Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10)

by Mikayla Lane

  “I really can’t explain it, and it won’t be the same as the last time because each of them are different people. That’s probably why they wanted Discorian and Blade. They will use them to help speed things up,” BJ explained as she watched the military men laugh and joke with one another while the major and captain continued going through her files.

  “How will the two of them speed things up?” Nik asked. He was getting tired of feeling clueless.

  “Well, one is a spirit walker. He can find out their fears, hopes, and beliefs. The other can use his compulsion to make them fearful at the thought of coming here. Those are just ideas though; I still have no idea what the full plan is,” BJ complained, also irritated at being in the dark.

  “I guess this is one of those things I’ll have to see to believe,” Nik said with a sigh.

  From what he’d heard so far, he didn’t see how it was going to work, and he feared it would blow up in their faces. He looked around the kitchen as the assembled group chatted about unimportant things. He couldn’t understand what they were waiting for and why they all seemed so casual when BJ was surrounded by the enemy half a block away.

  “You need to calm down,” BJ warned. “You’re radiating frustration so strongly I can feel you over here even without being connected to you.”

  “Sorry,” Nik said as he sat up and shielded his emotions. “I just don’t get why we aren’t planning or talking about the plan. Sundown is in 20 minutes, and they’re talking about kids and the damn weather signs.”

  BJ had to stop herself from laughing at his irritated tone.

  “You’re not a patient kind of guy are you?” BJ teased.

  “Normally I wouldn’t care if they took all night to compare battle scars, but I got plans for later and want to get this show on the road,” Nik said before wondering if he’d said too much.

  The laughter in her voice made him smile, and he instantly felt better.

  “I’d rather be playing tour guide any day to this boredom. This hurry up and wait drives me crazy,” BJ admitted, letting him feel her own irritation before she shielded herself again.

  “OK, we’re ready!” Rolantro called out, immediately silencing the room. “Discorian and Blade, follow behind us. Once they are asleep, we’ll instruct you in your task.”

  Seconds later, the demigods disappeared in a flash, and from his vantage point in the corner, Nik saw them reappear outside the front window. He launched himself to his feet.

  “They’re out front!” he warned the others as Blade and Disc ran out front to follow them.

  “What the hell are they thinking?” Grai asked as the entourage of demigods walked down the middle of the street without caring who saw them.

  He ran out front when he heard the shouts of the guards stationed outside of the police station, fearing the shots he expected to hear at any moment.

  “Heads up, BJ!” Nik called out the warning as he ran out front.

  Chapter Nineteen

  BJ heard Nik’s warning seconds after she heard the guards shouting out front. She rushed between the men, using her smaller size to slip between them as they all tried to get out of the door.

  Before she reached the line of men with their rifles aimed down the street, she could see the tall, graceful demigods storming towards them.

  “Oh hell, oh hell,” she muttered as she felt the men tense around her.

  “I said, stop where you are, or we’ll fire!” one of the military men called out.

  Kyle and Greg skidded to a stop beside her as Rolantro threw his arms out wide, his expression thunderous.

  “What the fuck?” Kyle whispered, his eyes wide as he stared at the oncoming group of giant demigods.

  “You will cease!” Rolantro boomed.

  “Oh, shit,” BJ mumbled as each of the soldiers became completely paralyzed, but fully aware of what was happening around them.

  BJ could feel the intense fear and panic of the men around her, and she was shocked that the council had decided to choose this method instead of putting them to sleep first.

  “Divide the animals up between you,” Rolantro boomed out to his people. “The traitor to his people is mine.”

  BJ was stunned when Rolantro pushed the immobile men out of the way until he was towering over Kyle.

  “You are the worst of them because you betray your own. I have a special place in mind for you,” he growled into Kyle’s face before he pulled him into a bear hug and disappeared.

  BJ stood where she was, knowing the men were fully aware of what was occurring around them; she didn’t want to give away that she wasn’t paralyzed as well. Moments later, BJ was the only one left standing in front of the station.

  She looked around to make sure she was indeed alone and threw her arms up in the air.

  “Who forgot to tell me the plan?” she shouted.

  Grai and the others ran out of the mercantile, and Nik sprinted down the road to BJ as Grai turned on Bess.

  “That was subtle? What the hell? Where was the planning?” he accused.

  Bess just smiled and shrugged.

  “I guess he wanted to wing it,” Bess replied.

  The little Traze burst out laughing until Grai glared down at him sternly.

  “What? They’re demigods with wings! Get it? Wing it?” Traze explained with a grin before he started laughing again.

  Grai’s lips twitched for a moment before he got serious again.

  “Where are Blade and Disc?” he asked.

  “They are assisting and are completely safe,” Bess assured him. “Now that it is safe for you to wander around, there is a special place that I would like to take Traze.”

  Although she phrased it as if she were asking permission, Grai could tell by the way her eyes were swirling that she didn’t care what his response was. Remembering Rolantro’s warning, Grai looked at his little brother and nodded his head.

  “Take care of him,” Grai whispered hoarsely.

  “I intend to,” Bess said, and before Grai could ask where they were going, they were gone.

  He looked down the street and saw BJ and Nik talking and realized he was alone.

  “I got a hundred-year-old scotch I’ve been dying to crack open. Want to see what all the fuss is about?” Irwin asked from the open door of the mercantile.

  Grai nodded in gratitude.

  “I’d love that. Thanks,” he said, looking one more time towards Nik and BJ before he followed Irwin into the store.

  *****

  “Are you OK?” Nik asked the moment he got within hearing distance of BJ.

  “I’m good. Thanks for the warning. At least someone tried to tell me something!” BJ said as she threw her hands up.

  “What the hell happened? Why did he do that?” Nik asked as he did a visual inspection to make sure she was alright.

  “I have no idea what he was thinking or how this is supposed to play out now since no one told me shit!” BJ shouted the last even though she knew the people she wanted to hear her were long gone.

  Nik suddenly started chuckling, and when BJ glared at him like he’d lost his mind, he only laughed harder.

  “Oh, come on!” Nik said between laughs. “Did you see the look on Kyle’s face when Rolantro singled him out?”

  BJ snickered as she remembered the terror coming from his energy in waves.

  “It was pretty funny,” she admitted with a grin.

  “The way he bowled through the others to get to Kyle,” Nik said as he held his arms out to his sides and puffed out his chest. “The traitor to his people is mine!” Nik mocked.

  BJ burst out laughing at his impression of Rolantro, and Nik grinned back at her.

  “I’m surprised he didn’t wet himself,” Nik said.

  BJ wrinkled her nose.

  “Someone or a few someones did because it reeked,” she admitted.

  Nik laughed harder.

  “Let’s get out of here. I’m sick of seeing this place,” BJ said as she nodded down the
street towards the mercantile.

  “I’m with you. I’m sick of the ship and small spaces,” he agreed as he followed her down the street.

  They turned at the mercantile, and Nik followed BJ onto a path that led into the woods.

  “Where are we going?” Nik asked to break up the silence.

  “We’re going to another cave, so it’ll be cooler in a few minutes,” BJ said moments before she disappeared into the darkness.

  “BJ?” Nik called out as he looked around for where she’d gone.

  Suddenly her hand reached out from the darkness and pulled him forward until they stepped into a well-lit cave. The walls and floor were again spotted with fossilized sea creatures, and Nik wondered if it led to the same grotto he was in the last time.

  “This is only one small section of the labyrinth of caves that lead to the grotto we were in the last time,” BJ told him, making him wonder if she’d read his thoughts.

  “How big is it?” he asked as he looked around at the intersection they’d just passed.

  “There are several hundred miles of cave systems that connect with the grotto,” BJ replied as she led them deeper into the subterranean world.

  “How do you keep the humans from finding it?” Nik wondered in awe.

  “The elders have the entrances warded to prevent the humans from seeing them. You go in what you can’t even see,” she replied with a grin.

  “Warded? Blocked somehow?” he asked, not sure what she meant.

  “They’ve carved ancient sigils in the wall to shield the entrances from humans. I’ll show you what I mean when we leave,” BJ explained.

  “What if one gets too close by accident though?” Nik could imagine the disaster if a human fell through something they couldn’t see.

  “There’s a repellent built in somehow. I’ve stood in the doorway and watched people veer away from the entrances. I’ve never heard of a human coming inside either,” she assured him.

  “Sorry, I must sound stupid to you,” Nik muttered, understanding a little better how the hybrids felt when the Valendrans introduced them to all their technology.

  “Not at all. I grew up with this; you didn’t. I’d be just as lost on one of your ships as you are right now until someone explained things to me,” BJ admitted with a shrug.

  Her compassionate response only made Nik feel like more of an ass for overreacting about what she was.

  Which I still don’t know for sure, he thought, although it doesn’t really seem as important as it did earlier either.

  “I’m really sorry for being such an ass,” Nik said with a sigh.

  “I know. I don’t think either one of us have had any fine moments since we met,” BJ admitted with a blush. “Considering the circumstances, I’m surprised we haven’t shot each other by now.”

  Nik laughed, the sound echoing eerily through the cave passage.

  “I am surprised you didn’t shoot me,” Nik admitted.

  “You know what’s funny? I’ve been a cop for a long time, but I’ve never had to fire my weapon. In fact, the vast majority of the cops in this country have never fired their weapon in the line of duty. So, the odds were in your favor that I wasn’t going to shoot you. Traze on the other hand-” BJ teased.

  “Is he going to be OK?” Nik asked, concerned for the kid.

  “Yeah, I think Mom got to him before he threw himself into the arms of death. We’ll know when we get back,” she replied then disappeared around a corner.

  Nik rounded the corner and sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Wow . . . how did you do this?” he breathed out.

  BJ laughed as she looked upwards at what caught Nik’s attention.

  “As far as I know, we didn’t do this. This is natural,” she said as she moved further into the large cavern. “This isn’t the only one either. The humans found one in the Chongqing province of China in 2013. The locals had known about it for generations though. It’s called the Er Wang Dong cave system. It has a similar ecosystem as this one.”

  Nik slowly walked across the grass to the outcropping near BJ and stared up at the large, gaping holes in the rock above that allowed the night sky to peek through the clouds in the cavern.

  Lush plants and trees filled the cavern with color and exotic scents while a small river curved its way through the rock floor. The entire place looked like a mini rainforest had been tucked neatly into a cave.

  Nik had seen some pretty impressive cave setups since coming to the planet, but it was the most spectacular one he’d seen yet.

  “This is incredible,” he whispered, unable to see how far the cavern went back. “How big is this place?”

  “Large enough that we couldn’t walk to the furthest point you can see right now by morning,” BJ said with a huge grin.

  Nik could tell by the way she stood proudly on a small outcropping that she loved the cave. He could understand why; it was beautiful.

  “How can no one know of this place?” he asked, certain someone had to have noticed something so vast.

  “From above, the openings only look like dark spots in the landscape. Unless you hover above it in a chopper or something, you can’t see far enough down to even know there’s a whole world down here,” BJ explained as she led him down a wide path to the floor of the cavern.

  Nik jumped when a fawn hopped out in front of them and took off down the path.

  “There’s animals down here too?”

  BJ just laughed and turned to look at him funny.

  “Why wouldn’t there be? There’s everything they need in here. It’s even deep enough that the seasons don’t change, so they have year round food and comfort. Granted, there have been a few years where we had a dusting of snow down here, but it didn’t last long before it melted,” BJ explained as she led them to the river.

  Nik was surprised at how big it was now that he was standing beside it.

  “This place is just massive,” he stated as he knelt down to feel the cool water rushing through his fingers. “It’s another world down here.”

  “Mojo and I tried our best when we were kids to hike the whole thing, but we’ve still never seen it all,” BJ admitted with a grin.

  Nik stood and looked around in wonder at the butterflies and birds that flew through the misty canopy above them and the stars that twinkled down through the openings in the rock ceiling.

  “This reminds me a lot of a compound we have called Base Beta. It’s really similar. The one in China, are your people in there as well?” Nik couldn’t help but ask.

  “Mojo and I aren’t really one of them, so we’re not really included in the knowledge base that they draw from. I do know that there are several other places like this on the planet, and they do inhabit them. Where exactly they are? I don’t know,” BJ admitted.

  “But you’re family aren’t you?” Nik asked.

  “It’s not like that,” BJ said as she moved to a large boulder and sat down on it. “I am family to one of them through my mother’s descendent. In each generation born of Queen Lamoratri, the demigod powers and abilities were watered down until all that remains for Mojo and I is the immortality. It’s unlikely that any children Mojo and I have will get our immortality. So the family ties are pretty thin, and since we can’t help them in their duty, we aren’t included in things we aren’t meant to know, and we don’t ask.”

  “This is really confusing. We’re pretty big on family since we don’t have many. Any we find are a treasure,” Nik said with a shake of his head, trying to understand.

  “Ah, but Major Morris is also one of yours. Would you tell him where all of your bases are? Or give him access to anything?” BJ countered.

  “Damn . . . I didn’t think of that. I can’t believe he’s one of our own and is hunting us,” Nik said as he stared at the slow moving river.

  “Did you see his eyes widen when Rolantro singled him out?” BJ asked with a snort of laughter.

  Nik laughed and nodded his head.

  “It
was pretty funny. I can’t say I blame them though, I only saw it from behind, and it was intimidating. I can’t imagine what it looked like for those military guys as they stared into the angry faces of the demigods bearing down on them.”

  “I know them, and they gave me a start,” BJ admitted with a blush. “It would have been nice to have a warning.”

  “Yeah, what’s up with that?” Nik asked, squirming on the rock to get comfortable.

  “Come on, there’s a more comfortable spot over here,” BJ said as she hopped down and gestured further down the river.

  Nik slid off the rock and followed BJ to a small, flat rock that had been covered with a green mattress of sorts. A canopy of vines and foliage shielded it from view. She sat on the edge of the cushion and sighed in relief.

  “I think I’m going to sleep for a week when this is over,” BJ admitted.

  “I know how you feel. I haven’t slept in days,” Nik admitted as he sat beside her.

  The soft cushiony fabric felt so good that he laid back with his legs hanging over the edge and groaned.

  “I know, it’s so comfortable,” BJ agreed as she laid back as well.

  “Whoever put this here was cruel. Horribly cruel,” Nik said on a sigh.

  “What?” Why?” BJ asked with a laugh.

  “Oh come on, the soft sound of the river, the incredible cushion, the atmosphere . . . it’s designed to put you to sleep,” Nik accused with a grunt.

  BJ smothered a yawn and nodded her head in agreement.

  “I gotta agree with you there,” she said as she scooted further up the mattress so her legs were on it now.

  “Hey, where you going?” Nik asked as he crawled up beside her and immediately yawned.

  BJ moved to her side to face him and laughed.

  “You know where this is leading don’t you?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

  Nik’s mind whirled with possibilities before he settled on the one he knew made sense.

  “Power nap?” he asked.