Into the Light (The Admiral's Elite Book 2)

by HK Savage

  Gripping her sheet to her mostly nude body, she held a hand over her eyes. “Dammit Ryan, turn that light off.”

  The light snapped off, leaving them all temporarily blinded in the vacuum of darkness. A few seconds and the three considered each other, two flanking the now closed door and one sitting in only a sheet.

  Gabrielle spoke first. “I take it town was eventful?”

  “Have you been here this whole time? Have you been sleeping since we left?” Ryan remained glued to the outer edge of the room.

  Pulling out the sheet and peering down, she smiled wryly. “Ah, yeah. Unless I went off gallivanting through the woods naked.” Holding a dainty, tanned ankle out for their inspection, she turned it up and down, and brought it back in. “And came back with clean feet.”

  Ryan’s growl and cracking knuckles punctuated the following quiet.

  “Hey Ryan, why don’t you go next door and wait for Michael. I’ll stay here.” Reaching into her pants pocket, happy she hadn’t left it in her coat currently back at the Wisconsin version of Studio 54, she extracted her key for him.

  Apparently at a loss for how to deal with either one of them, Ryan took it and left without a word.

  When he was gone, Becca crept forward and sat on the edge of the bed. “He’s worried about you.”

  “I don’t need your advice, so if that’s what you’re here for, you can go too.”

  “I’m not going to try to give you advice,” Becca assured her. “Just perspective. You did it for me once, remember?”

  It had been the first time Gabrielle had been decent to her, the morning after their first mission to Russia and Becca and Michael had slept together for the first time. Gabrielle overheard a phone conversation between Black and Michael and thought Michael’s seduction had been orders. After telling Becca what she’d heard, the next day, she’d told her what she saw. That Michael hadn’t been following orders, but had been acting on his own. He’d been upset at her accusation that he would bed her for Black. At the time Becca had been too hurt to see, but later she appreciated it. It was all perspective. She owed that in return.

  She didn’t confirm or deny. Becca took the lack of objection as exactly that. “He knows there’s something going on and he’s scared for you.” She smiled. “Even I know there’s something going on and I barely know you.”

  Gabrielle’s eyes lifted, a curious expression in them. “What do you mean you barely know me? We’ve been around each other constantly for over two months.”

  “Yeah,” Becca answered cautiously, “and how many times have you taken me up on my offers to run together?” She answered herself before Gabrielle could make something up. “Never. How about training? How often have you come and trained with the rest of us? Once, maybe, when Ryan made you?” Laying a hand on the blanket by her leg, Becca’s tone softened. “You don’t want to be best friends and that’s fine. But Ryan’s working hard to figure out what’s happening to you and you’re not giving him anything. It’s counterproductive to our mission and a little cruel.” She placated the little voice in her head that accused her of doing the same, telling it this was different. This was personal and had nothing to do with the rest of them. Coward, it shot back. Liar.

  “What about you?” Gabrielle queried, less venomous than curious. “Michael told Ryan you had one of your visions in front of that detective and you still haven’t told anybody what you saw.” The way she said “vision” held more than a healthy dose of Gabrielle’s patented sarcasm.

  Defensive at having the tables turned, Becca bristled. “That’s because I don’t know what I saw.” Pensive, she chewed her lower lip and thought back to her vision. It seemed like it happened years ago. She still had no idea what it meant. She’d assumed eventually she would see someone involved or get a feeling, but no luck so far and she was at a loss, feeling more useless by the minute. “I saw some guy I’ve never seen before and he was telling me I had to kill someone, only he didn’t say who. All I know is it felt like it was someone personal, you know?” She picked at the ugly blue duvet. “It hurt me to hear it. At first I thought maybe it was Michael or one of you.” She shook her head. “Only that doesn’t feel right either. I don’t know what it means.”

  Her confession was met with dead air. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Sighing, she heaved her tired body up and turned toward the door. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ll leave you alone.” Her hand went out to grasp the doorknob.

  Gabrielle’s voice, unsteady and shaking, reached her before she opened it. “What did he look like? The one who asked?”

  Closing her eyes, Becca recalled him in vivid detail. “He’s wearing a uniform but not one I recognize. Sandy brown hair, a little lighter than mine, and brown eyes. He’s got a straight nose, thin moustache like you see in old movies. There are other people there except they’re in the background and I can’t make them out. They feel familiar too, though.”

  Gabrielle asked before Becca finished, “Did he have an accent?”

  “Uh, yeah. French I think.”

  “What do you mean, ‘think’? It’s an easy one to pick out.”

  Gabrielle’s patience was obviously wearing thin and Becca was ready to be shut of her. “It was hard to make out with all the shouting and snarling.” She let herself out.

  Chapter 23

  “I didn’t find anything,” Michael told them again.

  Ryan wasn’t content with the answer and slammed his fist into the wall. Sheetrock gave way and the cinderblock behind it cracked audibly. “How hard did you look before you came charging back to check on things here?”

  Already at his breaking point from having been from one extreme to another and back again, Michael snapped back, “Gabs isn’t the only one this thing’s after. People are dead and unexplained shit is happening all over the place.” Pulling his electronic tether from his pocket, Michael hit a button. “I’m not waiting until morning to see what the local files say, I’m going to check in and see if the admiral can come up with anything. Why don’t you go for a walk and cool off.” Seeing the big man taking his advice and heading for the door, Michael lowered his voice. “Stay close. We don’t know if it’ll come back and I don’t want anyone going up against it alone.”

  He growled something in response and jerked the door shut behind him.

  Letting out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, Becca let herself fall back on the bed. “Do you want me here?” She inclined her head toward the device now at his ear.

  Closing his eyes, he bobbed his head once before the other end picked up. “Admiral.”

  He proceeded to fill him in on their evening. Becca felt herself getting heated all over again as he glossed over the situation on the dance floor. An unbidden image of him being groped and dry humped by two other women brought her jealousy surging forth.

  Sensing her reaction before he saw it, Michael assured the admiral, “Nothing happened. I didn’t allow things to progress.”

  The admiral’s eerie chuckle was even creepier over the telephone. “You may let your woman know more about the scenario after our call Michael. I don’t care what happened with the humans unless one is dead and I have to worry about damage control.”

  “Yes, Sir.” His eyes remained trained on Becca a long second more before breaking away.

  “And you say there were unexplained incidences of violence as well?” Admiral Black prompted.

  Michael confirmed that to be true.

  “Was this the first such occasion?”

  Michael’s shoulders tightened. “No. I heard the manager and the bartender talking. This happened before. The police were involved this time. I would imagine they were last time as well. We’re heading to the station in the morning. We’ll search for records of any other similar occurrences in the general vicinity. I wanted to know if there was anything else we could find out in the meantime.”

  Black was unresponsive. Michael waited patiently. Becca practiced swallowing her tongue and rem
inding herself it wasn’t Michael’s doing. He’d said no and disengaged as soon as he could. Advantages aside, it would be great when all this vampire blood wore off and she was sane again. Relatively speaking. She still had visions of the future no one understood half the time. That couldn’t ever be considered Ozzie and Harriet normal.

  Finally Black’s voice was back on the line. “Has Rebecca had any unusual symptoms since arriving in town?”

  Their eyes met, both were equally confused. “Sir?”

  “Anything unusual. Tingling, itching, general sensations of unexplained agitation?”

  Her eyes went wide and Michael nodded his head. He actually looked excited. “Yes Sir. She has been unusually agitated.”

  “My skin’s been tingly,” she said softly. Her chest felt tight. Why did this have to come back to her, she wondered, feeling beaten. Didn’t she have enough stuff she couldn’t handle without being to blame for this too?

  “Hmm.” Black was already distracted. “I will consult with someone and call back. Stay close.” He echoed Michael’s words to Ryan.

  Returning the phone to his pocket, Michael leaned back against the wall, facing where Becca slouched. They didn’t have time to feel overly awkward. Michael’s phone buzzed and was in hand in seconds.

  “Sir.”

  “Have you heard of ley lines?”

  Michael’s face froze. His worried gaze shifted to Becca then back before he could shut himself down.

  “I will take that as a yes,” Black surmised. “Then you know what walks them and how they work.”

  There was no reaction on Michael’s face and Becca felt her insides clenching. Predictably, the spots started to dance in front of her eyes.

  “It has already found your party and most likely has detected what you are, which is why it has latched on to Gabrielle. It needs energy to survive and a werewolf has far more than any human. The witch is sensitive to them, more than you or the others. You can use her to track it, but be careful. A powerful source of energy such as this will know how to tap into each of you. It will feed from your fears and from your passions, any strong emotion. It will drain you to nothing if you let it.”

  “Sir, is there another way we can track it?”

  “Not unless you have an experienced diviner with you. The only thing you have is the witch. Her energy is raw, but it is from the same source. She will feel its vibration when she steps across it. If she follows it to where it grows stronger, she will be able to track it and you can destroy it.” Black paused and his tone changed. Was that regret? No way. “You must use her. The potential for loss is too great for your personal feelings to be primary. Entire cities have fallen prey to these energy suckers. Rome burned and several of America’s western cities fell to lawlessness and degradation before their transgressors were stopped. You must be successful or face a potential rift that could swallow the city and all those in it.”

  “Yes, Sir.” The call ended and Michael stared at the dim face of his phone.

  Becca cleared her throat and found her voice, though it didn’t sound like her. It was shaky and thick. “What is this thing?” In her head she already knew. She wanted to hear the words for some sick reason. Like hearing it out loud would make it any less painful to bear.

  It didn’t. The words rang out as a death knell. Hers. There was no question this time that she would fail. She’d seen what it did, felt its power. The players in her vision remained a mystery, though now she understood its message. This thing was going to ask her to kill her own.

  “It’s a ley line demon.” Michael’s confirmation was anticlimactic.

  Becca made a vow to herself that she would track this thing and she would find it. But she would do it alone, far from anyone she loved and she would not allow it to use her to harm any of them. If she failed, she alone would die.

  Chapter 24

  The four of them gathered in the parking lot at a coffee shop not far from the police station and the main strip of the downtown area shortly before the sun rose over the tree line. The bright orange ball rose behind the evergreens, their green boughs imposed as skeletal outlines etched in black against the fiery backdrop. Becca wondered if it was a sign that this would end like the last time she’d faced a demon and everything ended up as ash.

  She’d faced rogue vampires and weres and all were challenging adversaries, but nothing had been anything like the demon that had nearly killed her. The sheer power in that hellish creature continued to haunt her almost nightly. It seemed somehow right that she would face one again. Only this time she feared she might not be as strong. This time she knew what she was facing and what it was capable of, whereas her last battle had been fought in ignorance. Not for the first time, she wished she could erase the entire fire demon experience from her mind, although presently, it was for an entirely different reason. If she could face it blind again she might not freeze and get herself or one of her unit members killed, because surely that was what was destined to happen this time. Knowing what she was up against had her shaken before she even saw the thing.

  “Are we clear on what we’re doing?” Michael was leaning back against the hood of the car, one foot propped up behind him, hands folded over his stomach.

  Everyone nodded. They’d gone through it earlier at the motel after he’d spoken to Admiral Black and they’d all gotten a few short hours of rest before heading out. Detective Salvo would be at the station within the hour at which point Michael and Becca would be allowed access to their systems. Their job was to pinpoint “hotspots” where the demon had been draining energy and use those as starting points to try to locate their demon. Whether or not it was active during the day was yet to be determined, though the admiral’s source believed that ley line demons were limited to location, not hour.

  Ley lines, Michael explained after a long and informative conversation with Black, were straight lines or lines making up geometric shapes along the Earth’s landscape where metaphysical energy was strongest. In the ancient world, monoliths such as Stonehenge were erected along the lines to draw people to where their power would be most effective when they needed it for festivals and rituals. Becca’s genetic heritage as a witch, previously unknown to her, had a special tie with the lines putting her on the same wavelength, so to speak. The admiral’s working theory was that if they put her on the one that the demon was using, she would vibrate right to him. More or less.

  Becca figured the demon was just as likely to find her since she had made a personal connection with it. Surely it would come looking for her before too long if she didn’t find it first.

  Ryan and Gabrielle had the more generalized task of going into town and doing some more recon work. By listening and watching they hoped to identify any spots the demon was using that maybe hadn’t made the police radar. If anybody got a lead on actual real-time demon activity they were to contact the others immediately.

  “Don’t forget our coats,” Becca reminded Ryan. “If you end up making it down to the club.” She hoped they would get that far, far away from her and where the demon was sure to be before long. What better place to raise passions and then drain them? After all, wasn’t that exactly what it had done the night before when Michael was attacked by horny women?

  He snorted and shook his head. “We’re tracking a demon and you’re worried about the cold?”

  Flushing, she shrugged. “My mom gave that coat to me.” Her glance skimmed over Michael just in time to catch the faint smile that lifted his features, if only temporarily. Fleetingly, she wondered how many more of those smiles she would see. Angry with herself for wallowing in self-pity, she pushed those thoughts away. They were soldiers. This was what she’d signed on for. Okay, maybe demon hunting wasn’t foremost in her mind when she’d enlisted in the Navy and she hadn’t been given a choice in joining Admiral Black’s ranks, but she was here now and this was her unit. She would fight with them for as long as she could because to quit was to leave one unguarded. Hearing herself recite her fat
her’s personal creed in her head gave her strength and Becca stood taller, taking a moment to look at each one of those who had become friends to her since meeting them. Even Gabrielle, aloof as she was the majority of the time, she would trust with her life. This time it was her turn to protect them with hers.

  “All right then.” Michael surveyed them one final time. “We’ll meet here at fifteen hundred. Keys are in the usual place so anyone can retrieve the vehicle if need be.” They always stored a copy inside the front bumper both on missions as well as home. One never knew when a change in drivers would become necessary.

  Nods all around and Ryan and Gabrielle struck off to get started inside the coffee shop, a wise choice at that hour. Becca couldn’t help watching their body language. Ryan’s was tense, while Gabrielle’s reeked of defeat, and the space between them was far more than just the hand’s breadth she could see. Poor Ryan, she thought. He was like a great big heart walking around and he’d invested himself in the one person who had locked hers away. A giant sigh escaped without her notice.