Besieged by Rain (Son of Rain #1)

by Michelle Irwin

  I waved him off. “The man who died here, do you know what happened to him?”

  “His body is at the morgue, awaiting transportation to Bayview.”

  “Could you give me a lift to the morgue, then?” I asked. “There’s something I need to investigate prior to transportation.”

  He looked at the pendant again, almost as if he was checking its authenticity, before nodding. “Yes, sir.”

  The drive to the morgue with the officer was tedious. He was one of the ones that we always referred to as the “hopeful failures” at home. The Elite were selected for their bloodline, the Assessors for their intelligence, and field operatives for their cunning and courage.

  The failures were the ones who were desperate to join our fight, usually as a result of a personal encounter with a nonhuman or after the loss of a family member, but who were lacking in those key areas that would allow them to successfully pass their training. They were sent out into the field to find civilian jobs and assist the Rain through the infiltration of various government organizations.

  As he drove me, and told me all about his life, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t ask him his backstory. I didn’t really need to know it to know I didn’t give a shit. He was a means to an end and nothing more. While I was sifting through the remnants of Evie’s life, such as it was, I’d decided that if I couldn’t be with her, I would at least ensure that her father was treated with some dignity in his death.

  “If you see the other elite around, let them know I’m looking for them,” I said to the officer as he left me in the capable hands of one of the morgue attendants, Max, one who often helped the officer with the “special cases.”

  An hour later, I’d discovered that a death certificate had already been issued for David. It wasn’t surprising as the Rain usually expedited such matters so that the records for the bodies could be resolved, and a fake burial held, long before the corpse arrived in Bayview for further assessment and, if necessary, cremation.

  For a significant fee, which probably amounted to almost half of Max’s annual salary, I entered into an arrangement to have David’s body conveniently lost en route to the Rain’s New York office. I also arranged for the private hire of a coroner’s van for a few hours so that Max wouldn’t know where I took the body after I left. Although Max was sure to get into a little strife over it, I didn’t think he’d face significant disciplinary actions because David was only a civilian casualty, not a monster himself.

  Once he’d agreed to the exchange, I investigated funeral homes nearby, and I contacted them to find one willing to arrange a fast, private funeral—for a fee of course. Overall, it had cost me a fair bit of money, money that I had to pull out of my own personal reserves. To hide my intentions from Dad, I borrowed a computer and laid a trail of fake transactions to cover the transactions. Once I was back at Bayview, I could hide it better. That way I could ensure my family wouldn’t ever find out about what I’d done for David.

  The funeral that I’d arranged was worth any cost and effort for the peace of mind I was certain it would bring to Evie. At least I’d taken enough steps to ensure that no one else in the Rain would know where David was buried. At least not immediately, and I hoped by going with my family they would stop looking. Regardless, my involvement in David’s funeral would be a secret I would take to my own grave.

  Once I’d arranged everything I could—I even had his plot number at the lawn cemetery—I headed back to purchase one more magnolia for Evie. Even with the little I’d learned about her in the months we had in Ohio and the week we’d spent together in Charlotte, I knew she was guided by her emotions and felt certain she would return to the warehouse at some point before moving on.

  It was all the more reason to lead my family away from there.

  On a small piece of paper, I wrote the cemetery name and the plot her father would be buried in and wrapped it around the magnolia, tying it off with a yellow ribbon.

  Originally my intention had been to leave the flower inside the little office that had been our seven-day sanctuary, but as I neared the warehouse, I couldn’t imagine walking inside again. Definitely not then; maybe not ever.

  The last time I’d been in there had been the beginning of the end for Evie and me. I was sure Evie would probably feel the same and leaving any gift inside would be useless.

  With that certainty in my mind, I left the flower near the fence and turned my back on the sight before it could bring the sorrow that lingered just beneath my skin to the surface. I was almost at the end of the street when the roar of Dad’s Chevelle filled the air. It appeared they hadn’t been hanging around the site, but were doing drive-bys just in case I returned—exactly as I’d expected they would.

  Once again, I felt the tug in my stomach that indicated Lou was nearby, and when I glanced in the direction of the noise, I saw Dad driving down the street with her in the passenger seat. They wore matching scowls, and once more I regretted my decision to leave Evie for them.

  The car pulled up just a few yards in front of me.

  “It’s gone,” Lou said as she climbed from the car.

  For a moment, I wondered what she meant, but then the smug smile she wore while she waited for me to respond told me exactly what she meant. She thought she was telling me Evie’s fate. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that they believed Evie was dead. At least that meant they wouldn’t try to find her again. However, if I didn’t look devastated enough, they’d think something was up.

  Instead of celebrating Evie’s safety, I allowed all of the pain I’d been pushing down since leaving her at the motel hours earlier to break through to the surface. Tears welled in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

  “No,” I uttered in a quiet whisper. “No. She can’t be.”

  “Eth saw it happen with his own eyes.”

  “Wh-What happened?” I was suddenly desperate to hear the story. It was possible I’d be able to piece together the story of how she’d escaped through his experience.

  Lou glanced over her shoulder at the car, and at Dad. Although I’d expected him to come out of the car and give me an earful for shooting him, he sat impassively in the car, staring pointedly through the windshield, clearly refusing to look in my direction.

  “Get in the car, and I’ll tell you what happened,” Lou said. “But I’ve got shotgun.”

  I ground my teeth as I considered being trapped in the backseat of the coupe while we drove to wherever the hell they were staying. The only reason I ended up relenting was because it was in Evie’s best interests for us to get away from the parts of Charlotte she was likely to travel to. And for us to leave the city entirely as soon as practical.

  Before Lou had even started her story, I noticed we were heading away from the center of Charlotte. With the darkening sky, and after everything that had happened, I’d thought we would probably stay one night to tie up the loose ends and then head on to our next assignment. We’d already passed a dozen motels and hotels that would have been our usual fare though.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as we hit the highway, and Dad pushed the car faster. Buildings and scenery rushed by the window at sickening speeds, we had to be going at least a hundred.

  “We’re going back to Hell,” Lou said, her ice-blue eyes giving me a sharp, assessing gaze in the rear-vision mirror.

  “What about Eth?”

  “He’ll meet us there. We just want to make sure you actually come home this time.”

  I hoped Eth taking the different vehicle was to do with something other than Evie, but I wasn’t able to ask the question. If I gave the slightest hint that she was still alive, my family would hunt her until they were certain she was dead—if only to remove any possibility of future temptation for me. As if I’d dare endanger her by trying to find her again until I was completely certain it was safe for me to do so. That was the whole reason I was leaving her after all—the reason for hurting her. I didn’t want that to be meaningless.
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br />   I asked Lou again for the story to fill the stony silence in the car. Lou told Eth’s tale, detailing how he’d given chase in his Hummer, ramming against Evie’s truck until he had her cornered and forced her vehicle to a stop. Just when he’d thought he’d won, but before the vehicles had stopped completely, she climbed from her truck and leaped into the river miles below. Apparently, he’d waited for her to resurface, but she never had. He’d combed the riverbank on both sides of the bridge and hadn’t found any signs of her surfacing.

  During the story, I thought about how scared Evie must have been with Eth running her down. He was formidable behind the wheel of a car, naturally skillful at following without detection but equally as well trained in driving an offensive line. I hid the smile on my face as I imagined Evie jumping from the truck—she must have scared the crap out of Eth.

  The story strengthened the resolve behind my decision to leave her. If she could survive that ordeal and make it back to her house without detection—even better, with Eth convinced she was dead—it gave me hope that she’d be able to survive almost anything. She would definitely be better off without me.

  I’ll miss you so fucking much, you perfect, clever girl.

  “Is all this nonsense behind us now?” Dad finally spoke. He met my eye in the rearview mirror.

  I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “WHY DO WE do this?” Dad demanded from his position on the other side of the clinical steel table.

  I resisted rolling my eyes—no one did that in the Bayview treatment rooms without punishment. Not that I wasn’t already being punished enough for my choice to find a phoenix with the intention of wooing rather than killing her.

  After the almost straight-shoot drive from Charlotte to New York—stopping only for gas and food—I’d been taken directly to the Bayview prison and thrown into a holding cell. My family had left me there without even a backward glance or apology. I was in the wrong, after all.

  That first night, I’d actually begun to understand the fear that must have run though the minds of the more advanced creatures that had passed through the halls of the Rain headquarters. I even began to empathize with the beings who were more than just monsters—the ones who were intelligent and funny; who had beautiful smiles, a quick wit, and a stunning body. I was certain the intention wasn’t for me to empathize with those on the other side of the battle, but that’s exactly where I found myself.

  How could I not given the way Evie had welcomed me into her life with open arms versus the ability of my own family to lock me away upon my return?

  The holding cells were simple, primitive even, containing only a basic metal bed that pivoted off the wall—the fold-up system allowed more space in the cell for securing the beasts who didn’t need bedding—and a bucket for waste. There was no running water or entertainment. My treatment was fit for those things less than human, far less comfortable than even the actual criminals down in the lower levels of Bayview.

  The ground in my cell was stained with a number of ruddy-brown marks that looked suspiciously like dried blood, and the walls were covered with all manner of scrapes, scratches, and teeth marks of various vintage.

  All reminders of the previous inhabitants of my little piece of Hell.

  Adding to the unpleasant atmosphere were the Assessors who roamed the hall all night. As I’d learned on my return, an additional function of their role was the retraining of rogue operatives—a very small, select group of misfits of which I was apparently now a proud member. It was something I must have missed during the initiation I’d had into their ranks before returning to my family.

  I’d yet to have my first “treatment,” but their mere presence near my cell was enough to make me want to leave Bayview and never return. Despite the risk it would have posed to Evie’s life, I found myself wishing I’d just run away with her instead. My family might have hunted us forever, but it couldn’t be any worse than what I was facing now.

  At least I’d have had Evie’s warm embrace for comfort.

  When the door had opened at the crack of dawn, I’d thought it was an Assessor coming to find me, but instead Dad had entered the holding cell to drag me down into the treatment room. Without pause, he’d practically thrown me into one of the hard metal chairs.

  I wasn’t secured in any way, but I knew better than to try to break free. There were at least fifty people between where I sat and freedom. Most of them were armed and knew the best areas to shoot to incapacitate but not kill, and not one of them would flinch about inflicting pain on a perceived betrayer.

  Dad stared at me with an angry scowl, waiting for an answer to his question.

  I held back a sigh. “We do this because humanity needs a protector. Someone who can purge the sins of the land and protect the lives of the innocents caught in the battle.” It was a cause I knew from rote; I’d learned it so long ago that it was ingrained into me.

  It was wrong.

  “I don’t want a lesson from a fucking textbook.” Dad squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Forget the Rain’s reasons.”

  My gaze lifted to meet his in surprise. What I saw saddened me. Lines creased the corner of his eyes where once there hadn’t been any. It was like he’d aged at least ten years in the last one. It was clear that while I’d been looking for Evie, I hadn’t been paying much attention to my family.

  “Why do we do this? You, me, and Ethan. Why do we do it?”

  I hung my head as I understood the answer he was after.

  “For Louise,” I murmured. Disgust filled me. I had backed down from all of the promises I’d once given her. The simple action of allowing myself to feel for something nonhuman broke bonds forged years earlier.

  “For Louise,” he confirmed. “Because . . .” he prompted.

  “Because if it wasn’t for the existence of creatures like the fae, she wouldn’t have been hurt.”

  He leaned forward against the table, his arms ramrod straight, the muscles twisting and flicking in a show of how tightly wound he was. And that was my fault too.

  “You didn’t just betray the Rain when you chose to fraternize with that monster. You betrayed her!” He thumped his fist down hard against the table to emphasize his point. “Your own blood! What were you planning exactly? That you and that . . . creature would run off together? That you’d raise a little family of freaks and monsters?” His face was red and spittle foamed in the corners of his mouth by the end of his rant. Despite the guilt that had started to weigh on my limbs, his rage sparked something within me.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking!” I shouted in retaliation, leaning forward so far that I was almost standing. I was seconds away from kicking the chair out behind me and trying to leave Bayview regardless of the certainty of failure. Even being shot couldn’t be worse than what I was facing. “I can’t tell you what I wanted. I just know that once I’d found her, I couldn’t let another day go by without at least trying to find out why I can’t get her out of my head!”

  “And what if that was exactly what she wanted?”

  His statement confused me because of course it was exactly what she’d wanted. I’d learned quickly that she felt the same things for me as I did for her. The only thing that had kept us apart for so long was the fear we each held for the other. We would have still been together if it hadn’t been for my family—we possibly could have been happy for some time to come.

  “Did you even stop to consider the fact that you might have been under a curse?”

  I snorted as I leaned back against the chair and crossed my arms. “She isn’t a witch.”

  He slapped his hands down on the table again, causing me to sit up straighter. My father wasn’t someone to be messed with. He demanded respect at all times, and he’d earned it from me tenfold over the years. Mostly through fear.

  “I know what she is. I also know that the lore is very light around phoenixes. The last recorded one was destroyed years ago, long before we had a chance t
o study it properly. When I realized that you’d found one in Charlotte, I didn’t want to make the same mistake again. I wanted to find her and bring her back alive. The Assessors wanted to meet her, but you forced our hand.”

  I bit back on the bile that rose in my throat at the thought of Evie in the hands of the Assessors. Then the truth of what he’d inadvertently let slip struck me.

  “The last one?” I asked in a whisper. “Was that a little less than twenty years ago?”

  The hatred in his eyes as he met my gaze confirmed what he didn’t. Evie had been right. We’d caused her mother’s death. I couldn’t ask him the next logical question; I wasn’t sure I could bear the knowledge that my own father had been directly involved in that death.

  You should thank him. Evie wouldn’t be here if her mother hadn’t been killed.

  I buried my head in my hands and panted in order to stop myself from launching into a panic attack. Evie had been right. The Rain had stolen both her mother and her father from her. My presence had almost caused her death. She lived in a world fraught with danger, and now she had no one to protect her.

  She doesn’t need protection. She’s strong. She can make it on her own.

  I kept repeating it to myself so I didn’t fight my way out of the door and back to Charlotte.

  I fought against the limited contents of my stomach, which were struggling to resurface.

  “You know what has to happen now, don’t you?” he asked.

  Still unable to settle my churning stomach—the nauseating mix of guilt and grief—I nodded. The Assessors happened next. I’d watched them work before, most recently when they’d been trying to find out whether silver kills werewolves regardless of how it’s delivered. I’d been brought in to document the reactions into the database. The beast had spent four hours howling in agony after the Assessors had forced liquid silver down its throat. I’d never seen an actual retraining, or been on the receiving end of the Assessors ire, but I wasn’t looking forward to experiencing either one.