Soroyan was clearly uncomfortable with her apology. “Did you sense a location?”
She shook her head. “No, Sami found out where Jax last used his cell phone, and researched caves in the area. We plan to check them out.”
Mark waved from where he leaned up against the door frame of one of the cabins, and Tierney waved back as they passed by. He had offered to help, he still needed to heal and with Thaniel to worry about, she hadn’t wanted to add anyone else to that list. Instead, she asked Mark to stay and keep an eye on the place instead.
An hour later they arrived at the first bunch of caves which turned out to be too small. Trying not to lose hope, they began to work their way down Sami’s list. Most of the caves needed to be crawled through, or if it was possible to stand up, it seemed to be only for short stretches. None of them matched the one she’d been in during her spirit walk.
“It was so intricate, with numerous chambers and tunnels. Lots of room to walk easily,” she muttered when Soroyan asked her to describe where she went during her spirit walk.
***
SAMI FINALLY LEFT Tierney searching around in despair. The latest cave, though bigger and longer, still wasn’t the one and after a quick peek, even Soroyan had returned to the Navigator.
Unable to stand the defeat in Tierney’s eyes, Sami wandered around the sheer rock wall of the mountain, away from the entrance. He glanced up at the sky, fighting the pain and guilt, as his worry grew. This was the last cave on the list.
He stopped at the edge of the cliff and stared down at a five hundred foot plus drop. Jagged rocks stuck out all the way down and littered the valley floor. A fall from here would kill a human. But for a Dracones like him, while it would hurt a lot, the fall would be survivable. Then he thought about how slowly Jax healed, and wondered for the millionth time, why that was.
Despair filled him at the thought of never finding his brother, or Zander. Lowering himself to the ground, he let his feet dangle over the edge. So much shit had happened in such a short time, that it was like a roller coaster he couldn’t stop.
He leaned back and raised his eyes to the sky, when something cut into his hand. Lifting it, he saw blood on his palm and suddenly his inner dark anguish faded, replaced by euphoria and lightness.
His guilt over Jax’s suffering had started years ago. At first it fed off his feelings of helplessness. Then later off his insecurities. Until it grew into a deep, dark, painful anguish. Over the years it grew stronger, harder to control, and lately it had become unbearable. Sami frowned down at the jagged little rock covered in his blood.
Although fading, the intense relief was a revelation. He reached down, picked the rock up and closed his fist around it. It bit into his flesh and once again, his inner pain eased. Without thinking, he squeezed harder, letting the rock cut into him and watching the blood flow down his hand.
“Sami?” Tierney called, startling him.
Sami blinked, horrified at what he was doing. Quickly, he dropped the rock. What is wrong with me? His hand healed. You are one sick mother-fucker! Oh, but what an intense rush.
“Sami, you coming?” Tierney called and he rose to his feet.
“Yeah, coming.” He wiped his hand on his jeans, then reaching down, picked the rock up and slipped his new source of relief into his pocket.
***
TIERNEY CLIMBED INTO the SUV even more defeated than ever, none of the caves on Sami’s list matched the one she’d been in. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes with a sigh, and wanted to howl and scream.
“Change places with Thaniel,” Soroyan said.
Tierney opened her eyes and frowned. “What? Why?”
“Please,” he asked.
She blinked, shocked. Then she and Thaniel switched places.
“Give me your hands,” Soroyan said and held his out to her.
“Ah.” Now she understood, he planned to use her soul stones. Scared to get her hopes up, Tierney took his hands and the power started to flow between them.
“Concentrate on Jax,” Soroyan instructed in a ragged voice.
“Am I hurting you?” she asked, wondering why the surge of power and intensity felt stronger than it had day before.
“No,” he said.
Tierney didn’t believe him. With a shrug, she closed her eyes and concentrated on Jax and the power immediately jumped to the stone at her neck.
“Drive,” Soroyan instructed Sami.
“Tell us if we get closer or further away,” Soroyan told her as they headed down the road.
“Ah, I don’t know,” she whispered, as she thought about how much she loved Jax, how he made her feel. Suddenly, pain flickered through her like a signal, making her gasp. “Go back, the other way.”
Sami turned the truck around and the signal picked up. More pain engulfed her, making her cry out.
“Are you all right?” Soroyan asked.
Tierney nodded, but half an hour later, the signal started to fade again. “No!”
“Sami, go back to the last intersection and turn.” Soroyan instructed.
“Which way?” Sami asked.
“Doesn’t matter. Go one way. If the signal doesn’t pick up, we go the other,” Soroyan said.
“It’s stronger again.” Tierney breathed through the pain. It was another hour before they arrived at their destination. Tierney glanced around, they were in the middle of nowhere, in front of a chain-link fence and the signal was pounding through her. “Oh Gods, I never thought of an old mine.”
“You mentioned cells holding prisoners—they must have adapted the place to what they needed,” Sami said as he stopped the SUV.
“There’s the Escalade from the other day.” Tierney’s gut churned.
“What Escalade?” Sami scowled back at her.
Tierney shrugged. “Ah, after I found Shay, that Escalade followed me. I started to go after it, but—I should’ve followed it.” They might have found her dad and saved Jax from being captured.
“You didn’t know,” Soroyan said.
Tierney blinked. He’s just full of surprises today, now he’s reassuring me?
“Sorry.” Sami, suddenly subdued as he studied the mine.
“No, Sami. It’s not your fault,” she said, realizing he was blaming himself for bitching about her being late the other night, but he didn’t respond.
Tierney stared at the ‘No Trespassing’ signs hanging on the fence, which enclosed a cluster of buildings. Besides the SUV, they counted three other vehicles—a Camo colored Hummer, and two pickup trucks, one old and one newer.
Heavy equipment was scattered around the yard, and as they watched, two men armed with automatic weapons wandered out for a smoke.
“Do mines have more than one exit?” she asked.
“Not sure, but if they altered this one for their personal use, maybe they put in another exit.” Sami put the truck in gear and drove away. He found a place to hide that they could survey the mine without being seen.
“I’ll go search for another way in,” Soroyan said, and quickly climbed out of the truck. He changed into his scary, massive black wolf and trotted off.
“Fuck this waiting is killing me,” Tierney groaned twenty minutes later. Earlier, Jax’s pain had filled her and she itched to go running to the entrance and barge in, even knowing how foolhardy it would be to do so.
“Jax? Dad?” Tierney called telepathically but received no reply. She touched the stone representing Zander, closed her eyes and concentrated. Focus! Nothing happened. Pulling on her power, she willed it into the stone and her heart skipped at the spark of life.
Excited, she imagined blowing on the flame until it hummed, but her excitement died as fiery agony consumed her. “No,” she cried as the connection broke.
“Tierney?” Sami asked, worried.
“I feel so much pain.” Tierney moved her fingers over her choker and pushed power into Jax’s stone. With a jolt, an immediate connection flared to life. Either practice made her better at
this, or her proximity to them helped. Either way, it was growing stronger. Unfortunately, so was the amount of pain he was in and Jax’s weak life force terrified her. “No, no, no,” she mumbled, she couldn’t lose him!
“Tierney?”
She swallowed and finally glanced at Sami. She didn’t want him to see her fear, but judging from his face, it was too late.
“We need to find—” She wanted to say them but could only say Jax’s name. Turning away, she stared out the window. Once again, the sun cast ominous shadows, making her shiver. A second later her heartbeat picked up as Soroyan came into sight. Tierney climbed out and waited while he changed back. “Please tell me you found something?”
“An emergency entrance a mile away.” He pointed and they climbed back in the truck. Within seconds, Sami was headed that way.
Then, with Thaniel safe in the Navigator, they got out and headed for the door Soroyan had found. They tried to be quiet but the door creaked, echoing off the surrounding hills. Tierney winced.
They walked into the dark and she flicked on her flashlight to see that they were in a narrow tunnel. She was relieved to see that no armed guards were waiting for them.
They followed the tunnel for about five hundred yards before it joined a bigger tunnel and unsure which way to go, they stopped and Tierney touched her choker. “This way.” She turned and led the way until they came to a fork branching in two different directions. Then they took another left, but after a minute, Tierney stopped. “We need to go back and take the other one.”
“We need to remember how to get back,” Sami said, after they had made a few more turns.
“I can get you back,” Soroyan assured him. Then they found the cells.
“These are the same cells I saw during my spirit walk.” Tierney looked around. “Only there were more prisoners before.”
Unable to leave the captives locked up, they started to let the occupants out when Tierney shone her flashlight into one of the cells and gasped. The devil girl they’d met the other day, Genna, lay on a small pallet, shackles around her ankles. Oh gods. “Genna,” she called, while Sami continued to open doors and release prisoners.
“Oh hell’s bells—you again. What are you doing here?” Genna stood up, chains rattling as she came toward the door.
“I’m looking for Jax. You remember Jax?” Tierney asked.
“Sure.”
Hope surged and Tierney fumbled with the latch to Genna’s cell. “Why’d you disappear the other day?”
“Couldn’t let princess be-otch see me.” Genna rolled her eyes—like duh!
Princess? Oh! “You know Serena?” she asked and Genna glared at her. Tierney rolled her eyes. “Of course you do. So, how’d you end up here?”
“I teleport,” Genna said, mater of factly.
“You … right. So, why are you in here?” Tierney eyed the chains and wondered how to get them off without a key.
“Duh. I’m a prisoner. Can’t let the Master find me gone, can I?” Genna shook her head.
Tierney sighed, not even trying to figure her out. “Never mind. We’re running out of time.”
“We’re freeing prisoners again?” Genna asked, eyes glowing with glee, but before Tierney could answer, the girl was gone.
Tierney blinked when Genna reappeared, chain-less, beside her out in the tunnel. From behind them Soroyan growled making Genna grin even wider.
“Do you know my ah—” Try as she might, Tierney couldn’t say the word dad. It was her promise, binding her. She was relieved when Sami came up beside her.
“Do you know a Fallen named Zander?” he asked.
“Hmm, maybe baby. Who is he to you?” Genna narrowed her eyes on Sami.
“He’s Tierney’s dad,” Sami said.
Tierney frowned when Genna’s grin faltered. “Oh. Monkey breath,” the girl sighed and walked away, and though Tierney wanted to ask what she meant, the answer scared her. So, she kept her mouth shut and followed as Genna led them past the cells, around a corner and nodded. “In there.”
Tierney’s heart thundered in her chest, and pain filled her head as she took a step forward. Only once before had she tried to break a promise, and the pain had nearly crippled her. Needless to say, she hadn’t been able to break the promise. But the excitement at finally seeing her dad after so long, gave her strength.
Pushing past the pain, she ignored the terror that filled her at the condition she was afraid she was going to find him in. Then she moved close to Genna, who stood before a closed door with no windows. Devil girl glanced at her with a serious expression on her face as she nodded at the door.
“He’s in here, but he be not doing so good.”
Heart thudding, Tierney approached, then froze as pain throbbed through her entire body. She tried to reach for the door but couldn’t move.
Sami, seeing the pain she was in, pulled the door open. Light spilled out into the tunnel as she stared into a damp, rock-walled room. A single bed and side table holding a lamp, took up most of the space.
Grim shadows filled every corner, and while her oath tried to prevent her from looking at the bed, she drew on her power and with excruciating slowness, forced her gaze there. The moment she finally spotted her dad, a lump covered by a thin sheet with only his head sticking out, the pain abruptly disappeared. Finally, able to move, she gasped at the same time that Sami did.
“Dad.” Her voice squeaked and tears began to trickle down her face.
“T-Tiern-ey?” Zander’s voice was scratchy and weak. He opened his eyes and at the sight of her and blinked in confusion.
“Yeah, Dad, it’s me,” she cried, rushing into the room.
“No. You need to go, you promised.” His body heaved as he coughed.
“Dad, what did they do to you?” Her voice cracked. From the way the sheet covered her dad, it was obvious both of his arms and one of his legs were missing—the other lay at an unnatural angle and afraid to see the rest of him, Tierney left it alone.
“We’re taking you home,” Sami whispered, tears also running down his face. He moved to Zander’s other side when her dad suddenly bowed up off the bed and let out an agonized cry.
Holy mother. Tierney bit her tongue to keep from screaming and hovered over her dad. She wanted to touch him, hug him, but fear of causing him more harm held her back.
“Tell me what to do, how can I help?” she begged, and as soon as he relaxed, she felt his shields snap into place, blocking her from whatever hell he was in. “Dad,” she whimpered.
Zander’s gaze shot past her to Soroyan. “Take her away, please, I don’t want her witnessing this.” He pleaded with a man he’d never met before, as he eased back to the bed before arching up again. The sheet covering his lower half rose, but Tierney was too upset to notice. Sami and Soroyan, however, understood.
“Tierney, you need to leave the room.” Soroyan tried to take her arm, but she pulled away in anger.
“No, we can’t leave him here!”
“P-please go,” Zander rasped from between clenched teeth.
“No. We’re not leaving you,” she said, frantic. “Besides, we have to find Jax, he’s here too.”
“Jax—no,” he whispered in horror, his whole-body tense and shaking.
“What’s happening to him?” Tierney hated to see him in so much pain.
“Tierney, come, let’s talk out here,” Soroyan said, and she let him lead her out of the room where Genna stood a few feet away, watching them with wide eyes.
“I’m not leaving him.” Tierney crossed her arms over her chest and faced Soroyan and Sami.
“We gotta find Jax too,” Sami said, and Tierney started to come apart.
“How? We can’t leave dad here,” she whispered, all defiance suddenly gone.
“I can put your dad into a deep sleep, so he won’t feel the pain, and carry him to the truck,” Soroyan offered.
Tierney stared at him a moment before nodding. She was so grateful that she wanted to hug him, but i
f she did, she knew she’d start bawling and wouldn’t stop. “Thank you.”
“Stay out here,” Soroyan instructed.
Tierney began to argue but Sami grabbed her arm. “Tierney, listen to him, for Dad’s sake.”
“What? Why?” She didn’t understand, but something in Sami’s eyes made her stay put. “Fine.”
A strong power shivered through them, making Genna stiffen up, but Tierney, having felt it before, knew it was Soroyan’s power. It wasn’t long before he stepped out of the room with Zander, still wrapped in the sheet, held carefully in his arms.
“You’ll come back after?” she asked.
He nodded. “I’ll have the leopard keep an eye on him.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You shoulda told me Fallen Zander was your daddy the other day,” Genna said after Soroyan hurried away. Tierney scowled at her. She really wanted to scream and punch the devil girl, but Sami grasped her arm, stopping her.
With a sharp inhale, she forced herself to calm down. “Do you have any idea where Jax is?” she asked Genna instead.
“I might know if it is Friday. But if it is Saturday I might not,” Genna said, speaking in some kind of riddle that Tierney didn’t understand. Seeing the confusion on her face, Genna smirked. “Or, I might know where everyone be.”
Tierney was about to ask what the hell she meant, when Genna turned away. “And you might follow, or might not. We will see.”
Tierney glanced at Sami who shrugged, as confused as she was. Then they both hurried to catch up to Miss Crazy Pants. Keeping an eye out for Ilyium, they came to a Y intersection and stopped when they heard a couple gunshots ring out, followed by screaming.
“Maybe the escapees be having much fun chasing the guards,” Genna said and Tierney raised an eyebrow, that was an interesting concept, but as much as she hoped the girl was right, she had her doubts.
Once freed, the captives had scattered in different directions, and this time, they didn’t stop them. They needed the distraction. “The ceremonies theater where they play dressy up, and nasty guard’s quarters are thata way.” Genna pointed to the left. “To the right, the first tunnel takes a body who dares, to the freedom entrance.”
Dracones Boxset Books 1-5 Page 28
