“All in good time. First, let’s take you and Miss Price to where you’ll be staying while you’re on base. Then we’ll give you the tour. Our superiors will hopefully be available to meet with you soon to discuss business.”
“Until then, you’ll just get to lounge around and not do much of anything. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something to keep yourself busy. I know that I would. Wanna trade?” Amber giggled.
While they were talking, the doctor walked out of the room and went next door. Darien gathered up the few belongings that he had and left with the agents. Susan stood in her doorway, waiting for them.
“You ready to get out of here?”
Susan made a couple of large, slow nods. Darien reached out and took her hand as they walked out of the hospital, following the two agents. As they walked to the front entrance, Darien felt the need to make a conscious effort to slow his steps. He was almost walking on Callie’s heels as they strode down the halls. Susan was equally anxious, something that he could tell by the hard squeezing of his hand the further they got.
Once they stepped outside of the hospital, Susan stopped, lifted both of her hands up to the sky—dragging one of Darien’s with her—and breathed in deeply with her head tilted back and face pointed towards the sun. The wind danced across the parking lot and tousled her hair, making it flutter behind her. Darien didn’t see her often without her hair done up in a tight braid. As good as it was to feel the fresh air and the sun against his skin, he was more moved by staring at Susan and seeing her relish in the freedom.
They filed into the agents’ car, with Callie taking the driver’s seat. Throughout the short drive to the house, Amber turned around in the front seat and looked back through the divider to chat with the passengers. She pointed out buildings that they passed, sharing vague details about their purpose. In general, Darien got the impression she was being friendly while trying to keep from being too revealing. Although, he did wonder whether she was always this talkative. For his part, he stared out the window, glad to have a different view to admire.
But it was not just blank daydreaming or pure curiosity that captured his attention. His mind was also working to try and figure out how they were going to be able to leave if for some reason they needed to. While it might be considered paranoid by some, Richard had always taught him to have an exit strategy. Granted, he could easily shift into a bird and fly away as needed, resuming his human shape once he was somewhere safe. But that was a luxury that Susan did not have, and he wasn’t going to leave her behind, not without a plan on how to get her out.
The entire base was surrounded by a fence with double-angled barbed wire at the top of it, designed to keep people from either coming in or leaving. There were a few guards posted at the only gate they passed, but otherwise the fence line seemed pretty clear. A track ran along a portion of it, but it was impossible to see how far around that went. That was something they needed to check once they had the liberty to do so.
The tree line was cut back from the fence on both sides, so cover was not going to be plentiful. However, going through the fence might be a viable option. That would depend on things like cameras and whether or not the fence was electrified. An ideal situation would have them getting out without alerting anyone. If it absolutely came down to it, he could barrel through the fence and bring Susan along behind him, but a charging rhinoceros is anything but subtle.
After a few minutes, they pulled into a very short driveway that ended at a small one-story house. The building looked identical to the other twenty on the street, as if they were all cut from the same mold and placed down in a perfect row by a gigantic child with a case of OCD. The architect hadn’t even bothered to create mirror images to allow for a different perspective while still remaining symmetrical. Apparently, living on a military base, at least in temporary housing, was more about function than appearance.
On the positive side, the house was already furnished and Darien couldn’t help but sigh in contentment when he saw the bed. While the cabin in the woods did provide them with the bare necessities, part of his body, particularly the aches and tiny knots in the muscles, fondly remembered the embrace of well-padded mattress. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the day, he would have gladly collapsed on the bed and sunk into oblivion for a few hours just because of the comfort.
In the kitchen, the fridge was stocked with food. Amber opened it up and pulled out a few beers for Susan and Darien, popping off the caps as she handed them out. Susan chewed on the side of her mouth and turned the bottle around in her hand.
“Isn’t it a bad idea to combine alcohol and pain meds?”
“It’s also a bad idea to drink while you’re on the job. But I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Amber flashed her a grin and pulled out a third bottle, popping off the top and taking a long swig of it. She held it out to Callie who sighed audibly and shook her head. With a shrug, Amber took another swig before continuing the tour, gesturing wildly as she went through the halls. Even though the home was furnished, it still felt empty. There were no pictures on the walls, and everything was too pristine and clean. After they finished the walkthrough, they congregated in the living room just beyond the front door.
“So, are we allowed to leave whenever we want?”
Darien didn’t see a point in wasting time or being subtle. He wanted it out in the open if this was just another gilded cage that offered the illusion of freedom. That was his expectation, and he didn’t want to deal with the fake pleasantries.
“I hope that you would at least meet with our superiors. Considering that we were the ones who pulled you out of a flaming wreck and got you the best medical care in the immediate vicinity, I think you owe us at least that much. That being said, you’re not prisoners and are free to go.”
“Really?”
Their response sat Darien back on his heels and he didn’t know how to respond. Susan chuckled and stuck out her hand for the other women to shake.
“Thank you so much for that. Just let us know when your superiors are ready to meet. I’m sure we can manage that.”
“Yes, we can. Sorry. I’m still kind of reeling from everything.”
“You mean the pain meds are kicking in, right? Enjoy it! Just don’t go overboard. Totally not worth it.”
Amber pranced back to the car, waiting by the driver’s side for her companion. When Callie walked back, she just shook her head. There was a brief moment where the two locked gazes and their body language changed. Amber’s shoulders hunched and tightened as she leaned forward, holding that position. Callie relaxed, dropping into a more casual ready pose and looking almost bored with the situation. It only lasted a brief moment and then Amber shrugged and walked over to the passenger’s side. With a final wave, the two government agents left, leaving Darien and Susan alone in the front entrance to their temporary new home.
The couple stepped back inside, gently closing the door and giving them some modicum of privacy. Darien moved to one of the front windows, watching and waiting until the car drove down the street and took a corner, leaving his field of vision. As soon as he could no longer see it, he whirled on Susan.
“We can’t stay here.”
Susan put her untouched beer down on the corner of a table in the living room and turned to face him, chewing on her thumb. He waited for her to gather her thoughts and respond.
“What do you mean we can’t stay here? Where are we going to go and how are we going to get out of here? Didn’t you notice the giant fence around the entire complex? Don’t you think that they’ll have cameras up, ready to see us the moment we try to make a break for it?”
“I know that. But, we need to figure something out. We always do. I just don’t trust them. Hell, they probably have this place bugged right now and are listening to every word we say.”
Darien’s voice dropped off until he was hissing the last of his words in a harsh whisper. Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“You’re probably right, but what can we do about it? We made the choice to come here. We need to see this out. This might be the only chance we’re ever going to have at having a normal life again.”
“My life’s never going to be normal again.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to force it to be different!”
With a growl, Darien stormed off. He didn’t want to talk about this right now, especially when the agents were probably listening to every word. He went to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed, turning away from the door and trying to fall asleep before Susan followed him in.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Darien woke up staring at the wall and lying on the edge of the bed. Rolling over, he was surprised to see that the other side was empty. He sat up, with his legs hanging over the edge of the bed, thinking about the argument with Susan. His head and shoulders slumped as he recounted his behavior. Getting up from the bed, he shuffled out into the living room area, trying to see if Susan was there.
She was passed out on the couch, a book resting on her chest and one arm draped over the edge. He walked over to her with as much stealth as he could manage and looked down at her. She had a blanket halfway on her body, the other half draped over the couch. Kneeling at her side, he adjusted it so that it covered her entire body and then reached out to gently trace the back of his fingers across her cheek.
The touch caused her to stir and she opened her eyes. When she saw recognized Darien, she offered a weak smile. He returned the gesture before leaning forward to give her a kiss.
“I’m sorry about what I said last night. I was just feeling caged and didn’t like how it was as if we’ve been backed into a corner again. It reminded me too much about the Shadows and their rituals.”
Susan nodded once and reached out to put the palm of her hand against his neck.
“I know. And it’s okay. I just want you to listen to what they have to say. They say they can offer us protection, and maybe they’re right. We’ve had almost a week where we were probably more vulnerable than we’ve ever been, and nothing happened.”
“You’re right. We should at least hear what they have to say and see if we can have something close to a normal life, all things considered.”
“I promise you, if you don’t like it, or if something smells wrong, I’ll run with you. I just want to give it a chance. I never thought it was possible before now that normal might be a possibility. But if it is, I want to at least look at it. No matter what, I’m with you though. You know this.”
Darien leaned forward once again to hold Susan close to him. When they separated, she sat up, sliding down the couch so she could lean against the arm rest. She dropped her voice to a whisper.
“Tell you what. After breakfast, let’s go for a run and take a look around the compound. No reason why we can’t start forming a back-up plan, just in case.”
While she got up and went through her morning routine, Darien went into the kitchen and sifted through the pantry and refrigerator to see what options were available. One thing he could say for the government housing was that they made sure to stock plenty of food for two people. There was easily enough food available to feed them for a month if not more. In the end, Darien settled on the old standby of omelets. It was fast, easy, and a classic for them.
After breakfast, the two of them went for a jog, following a trail that led around the perimeter of the fence. It was a beaten trail, clearly one used by the military personal on a regular basis. They even passed a troop of men and women running in the opposite direction in formation.
As they ran along the fence, Darien kept his eyes open for cameras and areas where they might be able to stage an escape. For the most part, the cameras were obvious and easy to detect. It looked like the border was always near some buildings, which was too risky, or in plain view of some cameras. He needed to keep track of as much of this as possible. Maybe once he and Susan had a chance to talk it over, they might be able to find something he was missing. What would be great was if they could get a map of the base and just label all the cameras. That might be a bit too obvious, though.
As they rounded the corner leading to their temporary home, Darien saw a familiar car parked in front of their house. He stumbled for a couple of steps before regaining his balance. Susan slowed down and turned to look at him, but he waved her off. They continued their run, pulling up to a stop next to the car. Callie and Amber stood outside the vehicle, leaning against the hood. Darien bent over, his hands on his knees as he gulped down air. Susan stood next to him, taking deep breaths, but clearly in much better condition. He struggled to catch his breath, but every time he tried, it felt like his lungs were on fire and he’d start burst breathing. It never ceased to amaze him how much Susan could run in comparison.
Callie waited until Darien recovered enough to stand up straight before speaking. “Our commander has arrived and would like to meet with you.”
“No fanfare? I expected some presidential level security and an escort or some such.”
Amber sniggered at the comment, but Callie didn’t react to the joke. Darien shrugged, and pointed at the house.
“Do you mind if Susan and I clean up a bit first? I’d rather our first impression not be all flushed and covered in sweat.”
Callie nodded and the agents followed the other two into the house, waiting in the living room while Darien and Susan took quick showers. He jumped in and went through the motions quickly, not wanting to keep the agents waiting too long. In his haste, he rolled his left shoulder in a way that aggravated the injury, causing a flare of pain and reminded him to take his anti-inflammatories before leaving the house.
After getting dressed, Darien and Susan crawled into the backseat of the agents’ car. It was unusually silent, given their previous experience with Amber. Not a word was said until they drove out through the gates of the army base, only slowing down to show some credentials to the guards.
“Your boss doesn’t stay on the base?”
“Given the nature of our department, he finds that it’s preferable to stay at an offsite facility. The less attention drawn to us by the normal branches of military, the better. I’m sure that you can appreciate the need for discretion given what you’re capable of.”
“So no one on the base knows that I’m a Sheynan?”
This time Amber turned around in her seat and Darien thought she looked like she was about to burst to finally have the opportunity to talk. When her mouth did open, the words came out in a steady stream with barely a pause between them.
“Are you kidding? Not only did they not know that you were a Sheynan, they wouldn’t even know what that means. They’d probably think you meant you were from a foreign country or something. And if you told them about shifters, hell, they’d probably put you back in the hospital in the mental ward. Most people can’t handle that and we don’t want it to be public knowledge even if they can. After all, that would make it hard for us to do our jobs.”
“And what is your job, exactly?”
“That’s going to be up to the commander to tell you. Don’t worry, it‘ll make a lot more sense after today. And then we’ll be able to start your training.”
“Training?”
“You don’t think we were going to let you out in the field without any training, do you? There’s a lot more to it than just knowing how to shift.”
As they turned north on I-5, Darien let his mind wander, watching the trees by the side of the highway pass by in a blur as his eyes unfocused. Training was not something that he considered. Boot camp didn’t sound like a lot of fun, but he was curious what it would be like. Would it be specially tailored to his abilities? If so, was he going to need to shift a lot? Given his condition, that could be dangerous and could rapidly accelerate his degeneration. Did they know about that? Given how much they knew already, it seemed likely. Darien let his hand wander across the seat to Susan’s lap. He squeezed her leg gently without looking over at her, ju
st taking comfort in her presence. She put her hand on his and returned the gesture.
“Did you know that Omba was a shifter? The guy living in the cabin down the path?” Susan asked.
Amber nodded several times, bouncing in the seat from the force of her assertion.
“Yep. We knew that, and we also knew that he used to be a member of the Arm. I think he left them several years ago and kind of retired to his cabin. We assumed that he was going to be pushed back into service in order to keep tabs on you. We figured we wouldn’t tip his hand and out him if it wasn’t a problem yet. But we were ready if he tried to make a move on you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Callie reached across and punched Amber in the arm, but without much force. Her companion got the message and twisted back so that she was facing frontwards in her seat. Callie looked in the rearview mirror so that she could make eye contact with Susan.
“What information is shared is up to our commander. We’re not at liberty to say. Some protocols must be followed.”
That line effectively killed the conversation in the car and they drove in silence the rest of the distance. They pulled off the highway before they reached Seattle, but where exactly they were, Darien couldn’t say. He hadn’t been paying that much attention to the exit signs and this was an area that he wasn’t familiar with. There was no point in attempting to keep track of the various turns they took to get to their final destination. Directions and spatial awareness were never his strong points.
At long last, they pulled into the parking lot for an office building that was four stories of glass and brick. The parking lot was full enough that they had trouble finding a parking space. Darien had to reach back in his mind and try to determine what day it was, only to realize he had no idea. Living on the base or staying in a hospital was a lot like living at the cabin in that every day was the same with little variance. Judging by the number of cars in the lot this early in the day, it was probably a work day.
The Torn Soul (The Sheynan Trilogy Book 3) Page 8