by C. L. Quinn
Dean had to fight the desire to wrangle his gun out of his holster and shoot the motherfucker in the face. No one had frisked him; they had no idea he was armed, so he kept his ire and mouth under control. The time would come.
But Sally had no problem answering him. Stepping close, she looked him up and down, painfully slowly.
Twisting her lips, she smiled. “Eh. You wouldn’t be the first clumsy, inadequate cock I’ve ever had.”
His buddy grabbed the guard when he surged forward.
“Wait until the boss is gone. Then you’ll have plenty of time to prove her wrong.”
Sally’s explosive, coarse laugh ended on a snort. “I’m sorry. Honest response.”
Seething, the threatening guard allowed his associate to pull him from the room.
Sally’s eyes went to the second cage, where multiple eyes were locked on her. “Oh, gosh, I’m sorry kids. Just ignore everything you just heard and saw.” No one spoke, so Sally laughed. “Hey, we’re here to rescue you!”
The taller girl who had spoken to Jackson, Taylor, and Dean the night before smiled. “It is okay. You are forgiven for your failure. There are others who come and we will all be rescued.”
Jackson crashed back against the bars. “Forgiven for our failure. That kind of sums up this screw-up.” He turned to face the girl. “I’m Jackson. These are my friends and colleagues, Sally, Dean, Taylor, and Jessie.”
The girl bowed her head. Dean was struck once again by the grace of her movements.
“I am Su’ad. Come forth, children.”
Nine small bodies surrounded Su’ad, all moving as effortlessly as Su’ad did. Their skin tones varied greatly between dark mocha and one child who might be albino, his skin was so pale.
It was apparent to everyone in the other cage that there was something indescribably unique about all of them.
“I will introduce. Beginning here.” Su’ad placed a hand on the top of a boy nearly as tall as she with wild black hair. “This is Abasi, then Nur, Darwishi, and Ari. In the next row, the white-haired boy is Banyu, his sister Induh, Lemah, and Bura. That tiny girl with the shy smile is Pilar. We are all pleased that you attempted to help us. And we are sorrowful that you are here now, too.”
Jessie moved closer to the edge of their cage and squatted down. “Hi. My goodness, you are all so beautiful. How did you come to be here?”
“We were enjoying the freedom of the trees when these men set upon us and took the youngest. When we tried to get them back, they caught us all.”
“Do you know why they want you?” Sally asked.
Su’ad nodded. “We do.”
They waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. They knew she wouldn’t. If they really were what Taylor suspected, then they would remain secretive.
“Who’s coming?”
Su’ad lifted her eyes to Jackson and they got a good look at them for the first time. Taylor was right. Her pupils were elongated, feline in appearance.
Jackson pushed away from the bars. “You’ve said someone is coming. Who?”
“Those who will not fail. They are…” She paused for a few seconds, then finished. “Skilled.”
“Skilled? How?”
“They have abilities that will help them defeat the men with guns. That is all you need to know.”
The five in the second cage looked at each other. In spite of the danger they were in, they found this situation intriguing.
“Are these others…like you?” Taylor asked.
Su’ad smiled. “They are not like us. Similar, but different.”
“We’re talking in riddles, Su’ad. You can’t tell us anything else?”
Her eyes mesmerizing, Su’ad focused on Jackson.
“I have said more than I should. Seek calmness. It will be soon. Children, take your mats.”
Short mats placed all around the crowded cage were immediately claimed by the children.
Sally had never seen such quiet children in her life. She turned to face her friends. “We might as well do the same. Although.” Her eyes moved around the floor of the cage, then up to Jackson’s. “Your uncle must not have thought we needed any mats.”
“Yeah, and this floor is cold,” Taylor commented, already sitting on the concrete.
“Making do,” Jessie sighed, and snuggled up next to Taylor. “Share that body heat, okay?”
He put an arm around her and laid his head against hers. “I’m going to die before I get another taste of beer. Sucks.”
“Yeah. Or chocolate. I brought some, but it’s in my pack.”
“Instead of lamenting our missing addictions, we need to work out a way to get out of this. You know, in case the skilled people don’t actually come.” Jackson moved around the cage, assessing the structure, his eyes scanning around to see if he could find something to pick the lock on his handcuffs.
Dean dropped onto the hard floor a few feet from Taylor and Jessie. “I’ve already scoped it out. We’re humped. That lock is unbeatable with no computer, I don’t see anything that I can use on the handcuffs, and there is no weakness in the cage’s structure. I have a handgun, but if they keep sending four men with semi-autos each time, it isn’t going to be enough to do anything but get myself killed. Or one of you.”
The four men in question suddenly came back through the door, followed by Isiah. He glanced into Jackson’s cage, then pointed to Su’ad. “Her. Bring her to my office.”
Jackson and Dean raced to the front of their cage, the other three right behind them.
“No!” Jackson yelled. “Don’t do it! Please!”
Su’ad backed away as two of the men approached her, looking down. Sally could see she did not want them to see her eyes. And she was frightened. So were the children. For the first time, she heard little mewls from the smallest, and scared cries from the older ones. The boy she’d called Abasi tried to grab one of the guns, but was thrown down against the floor so hard she saw his head bounce.
“Stop it, you motherfuckers!” she yelled. “You’re hurting them!”
From her vantage point, she saw something then that shocked her. One of the smaller boys held his hands against the guard who reached for Su’ad, and his little fingers wavered, seemed to twist. What the hell was she seeing? She couldn’t have seen what she thought she did, but she would swear that they became long claws that dug into the man’s leg. He screamed and kicked out, the child rolling back into the group of children behind him.
Had she just witnessed a transformation? Was it possible? It was, especially since they had already speculated about the possibility, but to actually see it…
Regardless of their natures, these were still children. She joined the others at the front of the cage again.
“Dr. Hollinger, you can’t risk your future like this. You’ll never be able to publish or show people what you’ve discovered. No one will accept what you’ve done to children.”
“No one will ever know. I’ll be gone soon.”
As his men drew a stoic, infuriated Su’ad through desperately grasping children, Isiah stopped in front of everyone as they stood shocked at the front of their cage.
“You can’t get away with this. Someone will know and someone will come.” Sally paused. “Even if you kill us.”
They waited for Isiah to deny it. Just a few words were all they wanted. For a few seconds, he stared at her, then at Jackson. In that moment, it was clear…he would have the guards eliminate the threat. He was just too cowardly to stay around for it.
With incredible calm, Jackson nodded. “Kill me. You’d fucking better. Because if I get out of here, I’ll kill you.”
Su’ad was gone, only Isiah and one guard remained.
“Lock it up,” Isiah barked to the guard, and, without responding to Jackson, walked out.
Soft cries started from the cage beside them, and Taylor and Jessie were trying to assure the children that it would be okay.
“What do you think he’ll do with her?” Dean aske
d Sally.
“I don’t know. Bio-tests, I think. I hope. I don’t think he’s a rapist.”
“Just a fucking murderer.” Jackson slammed a fist against the unbreakable bars until Sally grabbed his hand to stop him.
“Someone is coming, remember? It’ll be okay.”
“It will never be okay. I meant it. If we get out, I’m going to kill that bastard for his attempt to kill me and my closest friends. For hurting these kids.”
“Let’s just wait and see if Su’ad was right. She said someone is coming soon.”
OUTSIDE THE WAREHOUSE
“They’re there. We’re close enough, I can feel them, all of them,” Dhole said, ready to go in right now, guns blazing, to get his child and the others out of there.
“No, we know that there are armed guards inside. First, we need to find out where the children are and get them safely out of any danger. Then we’ll round up the perpetrators, purge their memories, and build justice for their choices. They will not get away with this.”
Everyone agreed with Rodney, including the impatient Totems.
“We would like to allow the children to take their animal forms and lead them into the forest to return home.”
“I think that’s wise. Once we make sure it is safe, get them out of sight and do it.”
Cairine nodded her agreement. “We can merge our talents, so hopefully we can maintain control over anyone inside.”
“You’re comfortable with your ability to do so?”
“There are eleven of us. I think we’ve got this.”
“Okay. Go do your thing. We’ll be right behind you.”
Almost as if they were of one mind, the first bloods gathered just out of sight of the warehouse. As she walked past Rodney to join her companions, Shani slipped a hand out to touch his. His fingers automatically sought hers, and curled around them. Continuing forward, her fingers slowly slid from his, across his palm, and away from his warmth. Both hated to lose contact so soon.
“Be careful,” he whispered. “You’re not invincible yet.”
He said it loud enough for all to hear, but Shani could feel his emotions. They were raw, and focused tightly on her. More than anything, she wanted to turn and kiss him, to feel his arms around her, before she went forward. Now was not the time.
“Okay, we need to link to each other as much as we can before we go in. This is new to all of us, but we’ve done it on a more limited scale since we were toddlers, so it shouldn’t be hard. Keep an eye out for any trouble. Rodney and I went over strategy last night. What we need to do is disable anyone as soon as we see them. We’ll sort out everyone later. Priority is to get the kids out safely, no one gets hurt, and then contain the threat.” Eras looked at Rodney, standing just beyond them, his rifle held easily in his hand as he waited. “That guy knows his business. Okay, so, everyone got it? We link powers, and just put down anyone we see instantly.”
After a deep breath, Eras nodded. “And…we go.”
United, some of them physically, holding hands, or arms linked, others walking briskly beside another without touching, eleven remarkable humans who carried powers of the universe gently curled inside each of them, started moving into the building. The day would come when they would have immeasurable power and need no help at all for something like this, but that was years away.
The first one to notice any movement was Bryson, ever the soldier, when he spied a man standing behind the warehouse. The man’s head swiveled and he disappeared inside.
“I think they’re getting a warning,” he called out.
“It’s not like they can miss our advance anyway. Keep going.” Eras scanned quickly from right to left and back. As they approached the door, someone broke out a window to the far left. Eras, Caedmon, and Fia faced it to send a column of magic toward the area, and when the barrel of a rifle pushed through the opening, they pulled it through and sent it flying into the trees. Hands shot out as they tried to hold onto it, but it was gone. With pointed focus, they moved past the concrete block wall and stopped the man who’d held it. They knew if they could see him right now, he would be slumped onto the floor.
Double wide doors at the main entrance, locked, blew open, and they all entered, three by three, and fanned out to face the wide room. It was unoccupied.
“Be careful. I can feel people near, just beyond that hallway,” Shani informed them.
“We can reach them.” Ife stepped forward and lifted her hands to channel the surging magics in the room. She pushed outward and they heard multiple clatters beyond the wall.
“They’re down,” Ife announced. She looked back at the group. “We’re a pretty incredible force. The children are at the back of the building. Still, keep watch. We really don’t know what to expect.”
She glanced back as Rodney and his men entered. Smiling, she saw Shani blush. Her sister had it bad for the leather-bound soldier. “Follow me, everyone.”
In the northern corner of the warehouse, Isiah held Su’ad in his arms, now unconscious after he injected her with a powerful sedative included in the bio-kit. Minutes earlier, Paul had phoned him and told him that a large group of people were approaching the building.
Immediately, he’d phoned his security team and issued a command. “Protect the facility. Stop this group from entering. If they seem hostile, take them out.”
Whoever they were, it couldn’t be good. Why would they be here in the middle of the forest? In force? And if they found the children, they wouldn’t understand any more than Jackson and his friends had.
There was no decision to be made, anyway. As soon as the people reached the building, they had attacked his men. There would be a firefight; his security team would defend the building as they had been ordered, but they would also defend themselves.
This entire project had gone to shit! Fortunately, he had the girl in his office to take blood and DNA samples. She was the only thing he could salvage. He wouldn’t lose her!
He had no trouble lifting her slight body when he carried her out a side door to a motorbike. His plane would still be at the landing site, the pilot waiting for them.
It was time to take his prize and get the fuck out of there. Holding the unconscious girl carefully, he strapped her to him.
Isiah did not look back as he located the key for the bike and started it, then disappeared into the underbrush down a trail cleared long ago that led to the runway.
Five minutes away, his cell chimed and when he saw it was Paul again, he pulled over and answered.
“Isiah, where are you?”
“I’m, uh, taking one of the subjects from the site.”
“Shit, you should be here. I’m staying hidden, but I can see what’s happening on the monitor. Isiah, these people are doing things people can’t do. They have some kind of powers.”
What? “Powers? So they’re specifically here to rescue the shapeshifters. Paul, if it is possible, you need to see if you can capture one of them.”
“No, it isn’t possible.”
“It might be. I’ve used the sedatives that were included with the bio-kit. Several remain in the kit in my office. Paul, if you can do it, get there, get the sedatives, and try to capture one. I’ll hold the plane until the last minute. Use the other bike behind my office and get here as soon as you can.”
“I doubt I can pull it off.”
“You can do it. Paul, if you don’t, you might not make it out of this. Do what you can and meet me at the plane. This is for all the marbles, Paul. You’re one of the brightest men I know.”
“None of this is right, Isiah.”
“It isn’t. But how is it right that these remarkable people exist and we don’t know about it? How can the world host such incredible people when we trod about wishing that we had the ability to do or create, and yet they do and can. We deserve to know their secrets.”
“You think we do. I don’t know if I do.”
“We’ve been together for two decades, Paul. You know I’m n
ot a bad man. But this has to happen. Help me, my friend.”
“We’re clear. There are six men, all unconscious, and they were all armed. What the hell do they think they were doing, kidnapping children and trying to kill us?”
Rodney and his men came up behind Eras.
“It’s a human thing. They tend to use or abuse anyone who is different. Supernatural species are still hidden from the world, and when someone finds out about them, they usually want to exploit them. It’s evil.”
“Why can’t they live and let live?”
“It doesn’t appear to be within their nature. Ife, Shani, do you sense any other threats?”
Both women paused to focus their talents in the air, then both shook their heads.
“I believe it is clear,” Shani said. “But I’m still new to this type of contact.”
Rodney’s eyes stayed on hers, his voice soft. “That’s all we need.” He turned to face his team. “Men, let’s find those kids.”
Ife lifted her head again. “They’re here, close. I just don’t know exactly where in this building. And sir, I sense more humans somewhere.”
“I got it. We’ll search room by room. It’s a warehouse, there can’t be that many. Three teams, each comprised of two of us and about four of you.”
They broke up and began to canvas the area quickly.
“I know they are okay, Talib, but I still feel uneasy.”
“Ife, you have led us here, you are responsible for the rescue we perform now, please give yourself some credit. Your talent has manifested and shows that you will be formidable indeed.”
“With your help, though.”
“While you are still human, yes. But when you become vampire, the world will wish it could come to you. Your powers will be legend and define the path of our destiny.”
“I hardly think so. But thank you for this. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I believe that is what our destiny is about…that we are powerful alone, but when we are together, the earth, moon and sky responds. As the universe has designed us to do.”