Exposed Memories

by Sienna Aylen

  There wouldn’t be any more ‘accidents’. She was going to find the asshole today and finish them off but first she needed a location. Emma scanned along the rough edges of rock that protruded from the mountain… There. The lookout point.

  Where she’d sat that first day overlooking the valley. The flames were originating there. They were being fired from the top of the ridge. She was sure of it.

  Emma took off at a dead run.

  Shards of electricity and shrieking pain stabbed at Tessa’s head. For every firework she and Gwen diverted, three more took its place. Her hands lifted in the air, weaving a delicate pattern. Sweeping her hand to the right, she directed a bright-red tube to the lake, where it sputtered out with a satisfying hiss.

  Turning back to the melee, she widened her eyes at the sight before her. Twenty rockets of all shapes and colors were raining down from the sky at once. In the middle of the line of fire was an enormous rocket, thicker than her thigh, and it was headed straight for the cubs.

  She could only control one or two at a time, not twenty. Looking at Gwen, she shouted above the noise, “The big one is mine!”

  Moving her hands together as one, Tessa took control of the behemoth. Panting, she kept her grip on it through sheer determination. Twisting her body, she watched the missile hurtle through the air. It would take a large burst of energy to throw it into the lake. She had to time it right. Waiting, she counted the seconds…

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  Pushing every last bit of strength she possessed into the mental shove, she thrust the rocket off course enough that it faltered and descended into the lake with a fiery splash, missing the kids by mere inches.

  With a whoosh of breath, Tessa collapsed. On her knees, she raised both her hands to cradle her head. The psychic whiplash was brutal, cutting through her skull like a rusty knife, making her cry out in agony. The pain was an all-consuming entity, breathing hot air on the back of her neck and radiating through her body with a vengeance. A warm trickle of moisture seeped over her lips and dripped down her chin.

  Next to her, she heard Gwen sit down abruptly. Her sister’s head would be screaming just as much as her own. All of a sudden, the hiss of the rockets ceased and Tessa squinted her eyes open just enough to see Gwen lie back in the grass and throw one arm over her eyes tiredly.

  “It’s over.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  #xa0;

  The mountain air chilled Desiree’s hands until they felt like ice. It was the beginning of summer and the nights should be warmer. They must be at a higher elevation than she originally thought. The darkness was like a blanket, cocooning the cave in a sheet of black and robbing her of her vision.

  She was used to the silence inside the cave. But outside she could always hear small animals scurrying about, as well as the cawing of birds during the day, or the too-wooing of the owls at night. Tonight was different.

  Tonight nothing moved.

  Creeping closer to the bars of their cage, Desiree strained to hear anything, any movement at all. Right when she started to pull back and give up, a loud bang shook the night.

  Then another.

  And another.

  The echo of a child’s scream bounced off the walls outside the cave.

  Something was wrong. Reaching out, she blindly found her brothers where they lay resting in the dirt. They had been in this godforsaken cave for over three weeks, by her calculation. Almost a month of imprisonment.

  She should regret her decision to take her brothers from the abusive foster home they had festered in for months, but she didn’t. Even though they’d been kidnapped and were stuck in the middle of nowhere, Desiree was glad she’d made the decision she had. This was a better situation than leaving them with that drunken asshat who had taken them in and used the monthly checks to pay for his booze and cable subscription.

  At least here her brothers had gotten something to eat and rest. She gave them the lion’s share of the food that was brought for them, only eating enough to take the edge off the hunger that was her constant companion. When they asked, she stated that she wasn’t hungry. It was the first and only lie she’d ever told them.

  The twins were scared and bored out of their minds but they were safe for the moment. If she had her way, her brothers would never return to the hellhole the state had placed them in. They’d all been separated as no one wanted a troubled teenager in their home, and they only wanted the boys because they were young and impressionable. The boys were still babies in her eyes. At six years old, they were still sweet and innocent. At fifteen, she’d already formed her own personality and convictions about the world.

  They had been sleeping in a rundown abandoned shack outside the nearest town when they’d been found. It had all happened so fast it was still a bit of a blur. She’d been getting the boys ready to go into town to the local secondhand store to buy new socks when she was attacked from behind. A prick on her neck and the next thing she knew, they were behind bars with a man and a woman staring at them as though they were insects.

  None of that mattered now. Only their escape from the disgusting prison did. Shaking them awake, she leaned down to whisper in their ears, “Wake up, guys. We’re getting out of here. Follow me.”

  During the days, they were left alone in the cave, the man who kept them here only coming in the evenings to give them food and water. The first day they’d spent in the cage, she’d touched the bars and seen every minute of what only they had been witness to within the confines of the deep cave.

  The man who kept them was a bear shifter. She was familiar with the different shifter species—before her parents had died, she’d gone to a school that had children of all ages and species. She’d always thought bears were the nicer of the species, but apparently she was wrong.

  While reading the bars, she’d also seen an overlooked flaw in their prison’s construction. The bottom of the cage was buried only about two inches down into the dirt. Looking at the cage itself, one wouldn’t notice that flaw, as from all appearances it appeared as though the bars ran deep into the ground. But the man who was holding them had been lazy in his construction of the cage. While the bars themselves were pretty much impenetrable, the ground wasn’t.

  Their days since the reading had been spent loosening the dirt where the side of the cage and the wall of the cave met. It had taken over a week to loosen enough on their side of the cage that someone would be able to fit through the hole when the dirt was removed. Another week was spent reaching farther and farther into the hole to make the exit on the opposite side of the bars.

  Each afternoon they replaced whatever dirt they had disturbed. It wouldn’t do any good if their captor knew of their plans for escape. During the nights, she would lie awake, watching over her brothers, and spend the time working on their one means of escape. Desiree had a plan. It was a crazy plan but it was the only one she could come up with.

  If she could get them out of here safely, they had a chance of survival. She knew basic survival skills and could provide for them in the forest for at least a few days before having to get more supplies. They would hide and survive. That was the plan. She would have to find a way to mask their scent from their captor, of course. That would be the hardest part, but she was sure she could figure it out.

  Straining once more, Desiree tried to discern any sounds from beyond the cave, but there was nothing. Not even the hum of insects broke the silence. She’d thought about waiting another day or two, giving the boys a bit more time to rest before running, but her gut was telling her she needed to move—now.

  Pocketing the few meager granola bars she’d been able to save, she made her way to the hole and started scooping out all the loose dirt with what was left of her chipped fingernails.

  With each minute that passed, Desiree knew their chances of making it out slimmed even further. It took five long minutes to remove all the dirt from the hole, and once it was clear she pulled Lucas fo
rward and guided him into the space. Since he was so small, he wiggled his way through without any problems, and she sent Kyle through next.

  Following right behind her brothers, Desiree scooted herself down through the narrow hole. It was a tight fit and it took long minutes for her to squeeze her way through to the other side. By the time she pulled her legs free from the dirt, she was sweating from the exertion.

  Holding one finger to her lips in a gesture for silence, Desiree took Lucas’ tiny hand and placed it on one of the belt loops in the back of her jeans. She then took Kyle’s hand and linked it with Lucas’ free hand. Taking measured steps, short enough to match her brothers’ strides, she kept one hand on the dirt wall as she followed the loud crashes to the mouth of the cave.

  The fresh breeze felt like fingers of hope on her skin, nudging her to go with the flow. If she stayed downwind from the shifters, she would be able to mask their scents, at least until the air changed directions. Even with the breeze dissipating their scents, she would have to cover them with mud or take a dip in a stream. They all smelled atrocious after two weeks without showers. It would be a dead giveaway to anyone out in the forest.

  In the distance, over the line of trees, she saw lights and fire. Squinting, she could make out a burning structure of some sort and people trying to douse the roaring flames. Above the trees, some bombs were exploding before they hit the ground. Purples and blues twinkled when they exploded. They weren’t bombs…they were fireworks.

  The list.

  In her visions of the cage and the cave, she had seen a list on the ground next to their captor when he was building the cage. It had been next a blueprint for the construction. It was a list of random words she couldn’t make sense of. Some of them, like ‘signs’ and ‘schedules’, had been checked off. Then there had been others that hadn’t been crossed off yet, and the word ‘fireworks’ had been one of them.

  The man who had taken them prisoner was aiming fireworks at other shifters. From the looks of it, they were the same type of shifter that he was. Bears. What the hell had she managed to stumble into this time?

  If he was the one setting them off, that meant he was still on the mountain. Urging her brothers to move a bit faster, Desiree picked a path down the opposite side of the mountain that was overgrown and hadn’t been used recently. The twigs and branches scraped against her jacket and exposed face but she paid them no heed. They had to make it down to the edge of the valley before the fireworks stopped going off. Once there she could find a place for them to hide until everything settled down.

  No matter what, she would keep her family safe.

  * * * *

  Charred flecks of wood rained down from the scorched gazebo like ash from an active volcano. Damien shifted his weight while supporting one of the beams and felt the wet pull of the now-soaked ground on his shoes. They had stopped the fire just in time. Another minute and it would have reached the tree limbs. As soon as the others dismantled what was left of the overhead beams, Damien placed the one he had been holding on the ground.

  Turning, he surveyed the bleak scene before him.

  Burnt black circles marked the clearing like morbid polka dots. The acrid smell of singed grass wafted along the breeze. The firework bombs had halted, and the ensuing silence was eerie in its abruptness. Small fires in the grass were still being put out. Once the worst of the danger had passed, the teenagers and cubs had chipped in to bring buckets of water from the lake to soak the scorched grass and dirt. Even one unattended spark could start a forest fire.

  On the ground in the middle of the clearing sat Gwen and Tessa. Exhaustion was written all over their faces, especially in the twin stripes of blood that leaked from their noses. Scanning the faces around him, everyone seemed to be accounted for…except Emma.

  Damien moved to Tessa and Gwen and hunkered down next to their drooping forms. With one arm, he waved to Hunter and Bleu to come over and help the two women. “Have either of you seen Emma?”

  Gwen’s weary gaze met Tessa’s. Tessa sighed and ran a hand haphazardly against her nose, smearing the blood across half her face. “I saw her out of the corner of my eye when we took out that rocket that was a part of the finale. She was running toward the pass.” She lifted a finger in the direction her sister had run. Her glazed expression looked off into the distance while her forehead crinkled in concentration and a fresh stream of blood trickled from her nose.

  Bleu and Hunter rushed over and crouched down in front of the women. Bleu helped Gwen to her feet while Hunter ripped off his shirt and stemmed the flow of blood dripping from Tessa’s nose.

  “Shit, Tessa, this is a lot of blood. I would give you a lecture right now but you saved a lot of people tonight. Thank you.” Looking up, Hunter met Gwen’s gaze, as well. “Both of you.”

  Reaching around to pull the shirt away from her nose and mouth, Tessa grabbed onto Damien’s forearm with her free hand. “You need to find her, Damien, I had a vision. She’s going to get hurt but I couldn’t see how badly. I could only make out teeth, fur and blood… I think she’s going to be attacked by a bear.”

  Dammit, he would kill the son of a bitch who was behind all this with his bare hands. Then he would strangle Emma for going off half-cocked without backup. Nodding to Hunter, he made a plan. “Can you take care of the women and direct things here, Hunter? I need Bleu to come with me. We’ll split up and take both passes up the mountain. I think I know where the fireworks were coming from, and my guess is that’s where Emma went. To finish this.”

  He stuck around only long enough to see Hunter’s brief nod before he started running, Bleu keeping pace beside him. With each step he prayed, prayed to whatever deity was out there, that he would get to her in time. That he would be able to save his mate.

  * * * *

  She was coming after him.

  He watched her scan the mountainside, her gaze landing and focusing on the outcropping exactly where he was setting off the destructive fireworks. The witch was smarter than he gave her credit for.

  He hadn’t counted on anyone coming after him. Their first priority, after all, would be to take care of the cubs and prevent the fire from spreading. But she wasn’t like the rest. Even her sisters had focused their efforts on stopping the colorful rockets instead of finding out where they were coming from.

  But could she just fall into line with his plan like a good girl? Apparently not.

  Instead she had taken off like a dart, weaving through the throngs of people and making her way to one of the mountain passes, the one that would take her directly to him.

  Screw the major plan and the higher-ups who thought he was a puppet to be controlled. He was going to do this his way, not the way he had been told. He would finish her off, tonight.

  Damn the consequences.

  Hurriedly he set off the last few fireworks he had already set up. Then he stuffed the rest into his pack and took off through the trees, making his way up the side of the mountain to his cave. He would place the damning evidence there, then come back for the insolent woman.

  His footsteps were slower than he would’ve liked. The steep path could throw him back down the side of the mountain if he wasn’t careful. The brush thickened as he neared the entrance to the cave. The opening itself was very narrow, and well hidden behind a curtain of leafy vines that fell from the overhang above.

  Turning around, he took a few swipes at the bent vegetation that had born the weight of his feet, and once his indentations were masked, he swept past the curtain and into the black interior of the cave.

  Dropping his pack right inside the entrance, he started stripping off his clothes. Taking off his socks, he stilled. Something wasn’t right.

  The scent of freshly dug earth tickled his senses. It was a smell that was completely out of place. The floor of the cave was compact—it had taken him weeks to dig the holes where the bars were anchored in the ground. After he’d finished the construction, he had packed the dirt back into place himself, so t
here shouldn’t have been loose dirt anywhere in the cave.

  It was quiet. His superior hearing didn’t pick up any signs of life and there were no puffs of breath besides his own. No rustling of clothes. No tiny movements. Even the insects had gone quiet. Taking large strides, he made his way to the bars of the cage. Letting his bear out just enough to utilize his night vision, he scanned the interior of the holding pen. The floor was bare, except for a pile of dirt by the wall. And a hole.

  They were gone.

  Crap. Shit. Damnation.

  He was dead if he didn’t have that girl. She was the linchpin to everything. His meal ticket. If they found out he had lost her, they wouldn’t hesitate to take his life for his failure. How the hell had she known the depth of the bars was so shallow?

  Her abilities. She’d read the damn bars.

  Kicking furiously at the hole where they had slithered to freedom, he let out a rumbling growl. He had been bested by a fifteen-year-old girl.

  It was that Council member. This was all her fault.

  In a storm of light and agony, he shifted form. In his place stood an eight-hundred-pound grizzly bear. Lips pulling back to reveal sharp canines, he let out a vicious roar that shook the night.

  * * * *

  Her breaths came in shallow pants. The pass was steep enough that Emma’s shirt was clinging to her skin, damp with perspiration. Using her talents, she masked her scent as well as the sound of her footfalls. If she were lucky, she would have the element of surprise on her side.

  Emma ground to a halt, tilting her head to listen. The rockets had stopped. An unnatural silence descended over the valley.

  He knew she was coming.

  Bursting back into motion, Emma increased her pace. If he disappeared into the forest, she was screwed. She couldn’t give him the chance to cause any more destruction. She needed to know who he was now.