Midnight Dawn

by Jocelyn Adams

  “I’ll be listening for you,” Asher said, tapping his temple, once again avoiding eye contact. Effing coward. “Call out, and I’ll be here in an instant.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of myself?” I asked in the vanilla voice he often used on me, without a trace of the hot emotions licking up my spine. Huh, it seemed my acting skills were finally starting to emerge. About damn time.

  Walking stiffly, he left while I wrestled with another stab of grief.

  I tucked my hands into my armpits, my anxiety cranking into overdrive now that I was alone with the other man in the room. When Caine took a step in my direction, I jumped out of the chair and blurted, “How did you escape the massacre?”

  He gave a nervous laugh. “I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  “Bollocks. Fine, but please let me finish before you react.” He downed the rest of his liquor, grimacing as he swallowed. “After we were locked into one of the false realities and the wraiths possessed at least half of the guardians, we had a choice. Kill the guardians, which would have destroyed the wraith, and the soul-energy of the guardians would have been lost into the universe forever. Or push out both the wraith and the guardian’s soul, making them into a wraith, too, hoping we could one day resurrect them somehow. We burned their bodies, because without the soul the flesh can’t survive, but all of their consciousnesses are lost beyond the veil now.”

  Just like I’d done to Marcus. My stomach turned as I thought about how Caine and the other sentinels back then must have felt while doing that to their loved ones. It was heinous.

  He pressed his thumb and finger over his closed eyes, his voice shaking. “Once we’d pushed them all through the veil, chaos erupted in the room among those of us who remained. Some screamed, and there was blood, so much blood, but I didn’t know why. Perhaps Marc-Antony had a blade, because there were no shots fired. I couldn’t see who was doing what. I felt cold at my nape before I suddenly appeared in Trafalgar Square in London.”

  I dropped my hand, which had gone to my throat as I listened. “Are you saying a wraith saved you? Was it one of the Machine souls, or…?”

  He cleared his throat and dived for his pockets. “It was Baku. While he was inside me, he was… I know it sounds ridiculous given what we know of them, but he was compassionate, allowing me full control while he guided me to safety. He showed me his world through his memories. They were a peaceful race, Addison, and somehow Izan and his kind are responsible for their destruction. I saw and felt everything Baku did through his memory, so I know he wasn’t lying. It isn’t only wraithkind that needs to be stopped, but we need to make Izan leave, too.”

  “Holy mother-loving crap.” I hugged myself harder, dizziness rocking my inner world until only frantic swallowing kept my stomach from unloading. “And Baku just let you go once he got you to London? Why not use your storm to regrow his body?”

  “Because then he’d be stuck here on our plane, immortal, and I don’t think he wants that. Before that moment, I thought rebirth was his goal for him and his people, but now I’m not so sure.”

  “You aren’t working with Baku, right? I mean, my every instinct is screaming that you’re on our side, but I need you to look me in the eye and tell me Asher wasn’t on to something when he accused you of working with the wraith king, and that’s why you survived all of the battles with him.”

  He met my eyes without hesitation, his open and honest the way Asher’s never were. “I may hate Izan from every corner of my soul for all he’s done to us, but I am now, and have always been, loyal to the human race, to the Machine, and especially to my Architect. That will never change.”

  I believed him, not because of the words, but because of the raw edge of emotion in them. “Do you have any advice for me? Because I could really use some about now.”

  “What direction has Izan given you?”

  I laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “He said I’ve lost my heart or some cryptic junk like that, and I think he means Glenna. She was my mom, so I’ve been told.”

  “Glenna? She’s alive?” He squinted at me, and then smiled. “Yes, I see the resemblance now. Such a strong, vibrant woman, just like you. I’m guessing you don’t know where she is?”

  “I think the missing pages of the bible are going to lead me to her. Do you know who tore the pages out in the first place?”

  “I wasn’t aware any pages were missing, but the book did disappear around the same time Glenna did during the massacre sixty-five years ago. Izan must have had her hide the pages, because Marcus wanted them for some reason, or perhaps Baku does. If your urges are driving you to reassemble the book, then there must be something new in it, because I’ve read it and can’t think of anything on the pages that would help you finish this.”

  Trying to divert my thoughts from everything he said, I asked, “What you said back there on the road, about your purpose here becoming clear. I need to know what you meant by that.”

  Smiling tentatively, he came and stood before me. “Just that I’m here to help you find that heart of yours, so how about we get started?”

  “Why do I believe you when I don’t know you?”

  He offered his hand to me again. “You know me in your soul, Addison, if you look hard enough. I would never hurt you.”

  My eyes stung, and I sped toward the door, stopping in front of it. “Why does the thought of touching you feel like a betrayal? Asher’s madly in love with someone, and he isn’t my conduit, so why do I feel like this? I swear the human mind is like a really sick joke on us all.”

  “So you have chosen your Shepherd, then?”

  “Yes, but he can’t choose me back. My responsibility is to the Machine. I shouldn’t be acting like a heartbroken idiot. It isn’t like he led me on or anything.”

  Strong, warm arms wrapped around me from behind, and Caine’s breath warmed my left ear. He kept his power locked up tight, thankfully, so nothing happened. His embrace wasn’t sexy or weird, but more like a hug from an old friend. “Then we’ll leave the touch-test for later when you’ve had some time to deal with all of this.”

  I smiled, gave his arm an awkward pat, and stepped away when he let me go. “Thanks.”

  Staring at me with seriousness that closed up my throat, he said, “This war has many facets, Addison. Some are clear, some hidden from us. Sometimes the most important battles are the ones we shouldn’t have to fight, ones we’re not even aware of. How dirty are you prepared to play to win this one?”

  I threw up my hand and winced when my stitches pulled. “Ouch. Many facets? Fight dirty how? Am I supposed to mud wrestle the dragon mantis or something?”

  That dimple sank into his cheek again, and his wavy hair whispered over his shoulder as he tilted toward me. “I think I understand now why you need to take the journey you’re on. Find the pages, Addison, and I’ll be by your side.”

  I got the feeling he’d like to help me with more than that, but I couldn’t let him. Could I?

  Chapter Eighteen

  As we emerged into the hallway, Caine stared at my shoulder. “You’re bleeding. Are you injured?”

  I pressed my palm against the bandage, trying not to gag at the wet sensation against my skin. “I told you, Marcus stabbed me. That was three weeks ago, but I keep ripping the stitches.”

  “Where’s your Medic?” Grimacing, he tried to move the strap of my black tank aside, and when I tried to get away, he looped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, prodding at the bandage.

  “Ouch, quit it.” I pushed against his chest, viscerally aware of the solid wall of muscle flexing beneath my palms. “There’s a Medic? Nice of Izan to tell me that little detail. How am I supposed to figure out who it is?”

  He loosened his grip on me, and when I backed up into the wall, he followed. “Can you not think of a way? Back at the museum, necessity raised skills in you that were previously hidden, correct?”

>   I tugged at my throat as if I had a collar to open and let out the steam building in me from both his hotness and the fear he stirred. “Um…Kyle can talk to computers, Iris can pick locks, and I was able to hijack Asher’s storm. Are you saying I should provide a crisis so this Medic’s abilities and instincts will be forced to surface like Baku did to me by strangling Asher?”

  “Our abilities are born of our fears. Perhaps Iris’s parents used to keep her locked in a room somewhere, and that’s why she can manipulate locks so she’ll never be trapped again. Kyle’s skill might come from his need to understand the world around him, or himself, and access to information is how his manifested. I’m guessing yours is a need to love and protect, so you’ll be the greatest force of us all.”

  Caine pressed his palm against the wall and leaned closer, his fingers curling a ribbon of my hair around his finger before sweeping it behind my ear. His breath fanned across my lips, smelling of sweet whiskey. Like Asher.

  Oh my God. I pressed my fingers over Caine’s mouth, trying to will my heart from its mad attempts to jump free of my chest. “Please don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” He smiled, tilting back only far enough that I could look at him without going cross-eyed. “If you trust me, I can help you find your Medic. I’d bet he or she will have a desperate desire to preserve life, perhaps because of a profound loss they suffered in the past, so we need to reopen that feeling of helplessness in them to provoke their evolution. I’d suggest doing it before the next page’s call becomes too great for you to resist, which, given the way you’ve been rubbing your temple, will be soon.” He brushed the backs of his fingers against my forehead, inducing a wicked tremble in my bones, and it wasn’t entirely the good kind.

  Footsteps pounded the floor a second before Caine disappeared from my sight line and ended up pinned to the far wall with Asher’s hand at his throat. “I warned you,” Asher growled into his face. “Why are you scaring her?”

  Caine grinned, raised his hands in mock surrender, and shifted his focus to me. “We were only talking, weren’t we, love?”

  Oh Lordy. I totally knew it. Trouble from head to toe.

  Asher pushed into his face. “How is it that I could see from twenty feet away that she was afraid, and you couldn’t tell when she was right in front of you? Or maybe you just don’t care?”

  “Asher, stop,” I said. “Let him go. He was just flirting. It was crappy timing, that’s all, and he promises to behave himself from now on, right?”

  Thor smiled wider. “I’ll promise you the night, but beyond that…” He shrugged.

  Asher shoved Caine away and stared at me. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for this aggressive crap. He doesn’t care about you. He only wants you because you’re the Architect, and he wants to control your power.”

  I squinted at him. “You’re joking, right? The same could be said about you, too, but I guess that’s all right because it’s you, and you always get what you want? Just stay out of my love life, and I’ll do my best to get you back to yours.”

  “What? I don’t…why…” He frowned, his mouth parting and closing before he finally marched down the hall to the training room door, almost bowling over Remy, who came out as he went in. Sophia came out after him, but the instant she noticed me, she ran in the other direction. Oh, balls. What had I done now?

  I gripped my hips and glared at Caine. “Just what the hell was that, huh, after you saying you were going to give me time?”

  “Sharing power is one thing; getting close to a beauty like you is something else. I can’t help being drawn to you.”

  Oh, hell. “Did you know Asher was watching when you pulled those moves on me?”

  “You call those moves? Oh my, you have been neglected, haven’t you?” He flashed a wolfish smile.

  I jabbed my finger into his chest. “Don’t bait him. The last guy who showed interest in me tried to feed me to the wraiths, so if you’re going to get physical with me—which I’m not down with, by the way, since I don’t know you very well yet—then at least have the decency to do it in private.”

  His dimple sank deep into his cheek. “It would be my pleasure.”

  “Wait, that wasn’t an invitation to my room or anything. I just meant—”

  “Oh, I know what you meant, Addy.”

  “I don’t think you do, and don’t put words in my mouth. Now I need to go and assure him you aren’t going to murder me before I can start the Machine.”

  He gave a mocking bow. “A thousand apologies.”

  “Actions speak louder than words, Caine. Keep the mischief in check, and we might get along fine.”

  Remy came toward us sporting a giant bruise visible around the tattoos on his cheek.

  “I’d ask how the hunting went in Chicago, but I think I already know the answer. Are you all right?” When he came close, I reached up on my tippy-toes and brushed my fingers across his swelling cheek.

  He sighed, covering my hand with his giant one, holding it against him. “Feels nice, Addy. No, not so well. Found only two wraith, both possessing skilled fighters with guns. After I finish them, the Shift get so cold I feel nothing out there, even though you say hundreds come through. Besides, got nothing left to jack out another.” By his glower at Caine, I guessed Asher had filled him in on our newest sentinel, and Remy didn’t like Caine’s presence here any more than my sensei did.

  “You know how you can fix that.” I backed up when he seemed to grow, switching on a dime from gentle giant to barely contained mayhem.

  “Sophia avoiding me.” His lip twitched, and not in a good way. “Now she scared of both us.”

  “Okay, don’t get mad. I’ll talk to her, okay?” Why was she scared of me?

  “Yeah, you fix this, kolohe.”

  “Caine and I have something to do first, and then I’ll find her,” I said.

  Remy nodded and lumbered back down the hallway.

  Arm extended toward the training room, Caine said, “After you. Maybe later you can give me a tour of this mausoleum. Where is everyone? There should be laughter and competitive banter, but there’s just silence and dreary atmosphere. This can’t be the home of the Machine.”

  “Another product of Marcus,” I said. “Once I find us a new place, that’ll change. If I don’t get us all killed first.” Yeah, that would be a problem. I wasn’t even sure starting the Machine was a good thing anymore if Izan had really gotten into bed with the wraiths. What did he want us to do?

  Caine and I entered the warehouse-sized room where whoever wasn’t still out hunting would be. They tended to go out in shifts, so there had to be some, at least. Maybe all of them, if they’d had the same bad luck as Remy. The crowd beyond the threshold confirmed that theory.

  Asher stood in the corner to the right of the door, pounding the ever-loving tar out of a heavy bag. His biceps tested the limits of his T-shirt sleeves as he thrust one fist forward, and then the other. The fluid way he moved always fascinated me, like a graceful blend of martial arts and modern dance. I could have stood there for hours in awe, watching the lines of his body.

  A shiver raced along my back at his strength and the undiluted fury he unleashed upon that poor sack of leather and stuffing. It didn’t stretch my mind to figure out whose face he imagined on that bag. They didn’t make Hoovers for anger, did they?

  On my way to him, I took inventory of the others in the room. Sampson, Taka, and Kat, all sentinels, ran the track, all three pumping their arms as if fleeing their nightmares. Remy went to the sparring mat and began working through the katas, karate formations.

  Several female soldiers I recognized were doing weight circuits. Kyle should have been in the infirmary or passed out in his room, but he lay on one of the mats, stretching, or maybe sleeping, since he didn’t seem to be moving.

  Where had the artifacts from the museum landed? As soon as I thought it, my senses located them in my room, along with the page I’d extracted from the drum and given to Kyle before he’d
left the common room earlier. Sophia must have put them there. Other than Asher, she was the only person other than me who had a key to it.

  Heated voices drew my gaze back to Asher, who’d stopped his pounding and pointed his taped fist at Caine. How had the new guy gotten there before me? Thor’s younger brother leaned against the wall nearby wearing a smug grin. What the hell was he doing? I broke into a trot before that exploded into an all-out brawl.

  I’d barely made it two steps when my chest seized, and something wrapped my lungs like a fist. My body hummed with warmth that tasted of Machine power. Caine? He stared at me, concentration creasing his brow even though he continued to talk to Asher, his sentinel eyes bright and intense. Pain tore a scream from my throat. My head cracked down on the floor before I realized I’d fallen. No air went in or out of my lungs.

  I tried to scream at him to stop, but nothing came out.

  “Addy!” Remy bellowed before his half-tattooed face appeared over mine, which must have been turning blue.

  I clutched at my throat, heat rising to my face as I gasped and choked. Okay, enough already. This isn’t funny, Caine. Stars dotted my vision. Oh, God!

  “What happen?” Remy demanded, hands hovering over my body. He roared something to someone, but I slipped backward into myself and didn’t understand.

  “Get out of the way.” I expected Asher to take his place, but Sampson pushed Remy away and straddled me, his hands glowing nuclear white. He shoved them onto my chest. Agony ripped through me, igniting all of my chakra points until I was sure flame flickered up from them.

  After a few seconds, my airway opened again, and I gulped in a lungful. The pain from the knife wound on my shoulder also disappeared, along with my fatigue. Hot damn, that had to be better than a week at a spa, not that I’d ever been to one. Caine said he’d help me fake a crisis. That felt pretty damn real to me.

  I blinked up at Sampson with his shaggy brown hair and khaki shirt as his power faded, and once my internal panic subsided, I rasped, “Hello, Doctor Sam. It would seem you’re our Medic.”