The captain detailed my plan. Link was certain the HCA wouldn’t expose themselves by bringing in soldiers to a residential area, but he grossly underestimated the reach of the HCA. In one of Michael’s many spiels, he had mentioned how the HCA not only had representatives in the US government, but in the local government and police force as well.
All it took was a few calls to City Hall and the police were in on our plan. The foreclosed home Link had seized was on a dead end road. We were fortunate when we discovered the owners of the home right next door were out on vacation, so we didn’t need to implement a plan to remove them from the premises without Link knowing. All outgoing calls would be monitored and redirected to emergency services.
I was going to walk through the front door to give myself up while the HCA surrounded the home. When I gave the signal that Michael and Lacy were okay, they would storm in.
The plan had flaws, but we were resting all our hope on the fact that my grandfather wanted me alive and would do anything as long as I agreed to go to him. I hoped the ruse would work. With speed and accuracy on their side, the soldiers would get Michael and Lacy out before any more harm came to them.
Kian walked up to me and pulled me into a hug that almost rivaled Michael’s. His face was buried in my hair and I felt rather than heard him breathe me in.
“This plan is dangerous.”
“Any plan involving bad guys and guns is dangerous, but this is our only hope.”
“I know. Every minute you and the captain were planning, I was trying to figure out a way where you didn’t have to throw yourself in the middle of it, but you’re right. Nothing else would work without him killing Michael and Lacy outright.”
My smile stretched so big that my lips hurt. “You said I was right. Somehow I never thought I’d hear you say those words.”
His eyes crinkled in amusement. “Someone’s got to throw you a bone every now and then.”
I pushed out of his embrace and gave his shoulder a punch playful enough to let him know I wasn’t mad, yet hard enough that he would feel it for a few minutes.
“You’re lucky I kinda like you,” I purred over my shoulder, as I sashayed to the unmarked car that would drop me off a block away from the home Link occupied.
For a brief moment, Kian looked stunned by my confession, but it was replaced with his signature smirk. “I kinda like you too.”
Without looking back, I slid into the vehicle.
The drive to the drop-off location was faster than I had anticipated. I was hoping to have more time to push down the fear gnawing at my stomach like a dog with a juicy bone.
Stepping out into the night, I was hit with the muggy warmth of a Texas summer night. The car speeding away was my cue to get myself to the house, but I needed a moment. Leaning my head back, I looked up at the stars. We were far enough from downtown that I could make out a few constellations.
A peaceful sigh escaped my lips and I knew I was ready for whatever fate had in store for me. I could die tonight, but as long as my friends made it out alive, my soul would be at peace.
With each step bringing me closer to the house, my resolve grew. I cursed my grandfather for putting my friends in danger. I cursed him for his evil deeds. I cursed him for being alive.
The house that loomed before me looked as if it were snatched from a horror film and placed within suburbia. Paint was peeling from the dislocated shutters, and weeds were winning an invasion of what had once been a beautiful lawn. From the sidewalk, I could see into the living room through sizeable bay windows. Michael and Lacy were bound and gagged in the middle of the spacious room surrounded by battery operated lanterns. In the back of the room, I could barely make out three shadows, which meant two were unaccounted for.
Gathering up every ounce of courage, I walked up to the door and knocked. My knuckles were still grazing the wooden surface when the door flung open. The sudden movement startled me and I had to swallow the scream forming behind my lips. I didn’t want to show my nervousness.
“Come on in, little girl,” Link’s voice drifted from the dimly lit archway. “Don’t keep me waiting any longer.”
I stepped into the darkness. A slight movement behind me and the door slammed shut. Rough hands pushed against my shoulder, forcing me toward the faint light. “Get going,” the man behind me growled.
A gasp escaped from my lungs when I saw Michael and Lacy. I began to storm toward them when the thug who followed me into the room grabbed both of my arms, pulling me up short.
Michael’s face was so swollen and discolored, I could barely recognize him. His eyes were wild and I could see his anger and relief that I had come. Lacy was in better shape, but her nose was broken and both eyes were bruised. Blood caked around her mouth and had soaked into her white shirt in a sanguine waterfall.
My gaze narrowed as I searched the room for Link. He was tucked into the far corner of the room with two large men flanking him on both sides. His yellow eyes met mine and his lips folded into a sneer.
“You are a pesky mark, little girl.” He kicked off from the wall and stood to his full height. His chains clinked with the sudden movement, filling the silence with their ringing.
“It was rude to leave the party early. I didn’t even have a chance to show you my Talent.” He flicked his wrist in a casual manner. Michael and Lacy’s muffled screams of agony filled the silence. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but their arms and legs were wrapped in chains. As I watched, the chains were moving, tightening.
“Stop!” I screamed. “Please.”
He flicked his wrist again and the screams stopped. Lacy’s silent sobbing cracked something inside and it filled me with an intense hatred that I had never felt before. My Talent crackled beneath my skin, itching to be released.
I took a step toward him. The swish of four guns being pulled from their holsters was closely followed by a loud succession of clicks, stopping me in my tracks.
“Stay right there, little girl. I’m fully aware of what you can do.”
“What was your plan? You can’t capture me without touching me. Even if you use your Talent, you cannot guarantee my hands won’t find you or one of your men.”
Link reached into his back pocket and procured a syringe. “You will inject yourself with this and sleep all the way home to granddaddy.” He put the syringe on the floor and kicked it to me.
“Now slowly reach down and grab it, girl.”
I did as he asked. The syringe was warm against my hand and I shuddered when I realized that the warmth was residual body heat from his backside.
“Now be a good little girl and inject yourself.”
“Release my friends first and I’ll do as you say.” Michael struggled against his bindings, shaking his head ‘NO’ with vehement enthusiasm. I wanted to reassure him, but I kept my gaze on Link.
Link’s laugh was sudden and so loud, I almost dropped the syringe.
“Listen, the HCA know you’re here. I overheard them planning how to capture you, but I ran away so no more people would have to die.”
“We know that they know. We also knew you would come along once you found out where we were hiding. The HCA is a bunch of bureaucracy-loving pansies. They wouldn’t risk exposing the underground by launching a counterattack in the middle of suburbia.” With each word he grew more agitated, his face contorting. The man looked as crazy as he sounded.
“Let my friends go,” I repeated in a low, steady voice. I needed to calm him down. Irritable and deranged were a dangerous combination.
Link looked at me. His hands were folded in front of his mouth as if he were in deep thought or prayer. Silence stretched and I grew nervous. Where were the HCA? I knew they had to have the place surrounded by now and were listening in.
In a moment that was both sudden and the longest in my life, Link silently un-holstered his gun and pointed it at Michael’s head.
Seconds ticked by and my heart stopped beating. My lungs filled in a sudden intake of breath and I f
orced my body to imitate stone. Maybe if I didn’t make any sudden movements nothing would happen. My eyes locked with Michael’s and in that moment I felt the string that connected us as a misfit family as if it were a tangible thing. Love and acceptance poured into me. Filling me.
“No,” Link said devoid of emotion.
Gloved fingers clamped into the tender flesh of my arms as I screamed and I thrashed against my captor. Lacy struggled to get closer to her brother.
All was in vain.
Michael closed his eyes in resignation as the shot rang out. Blood covered the wall like a gruesome Jackson Pollock. My knees cracked against the floor, and every ounce of fight drained out of me as I watched the light fade from Michael’s eyes. For a brief moment, I wanted to give up. With all my careful planning, I hadn’t accounted for anyone else dying except me. The HCA were supposed to extract them before something like this happened.
I had failed him.
I had failed.
With great effort I unglued my eyes from Michael’s lifeless body. Lacy was screaming against her gag as tears flowed down her face in a sorrowful river.
I wondered why I wasn’t crying too.
My mind was a swarm of emotion. I stood, wavering a moment from the weight of my grief. My gaze narrowed as I scanned the room. Link had moved across from me, his body reclined against the wall splattered with the gore of my dear friend, stirring the blood and brain matter with his fingers in delicate sweeps as if he were painting his own masterpiece. His eyes were hollows of pure madness fixated on me.
A primal scream erupted from my mouth as I spun around and slammed the syringe into the thug standing guard over me, emptying the contents into his jugular.
Glass burst from the front windows as bodies came pouring in from all sides. Shots resonated all around me and without thinking, I threw myself on top of Lacy. I would not allow another friend to die for me today.
Pain exploded in my shoulder and I gripped her tighter, tucking as much of her small frame as I could under my body. Another eruption of pain blossomed on my left thigh. The numbness that spread was almost instantaneous as I felt the gush of warm liquid flow down my leg.
“I love you, Lacy,” I whispered with a heavy breath before I gave in to the darkness.
Chapter 17
Michael was holding his hands out to me and I ran into them at full speed, almost knocking us both over. His arms snaked around my waist and squeezed me in one of his signature bear hugs. I buried my face into his chest and breathed him in. He always smelled like mint and faintly of car grease.
“I’m so glad Liam found you and then we found Liam. I’ve always loved you like family.”
“Loved?” I questioned.
“Don’t blame yourself, Sadie. I would do it all over again for you and Lacy to be safe.”
“Blame myself? What are you…”
Memories flooded in. A dimly lit room. A gun. Blood everywhere.
I pulled away from Michael. His hazel eyes were dead. I tried to reach out to him, but my arms and legs were wrapped in chains that were slithering like a python, squeezing the breath out of me, tightening more and more with my struggle. Blood oozed from the entry wound in the center of his forehead. He fell over on the floor. I couldn’t take my eyes off the gaping hole in the back of his head.
And then I screamed.
I was still screaming when I woke from my nightmare, pulling at the invisible chains still choking me. Pain radiated from my right shoulder and left calf, slowing my movements. The erratic beeping from the heart monitor slowed to a steady beat as I regulated my breath. My nose wrinkled as the smell that unequivocally belongs to a medical center filtered through the fog.
Everything flooded back to me again. Michael was dead and Lacy was alone. Oh my God. Lacy.
“Lacy!” I screamed. “Where’s Lacy?” I was struggling to sit up when Kian and Lacy burst into the room. Sobs escaped from my throat when I saw Lacy standing, alive, in front of me. Her eyes were swollen from crying. Her nose had been set and the bruising around her eyes from her capture was yellowing.
Kian adjusted the bed so I could sit up and placed some pillows behind my shoulder to help alleviate some of the pain.
“You’re looking much better,” I nodded to Lacy. “How long?”
“A week,” Kian replied.
“A week!” I exclaimed. Michael had been gone for a week. Did they have services without me? The thought of missing his funeral opened up the wound in my chest again. A low moan escaped and I closed my eyes, allowing myself to wallow in my sorrow.
I felt Lacy’s delicate hands hold onto the hand on my good side as she gave a gentle squeeze. I opened my eyes and found my friend. She looked at me and in a brief moment we shared our grief for the brother we had both lost.
“My parents cremated Michael, but we haven’t had his services yet. I demanded a delay. My father is pissed, but you saved my life, so…” She paused and pointed to Kian and then herself.
“We were waiting on you to wake up. We thought.” She sniffed. “There was a moment when we thought you weren’t going to make it either. I can’t lose you too.” Lacy crumbled in on herself as she laid her head on my lap and cried. I reached out, gently threading my fingers through her hair. Tears pricked at my eyes, but I wasn’t ready to allow them to fall.
“I’m mad at you for sacrificing yourself like that” Lacy whispered through her sorrow. A few sobs later, she raised her tear soaked face and sniffled loudly. “Thank you!”
“Anytime,” I responded, patting her back as she hiccupped.
I turned to Kian. Both eyes were swollen and bruised from lack of sleep and his clothes were wrinkled, but despite his looks, an unrestrained grin radiated from his exhausted face. I narrowed my gaze on his offending lips.
“Why are you smiling?”
“You’re alive! You were shot in your shoulder and thigh. The shoulder wound was shallow and will heal fast, but the wound in your leg hit an artery. You nearly bled out, but the captain placed a tourniquet that saved your life. Madison and Rebecca organized a blood drive. You know how hard it is to come by Caelian O-negative blood.”
He shrugged and chewed on his lip before continuing. “What happened to Michael, it was brutal and I know you’re going to need time, but I can’t help but be happy you woke up.”
Silence followed his declaration, but I couldn’t help the guilt that filled me. I didn’t feel lucky. Everything leading up to Michael’s death was my fault and that knowledge would be a weight that I carried on my shoulders until the end of my life. My thoughts drifted to the man who pulled the trigger.
“Kian, tell me what happened after I passed out. Was Link captured or killed?”
His eyebrows pinched in worry and my stomach felt as if it was in my throat. Kian had opened his mouth to speak when a loud screech interrupted.
I wrenched my neck to locate the origin of the screech — the door to my room. Rebecca’s pale yellow hair was the first thing I saw. She scanned the room twice before she noticed me sitting up. A few seconds elapsed, her eyes blinking rapidly as if the movement would substantiate what her brain was interpreting. She squealed and stumbled across the room, aiming for the bed with Madison following close behind.
“What’s the matter with you?” Madison scolded, but was silenced the moment she saw I was awake. I was so happy to see my friends, but the joy I felt was detached. It was as if another version of me was experiencing the emotion and I was watching from the outside.
I forced a small smile.
Madison strolled into the room like she owned it and marched right next to Kian, forcing him to move up closer to my head. Rebecca stood at the foot, examining me. I watched Rebecca take in the dressing on my leg with melancholy when a sharp sting bloomed across the thigh of my good leg.
“OUCH!” I exclaimed as I looked at each of my friends. Kian’s jaw was clenched in a controlled anger. Lacy and Rebecca were both staring at Madison with a mixture of shock and conf
usion.
Madison spoke, enunciating each word to drive home her point. “That was for your stupidity.” Her gaze softened and the next thing I knew, she was lying across my body pulling me into a hug, aggravating the wound in my shoulder. I ignored the pain, breathed in her earthy perfume, and relaxed. We stayed that way for a few moments. Madison was a girl who didn’t express herself often, and when she did she seldom used words. Madison was a girl of action and this was her way of telling me that she loved me and was happy I was still alive.
When Madison straightened, I noticed Rebecca had walked from the foot of the bed around to the head opposite of Kian. She was crouched so that when I turned my head to look at her, we were face to face. Her gaze bore into mine and when she spoke it was soft.
“I’m sorry.” Those two words were all she said, but they were all I needed to hear. I nodded at her because I understood what she was trying to tell me. She was sorry for Michael. For my grandfather. For my injuries. Rebecca, my roommate since childhood, knew me better than anyone else. She understood.
She straightened and grabbed my hand. I winced as the movement caused my shoulder to flare in pain.
“Do you need more pain medicine?” Kian asked.
I shook my head. “No, pain medication always puts me to sleep. I want to be awake for a while.”
Lacy stood, removed her cell phone from her pocket, and frowned. “I have to go. It’s getting dark outside and my parents want me to leave now.” My eyes darted around the room, looking for a window, but there was none.
Weird.
Lacy continued her rant. “Six more days and I’m out of there. I can’t even look at my father anymore, much less live with the man!”
“We will follow you out,” Madison stated. She turned to look at me. “Everyone at Saint Vincent’s is under a curfew and we’re required to travel in pairs off campus.”
Her focus shifted to Kian. “Will you be spending the night here again?”
My gaze shifted to Kian and he nodded.
“I will inform the guards as we leave,” Rebecca added before she kissed my cheek, followed by Lacy and a firm squeeze on the leg from Madison.
The Caelian Cycle Boxed Set Page 14