Kaden looked over his shoulder to Sky who just shook his head. Kaden’s brow furrowed as he searched within himself. Kaden and the rest of the brethren were so close to the pair that should either one die, their bonds would shatter and the pain would be unimaginable. Everyone was still standing, so there had to be some other explanation.
“What in the name of Blackwood is going on?” Kaden asked.
“I dunno, but I don’t like it,” Mercury replied.
“How can I know they’re not dead but not sense them at all?” Skylar asked.
Kaden looked at Mercury then back at Sky. None of them had an answer.
Kaden had never been more relieved than when he saw the “Welcome to Norton” sign. They whizzed past the oak-framed houses and some sort of village green. Up ahead the road curved around to the left and there on the right was House Bowman. It had been a long time since Kaden had been anywhere near the Bowman Coven and it was much changed. The newly built, mock-tudor house was a modest size, but its understated style was impressive.
The gravel driveway was lined on each side by a riot of colour. Delphinium, foxgloves, dianthus and sweet-williams leant themselves well to the cottage garden feel and the aroma reminded Kaden of things long since forgotten. He was surprised that Larissa Bowman would choose to surround her home with such natural beauty when the woman herself could be so austere.
As Mercury eased the four-by-four further up the driveway, Kaden saw all the other things he would expect. The windows were specially made and afforded the inhabitants fair, though not complete, protection from the sun; the door appeared to the untrained eye to be solid oak, though was actually reinforced steel and the subtle security cameras and motion detectors were cleverly placed. From the outside everything appeared normal.
After zipping up their specially designed, UPF 50+, protective clothing, all three of them hit the ground running. In the second it took them to get the front door, their menæwan firmly in place. It was the middle of the day, after all.
To human eyes, all three warriors appeared completely average. Even though their faces were masked by protective goggles, the glamour they projected meant that they all looked like they were supposed to be there. Should anyone happen upon them, they were unremarkable, forgettable even.
Kaden would have reached the door first but skidded to a halt instead, sending the gravel at his feet flying in all directions.
“What is it?” Skylar asked from behind him having narrowly missed smashing into his boss.
Kaden inhaled, the faint smell of almonds filling his nostrils. “You smell what I smell?”
Both Mercury and Skylar tested the air, wrinkling their noses as the scent hit them too. It was Mercury who answered. “Is that C-4?”
“I’d bet the keys to Faerie that it is,” Kaden replied.
“Son of Unseelie scum!” Skylar muttered.
“Well this day just gets better and better,” Mercury added.
Kaden’s brow knitted as he tried to make sense of it. Why couldn’t they sense Lena and Thorn? Why the hell would they find C-4 outside House Bowman? As he looked around, another question hit him. Why, in the name of Blackwood was it so bloody quiet round here?
“Go and check it out, Mercury,” Kaden ordered.
Mercury took off in a blur as Kaden stepped back to look up at the house, willing it to give him the answers he needed. He glanced over at Skylar who was inspecting the flower bed, pleased that the younger Guardian hadn’t voiced the million questions that were no doubt racing around his head. Kaden just didn’t have the answers.
“Well?” Kaden asked as Mercury reappeared at his side.
“Nothin,” Mercury replied.
“What do you mean, nothing?” The timbre of Kaden’s voice rose.
“I mean nothin! There was C-4 but it ain't here anymore.”
Kaden tried to rub the tension out of the back of his neck. The uneasiness refused to shift and Kaden remembered why. “Why is it so quiet around here?”
Skylar looked around but just shrugged. Mercury answered, “It is the middle of the day, Boss.”
“Yes, thank you, Mr State-the-bleeding-obvious. What I meant is, why is there no one here?”
“Erm...” Mercury waggled his eyebrows at Kaden, no doubt questioning his boss’s sanity.
Kaden sighed. “Why are Thorn and Lena not the only ones I can’t sense?”
Mercury frowned and then looked up at the house. Kaden watched his eyes widen as the realisation hit him. “Bloody hell! There really is no one 'ere. Where are the Bowmans?”
“Shit. He’s right! What’s going on?” Skylar chimed in.
“Good question,” Kaden replied.
“Maybe they’ve gone somewhere else?” Skylar offered.
“So close to dawn? You’re a genius, Sky.” Mercury scoffed, sarcasm blooming in a yellow mist around him.
“Just saying,” Skylar replied.
“Well, don’t!”
Kaden stepped in before emotions made the two warriors overstep the mark. “Mercury, calm down.”
“I am calm.”
“’Course you are,” Kaden said.
Kaden puffed out a breath as he looked at the suspiciously quiet House. He didn’t doubt Mercury, not really, but he had to see for himself. He was back with his brethren in less than a blink of the eye. He hadn’t found anything either. On its own that would be a relief. But it still didn’t explain what had happened here. What happened to the Bowman Coven?
“We need to get inside. Mercury, you stay here, just in case we have any unexpected visitors,” Kaden ordered. To his surprise, Mercury didn’t argue. “Sky, come with me,” Kaden continued.
"On your six, Boss."
Kaden marched over to the front door. The reinforced door was easier to deal with than Kaden expected. A few persuasive turns of Mercury’s pick-any-lock-kit and they were in.
Kaden’s keen eyes swept over the entrance hall, looking for anything that looked out of place. Beautiful period pieces gleamed from hours of polishing. The neatly arranged silver snuff boxes on the ornate but heavy, oak chest shone, reflecting the pink hues of the tastefully arranged vase of foxgloves sitting just to the right. It was just as he remembered the previous House Bowman being.
They made their way through the house, Kaden taking the lead. The oak panelling that stretched down either side of the main corridor belied the young age of the house. Not that he was surprised since Larissa was so exacting, but the Bowmans had done a fantastic job with the decor.
The hallway led them to the sitting room at the rear. The room was just as well appointed as the entrance hall and corridor. Two tapestry covered, antique sofas faced each other on either side of an oak-inlaid coffee table in front of the huge open fireplace. Oil paintings adorned the walls above the oak panelling and there was more silver on display on the sideboard. Yet there was still no sign of life.
Frustrated, Kaden tore from the room and made his way to an office at the far end of the hall. Crammed full of heavy tomes on dark mahogany shelves, the room gave no answers either. He marched back into the hallway.
Looking hard for any sign, he breathed out slowly and let his gaze wander back up the corridor. His eyes kept returning to the same spot. Frowning, he looked harder, sending his senses out in waves. What came back both surprised and confused him.
There, behind a door he had not noticed before, was nothing. He could see his way around the spot from every angle, but the centre was empty. The square of nothingness was void of any feedback whatsoever, as if someone had torn a hole in a map.
“Sky, with me.”
How he had not noticed the door worried him. Something else had to be at play here. Standing in front of the door, which at face value looked the same as all the others, Kaden did another quick scan in case he really was going mad. He got the same results. The nothingness should have bothered him, but the answer was suddenly so obvious. Of course!
“What do you see?” he asked Skylar.
Kaden watched the younger warrior’s face as he studied the innocent looking door. The longer Skylar looked, the more intense his demeanour became. His eyes and face were obscured by the protective goggles and face mask they were forced to wear in daylight, but Kaden could still see his body tightening as he put more effort into his task.
“What the hell is going on?” Sky asked with a frustrated growl.
“Look harder.”
“But there’s nothing there, Kaden! Just the door.”
Mercury appeared in whirl, stopping just beside his Keeper. He opened his mouth as if to say something but stopped, swivelling around to his right to stare at the oak clad door instead. “Jesus Christ!”
“Will someone please tell me, what in the name of Blackwood, you two are talking about?” Skylar pleaded.
Kaden put one gloved hand on Skylar’s broad shoulder and pointed at the door with the other. “That, my friend, is Osmium.”
“Osmium?” Skylar replied, astonished.
“Yeah, you know,” Mercury teased, “strongest metal on earth, impervious to…”
“Yeah thanks Mercury. I know what it is!” Skylar interrupted Mercury’s helpful reply. “Just never seen so much in a civilian House before. What the hell is it doing here?”
“Good question,” Kaden conceded.
“Well at least we know why we can’t sense 'em properly. They must be in there,” Mercury said, confirming Kaden’s thoughts.
“Well, what do we do now?” Skylar asked.
The alarms on their suits went off, as if answering the question. Kaden checked his ADS, or automatic distress signal. They had run out of time. “Damn it, Mercury! I thought you’d improved these bloody suits.”
“That's what I was comin' to tell you. I’m not a miracle worker, you know!”
Shit. Their own version of HAZMAT suits allowed them to go out in the daylight without fear of sustained injuries, but the protection only lasted so long. Sighing he started his way back towards the front door. “C’mon, let’s head back to the car.”
“What about Thorn and Lena?” Skylar asked.
Kaden stopped and turned to face the Guardian, his hands on his hips. “You got any bright ideas, Sky?”
Skylar didn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought.”
“But...” The second alarm from their suits interrupted whatever it was Skylar was going to say.
Mercury slung an arm across Skylar’s shoulders. “Boss is right. Plus, if we let these suits ‘it the third alarm, Soraya is gonna have a fit.”
Kaden was immediately glad that the suit gave nothing but the most obvious of body language away. The mention of Soraya’s distress hit a chord within him and he had no idea how to explain it. He had no clue what was happening between the two of them and even less of an idea what to do about it. He dematerialised back to the vehicle, knowing the other two would follow him.
As Kaden got into the passenger seat of their modified Land Rover, the shrill ring of his mobile brought him out of his musings. The caller ID made his heart skip a beat.
“Soraya,” he said, whilst trying to ignore the looks shooting between Skylar and Mercury.
“Are you alright?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“We’re fine, Soraya.”
“But the alarms, Kaden! Ryver said the monitoring equipment lit up like Blackpool illuminations!”
“We’re fine, I promise.”
“And Thorn and Lena?” she asked, in hushed tones, as if afraid of the answer.
“We know where they are…”
“Oh thank the heavens! How are they? What happened?”
“It’s more complicated than that, Soraya.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“We can’t reach them. At least not yet,” Kaden replied.
“Why on earth not?”
“Because they’re being shielded by Osmium,”
Soraya gasped in response.
“Soraya? Soraya, listen. Has Ryver managed to reach anyone at House Bowman yet?”
“Um no. No I don’t think so.”
“Right. Tell him to keep trying.”
“Alright. Kaden?”
“We’ll bring them home, Soraya. I promise.”
“I know you will, Keeper.”
Kaden hung up and met Mercury’s badly hidden smirk. “What?”
“Nice words, Boss.” Mercury replied, a crooked smile on his face.
“Well what else did you expect me to say?”
“You do realise you just promised the bloody Princess that you're gonna bring her brother home?”
“And that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
“Good to hear. What’s the plan?” Mercury asked.
“We do as I said. We bring them home.” Kaden replied, his voice projecting the assurance he wanted the team to feel. He closed his eyes; if only he felt as convincing as he sounded.
Chapter 14
Lena sat bolt-upright on one of the most uncomfortable chairs she’d ever had the displeasure to sit on. On the outside, she knew she showed not even the slightest hint of emotion. Inside she was still on fire.
When she discovered the Osmium door, she had assumed their sortie was over. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Thorn had barely whispered his order yet she had nearly collapsed under the weight of it and by some miracle, the door to the safe room opened.
The details of walking in were sketchy at best. Even the most powerful Vampire couldn’t penetrate Osmium. It was impossible. Yet here they were.
Lena took in her surroundings. The House Bowman on this side of the door couldn’t be more different. No dark wood and period pieces here. The walls were a monotonous grey and the overhead strip lighting so bright that the corners of the room seemed to disappear. The furniture was designed for function rather than comfort. In fact, the whole space lacked comfort.
There were no soft furnishings at all. The room they were in now was a lounge, but the seats were so hard, her backside was going numb. She doubted anyone ever managed to do any lounging in here.
Lena watched Larissa Bowman. The woman looked nervous, wringing her hands and smoothing the front of her dress. Lena thought it curious. She now disliked and distrusted Larissa Bowman. Why would she be nervous?
“My Lord, you caught us quite by surprise.” Larissa Bowman gave a low curtsy. “We thought you had gone for the day.”
“As did I, Maluth.” Thorn’s eyes flashed gold. “But then Lena found your safe-room and I had to see it for myself. “
“You are most welcome, My Lord.”
Thorn gave a short laugh. “I’m sure I am.”
Larissa smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. As she glanced across to Lena, the smile slipped from her face altogether.
Now that was curious. Alright, Lena had growled at the woman, but her honeyed charm seemed to have disappeared altogether. Why, Lena wondered.
Larissa recovered herself as she spoke to Thorn again. “Can I offer you some refreshment? A glass of wine, perhaps? Dinner will be served shortly.”
“Red wine would be just fine, thank you.”
“Very good, My Lord.” Larissa clicked her fingers at a nameless butler who scurried away to fulfil his orders. “I’m afraid we don’t have the room here to offer you separate quarters. You of course are welcome to have the guest room. Lena can stay with me if she would like.”
Quarters? What the hell? Lena shot to her feet, sending her chair clattering against the concrete floor. “We are not staying!” Lena advanced on Larissa to make her point and watched the woman take a step back.
“I’m afraid you have no choice, Steward. The door is sealed until sundown. There is no way in or out,” Larissa replied in a soft voice.
“Yet you opened it to let us in.” Lena growled.
Larissa nodded. “It operates on a highly sophisticated time-lock. The door had not yet been sealed when we heard His Majesty’s order.”
Lena clamped her mouth shut fo
r fear of standing there like a dumbstruck fool. She couldn’t look at Thorn. The door hadn’t been sealed, but they had still heard the order through a solid-osmium door. He was more powerful than she had ever imagined.
“Lena is the Steward of the Watch, Larissa. Since I am otherwise unaccompanied here, she will share with me.” Thorn interjected.
She’ll what?
“Of course, My Lord. As you wish.”
Oh fuck. This could not be happening.
The butler arrived with his fully-charged glasses of red wine. Thorn was served first, of course, but Lena was second and she snatched her glass off the tray before the butler had the time to offer it to her. The surprisingly good Rioja barely touched the sides as she downed the lot and took another glass from the tray. The wine served to dull her nerves momentarily.
She looked around the concrete-grey room. Crane was giving a toast to Thorn’s health and his mother and brother, Roarke, joined him with great enthusiasm.
Oh Lord. She was stuck here. With these people. Why couldn’t she just be out killing something?
She needed some breathing space. Crane wasn't going anywhere; they apparently had all bloody night to question him again. Deciding that standing around at a nice little soiree wasn’t her style she sidled up to Roarke. “Do you think you could show me the rest of the facility, Roarke?”
Roarke’s eyes widened before he replied. “Of course, My Lady. Is there anything in particular you would like to see?”
“All of it.”
“Of course, My Lady. Right this way.” Roarke beamed, extending his arm towards the door.
“And Roarke?”
“Yes, My Lady?”
“Call me Lena. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a lady.”
“Y-yes, My… I mean, of course, Lena.”
Lena couldn’t help but smile as Roarke looked at the floor, embarrassment seeping from him. “You’ll get used to it. C’mon, give me the tour.”
Roarke smiled again and motioned for her to follow him from the room.
Lena trailed behind as he led her to the central corridor. The osmium door loomed at one end and there were four more lining each side of the colourless hall, with another at the end, directly ahead. The door next to the lounge opened into a large open plan kitchen diner where liveried staff were busy concocting a spread they hoped would be fit for a King. Everything was a depressing shade of storm-cloud-grey.
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