“I’m glad you’re safe,” I told them.
Beatrice smiled. “We knew you would find us. We never lost hope.”
I smiled back, feeling the warmth of seeing them alive fill my body. For once, we had been truly successful with a rescue mission.
“This is a lovely reunion,” Serenity said pointedly. “But we need to go. You can get sentimental later.”
“I know the way back,” I said. “I can take you to the cave.”
“Lead on,” Jackson said.
“You follow us,” Daniel said to Jackson. “I’ll stay with Clare.”
Jackson nodded again and waited for us to pass him. I directed our feet toward the cave. Daniel fell in next to me, his pace not slowed at all by the weight of Reaper. Alex forced her way directly behind us. No one argued with her. The rest of the Nightstalkers followed at a slower pace. Their growls and grunting filled the air. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do with them, but I was grateful for their help…however we had gained it.
“How did you get down here?” I asked Daniel.
“The tunnels connect to the fortress,” he said. “We followed them out.”
“Was this part of the plan?” I asked.
“No…Serenity decided to change the plan in the middle of things. While we got everyone out and rescued Han and Beatrice, she decided to run around and set charges. She blew it all up…we barely got out alive.”
“Was that the explosion I felt?” I asked.
“Probably,” Daniel said. “It caused massive cave-ins and rearranged a lot of the tunnels.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said.
“Apparently, she knew the tunnels were here,” Daniel said.
I could tell he wasn’t happy about the idea of her keeping that sort of secret. It had almost cost us our lives. It was something we had all been expecting.
“She made us come this way. It was easier getting out than it was getting in. I didn’t understand why until I saw the confusion down here. Your doing, I guess?” he asked.
“I had help,” I said.
“She says we found Alex, but I don’t see her,” Reaper added in a dazed voice. “It’s all a big mystery…ohhhhh, can’t tell Reaper! He might react in a way Clare doesn’t like.”
“How hard was your head hit?” Daniel asked him.
“Pretty hard,” Reaper said with a happy smile.
“Just stay awake, okay?” Daniel said.
“I’m not sleepy,” Reaper said.
Daniel and I shared an amused look then focused on the path ahead. The tunnel was just as empty as the first time I had come through it, but it felt more alive. There were people with us; Daniel was with us. My worry for his safety and for the success of his rescue mission had been dissolved. Everything had worked out. For the first time, everything had worked out.
At least, no one had been kidnapped, drugged or killed.
We made our way through the tunnel and in to the large cavern. The body of the girl was in the same place. New rocks were around the body, from the blast. Daniel noticed the girl with a pained look in his eyes.
“She was killed by Nightstalkers,” I explained. “It feels weird to just leave her.”
“We don’t have time for burials,” Daniel said.
“I know that,” I said. “It just doesn’t feel right…”
“There are some things we can’t change,” Daniel said.
As he said it, a man came out of the tunnel. He was the one we had seen our first time through the cavern. His muscled arms were still exposed to the elements. He held his shock stick in one hand and a wicked-looking hook in the other. He looked at us in surprise. His surprise quickly melted in to anger. He held the hook up and the rock around us started to shake. He also had a talent for moving rock. The man I had killed in the cavern was no the only rock manipulator down here.
Before anyone could react, Alex leapt over us and charged at the man. The ground stopped shaking as she reached him. The man was too distracted by her attack to use his talent. But that didn’t stop him from being deadly. He swiped at her with the hook. It caught her on the forearm. She grunted in pain but did not stop her attack. She snapped at him with her jaws, forcing him back. As she did, the cavern started to shake again. Before she could get another clean hit, a large rock from the ceiling fell on top of her. It covered her entire body.
“No!” I yelled, running to her.
The man disappeared down the tunnel as Jackson came forward to finish the fight. Jackson didn’t follow him in to the darkness. It was too dangerous, even Jackson knew that. I ignored the man and started digging through the rubble. Daniel hurried to my side and started digging as well.
“I’ll do it.”
I turn and saw Reaper standing behind me. He looked unsteady but confident. He could rescue Alex, though he did not know it was she who was trapped. He took a deep breath then dissolved in to mist. The mist came toward us then moved through the rock on top of Alex.
I held my breath as I waited. There was no sign of the rocks stirring – nothing to suggest anything was happening. Daniel watched with me, also ignoring the mutterings of the Watchers who didn’t know Alex – mutterings to keep moving and not waste time on a Nightstalker. None of them was eager to see the business end of prison again. They did not want their escape to be for nothing.
I had reached the end of my oxygen supply when the mist moved back through the rock. Reaper reformed next to us. In his arms was Alex. She was naked and had a serious injury on her arm – the place where the man had cut her with the hook. But the injury knit itself back together as we watched. She was healing. Reaper’s eyes were full of understanding as he reformed. He finally knew the secret we were keeping. He knew what Alex could do; he knew she could turn in to a Nightstalker. The impact of the knowledge on his emotions remained a mystery; his silver eyes did not give up their secrets easily.
I pulled off my winter coat when I saw Alex and wrapped it around her. I tried to take her from him, to carry her on my own, but Reaper was not allowing it. He still looked a bit fuzzy, but he knew one thing for certain.
“I’ll carry her,” Reaper said.
“I…” I started to protest.
“Let’s get back to the surface. My people will only wait so long,” Reaper added.
I nodded and looked at Alex’s face. Even in slumber, she looked as if she was still being haunted by the beast. She could not escape the darkness no matter how hard and fast she ran. She could not escape the truth of her emotions. There was no peace.
The other Nightstalkers started whining when they saw Alex. None of them dared approach her, but I sensed that her change had meant something to them. Something had been confirmed. The thought sent chills down my spine for a reason I could not explain.
“Come on,” Daniel said.
Daniel tugged on my hand and hurried to fall in behind Reaper, who had already started up the trail. It was obvious Daniel did not trust Reaper’s sudden recovery; he wanted to be there in case Reaper passed out while carrying Alex. The others quietly fell in behind us.
The body of the girl and the feeling that the mountain was pressing down on me trailed after me as we made our silent way back to the cave and the freedom beyond.
Chapter 5
Margaret was pacing.
She barely made a sound on the rock, but the earth quaked with her walk. It trembled at the feeling of her growing worry – it knew the power of her anger should her fear be made in to fact.
Along the edge of the cave walls, doing their best to stay out of her way, were the others. River was near Preacher and Sara on one side of the cave, while King was at the mouth of the cave. The illusion Preacher had kept up was gone. Snow piled outside, while the grey light from the clouds cast thin shadows in the cave. Moira, her feet naked despite the cold, her long hair to her ankles, was on the opposite side of the cave; she was the only one who looked calm. She watched the snow patiently. Everyone else had varying expressions of panic on their
faces. Eli and Mick were also near the cave entrance, though they stood away from King.
“We should think about going back to the ship,” King said. “We can wait for them there. The others have already gone back…”
“We will wait for them here,” Margaret said.
“We don’t even know if they got out of the place before it blew,” King said.
He was not trying to suggest he was happy about the idea, rather that logic suggested they look at all aspects of the facts. The fortress had blown up – there was little they could do beyond pick up the pieces. Margaret’s return glare was wicked. It made the air between them feel full of electricity. King held up his hands and let her continue her pacing in silence.
“That was a wise choice,” I told King, as Daniel and I stepped in to the light.
Margaret stopped pacing at our appearance. Her violet eyes were full of a questioning fire. There was no doubt what she was questioning. Jackson pushed his way through our group, an answer to her question. His grin was cocky. Margaret’s face was immediately relieved. She moved across the space and grabbed Jackson. She kissed him fiercely then pulled away and slapped him. He started laughing at the slap. It obviously had not hurt as much as it had been a reminder of her emotions.
“Sorry to worry you,” Jackson said.
River was looking at the group behind us. Her eyes widened in surprise. She was focused on the Nightstalkers in particular.
“I see you found some new friends,” she said. “Some interesting friends,” she added.
“They helped us escape,” I said.
River was fascinated by that piece of information. Her eyes searched the Nightstalkers for an explanation to their odd behavior. Her eyes kept coming back to me. Reaper, Alex in his arms, and his eyes still weak from the blow to the head, was more worried about what manner of creature would find us in the cave if we hung around. The man who had tried to kill Alex was still out there somewhere – he could control the earth in a way none of us wanted to experience firsthand.
“We need to get out of here,” Reaper said.
Sara nodded in agreement and stood. She held out her hands to River, Moira and King. They disappeared without a word.
Eli was having trouble controlling his expression, let alone his emotions. His eyes were on the Nightstalkers behind us. His whole body trembled in rage. Serenity went to him and put a hand on his arm. The hand calmed him, but only a little.
As Margaret went to Han and Beatrice and hugged them, Reaper adjusted his grip on Alex. He looked reluctant to set her down. Holding her tight, he focused on the Nightstalkers behind us.
“What do we do with them?” Reaper asked.
We all turned to stare at the Nightstalkers.
“Why don’t we ask them what they want?” I asked.
“Yes, ask the dogs what they want,” Eli muttered.
Reaper ignored him. “Ask them how?” he asked me.
“I’ll take care of it,” I said. “Why don’t you focus on getting everyone else out of here?” I asked.
“Good idea,” Daniel said as Sara, along with Shawn, appeared in the cave again.
Reaper forced Sara to take Alex first, while Shawn started in with the terrified-looking people near Han and Beatrice. As the others started to disappear at a consistent rate, I approached the Nightstalkers. Daniel came with me, his eyes alert for signs of danger.
“Hi, guys,” I said. “Um…We have a way of traveling to a ship. The ship isn’t very big, but we could make room…”
A low sound of displeasure went through the group at my words. It was enough to know that they would never agree to hang out on a boat. It was too similar to the limited room of the caves. It was too similar to prison.
“Okay. So…what do you want to do?” I asked.
The Nightstalkers took a moment then one of them walked to the front of the group. It lowered its snout down to my level. I knew what it was asking. After a brief moment of hesitation, I reached out and put my hand on its nose. Its thoughts were immediate.
We will go our own way. Tell the other we will not forget.
I will…I said.
The Nightstalker pulled away from my touch. It turned to look at the other Nightstalkers and made a low sound. As one, the group moved past us and out the entrance of the cave. Eli looked as if he didn’t want to move out of their way, but Serenity forced him with a touch.
“What happened?” Daniel asked me.
“They didn’t want to come along,” I said.
“They’ll be back,” Serenity said.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
Serenity smirked in a knowing way. I rolled my eyes at the look on her face. I was tired of her hints designed to impress upon us how much she knew. I turned away from her and focused on Daniel, who was having trouble hiding his smile. The drama of the last hour could not hide his pleasure at rescuing his parents. We had found ‘impossible’ and had successfully proven the word had limitations.
Finally, no one was left but Reaper, Daniel and me. We were quiet, but relieved at our success. We were still trying to catch up to the situation. Sara came back for us. She dropped us down in the large cargo area, instead of near the galley. I didn’t understand at first, but then I realized Reaper had asked her to. He still had appearances to keep up. As soon as we appeared, the Watchers around us started clapping. I knew the clapping wasn’t for me. It was for Reaper and the success of the mission. Reaper held up his hand, to stop the clapping.
“Today’s victory was no small thing,” he said. “We have dealt a large blow to Marcus’ organization. He will not recover quickly from this attack. There will be no more soldiers trained in Alaska. Tonight, we celebrate!”
The others cheered and alcohol started to spread around the room. I wasn’t sure where it came from, but there was enough for everyone. Someone turned on music and before I could say ‘loud’ the place had turned in to a party.
Daniel pulled me away from the party and up the narrow steps, to the hall that led to the rooms. Han and Beatrice were just stepping out of Alex’s room as we approached. They stopped walking when they saw us.
“How is she?” I asked.
“She is well. She’ll wake up soon with a blistering headache, but there should be no lasting side-effects,” Beatrice said.
Daniel took Beatrice’s hands in to his. He held them for a long moment.
“And you?” Daniel asked. “How are you?”
Beatrice smiled fondly. The smile made her tired face look as youthful as I remembered. Beatrice was not going to let Marcus take away her joy. She would not allow anyone to take away that.
“It’s not the worst prison I’ve been in, dear,” Beatrice said.
“How did they get you?” Daniel asked.
“That horrible man, Nguyen, came to our house not long after you left for New Orleans,” Beatrice said. “He had ten men and five Nightstalkers. They broke in while we were in the lab…we were working on Clare’s blood. We weren’t paying attention…we didn’t hear them until it was too late to use the tunnels we had built.”
“Tunnels?” I asked.
“Escape routes in case things went south,” Daniel said.
“Oh,” I replied.
“When we realized they were in the house…Well, Han had no choice. He set the lab on fire,” Beatrice said.
“You burned down your own house?” I asked. “All your things.”
“They’re just things,” Beatrice said. “We can get new things. Your blood, though…that’s special.”
“I…” I started to apologize.
Han smiled and waved a hand to interrupt me. “Don’t feel bad. It gives Beatrice a reason to design a new house. She loves it.”
“I do,” Beatrice agreed.
“Do you feel up to talking about what they had you doing?” Daniel asked. “Or do you want to rest?”
Han and Beatrice exchanged a serious look. They didn’t want rest, but they didn’t want to explain
what they had been doing either. Beatrice looked away first; she lost the silent battle to explain.
“A weapon. We were building a weapon,” Beatrice said.
“What kind of a weapon?” Daniel asked.
“A biological one,” Beatrice said. “A virus.”
“I thought Serenity got those plans back?” I asked. “The plans to build a virus…I stole them for her.”
“Science cannot be stopped,” Han said. “No matter if sometimes we would prefer it.”
Beatrice put a hand on his arm in agreement. She explained what he meant, seeing our confusion.
“Marcus forced another scientist to work out the formula again,” Beatrice said. “Nguyen told us if we didn’t perfect it…he would kill a human every hour we refused. We didn’t believe him at first…until. Well, he is a man of his word.”
“We’re you…” I hesitated. “We’re you successful?”
“Yes,” Beatrice said.
It was my turn to share a look with Daniel. Our worst fears were slowly coming to light. The nightmares had a name: virus. There was not a more dangerous person on the face of the planet to have a virus engineered by Han and Beatrice in his hands than Marcus.
“What does it do?” Daniel asked.
“It’s extremely virulent,” Beatrice said. “It mutates once it’s inside the body – it actually bonds to the person’s DNA and uses the weaknesses to tear the person apart. It absolutely ravages the body. What makes it especially deadly is that it lives within the host for a week before the host shows symptoms. In that time period…it infects anyone the person comes in contact with.”
“So, it’s airborne,” Daniel said.
“And it’s out there,” Han added. “We finished it two days ago.”
“Why on earth does he need a virus?” I asked. “He’s got an army of superhuman angels at his beck-and-call. What good does a virus do him?”
“Marcus loves chaos,” Daniel said.
“He’s planning something,” Serenity said, joining us silently.
She was alone, something I was grateful for. I was not in the mood to see Eli. Not when I had just been told Marcus was in possession of a virus that could kill a whole lot of people. Eli would only sour my mood.
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