Crystal Fire

by Jordan Dane

  Gabriel hadn’t asked to be a genetic mutation. Reese blamed his dead wife for what happened. She’d tricked him into fornicating with her to create a child. He’d come to despise her for what she’d driven him to do—to correct his “mistake.” Fathering Gabriel had become his secret and also the reason he had volunteered to head up operations in L.A.

  He’d given the boy life. Who’d have more right to take that life away? It wouldn’t be easy for him, but he would make the personal sacrifice to fix what he’d done. Kathryn had deceived him with her mockery of love in order to procreate a new enemy of man, spawning more like her.

  Reese couldn’t think of Gabriel as his child anymore. He had to forget his responsibility to the boy, because he had a greater purpose now. He had done his best to distract his organization from finding his son after he’d disappeared. When the boy went into hiding, it had made his job easier, but now it would appear Gabriel was flaunting what he knew. He had threatened to expose his secret by sending him a peculiar message through one of his mercenaries.

  Even Fiona had seen the odd drawing his son had made—a picture of him. As leader, Reese relied on his anonymity within his compartmentalized organization. Few knew his face or name. That sketch had sent a clear message. Gabriel intended to stir things up. He’d been seen with the Darby girl. He wasn’t keeping a low profile. It wouldn’t take much for anyone in his organization to realize their relationship if Gabriel got caught and talked—especially if he accused him of being responsible for Kathryn’s death.

  Reese had covered his tracks, but shining new light on a closed case wouldn’t be good. A car accident could turn into a murder investigation and detectives would open his life up to public scrutiny. The way he saw it, he had no choice now. If he wanted to keep his secret, he had no recourse but to kill the boy.

  After he took a deep breath, he almost dismissed the lasting remnants of his bad dream, but something made him sit up and search the darkness again.

  “What the hell?”

  His nightmare could have merely been triggered by his chronic humiliation over Gabriel and Kathryn—except for one, hard to ignore, undeniable fact. Something very real had been left behind.

  The smell of Kathryn’s perfume.

  4

  West Hollywood

  Morning

  Dr. Fiona Haugstad had spent the night tossing and turning. She blamed her lack of sleep on eating too late and an overindulgence in red wine at dinner the evening before that left her with a morning headache. She’d hoped to share her meal with Alexander Reese, but after he declined to join her, she wallowed in a pity party of one. A heady merlot had kept her company instead.

  “One day, Alexander,” she muttered as she ran a hand through her blond hair and stretched.

  In a bleary-eyed fog, she tossed off her bedcovers and slipped a silk robe over her pale blue nightgown before she headed for her bathroom. She turned on her shower on high and let the water heat as she stared into her mirror. If she were younger, Alexander Reese might not have resisted her invitation for a very private late-night dinner at her home, but she refused to succumb to any feelings of inadequacy.

  The man simply didn’t know what he’d missed. His loss, not hers.

  Fiona stripped out of her robe and nightgown, letting the garments drop to the floor at her feet. Naked, she turned toward the steaming shower, but something made her stop.

  She caught a glimpse of something dark—behind her, reflected in the mirror. Fiona gasped and covered her bare breasts with her hands. As she stared into the fogging mirror, she saw a face with startling eyes and a peculiar smile.

  Oliver Blue.

  His body flickered like a sputtering candle, only partially covered in slick black strips of prototype material designed to prevent bed sores. Dark goggles and the sensory deprivation helmet flashed in and out to reveal his tortured face trapped inside it. It was as if he’d breached a barrier, yet couldn’t stay.

  “Is it...r-really you?” she stammered. He didn’t answer.

  A deep contusion on his belly caught her eye. The shape of the bruise looked odd. The scientist in her wanted a closer look, but when tortured screams erupted all around her, she covered her ears and collapsed to her knees. Fiona felt sure the cries were his, but when she looked at him, his haunted face only flinched into a pained grin.

  “How did you...?”

  Fiona couldn’t stand it any longer. She got to her feet and rushed toward the door with her heart hammering in her chest, but when she looked over her shoulder, Oliver had vanished into the billows of steam from her shower.

  “Oliver?” she whispered.

  Fiona waited for the wild-eyed boy to chase after her and terrorize her in her own home. When nothing happened, she dared to step back and peer into her bathroom. She only heard the rumble of her shower.

  No shadow. No Oliver Blue.

  Fiona blinked and leaned against the counter with her legs feeling weak. Anyone else, in any other line of work, might have blamed the hallucination on alcohol...or guilt. But Fiona wasn’t delusional and she didn’t do guilt. She chose to think like a scientist on the verge of a great discovery.

  Although her heart hadn’t calmed down, Fiona actually felt a strange exhilaration over what had happened. She’d set the whole thing in motion weeks ago. Oliver had been her very private experiment. Not even Alexander Reese knew what she’d done to the boy.

  Fiona rushed to get ready. She had to see Oliver. Her next steps with him would be critical.

  Stewart Estate, Bristol Mountains

  Lucas had been plagued by doubt ever since his confrontation with Gabriel Stewart during training yesterday. Feeling restless, he’d gotten up early and gone for a cross-country run on the estate. The steep mountain climbs had been challenging and he’d worked up a sweat, but the intense workout didn’t make anything clearer.

  After his run, he doused his head with water from a garden hose before he toweled off and went inside to clean up. Training with Gabe made him realize how weak his body had become after being locked up and drugged for years in a mental hospital. While the other kids improved their mental gymnastics, Lucas had to get his body in shape too.

  Gabe went with him most days. The guy was in much better shape, but he never showed off. He kept Lucas going when he wanted to quit. Only today, Gabe didn’t show and Luke couldn’t blame him.

  What would you die for, Lucas? Gabriel had asked him. Would you kill to protect your sister?

  Those questions struck him like a punch to the gut. Until now he’d been a kid having others take care of him. No decisions required. Although it felt good to take charge of his life now, he hadn’t realized how hard that would be. Others looked to him, as if he knew what he was doing. He didn’t feel strong like Gabriel.

  Even Rayne had surprised him. She’d risked her life for him and ignored his warning to stay away when he told her that it was too dangerous for her to search for him after he’d escaped Haven Hills. Instead she’d saved him—saved them all—when she refused to give up and had brought Gabriel with her. Lucas only remembered Rayne as a kid, before their older sister, Mia, committed him to the treatment facility. Seeing Rayne grown up reminded him how much of his life that he’d lost.

  After he showered, he didn’t bother to dry his hair. He got dressed in jeans and a blue T-shirt and went looking for his sister. The door to her room was open and Lucas heard voices. When he poked his head into the bedroom, he found her stirring a small red plastic bowl with a spoon, talking to the Effin brothers. Frederick, the life-challenged butler, hovered near her shoulder. The twin boys had their faces pressed to a tall glass cage that was lit with UVB heat bulbs, peering at Rayne’s pet.

  “He’s an iguana. His name is Floyd Zilla,” she told the twins and smiled.

  One of the Effin brothers glanced to the other with
a quizzical look, communicating telepathically in their usual fashion.

  Should we tell her that he prefers Carl?

  Lucas blurted a laugh as he joined them, but when Rayne shot him a look, he covered up his amusement with a cough.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing.” Luke shrugged. “Something in my throat.”

  Rayne shot him a look before she went on with her lizard lecture.

  “Floyd is vegan. I made him dinner. Fruit and parsnips mush,” she told them. “Want to taste it?”

  Both boys grimaced and shook their heads. They couldn’t leave the room fast enough.

  Lucas glanced into the bowl she had and smirked. “Whoa, he eats that shit?”

  “It’s good for him. He doesn’t have teeth.”

  “What he doesn’t need is a nose. That stuff smells like feet.”

  Frederick winced. “Good Lord, you’ve made me grateful to be dead.”

  The ghost butler popped from sight, sounding like a cork rocketing from a champagne bottle.

  “Guess we both know how to clear the room.” Lucas chuckled.

  It felt good to laugh, even though it didn’t last long. While he watched Rayne fill Floyd’s water dispenser and feed the iguana, he’d been quiet. Too quiet.

  “What’s up, little brother? You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

  “What? Are you psychic now?”

  “Mia would freak if that was contagious.” Rayne meant that to be funny, but she didn’t even smile. Neither of them did.

  “What do you think Mia’s doing...now that she doesn’t have your digits anymore?” he asked.

  “I have no idea.” Rayne stopped what she was doing and Floyd cocked his head, watching through the glass. “I thought I would like the peace and quiet, but...it’s almost worse not knowing.”

  Lucas knew that Rayne had to ditch her old phone because of their sister’s persistence. Mia hadn’t given up searching for both of them. She had sent threatening text messages and recorded voice mail until Rayne had no choice but to get a burner phone. She’d prepaid for a cell so it couldn’t be traced. She hadn’t made that decision easily. Cutting off Mia meant his sister didn’t trust her either.

  “Stay strong, Rayne. It wasn’t right that she worked with her church to find me. She didn’t even go through the police, at least not the legit cops. Family doesn’t do that. She chose them over me.”

  “I know you don’t trust her,” she said. “I don’t either, but it feels...wrong to cut her out, without at least letting her know we’re okay. She’s still...family.”

  Lucas didn’t know what to say. Rayne had spent more time than he had with their older sister. Meds had robbed him of years from his life. His memories of his older sister had been tainted by Mia’s insistence on locking him up as if she’d been embarrassed of him.

  “What she did, it hurts, you know?” he said.

  Mia’s face lurked in the shadow of Luke’s memory. He had no desire to see her again, at least not until he gave it more time.

  “I understand. I really do.”

  Rayne didn’t bother to justify what Mia had done and Luke appreciated her for that. He didn’t want to believe Mia could have betrayed him by turning him over to the church she worked for. Maybe she’d been brainwashed to think he was really dangerous, but Lucas couldn’t afford to risk everything on her motives. He had only his gut instincts to rely on when it came to Mia and he needed to make sure Rayne understood.

  “She would’ve let them send me to Ward 8. Even if she didn’t know what they’d do to me, that doesn’t mean I should trust her.” He ran a hand through his damp hair as flashes of his worst dreams came at him, even in broad daylight. “I believe those nightmares I’ve been having about that place. They’re too real. I think I’m seeing through the eyes of kids who are being tortured. Bad things, Rayne. That could’ve been me.”

  Luke crossed his arms. The nightmares were too fresh and never-ending.

  “Gabe’s sketchbook is filled with new faces. They scare me,” she said. “He thinks he’s channeling your dreams.”

  “Yeah, my visions are getting worse.” He fixed his gaze on her. “It’s safer for us to assume Mia works for the Believers. She’s the enemy now. Even if she’s oblivious of what they’re doing, letting her in on anything could put all of these kids in danger. It’s not just about our family. There’s more at stake.”

  The look of sympathy on his sister’s face reassured Luke that she understood, but when she put her arms around him, that sealed the deal. She’d been the only one who hugged him for real. It felt good to have Rayne back. She might be the only family he had left.

  “You said Gabe’s been drawing?” Luke asked. “He hasn’t said anything to me.”

  “Yeah, about that.” Rayne pulled from his arms and forced a smile. “Whatever’s been going on between you two, I think you need to talk about it. That’s all I’m saying. Please don’t put me in the middle.”

  Lucas sighed and said, “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”

  Taking charge of his own life would have to come one step at a time, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be days when he felt like shit doing it.

  * * *

  Gabriel squinted into the sun as he stood with the other Indigos by the fountain in the courtyard, enjoying the warmth on his skin. A beautiful day in the Bristol Mountains was impossible to resist, and Uncle Reginald had planned to take advantage of it. They’d all been working hard, and tensions were starting to show. Instead of keeping them in the training rooms within the basement of the manor house, he had asked Gabe and the other kids to meet him by the trickling fountain in the cobbled patio garden.

  Uncle Reginald wore pressed khakis, a pith helmet and binoculars hanging from his neck, as if he were on safari. Coupled with his thicker British accent, his apparel made him look like Rudyard Kipling’s Gunga Din in a Monty Python skit. Uncle Reginald had a dressing room full of unusual clothing that he’d collected from his travels. Gabe fought a smile when he saw the man’s somber expression under his lion tamer hat.

  After they were present and accounted for, his uncle simply said, “Follow me, please.”

  Not even Gabriel knew what his uncle had planned when he took them for a hike into the foothills, along a worn dirt path. They climbed under a dense cover of trees until the trail hit a high meadow filled with wildflowers. Gabriel breathed in the cool air, filling his mind with countless memories. The grassy clearing held a special place in his heart. It had been a favorite spot to picnic with his mother, Kathryn. She always had him carry a basket filled with treats she’d especially prepared for him to try. The goodies were often exotic, yet never the same. His mother believed everything should be an adventure, especially picnics with her only son.

  When Gabe got to the open field with the others, near a huge boulder that had meant something to his mother, Uncle Reginald stopped and stood at the base of the stone, waiting for them to gather round him.

  “I’d like to try something a little different today.” The man waved an arm. “Make a circle please.”

  The children did as they were told. Rayne had come along, even though she didn’t have the psychic aptitude that her brother, Lucas, had, and Hellboy stayed close to Gabe’s heels. Rafael leaned against the boulder behind his uncle, looking completely bored, ignoring “Dead Fred.” That’s what Rafe had started to call Frederick, hoping the insult might dampen the dead butler’s keen interest in him. No such luck. Frederick had become Rafe’s occasional companion since the troubled boy could actually see and hear him. He figured the kid needed a friend, and Gabe couldn’t argue, even though Rafe might disagree.

  In solidarity with the occasion, the butler wore camo hunting gear, a wide-brimmed Indian Jones fedora and hiking boots and had an elaborately carved wooden
walking stick for a touch of panache. Why a ghost had to wear camouflage, Gabe wasn’t quite sure.

  “I’d like you younger children to pair up and work on extending your contact reach.” Uncle Reginald grinned, always making the little ones feel as if they were playing a game. “For the fun of it, one will hide and the other will search using your cognitive abilities, then trade off. But please stay within sight of this big rock here. When I blow my whistle...” His uncle pulled a whistle from his pocket and blasted their ears with a shrill demonstration. They all cringed. “Run back and we’ll have lunch. Cook has prepared a treat for us. Understood?”

  He pointed to the kids and paired them up but kept Rafe, Kendra, Lucas and Gabe behind. He had special plans for them.

  “Rayne, be a good girl and watch over the children, will you? These binoculars are for you.” He took the binoculars off his neck and handed them to her. “Be my eyes and ears, if you don’t mind. Children always find a way to do things they shouldn’t.”

  Before she took off, he put his pith helmet on her head. It hung low and covered half her face. When she laughed, only her teeth showed, and that made Gabe grin.

  “Will do,” Rayne said, and ran off to locate her charges.

  When they were alone, Uncle Reginald fixed his gaze on Gabe and the others and didn’t say anything until he had their full attention. Even Rafe closed the circle around him.