We turned and spiraled down a ways, and then we dropped down to land. We jolted and scraped over the landing site, and the helicopter settled at an angle. Taylor began shutting it down, and I heaved a sigh, forcing myself to release my fingers from their death grip on the seat.
“Good flying,” I said. “What was that Bugs Bunny business?”
“I had Jamie and Leo set off a couple of flares and drop them in my landing zone near the cave tunnel we’re using. The heat was enough to show me where to land.” She tapped the sides of her goggles. “Thermal imaging. I can see heat signatures with these.”
Just then my door was pulled open. Jamie stood there.
“About time,” he said. “Let’s go.”
I unbuckled my harness and slid out. He steadied me until I found my footing and then guided me across the clearing. Our landing zone was a semiflat shelf surrounded by trees on one side and a steep escarpment on the other. Buried boulders shouldered up through the snow. The helicopter sat slightly tip-tilted, rocking slightly. The skids settled unevenly across rocks and lumpy snow.
Taylor, Leo, and Dalton were busy installing three ground cleats to stabilize the craft. Dalton and Leo each carried one end of the first of three steel rods from where they lay on one side of the clearing. They were five feet long and about four inches in diameter.
Taylor indicated where she wanted it placed, and the rod sank down into the dirt and rock. When only a foot remained, the top flattened and formed two ears. Dalton and Leo fetched another while Taylor fastened down the rope she’d secured to one of the skids. They repeated the process twice more until Taylor was satisfied the Eurocraft wasn’t going anywhere.
“I used quick release knots,” she said as we pulled our gear out of the helicopter. “But all the same, keep a sharp knife handy in case. The knots might freeze, and if we’re in a hurry, I want to be able to lift off quick.”
The cave entrance was really a burrow, a couple feet across and less than that high. More than a little aware that everyone was watching me, I crawled inside, pushing my backpack ahead of me. No one could see my stomach clenching so hard it hurt, or the way my knees shook, or the sweat that broke out all over my body.
Inside, a covered lantern provided a light. Several duffel bags sat in a heap on one side of the narrow cavern. It was about eight feet across and went about twenty feet or so before darkness swallowed it. It smelled musty and earthy. Animal bones and bits of fur and feathers covered the floor, along with a thick mat of leaves and grass. If I had to guess, this was a bear house. I wondered where the residents were. Hopefully somewhere else and fast asleep.
“How did you get all this stuff in through that hole?” I asked.
“We didn’t. We parked our vehicles a few miles away and came down a branch of this tunnel. Gives us two ways out in case we need it,” Leo said.
Jamie crawled through last, dusting himself off. “I let Mel know we’re on our way. We’ve got an hour before she and Agent Arnow go in.”
“Better hurry, then,” Leo said.
Dalton remained weirdly quiet, like a vulture watching us. I eyed him. I wondered if he knew Vernon had intercepted Taylor and me. I wondered just how much Dalton new about Vernon and his plans. One thing I was certain of, asking wasn’t going to get me anywhere. He gave me a little nod. I had no idea what it meant. I turned away.
The three men hoisted the duffels over their shoulders. Leo led the way, with Taylor following, then me, Dalton, and Jamie bringing up the rear. Both my brothers trailed fingers along the walls. The sound gave me chills, like fingernails on a blackboard. It was about as bad. Both of them wore gloves made of what looked like chain mail, only very fine. At least the sound of metal scraping rock distracted me from my claustrophobia. I wasn’t sure which I preferred. Either way, I was a basket case by the time we arrived at our destination.
It took us more than a half hour to get there. Mostly the passage through the mountain was natural. Jamie started on one of his geological treatises, and I didn’t listen. I knew he was trying to distract me, and I was grateful, but I didn’t really care about tectonics or rock solubility or anything else he was nattering on about.
We dropped downward. The cave system narrowed and widened with little warning. At one point, we had to elbow-crawl through on our stomachs. Taylor helped me stand after I came through, then patted my back as I leaned on my knees to catch my breath. One day I’d get over my claustrophobia, I promised myself.
The exit from our cave had been newly created. It wasn’t that big, maybe three foot by three foot and narrower at the bottom than the top.
“It’s the best we could do in the time frame we had,” Jamie said apologetically. “The basalt is damned hard to break up.”
I knew the technique. They’d push metal into the faults and cracks and then expand it, slowly powdering the rock and creating more faults and fissures until eventually they chewed it away. It was similar to the way that water wore at rock, but much faster. It was lucky that the big mine owners hadn’t discovered what Jamie and Leo could do. They’d have pulled my brothers into their mining operations, whether they wanted to be miners or not.
Just like me.
I glanced at them. I wasn’t the only member of my family whose talent put them at risk for kidnapping and modern-day slavery. Mel, too. Helping Price was going to lose her the protection of the FBI. She’d be a plum ripe for the picking.
Realization struck me like a fist. My family needed protection. My friends needed protection. Not just from Vernon or Savannah Morrell or the FBI. It wasn’t until that moment that I truly understood Touray. His father had created his organization to protect his own, starting with his sons and stretching out to include all the innocent people in Diamond City. Now Price’s brother was following in his father’s footsteps. It was like an old-time lawman putting on the sheriff’s star to protect a town from all the wild gangs of outlaws. He did what he did in the name of protecting his own. In that moment, I understood that I was going to have to do the same thing if I wanted to keep my own little tribe safe. Starting with Price and then Touray.
My laugh caught in my throat.
I’d just adopted Touray into my tribe. Whether he knew it or not, I’d just made him my responsibility. He was so going to hate that. Then again, I hated that in order to protect my family and friends, I was asking them to risk their lives. No, not asking. They’d volunteered. Because I wasn’t the only one who wanted to protect the people I loved. I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t have a right to stop them. How the hell did I protect them when they were walking straight into danger? The fact was, all I could do was my part, trust them to do theirs, and hope to hell the plan worked.
Chapter 12
WE CRAWLED OUT of the cave right into a tangle of scrub. My brothers and Dalton had scouted the area earlier and had cut away branches to hollow out a space underneath. I followed Leo, who crab-crawled fifteen feet along the rock cliff until the scrub gave way to a pile of boulders and a stand of trees. Leo had left the lantern inside the cave, and the flashlight he carried was covered with a green filter. Hunters used them to keep animals from seeing them from the sides.
Beyond the trees, I could see the glow cast by the compound’s floodlights. It was lit up like a baseball stadium. I could feel the pulse of magic the place put off. It was thick and heavy.
“How much time do we have?” Jamie asked Leo.
Dalton answered, “Twenty minutes until your mother and Agent Arnow go inside.”
“Let’s hustle, then,” Leo said, then set off.
He led us through the stand of pines and scrub to just this side of a twelve-foot-tall perimeter fence. A trench filled with cement ran beneath it. Magic throbbed through it, and from the wires and insulators I could see, it was electrified. Cameras were mounted at intervals. The two closer ones had been turned upward
toward the trees. On the other side there were no trees. In the distance—maybe fifty yards away—a blocky building loomed, its form dulled by the snow. Lucky for us there was snow. The cleared space meant no cover. A killing field. In the old days, that was so enemies couldn’t approach a fortress without being seen, and so archers could shoot at them. I had to assume there was security watching the space, ready to kill. But with guns, not arrows. Hopefully they’d be too distracted by what Leo and Jamie did to notice us approaching.
“My null isn’t going to help with the electricity in the fence,” I pointed out.
“Won’t be a problem. Once we get to work, there’s not going to be any electricity going anywhere. After that, we’ll make a hole in the fence for you,” Jamie said.
They’d already dug down to the drainage pipe they planned to use to get close to the building. A hole was peeled back like something had burst up through the corrugated steel. Inside, the pipe’s diameter was only three feet across, if that. I shuddered.
Leo swung down to stand inside. Taylor handed down a duffel, and he thrust it into the pipe ahead of him, then crawled inside.
“We’re down to seven minutes before Mel and Arnow get here,” Jamie said, jumping down. “Time to get to work.” He looked at me. “We’ll let you know when we get in place so you can hit the null. We’ll do our best to take care of the shooters on the roof and knock out the lights, but be careful.” With that he gave a little salute and a reckless smile, then ducked down after Leo.
We waited.
I was in no mood to talk. Instead, I crouched down behind a bush, watching the compound. It was nestled in a wide canyon with steep, tree-filled ridges circling around. Only one road in.
“What’s with you and our dad?” Taylor asked Dalton suddenly. “How long have you worked for him?”
I glanced over. Taylor had her arms crossed and had squared off opposite Dalton. The light and shadows coming through the bushes and trees carved his features into alabaster and obsidian. Taylor’s red hair darkened to the color of dried blood where her braid hung out from under her ski hat. I shuddered. What a depressing thought.
“Just over seven years,” Dalton said.
Wow. He’d actually answered. Seven years. That was three years after Vernon had vanished off the face of the earth.
“How did you meet him?” Taylor asked.
“I was working for someone else. He asked me to work for him instead.”
“Oh, please, spare me the details,” Taylor said sarcastically. “You talk so much, I hardly can stand it.”
Dalton actually smiled. “The story is boring.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She glanced her watch. “At least for the next five minutes or so. Tell me your story.”
Dalton’s smile widened. “You’re a good pilot,” he said instead.
“I know. Don’t change the subject. I’d like to know just who has my back going into that compound.”
His smile faded as he turned serious. “I owe your father a great deal. He asked me to come and make sure you stay safe.” He flicked a glance toward me. “All of you.”
“Wow. He sent an army of one. It’s like I’m surrounded by angels.” Sarcasm didn’t do a lot to veil Taylor’s anger.
“He cannot interfere too much,” was Dalton’s irritating reply.
“Why not?” I demanded. “Who is he afraid of?”
He looked at me, his eyes rimmed in blue. “It is not for me to say. Ask him.”
“He’s not exactly forthcoming.”
He shrugged. Not his problem. I gritted my teeth and turned to watch the compound again. I was done trying to get blood from a turnip. Though bashing Dalton with a baseball bat and getting blood the good old-fashioned way certainly had appeal.
Taylor hadn’t given up. She had a captive audience and wasn’t going to quit before she got some satisfaction. “What’s in section nine of the compound?”
That seemed to confuse Dalton. “How should I know?”
“Because Vernon said we should check it out.”
“I wasn’t aware of that.”
I looked at him again. He actually sounded sincere, and he looked more than a little annoyed. He didn’t like Vernon keeping him in the dark, either.
“You know, I’m beginning to think you’re just about useless,” Taylor snapped, stomping away.
I smiled at Dalton’s look of chagrin, which was followed by pure fury. He glared at Taylor like he wanted to strangle her.
“Look, they’re here,” I said as headlights swept up the entrance road and disappeared. There must have been a parking lot on the other side. From our position, I couldn’t see Mel and Arnow get out and go in. I hoped they didn’t run into trouble. They had the proper government clearance, and Mel had gotten someone in the upper echelons to help smooth their way in.
“How long before you think they’ll get down to Price?” Taylor asked.
“As long as it takes, no more, no less,” Dalton said.
Taylor glared. “Wow, maybe next you’ll give us the big news that water is wet and snow is cold and oh, by the way, an avalanche will crush you like a bug.”
“Do you ever shut up?” Dalton asked.
Taylor moved fast. Before I knew what was happening, she’d kicked him twice on the outside of the right thigh with rapid thumps. Despite the fact that Dalton had to be surprised, he responded almost as fast as she struck. He snatched at her. Taylor must’ve expected it. She collapsed into a one-legged squat on her right leg, gathering her left leg under as she twisted and thrust out her right. Instead of smashing him behind the front knee, she only caught his feet as he jumped into the air. It was enough to trip him. He pitched forward. Taylor rolled out from under him, rising into a crouch.
Dalton should have fallen onto all fours, his head and neck exposed. Instead, his fall turned into a tight shoulder roll. He gained his feet, spinning around to face Taylor. I tossed a pinecone between them.
“Ahem,” I said. “Not to be a killjoy, but would you mind waiting to beat each other up until later? Maybe save your aggression for actual enemies?”
Of course, in my book Dalton was an enemy, but at the moment, a useful one.
Taylor took a long breath and let it out, then straightened out of her stance.
“Sorry.” She said it to me, not Dalton. “Didn’t mean to lose my temper.”
“No worries,” I said. In fact, it had been amazing to see her move. She’d learned a whole lot since the last time I’d seen her fight, which had been at some sort of class recital thing when she was fifteen. That had been right before Dad left.
I looked at Dalton. “You okay?”
He didn’t take his eyes off Taylor. “I’ll live.”
“Good. I guess.”
“Your concern is touching,” he said, his lip curling in his favorite sneering expression.
“Did I sound concerned? Sorry. Didn’t mean to. Next time, I’m likely to help Taylor out.”
“She’ll need it,” he said, eyes narrowing until he looked half-asleep. “You won’t catch me by surprise again,” he said to her. “There will be a next time.”
“Sure,” Taylor said, bending to dust herself off. “Just let me know who to notify as next of kin.”
His sneer disappeared as one corner of his mouth lifted in a reluctant smile. He didn’t reply. He turned his back on Taylor to watch the compound.
I glanced at my watch. The whole episode had taken maybe two minutes.
Waiting became grueling. I almost wished the two of them would get into it again. Instead, Taylor had come to wait beside me. She remained silent and still as a shadow.
Worry clawed at me, but I forced myself to breathe and trust that Mel would be all right, and that this insane plan of ours would work. We wer
e breaking into the fucking FBI. I’ll take $2,000 in the category of “Things I never thought I’d be caught dead doing,” Alex. A laugh at my own idiocy bubbled up inside me. I swallowed it. I was getting hysterical. I needed to keep my shit together. Not just for Price—for all of us.
A full ten minutes had gone by before a soft clanging sound came from the pipe. I looked. A piece of steel had elongated into a wand with a thicker ball at the end. It was tapping against the inside.
“I’m up,” I said, unzipping my backpack and lifting out my null.
It was one of the big coffee cans—a little over forty ounces. I’d filled it with lead and melted it down into a solid chunk. I made a habit of picking up the lead balance weights that fell off cars. They made great nulls. Over the years, I’d collected enough of them that I was able to melt it into a solid chunk over a camp stove. The result was heavy, but it held magic well.
Even as I picked it up, I activated it. Power spread out from me in an invisible wave. It rolled out across the grounds, and I felt magic sucking down into it like water down a drain. It kept going past the main building and on outward, rising up the surrounding slopes. I felt it stop as the null reached its maximum circumference. At almost the same moment, it shut down, having sucked up all the magic around.
I dropped the expended null before zipping up my backpack. I slid it over my shoulders. “It’s done. My null drained what spells were active, but there’s likely emergency backups.”
“Maybe you should have brought backups,” Dalton said.
“Maybe I should have,” I said. In fact, I did have one more big null, plus a handful of smaller ones. The big one wasn’t nearly as powerful as the canister of lead, but it would likely shut down anything the feds were able to activate. Or so I hoped.
Only a few seconds passed before the lights surrounding the building went out. Simultaneously, the wires in the fence unraveled, opening a wide hole. We jumped through, me first, then Taylor, then Dalton. We ran across the open space. Dalton and Taylor were faster than I was and pushed ahead. I couldn’t see anything, with the flying snow and darkness. A couple of inches had accumulated, and I wondered if we stuck out like sore thumbs on the white background. Half expecting to get shot, I was pleasantly surprised to arrive at the building unscathed.
Whisper of Shadows (The Diamond City Magic Novels) Page 15