“What do you mean Jax is leading? This is our operation,” Kateri says.
“You ever been in the Citadel?” he asks.
“No.”
“Then I’m leading. She’s still in charge,” he says, pointing to me, “but I’m guiding.”
“Okay,” Kateri says, reluctantly. “Who else is coming?”
“I will not allow my little one to face this danger without me,” Radik says, his gaze fixed on Reeva.
She pats his arm gently, a friendly expression on her face.
“Just the four of us then?” I ask.
“A smaller group has a better chance than a bigger force,” Kyuki replies.
“Makes sense. What about when we get inside? Where are we heading?”
“As far as we know, the research laboratories are somewhere on the upper floors,” Jax says.
“As far as you know?” I ask.
“I thought you knew where things are, that’s why you’re ‘leading’,” Kateri says with a wry grin.
“We know more than you,” Jax says, taking a step toward her.
I step in between the two of them, as Reeva takes Jax’s arm and pulls him back.
“That’s enough of that,” I say. “If you can’t work together without fighting, then you can stay behind. Everybody all right with that?”
I look at Kateri and she just nods, frowning at Jax. He looks away, but Kyuki gives him the stare.
“Fine,” he says, reluctantly.
“Good. Is that all we need to know?” I ask, looking at Kyuki.
“It’s about all we know, so I guess it’ll have to do.”
“Come on. Let’s get going before we lose the dark,” Jax says, giving Kyuki a nod of respect and then heading to the door.
Radik picks up a massive claymore by the exit, carrying it in his left hand, like we would with a dagger. I look at Kyuki and extend my hand. She takes it firmly, squeezing my fingers gently.
“Be careful,” she says, “and bring my people back safely.”
“I’ll do my best.”
We grab our equipment and head out into the hall. As we walk down the narrow corridor, it strikes me that we are really heading to war, with allies that I am not a hundred percent sure we can trust and with the one person that I care about more than anyone else in this world.
I hope this isn’t a mistake.
Chapter Thirty
“Where are we headed?” I ask Jax as soon as we’re out of the chapel basement.
“The PNC Tower,” he replies.
“Why?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“If you would just keep me in the loop, I wouldn’t have to ask.”
“Good point. I’ll do that from now on. Anyway, do you know how to get there?”
“Yeah,” I reply, frowning at him.
“Good. Meet me there,” he says, and with that he grabs Reeva’s hand, takes a step forward and vanishes.
“Are you kidding me?” I say out loud.
“Do not worry pretty little Shayd,” Radik says. “Jax is young and impulsive. I will get us there. Take hold of me.”
Kateri and I both wrap our tiny hands around one of Radik’s fingers, her on the left and me on the right.
“Ready?”
“I guess so,” I answer, looking over at Kateri.
She gives me an anxious grin and Radik takes a small step forward, and in an instant, everything changes. I can feel we’re moving, at least in my head, but the darkness is total as it surrounds us. The steady thumping of Radik’s pulse surging through his finger and traveling part way up my arm is my only indication that he’s still there. Gradually, my eyes become adjusted to the lack of light, and things slowly come into view.
Everything looks like I’m seeing it through a dirty window; sharp corners are blunted, and the colors are muted. Things also seem to come into focus much later than normal. I can’t really see anything clearly until we’re nearly past it. Unlike when we’re streaming, and jumping from point to point, drifting feels more like surfing, I guess. We’re sort of skating through the dark, almost riding it, no stopping and starting, just moving forward in one long continuous motion. It’s not more exciting than streaming, just thrilling in a different way.
As my brain begins to wrap itself around what’s happening, I start to notice that we’re weaving back and forth, sweeping from left to right and then back again. Maybe Radik is avoiding obstacles, but if that’s true, I can’t see them.
K ~ This is crazy.
E ~ This is awesome.
K ~ Yeah…it is pretty awesome actually.
Suddenly, we stop dead. Radik closes his hands around our tiny fingers and keeps us both from falling forward. When I look around, we’re standing at the base of PNC Tower; a soaring skyscraper sheathed in glass and steel. I spot Reeva and Jax a few yards away, and from what I can tell, they’re in the middle of a very serious and tense discussion.
“…matters because they’re my friends, and we don’t leave each other behind. Don’t do that again,” she says, pointing her finger at him.
Oh God, don’t be mad at me, pops into my head.
For a moment, I’m not even sure where the thought came from, but then I realize it’s Reeva. I’ve never heard a thought from her, at least not a clear one. Maybe it’s being here with only her and Kateri that is honing my ‘thought-catching’ skills, or maybe she’s normally better at hiding them from me. It’s hard to describe the way these thoughts feel in my head. I don’t hear their voices, it’s more like I ‘feel’ their thoughts, and everyone is different. With Kateri, it’s a warm, intimate and comfortable feeling, even when her thoughts are the complete opposite. Reeva’s are a little ‘rougher’ feeling, like fine-grit sandpaper. Kyuki’s thoughts are a strange combination of sensuality and frightful power; I don’t like the way they feel.
“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” Reeva says, clearly upset.
“Don’t worry about. It’s all good,” I reply, smiling and patting her arm.
Jax walks over, a frown on his face. He looks at me. I can’t tell if he’s going to apologize, and then, he doesn’t.
“Well, now that we’re all finally here,” he says, his trademark smirk on full display.
“Don’t be rude, Jax,” Radik warns him.
“Sorry,” he says, unconvincingly.
“What now?” I ask.
“Now, we go that way,” he replies, looking up the side of the towering skyscraper.
I crane my neck, staring up at the smooth glass wall that soars up into the darkness.
K ~ This is nuts.
E ~ I know.
“You ready?”
“I guess so.”
“See you at the top,” he says, before turning to Reeva. “Hold on tight.”
He extends his hand. She looks at it for a moment before wrapping her fingers around his. Kateri and I take hold of Radik again.
“Stay close,” he says gently.
I watch as Jax and Reeva take a small step forward, and then vanish into the dark. I glance over at Kateri and she smiles and winks at me and a second later we’re drifting up the side of a thirty-five-story office building. It’s not long before Radik starts his weaving from side to side, like he’s running a slalom course, and then I finally figure out why he’s doing it. He’s avoiding any windows where the lights are on, any place where the darkness might be corrupted or weakened by fluorescent illumination pushing its way through the thick, mirrored glass. It only takes a minute or so to reach the roof of the tower. When we reappear Reeva and Jax are looking out across the Pittsburgh cityscape.
“Okay, now comes the interesting part,” Jax says, pointing toward the ominous looking fortress in the distance.
“Can I ask why we just didn’t skate up the side of that building?” Kateri asks.
“Too much security, and they have countermeasures in place to prevent it; motion activated strobe lights and the like.”
“Paranoid m
uch?” Kateri says to herself.
“So, we’re shooting for a tiny hatch on the side of the building, right?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Jax replies before turning to Reeva. “Can I have the binoculars?”
She reaches into the side pocket of her pack and pulls out a small pair of field glasses. I take note of the way that Reeva lets her fingers trail along Jax’s for longer than necessary. He peers through the binoculars for a few seconds, adjusting his target before handing them to me.
“Midpoint on this side of the tower, about a quarter of the way from the top,” he says.
It takes me a while before I finally spot the incredibly tiny target.
“You must be kidding. You can barely even see it from here,” I say, lowering the glasses.
“Don’t worry. We can do it,” he says, instilling me with no additional confidence.
“I can’t even tell if it’s open.”
“It will be.”
“You sure about this?” I ask, turning to Radik.
“If Kyuki thinks this will work, it will work,” he replies, although I swear I can detect a hint of doubt in his tone.
“Well Kyuki’s not here.”
Radik seems to think about this for a moment, before looking at Jax.
“I believe we can do it.”
“Okay, then let’s go,” I say.
“Finally. We need to do it now before we lose the dark,” Jax says, looking up at the sky. He extends his long, clawed fingers to Reeva and she takes them as they climb over the thin safety railing. “See you there,” he says, before leaping off the edge, Reeva in tow.
I look down but can’t see anything but darkness and the faint glow of streetlights, thirty-five floors below us. I walk over to Kateri and take her hand.
“If anything happens, I want to say I love you more than anything in the world,” I say, the words sounding cliché and dorky even as I say them.
She smiles at me, squeezing my fingers. “I love you too, more than I thought I would ever love anyone.”
We both lean forward and kiss. Radik clears his throat, which sounds like a bulldozer revving up and we both turn and look at him.
“I’m sorry, but we need to go,” he says.
I don’t know if demons can blush, but if they can, I think he did.
“We’re ready,” I say, walking over to the edge with Kateri.
“Hold on tight,” he says, smiling at us both.
And we leap.
The sensation of drifting high above the city is completely different from the way it feels to ‘skate’ along a sidewalk, or even up the side of a towering office building. We’re heading directly for the hatch in an arrow straight line, gliding through the dark morning sky. Streaming always feels like a strange sort of stealth gymnastics, with all the jumping and linking between landing points. Drifting, on the other hand feels a lot more like flying.
I look over at Kateri and she smiles at me, sending a thrill coursing through my body, but then her expression fades. I don’t even have to turn my head to know why. The sky above us is already beginning to lighten. We can’t see Reeva and Jax, so all I can hope is that they’re already inside. The hatch is about fifty yards away.
K ~ Shit.
E ~ We’ll make it.
Suddenly, a beam of early morning sunshine strikes the side of the tower, reflects back toward us, and instantly we’re tumbling out of control. I don’t care what my old science teacher says, heavier objects fall faster. Radik pulls away from us on his way to the ground. I look around, my eyes darting back and forth as I try to formulate a plan to get us out of this. A shadow is beginning to descend upon the street below us, cast by the PNC Tower behind us.
E ~ Get inside! Use the shadow!
K ~ What about you?
E ~ I have to save Radik!
K ~ I won’t go without you!
E ~ Just do it, Kateri!
I tuck my arms in and shoot downward, like a bullet, quickly closing in on the tumbling demon.
Thirty feet.
Twenty.
Ten.
I slam into Radik just above his shoulders, immediately wrapping my arms around his neck.
“Get out of here little one!” he bellows at me to be heard over the roar of the rushing air.
“Just stay with me!” I scream into his ear.
I look down and spot the roof of a UPS truck parked just below us. The shadow descends on the street and I fade us both just seconds before we reach the delivery van. The moment we touch down, I look up toward the roof of a stone and marble bank building opposite the citadel. We stream to the top, touching down for a split second before I pick a spot on the side of the citadel, a few floors below the hatch. I’ve never tried linking so high up off the side of a building, let alone doing it with a four-hundred-pound demon in tow, but there’s a first time for everything, right?
We touch the window, immediately link back across the street to a skyscraper that’s under construction. I can feel the strength of the shadow beginning to fade as more light floods the city. As soon as we touch down, I look up and over at the hatch. It seems too far away, and far too small, but I launch us again anyway. A few seconds to figure out a better plan might be smart, but this may be our only shot. The closer we get to the tiny opening, the faster my heart beats.
E ~ Get out of the way!
K ~ We are!
“This is gonna hurt,” I say into Radik’s ear.
He nods before raising his hand and covering both my arms that are still clasped firmly around his neck.
The second we pass through the opening, we reappear and Radik tries to stop, but it’s pointless. He slams into the wall of the narrow hallway, striking it with his right shoulder, sending him spinning. I’m thrown off his shoulders, smashing into the wall and slumping to the floor. In a flash, Kateri is at my side, her hands checking me for injuries, the same way she did when we first started practicing streaming.
I moan slightly as she leans over me.
“That could have gone better,” I mutter, touching my hand to my head and groaning again.
“Are you okay? Is anything broken?”
“I think I’m okay,” I reply, looking up at her and managing a small smile. “How’s Radik? Is he all right?”
“I am well little Shayd,” I hear him say from the other side of the hallway.
“Can you get up?” Kateri asks.
“Yeah.”
She slips her arm around my waist and then takes my hand as she helps me to my feet. Without even thinking about it, I lean over and kiss her quickly on the side of her head. I look over at Radik and he’s smiling at us. Jax, on the other hand, looks like a deer in the headlights. Reeva slaps his arm and he looks over at her.
“Stop staring,” she says.
Radik steps over to us and leans down. “Thank you for what you did. I owe you a life-debt,” he says.
“There is no debt owed Radik. I just did what I thought was right.”
“Not everyone does what’s right,” he replies with a little wink.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“I hate to break this up, but we gotta get moving,” Jax says.
“Well then, lead the way,” I reply.
With Jax in front, we head down the narrow maintenance hallway. I spot something lying at the end of the corridor; a figure slumped against the wall by the door. Black blood is pooled around him, his dark yellow eyes staring ahead at nothing. A deep laceration in his neck the obvious cause of death.
“Some help from a friend,” Jax says, looking down at the dead demon.
“Watch it, don’t slip,” Reeva says as she carefully steps over the thick, viscous ooze.
Jax opens the door just enough so he can peer outside. A second later he turns and looks at us.
“All clear,” he says. “Let’s go.”
We follow him, with the three of us in the middle, and Radik bringing up the rear. As soon as we exit the hallway, I have to take a step
back to avoid running into a young man rushing down the hall with an armful of papers. I’m sure he would have passed right through me like every other human down here, but it’s still weird.
“What’s the matter with you?” Jax asks, staring at me.
“Nothing. Just trying to avoid the people.”
“Why? They can’t see you, can’t hear you, can’t touch you,” he replies.
“I know all that, it’s still weird.”
I look around at the slightly out of focus farm of cubicles.
E ~ Where are all the demons?
K ~ No idea.
“Hold on a second,” I say before reaching over and pressing my hand on the wall.
Just like at the chapel, and back home at the Factory, the surface under my hand slowly begins to transform. My touch slowly sweeps away the ghostly ‘overlay’ from the Solas, letting us see the true nature of the Abyss, slowly expanding like ice crystals forming on glass, gradually enveloping everything around us.
“What do you see now?” I ask Kateri and Reeva.
“Barad-dûr,” Kateri replies, looking around at the ominous interior.
“You are fuckin’ freaky,” Reeva says, her hand resting on the handle of one of her knives.
Gone are the trappings of your standard downtown office, instead we’re standing in a single massive room full of supplies of all sorts. A huge variety of crates and boxes line the walls, and form aisles that run in all four directions. There must be thousands of containers.
“Looks like a supply area,” I say.
“What was it before?” Radik asks.
“To us it looked like an office full of people.”
“Until you touched the wall.”
“Yeah.”
“I have to agree with Reeva. You are freaky,” he says, grinning warmly at me.
Kateri walks over and opens one of the boxes, prying the lid up with her dagger. She reaches in and pulls out a very nasty looking sword with a serrated edge and a guard made of sharpened spikes.
All Things in the Shadows Page 28