by Rivi Jacks
2:03
I grab my phone on the way to the closet. The number I call rings five times.
“What?” he grumbles, his voice heavy with sleep.
“Sawyer, the Kihn have Diane.”
“What?” I hear sheets rustle on his end of the line and I know he’s good and awake now.
“You and Sam pick me up outside the gates, down by the river in fifteen minutes.” I’m slipping on jeans as I talk and I can hear him as he moves around his room.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
“We’re going to go get her. Hurry!”
I end the call without another word, pulling on socks and boots. I shrug into my black jacket and then pull open a drawer of the large highboy dresser Lucas moved into the closet for me. For my weapons. I strap the dagger Quanah recently gave me to one thigh and a large skinning knife to the other. My jacket is fitted with several large pockets to which I add dragon’s breath shotgun shells, a mini crossbow, and several sharp-pointed wooden stakes about the size of a pencil. There’s a shotgun hanging from a strap on the wall but my Mossberg is in the Jeep, and I’d rather use it.
I loop my TAC flashlight around my neck, and then I’m out the door off the hallway leading to the sauna. I move stealthily around to the Jeep parked in front of the house, pulling my hair back into a thick braid to hang down my back. I stuffed a black stocking cap in my pocket, and I’ll be covering my hair once I’m through the front gates.
The guard comes out of the guardhouse before I even bring the Jeep to a stop. I seriously consider just driving right through the gate but quickly decide to use the story I’ve concocted before switching to more drastic measures. The damage to the gates and vehicle would be a whole other stressful scene.
I roll down the window and smile as Cal walks up to the Jeep.
“Miss Sofie—” He looks back up the hill toward the house.
“Cal, my aunt Lucy called. My uncle is awful sick, and I’m in a hurry. Please open the gates.” My fingers grip the steering wheel knowing I don’t have much time. Starting up a car in the middle of the night inside a compound of vampires is not going to go unnoticed and right on cue, the phone in the guardhouse rings over the outside speaker.
“I’m sure that’s Max, and I will call him right after I get to my uncle Ben’s. Please open the gate, I don’t have time to talk to him right now.”
Cal looks back up the hill, a tortured look of indecision on his face. It hurts to lie to the gentle giant of a vampire, especially when I know I have a way with him, and I’m probably about to get him into trouble. But I don’t have a choice. I make a silent promise to make it up to him.
“Miss Sofie—”
“Open the gates. Now, Cal.”
His eyebrows lift in surprise at my tone. He nods, pressing the remote and I gun the Jeep through the gates before they’ve fully open and turn in the opposite direction than what I should be turning to go to Ben’s.
I pull off the road near the bridge that crosses the river at the bottom of the hill. I’m pulling the stocking cap over my hair when Sam and Sawyer arrive, parking next to me. After climbing out of my vehicle, I hand Sam my shotgun which he places in the back of Sawyer’s Jeep before climbing into the backseat, leaving me to slide in up front with Sawyer.
“Where are we going?” Sawyer asks as he backs out into the road.
“Cross the bridge and head out— Shit!”
One of Lucas’ men, Christian, stands a few feet ahead of us in the middle of the road and he doesn’t look happy as he walks to my side of the Jeep.
“Damn it—we don’t have time for this,” I murmur.
He steps up to my door. “Let me in.”
I blink, hesitating for a moment before I nod. Sam opens the back door, and Christian slides into the back with him.
“Where the hell are you going?” Christian asks.
At the same time, Sawyer says, “Sofie, I need to know where we’re going.”
“Old Soldier Cemetery,” I say, giving them both an answer.
“What’s going on?” Christian asks. He always seems so inherently calm, but his usual cool demeanor seems a little tense right now.
“The Kihn have Diane,” I say softly. Panic sets in each time I say that. “They’re holding her in a cave.”
“How do you know that?” he asks.
“I—” When I don’t say anything else, Sawyer glances over at me. I take a deep breath. “I saw it in a dream.” I look straight ahead, conscious of Christian staring at the back of my head.
He eventually asks, “Did you try calling her?”
“No—”
“Would you do that, please?” he asks.
I know there’s no reason to, but he doesn’t know that. I am conscious of the fact that Sawyer or Sam neither one question me. They know about my dreams, but I know they have to be curious. And not for the first time I feel grateful for their trust in me.
“Can I use your phone, Sam?” I let it ring a dozen times before ending the call.
“I’ll call Taylor. We’ll need help,” Christian says as I turn to hand Sam his phone.
“We don’t have time to wait for him, Christian.” My eyes flash to his. “We have to get in there before they can figure out we’re coming.”
“Sofie, I can’t let you go in there. Lucas will have my head on a platter if he even suspects I let you anywhere near the Kihn.”
“We have no choice, Christian. I spoke to Diane earlier, so she hasn’t been in there very long. We have to get her out before they set their plan in motion.”
“I’m sure that plan is to lure you in there,” he says firmly.
I turn back to face the front, watching the road ahead. “That’s why we need to hurry.”
“There’s no need to hurry because I guarantee they are already waiting for you. Your friend is the bait to get you there.”
I know saying anything about an invisible Guardian telling me to hurry before they know I’m coming won’t set Christian’s mind at ease. He’ll think I’m nuts. “I know what I have to do, and I am going in after her.” I turn to look back at him. “Are you coming in with us?”
He shakes his head in resignation. “Sawyer, this is a crazy idea, you have to know that. We’re talking about walking into a nest of Kihn.”
Sawyer gives me a quick look as I turn back around. “I don’t have a choice, Christian,” I murmur.
I stare out the window, my thoughts in turmoil as I go over every possible thing that could go wrong. I tell myself that we’re going to get in and out before the Kihn know we’re there. I don’t believe they’re ready for us. I’m certain Harvey would warn me in some way.
Once we’re close, I turn to Sawyer. “When we reach the cemetery, drive down to the creek.” Once there he pulls off the road and parks. I look out the Jeep window, scanning the area. “We’ll follow the path that runs beside the bank. The cave opening is quite a ways down the path.”
“I know the path, but I’ve never seen a cave down there,” Sawyer says, and I see him look back at Sam in the rearview mirror.
“Me neither,” Sam answers his brother’s unspoken question.
“You’ll see why when we get there,” I tell them. Sawyer looks at me, and I know his thought process without him saying. He’s sorting out the information I’ve given him about my dream and the fact that he’s now about to embark on a rescue mission—because of something I’ve dreamed. And this strange ability that I have is new to him. Not that he disbelieves me, just that it’s another bizarre happening in our world as we now know it.
And how do I explain that this dream was different? This one involved someone else other than the Kihn and myself, and it frightened me in a way none of the others ever had. This nightmare involved someone we both lov
e.
We bail out into the frigid night air. I can’t let myself think about how cold and scared Diane must be. Sawyer and Sam unload our weapons from the back and Sam immediately rummages through a large duffel bag he’s brought along.
“We have to hurry,” I whisper, conscious of the fact there are probably Kihn close by.
“Not until you agree that you’ll stay close to me,” Christian says. I look at him and nod. I agree wholeheartedly with that. “We all stay together,” he continues, glancing over at Sawyer and Sam.
Sawyer walks up and hands me my shotgun. “Agreed,” he says, his gaze connecting with mine.
Christian continues, “The Kihn have been busy the last couple of nights, so I’m hoping there won’t be too many in there guarding your friend.” Under his breath he says, “If we’re lucky.”
“Diane,” I say. “Her name is Diane.”
He looks at me for a moment. “Diane.”
“We need to move,” I say when it looks like my cousins have finished loading up their weapons. It seems like it’s been hours since Harvey woke me.
Harvey!
I glance about wondering if he’s here with us.
“Remember—you stay glued to me,” Christian reminds me. “And no matter what happens—do not try to help me. If you miss, I’ll be distracted with the thought of the Kihn turning on you.”
“Then I won’t miss.”
He suddenly grips my arm, which surprises me. None of the Guard has ever put their hands on me. “You are going to get your friend and get out—that’s all you’re going to do.” He frowns and releases my arm as if suddenly remembering himself. “Please, do as I say.”
“I will, Christian.” I reach out to touch his arm. “I promise.”
The look in his eyes is wary as he says, “Let’s go.”
We move swiftly along the trail with Sawyer in the lead, Christian behind him, then me, with Sam bringing up the rear. Our strained silence is supercharged as we’re held in the tense awareness that we might be confronted by the Kihn around any bend on the pathway. I breathe a sigh of relief when we finally reach the place on the trail that travels between the creek and the sheer stone bluff rising above us with no close encounters. A large tree that sits atop the bluff has roots that have grown down the face of the rock and left the roots looking like massive tentacles clinging to the bluff wall.
I stop. “Here.” I feel spooked as a strong sense of foreboding assails me.
“Here?” Sawyer asks as he moves closer to the rock wall.
“There between the two largest roots,” Sam says as he shines his flashlight.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Sawyer mutters as he grabs a smaller tentacle-like root and starts to pull it away from the wall and then stops. “I guess we better leave it as it is, so they won’t see it and know we’re in there.”
“Makes no difference,” Christian says. “They’ll smell us.”
Sawyer looks over at me with a raised brow, and I nod. I look at the opening of the cave. There’s an uncomfortable ache in the back of my throat making it difficult to swallow.
“The element of evil is strong here,” Christian says softly.
I shudder slightly. “Ready?” I croak, looking over at Sam and Sawyer.
“This is a very bad idea,” Christian says.
“Stop saying that!” My voice comes out in a raised whisper.
“I can’t. I keep envisioning the end of my career,” he says.
I quickly glance back at him. At least he’s not envisioning our capture by the Kihn. I suspect Lucas will be angrier with me than with Christian. A vise tightens around my heart. This may bring on the end of Lucas and me.
“Let’s do this,” Sawyer says.
“I need to enter behind Sawyer,” I say.
“No. No way,” Christian says firmly.
“I know where she is, Christian. I need to lead the way, but I’ll settle for walking behind Sawyer.”
Christian closes his eyes for a moment, muttering under his breath, “I must be crazy.”
“Let’s move,” Sawyer encourages again. He and Sam have donned caving headlamps. I’m certain in my dream that the tunnel was lit going in. I frown trying to recall.
“Ready, Sofie?” I look up at Sawyer. Maybe we should have brought Taylor and Max with us.
I take a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Sawyer and Sam switch on their headlamps as we enter, the beams following the movement of their heads. I’m relieved that there are torches placed at intervals along the passageway so we don’t have to rely only on flashlights. But they lend an eerie almost sinister effect to the already unsettling atmosphere.
We walk through a solid rock tunnel that widens as we move deeper into the cave, allowing Christian to walk beside me. I feel the need to talk, to assuage the fear that is about to render me useless, but we agreed to keep talking to a minimum. And it’s so very quiet. The only noise is the sound of our footfalls and the thudding of my heart.
One moment we’re walking quickly through the tunnel and the next instant we have to pick our way carefully since we can’t see the rock floor or our feet for the low-lying, dense fog.
Crap!
I don’t like this. My mind starts conjuring up all types of things that might be slithering under cover of the fog.
There is a dark, malevolent presence here, girl.
“Holy shit,” I hiss. Thanks for that, Harvey.
And just like when I was a kid, I’m suddenly comforted knowing Harvey is with us.
I bump into the back of Sawyer when he stops without warning.
“Do you hear that?” he asks.
I listen but don’t hear anything.
“What the hell!” Sam exclaims.
I frown. “What? What are you hearing?”
Sawyer turns and looks down at me. “The screaming?”
“What?” I hiss.
His eyebrow lifts.
“I can’t tell what direction it’s coming from,” Christian says. “But it’s somewhere from deep within the cave.”
I strain to hear what they’re hearing. “I don’t hear any screaming.”
Sawyer’s forehead creases. “Someone’s screaming bloody murder, Sofie.”
What the hell? I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s starting to freak me the hell out.
“I hear nothing, but we need to move on,” I tell them. I’m ready to get Diane, and I hope to never see the inside of another cave. Dream or otherwise.
“I’m not so sure we should,” Christian says. “Without knowing who or what is causing—”
Sawyer turns to face me. “You really don’t hear that?”
“No, but I know that we’re here to get Diane so let’s do it before we run into trouble.”
I look up at Christian. “You said the screams were coming from deep in the cave, right? Not close to where we are so let’s find Diane and get the hell out of here. We’re almost there.” At least we’re almost to the point where I last saw Diane before Harvey woke me. But I don’t need to tell them that. I don’t care if we have to travel to the center of the earth; we’re going to find Diane.
We continue along when we come to a junction.
“Right,” I tell them, immensely relieved we haven’t come upon any Kihn. Yet.
The tunnel suddenly angles down, which is a little disconcerting since we can’t see where we’re walking with the fog shrouding the way, and I notice the air is cooler.
“We’ll take another right up ahead,” I say softly.
Sawyer looks back at me.
“What?” I whisper.
“Just contemplating how I can use this talent of yours,” he whispers back.
I snort softly.<
br />
“It’s best if we stay quiet,” Christian advises. He’s right.
We turn to the right and the rock floor levels out which gives us the confidence to pick up our pace.
I hear a sound coming from Sam behind me. “What?” I ask looking back at him.
“Snakes.”
“Sam! Don’t do that!” Now I’m really paranoid about the fog we’re walking through. I don’t know how he can do it, but Sam has an uncanny ability to smell snakes. Maybe because he’s scared shitless of them.
We pass a torch that is set lower on the wall of the tunnel. “We’re almost there,” I tell them. “There will be a torch situated right outside a door with a drop bar across the front.”
A sound comes from behind us just as I notice the torch ahead of us flicker as if catching a draft. The fog covering the pathway swirls and lifts slightly. Christian and I both turn at the sound as does Sam. His headlamp shoots back the way we’ve come but only illuminates an empty passageway. I meet his eyes when he turns back, mine wide. This is bad. I see the realization in his eyes too. I’m certain the movement of air signifies the movement of others in the cave.
Holy crap!
Surely if we were in imminent peril, Harvey would warn me. Right, Harvey?
Why does it seem as if danger follows me around? I told Lucas I didn’t create all the trouble I constantly find myself in. But I don’t think I’m a safe person to hang around. I know it’s not been good for Diane.
“Here,” I gasp, my heart thudding against my chest.
Sawyer starts to lift the thick bar out of the brackets on either side of the door, and I hurry to help him, handing my shotgun to Christian. As soon as the bar is lifted, the door swings open.
Chapter Fifteen
There’s nothing but a black hole before us.
“She’s in there,” Christian says. “I can hear her breathing.”
The light from Sawyer’s headlamp suddenly illuminates the interior over the top of my head as he stands at my back. The space is barely large enough for a Kihn to stand, let alone be able to move around in.