by E. M. Moore
After a long while, the same vibrating sound came from the backseat. “Sasha’s going to meet us at the guardian house. She said she’ll behave.”
Famous last words, I thought to myself. How many times had I said the same thing to someone and not carried through on it?
We drove the rest of the way back into Amesbury in silence. We pulled into the driveway and parked our rental car. I was happy we’d brought all our weapons with us. I didn’t want to waste any time grabbing my gear. I wanted to get my brother and get out. Well, my brother and Troian.
Barbara walked up to the front door and it swung open for her. She noticed my inquisitive look. “What?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I hope Sasha hurries.”
“She’s only a couple minutes behind us.” She looked at Jake. “Is your guy back at Command ready?”
“All I have to do is give him the word.”
Jake stayed clear of Barbara as we waited for Sasha. He didn’t once let her behind him, or out of his sight.
Once we heard another car in the driveway, Jake sent a text to Sanders.
Within thirty seconds, the fireplace Barbara parked us in front of vibrated. Then, the hole opened and we all walked through, Sasha bringing up the rear.
Sanders awaited us on the other side. He ushered us over to the next portal over, “This is you,” he said.
“You’re the best, Sanders.”
“I don’t want to brag, but I’ve heard that before.”
Once we all portaled to the staircase in my house, I introduced Sanders to Barbara. “Green Eyes’ sister,” I told him.
“Get out,” he said. “What are we calling you?”
“Barbara,” I said.
“Cool. So, guys, I did some checking while I was waiting for you to get to the portal site. It looks like the Salem city jail is our best bet. There seems to be a flurry of activity around there lately. I figured Cas could use her detector just to be sure, but I’m like ninety-nine point nine nine nine nine nine percent sure that’s where we have to go.”
“I had a feeling,” I said. “Mayor Hawthorn was a big proponent of getting those luxury apartments built. He had a hand in every facet of the build so it doesn’t surprise me that he knows his way around in there.”
Sasha cleared her throat and spoke for the first time. “Great. Anyone got a plan yet?”
Jake nailed her with a condemning look. At least she had the brains to look a little ashamed. “We have the element of surprise on our hands. There’s no way they know we’re coming since Barbara got the info.”
“I’m stealthy,” she said, reinforcing his point.
He walked toward me and whispered, “Next time we have to do some sort of reconnaissance mission, we do it alone.”
“Like the old times,” I said.
“Exactly.”
Chapter Fourteen
The basic plan was this…Jake and I do a sweep with the weyfinder while Barbara stayed miles away. Wherever we got notification of a fae presence was where we would start. I just hoped that Troian and Damen were in the same place. If we tipped them off going after Troian, they might be able to get away with Damen and that would piss me off something fierce.
We drove the Jeep to a few blocks away from the apartment building. We knew the weyfinder wouldn’t sense Barbara from back here. Sanders and Sasha would follow us until a block away, that way they were on the ready if we needed help fast. We armed ourselves with the usual weapons, plus we had the magical flares so that the others could see our coordinates when we found them.
The familiar stomach-tightening hit me in the gut. It was always like this when I went on patrol except it was usually in anticipation. This was a little different. Damen was in that big building somewhere. I was so close. Had been so close to him come to think about it. Barbara had been right. He was right under my nose the whole time and I didn’t even know it.
I wasn’t going to let him down another second.
Jake and I nodded at each other. This was it. Go time.
We skirted around the back of the building. When we were in the alleyway, I took the weyfinder out of my bag. It was sparkling clear for the humans, but with the telltale sign of a shifter mixed in, who was right next to me. We walked along the perimeter, trying to stay as much in the shadows as possible. There was no doubt this place had cameras. We were banking on the fact that we were surprising them and they weren’t looking out for us.
“Breathe, Cas,” Jake whispered.
I did as instructed and smiled a little. “He’s here,” I said. “Finally.”
“This ends now,” he replied.
There was only one wall left to check. Finally—finally—the weyfinder stone spun like crazy. Swirls of different colors mixed in the stone. There was some fae coloring in there, too. I was positive Barbara was far enough away that she wasn’t skewing our results. If I was superstitious, I would’ve crossed my fingers, hoping Damen was in the same place.
Jake crouched by the small window and looked in. “Nothing,” he said.
I looked up at the sky, the orange sun was setting into the horizon. “Southwest corner of the building. Not sure of approximate location.”
Jake pulled out his cell and sent the text.
I put the weyfinder away and waited for him by the corner so we could meet the rest of the gang by the back entrance. It used to be an old restaurant. There was nothing in there now. It would give us an entry without being seen right away.
When the rest of the guys got there, Barbara blipped just inside and opened the door for us.
It was pitch black inside. I took out the weyfinder for a little bit of light while Jake turned on the small flashlight on his utility vest.
“We know they’re in this corner,” I explained. “We just don’t know where. Could be up, could be down.”
“We should split up then,” Sanders said.
Jake and I looked at each other. “We go down.”
“Me too,” Barbara said. “Sasha and Sanders can go up.”
Barbara stood there determined. She wanted to find her brother almost as much as I wanted to find mine. Almost. “I wish this was about the time you’d mention you and your brother have some sort of freaky fae sibling awareness thing we can use to our advantage.”
“Unfortunately, no,” Barbara answered. “That would come in useful, but even if it was a possibility, we would have unchecked that box a long time ago.” She shuddered. “I’d rather not know where my brother is all the time.”
Sasha looked around the room. “I don’t see another entrance into the hotel. Maybe we should wait.”
“It’s right there,” I said, pointing to the corner.
“I don’t like the idea of splitting up,” she said. “I wish we knew if it was up or down.”
Sanders spoke up, “I guess we could all go down and then if that doesn’t work, make our way up.”
“It would work unless someone sees us while we’re all down. Then kiss our brothers goodbye,” Barbara snapped.
Sanders chuckled. “You remind me of him.”
“Ugh. Don’t say that!”
I smiled despite myself. I knew how it was to want to be your own person and not wanting to be compared to your brother all the time. No matter how cool they were, you just wanted to be your own person.
Barbara stalked off toward the door and Jake and I followed. She blipped on the other side. We waited a few seconds and then the door swung open. “Clear,” she whispered. “There’s no one down this hall or the next.” Her gaze brushed past me, but then she looked back. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“I’m just thinking how handy it is to have you here, and damn, I really want the blipping thing.”
Glass shattering pierced the moment we were having. All of us froze and then jumped into action, taking our weapons out of their hiding places. Well, all of us except Sasha. She was in an all-out run toward the Fire Exit.
“What the hell?”
I ran toward them, not knowing who they were or what they were doing. They could be friend or enemy. They crouched to attack, answering my unspoken question. Enemy then. At least I knew.
I slammed my shoulder into the first guy, just inching out of the way of his blade. I swung the Damascas hilt-first into the next, connecting with his temple. He fell to the ground as I kicked out at the third guy. He grabbed my less-than-stellar kick, but released me and fell to the floor almost immediately after. Barbara stood just behind him.
“They’re in that room. There are a bunch of Elite’s, too, but they’re not going for them. They’re after the mayor.”
I ran after her and we exploded into a large gray room. My heart leapt from my chest when I spotted Damen. He was in a chair in the far corner of the room. There was a plain-clothes guy standing in front of him. Damen’s eyes widened when he saw me.
I sprinted toward him when a hot slash burned my upper arm. I cried out and fell to the floor.
That was when I saw Troian. He was on the other side of the room. His blond hair that framed his temples was caked in blood. His lip was busted and his eyes were black. My stomach lurched. I quickly scanned the room. Barbara was headed his way. I saw the moment he saw her. He did not look happy. Since I knew Troian, I could say he looked downright angry. Sanders was behind her though. Shielding whoever these people were who were intent on hurting us.
I twisted just in time to see Jake take out the guy who cut me. He stopped to get me, but I grabbed my arm and yelled, “Get Damen.”
He took off and I pulled myself to my feet. Barbara was right. There was a chaos of Elite’s here too. How? I was sure it had something to do with Sasha. Bitch. I’d have to remind myself to punch her later.
Jake got caught up trying to help another Elite out. His opponent almost stabbed him from behind, but Jake took him out first. At least we knew what kind of fighters we were dealing with. Dirty ones.
I was the first to reach Damen. He looked worse than when he did in the video message he gave us. He also had caked blood around him. Old blood, but I still didn’t like the look of it.
“Cas!”
“Jesus, Damen. Couldn’t you have said I’m in our fucking backyard, come get me?”
He smirked and then grimaced. His lip was split and there was bruising around his jaw.
“We need to get out of here now,” he said.
I worked on the ropes keeping him in place. My Damascus wasn’t cutting it though. Jake came up behind me and sliced the rope in two easily. Damen’s right foot was free.
My brother’s eyes widened as they fell on Jake. I wondered if he ever thought of this moment.
He shook his head. “We need to leave. Now. Somehow the mayor got wind of this. He’s going to set a bomb off here.”
“Here?” Jake and I shouted at the same time.
Damen nodded, then Jake stumbled forward to his knees in front of me. I lurched to my side, my hand outstretched at the girl who’d just hit Jake. I twisted my wrist and let the blade fly. It stuck in the girl’s neck. Her hand flew to the wound, but blood had already started to seep. She fell backward and I looked Jake over. “Damen, watch our backs.”
Jake groaned. I slapped his cheek. “You okay? I need you here right now. Come on, Jake.”
His eyes fluttered opened. I grabbed his blade and cut through the rest of the ropes Damen had restraining him. Only stopping once when Damen told me there was someone on my six. I backward rolled and let my Damascus fly. Then, I shot out my net. The guy turned to dust, obviously a fae. I retrieved my dagger. When I looked back, Jake was pulling Damen to his feet.
I breathed in deep. Something in me clicked back into place. They were here. Both of them.
Jake and I both put one of Damen’s arms around our shoulders. Turned out he had a broken leg courtesy of the mayor. I was so going to kill him when I saw him next. All my feminist fantasies would come true one of these days.
We met the rest of the crew, minus Sasha, but adding Troian, at the door we’d come through. “Bomb,” he mouthed to me.
I nodded. A quick escape would’ve been us piggybacking on him like we’d done before, but it was clear he was in no shape for that, and there was no telling whether Barbara had a clue how to do it. I pointed toward the broken windows the Elite must have come through and we ran toward them. Jake and I pushed Damen up first. I was next, using Jake’s clasped hands as a stepping stool, and then I turned around to help the next person.
I expected Jake, but it was Troian. I yanked him up, and he yelled.
“You’re hurt?”
“No, I just always wear blood as an accessory. It helps with my mystique.”
“God, I hate you,” I said, lips splitting into a grin.
He chuckled and crawled toward Damen as I helped Barbara, then Sanders. Then, Sanders turned around and helped Jake.
“If this place is going to blow, we better get out of here.” It was Barbara and she was looking at her brother. Troian looked at me.
“Hell yes,” I said. “You need to go. The three of you.”
I stared down Jake as well. I knew how much just being at Stonehenge after the bomb had blown had impacted him.
“Can you blip?” I asked Troian.
He grimaced, but nodded.
“Great, you and Barbara go. We’ll get Jake to the portal.”
“Barb—?”
“Your sister. Just go!”
Barbara grabbed Troian’s hand and they disappeared.
Sanders and Jake picked Damen up and we ran toward the Jeep. I was beginning to second-guess our reasoning for parking so damn far away when it finally came into sight. I crawled into the backseat with Damen as Jake and Sanders took the front.
Jake took the corners well over the speed limit. Damen was getting jostled around, so I tried to keep him as steady as possible. As soon as Jake pulled up to the house, Damen and I both yelled, “Go!”
Jake looked from me to Damen. “I’m coming back.”
“Please,” I pleaded with Jake. “Go. You know where we are.”
With that, Jake threw his door open and ran inside the house.
As soon as I felt the magic of the portal opening, I let out a sigh of relief. Troian and Damen were okay. We had them back. Now, Jake would be safe, too.
There was just one thing left…
Chapter Fifteen
I ran up the stairs, Damen yelling at me the entire way. “What are you planning, Cas?” When I didn’t answer, he got louder. “Damnit, Cas. What is it?”
I waved my hand in front of the attic door. It swung open and I retrieved the most powerful stone in existence.
I was Salem’s Ley Line Guardian. And there was no way in hell I was letting that fuck mayor blow up my line.
Racing down the stairs, I jumped the last few steps and landed right in front of Damen. I opened my fist and revealed the amber stone.
He inhaled sharply. “You think?”
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Is that the amber stone? That’s the one the witches kidnapped you for, Cas?”
Damen’s head snapped toward me. “The witches kidnapped you?”
“Listen, there’s a lot to tell—on both sides. But we don’t have the time. Damen, we have to stop the bomb from going off. Will the amber stone work or not?”
My phone rang. I reached into my pants pocket and pulled it out. It was Frankie.
“Frankie,” I yelled.
“What’s happening? Something’s happening.”
“Listen to me, Frankie. What happened in Stonehenge is about to happen here if we can’t stop it. I have
the amber stone. What can I do?”
The necromancer rattled off instructions. He was still talking as I ran toward the Jeep. Damen yelled behind me. I felt Sanders next to me, but I held up my hand. “Stay with Damen. Please.”
His chest deflated, and he nodded.
Even though the magical bombs impacted the magical creatures the most, they would still take care of a human who was at the epicenter. And that’s where I was going. No need to take Sanders down with me.
I started the Jeep and made the familiar trek to Gallows Hill. According to Frankie, I had to go to the origin of the bomb. The intense power of the amber stone should negate the magic in the bomb, but I had to go where they put it. There was only one place I could think of.
I raced there, disobeying every traffic law I knew and probably some I never paid attention to anyway. Once I pulled into the parking lot of Gallows Hill Park, I ran through the baseball field where a Little League game was happening and up the bank toward the field. Who knew what would happen to all these kids if I didn’t stop this thing.
My chest burned.
As I emerged from the trail that led into the open space, a few people stood in the middle of the field looking down. Sasha was one of them.
She looked up when she heard me thrashing through the tall grass. “Stay away, Cas. Elite business.”
“Fuck you,” I said.
The ground began to shake. Sasha and her partners in crime jumped back.
“Where is it?” I yelled.
Sasha pointed at the ground ten feet away from her. I ran as hard as I could and then sprawled just as a bright light pierced my eyeballs. I squeezed my eyes closed, blinded, and slammed the amber stone into the ground where I hoped the bomb was. The ground still shook, but I squeezed tighter and pushed the stone into the soil harder. The ground resisted, pushing back up at me, then, hands covered mine and there were two of us pushing down.
I pushed with all my might until all I saw was white. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed or if I even had eyes anymore. Hell, maybe the white light was heaven.
Who was I kidding? I was definitely going to hell anyway. Maybe this was just a tease.