as he pulled his mind back to studying the area.
Gracus could feel Rebecca’s apprehension and he squeezed her hand in support, smiling down at her as they reached the first farm field. Seeing that they were going to be passing tall stalks of corn, Gracus moved to the other side of Rebecca to keep himself between her and whatever could be hiding in the large plants. He was under no delusions that they weren’t being followed.
As they moved past the farms that Tara had showed them earlier, the streetlights disappeared and the darkness enveloped the path ahead of them. Even with their enhanced vision, Gracus and Rebecca struggled to see more than a few feet in front of them.
Rebecca likened it to walking into a black hole. The further they moved from the light, the move consumed they became in the dark. Just when she thought she might start freaking out, they rounded a sharp turn in the road and came to a small lighted area.
There were four guards posted, two more than Gibly had noted when he’d been here earlier, Gracus noted with a grin. Gibly must have rattled them more than they had let on. Two guards stood in front of each of the doors that were spaced a good fifteen feet apart.
Although they were at least twenty feet from the three male hybrids and one female, they remained silent and unmoving at the doors. Gracus wondered briefly how close they needed to get before they were intercepted, when a throat cleared behind them.
Rebecca felt like she jumped a foot when she heard the sound behind them and whirled to see what it was. She sighed in relief and irritation when she saw Tara leaning against the rock wall no more than a few feet behind them. The woman either had to have been close by, or she had to have followed them, Rebecca thought.
Tara looked up from the nail she was inspecting on her finger and grinned. “Out for a late evening stroll? Or should we call it early morning? I’m an early riser, but this is early even for me,” she said casually.
Gracus turned to face the woman. “We’re just looking around. On our own. I assumed since we were told we weren’t prisoners, that we would be allowed to do so,” he said, hiding his irritation that the woman had been expecting them.
Tara chuckled. “Definitely not prisoners, but also not allowed to escape our… hospitality. Now, if you’d be so kind as to turn around and head back to the house, I’d really appreciate it,” she said calmly, but the look in her eyes made it clear she was ready if they chose not to.
Gracus was considering their options when Rebecca huffed and stomped off towards the tunnel doors. He looked suspiciously at Tara when she didn’t move from the wall to stop his mate and rushed off to make sure the guards didn’t harm her.
Rebecca stopped a few feet in front of the only female hybrid guard, who still hadn’t moved and said, “I’d like to go through that door.” She nodded behind the unmoving woman.
When the woman still wouldn’t respond and hadn’t even blinked, Gracus looked more closely at the others before thrusting his hands through the stomach of one of the males and tried to turn the wheel mechanism on the door.
Rebecca gasped before turning narrowed eyes to the woman in front of her. She waved her hands in front of her face and she still didn’t move. Feeling weird, she gingerly thrust her hand out to touch the woman’s shoulder and was stunned when it went right through the woman.
Tara’s voice startled them from their thoughts. “Do not negate their ability to stop you. They are more real than you assume them to be, so I would ask you to show a little restraint,” she warned cryptically.
Rebecca had about enough of the riddles, this creepy damn place, these weird people… everything. She turned on Tara with her eyes flashing dangerously. “I’m getting sick and freaking tired of your bullshit and this reject place from a bad horror movie. I want to leave! I don’t give a damn what your problem is with Valendrans, Grai or Santa Claus! You act like I’m supposed to be grateful that you are politely using me as a pawn in your fucking games, but ya know what? You’re still screwing me over!”
Rebecca huffed in anger before stalking closer to Tara and pointing her finger at her. “I don’t know what they did to your people or how bad it pissed you off, it doesn’t excuse what you’re doing to us right now. And you know it,” Rebecca said the last accusingly, feeling the guilt in the woman as she spoke.
Gracus arched a brow at Rebecca’s quick mind. She was becoming very adept at using the energy and he was impressed that she had felt the small burst of guilt that had escaped Tara’s energy before she quelled it.
Tara sighed before she folded her arms across her chest and looked at Rebecca. “Look, I know you’re not used to the military or a command structure. But, he is,” she said nodding to Gracus. “And he can tell you that I can only do what I am commanded to do by the guys with the better pay grade. My feelings don’t matter.”
When Rebecca looked like she was going to pop, Tara held up her hand to stop her. “I know, you think this doesn’t mean shit to you. But, it does. You’re a hybrid. What goes on between his people and mine will determine the fate of all hybrids. You may not understand it, but you need to go back to that house until the big guys are done beating their chests and a woman comes in to calm them all and fix this,” Tara said with a grin.
Rebecca looked at the woman like she’d lost her mind. “You want me to go back and wait for one of you assholes to determine my fate when I don’t even know what the hell is going on and who all of you really are and what you’re doing here? Really? Do you even hear yourself?” Rebecca asked, not even trying to calm herself at this point.
This whole thing had gone way too far and she was tired of feeling like she’d slipped into the wrong funhouse. Or another world. Hell, at this point she was beginning to wonder if she was even still on the planet! That made her glare at Tara and ask, “Are we on Earth?”
Tara laughed as several other hybrids became slightly visible in the darkness behind her. “Yes, I can assure you that we are still on planet Earth. I’ll even go so far as to tell you that we are still in the US. You’re on American soil,” Tara said, knowing she needed to give the woman something in order to try and calm the situation be
fore it got out of control.
Rebecca snorted and threw her hands up in the air. “There you go again! Laughing off something as important as that, like I should be grateful you told me! We’re on American soil! I’m an American citizen and I have rights! Rights you are stomping all over!”
Tara sighed, wishing she’d chosen her words more carefully and not tried to joke about it. So much for diffusing the situation, she thought. Putting her hands in her back pockets, trying to look more casual and less threatening, she turned to a furious Rebecca.
“Rebecca, I promise you that no matter what the big idiots decide, you will get out of here alive. We’ll even drop you and all your gear off at your cabin for you. Just give us a day or so. Please,” Tara said politely, hoping a friendlier and reassuring tactic would work to calm the angry woman.
Rebecca looked at Tara curiously, sifting her energy as she spoke. There was something there that she was having a hard time recognizing and she didn’t want to bring attention to it by turning to Gracus to see if he had noticed it. Instead, she tried to keep Tara off balance long enough to figure it out or for Gracus to pick up on it.
Rebecca threw her hands up in the air dramatically. “Oh my God! Really? Oh, I’m so grateful for your kindness! Not! Do you hear yourself? Really hear yourself? And what about my… boyfriend? And Gibly? Do they get a magic carpet ride to my place too?” Rebecca asked, blushing to her roots for not being sure of what to call Gracus.
Tara sighed heavily, flicked her hand and the hybrids behind her disappeared back into the darkness. Gracus and Rebecca weren’t fooled though. They knew that the reinforcements weren’t going to be far away. They were prisoners, no matter how much Tara tried to sugarcoat it.
Rebecca put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at Tara as she stepped closer and leaned her head towards Rebecca’s before speaking very softly.
“I understand how this sounds and I know that you have no idea what you stepped into, but I need you to trust me,” Tara said and held her hand up to stop Rebecca from interrupting her.
