Approaching Storm (Alternate Worlds Book 2)

by Taylor Leigh

  ‘Oh my stars,’ Arkron’s voice came from above. ‘Why the hell didn’t the security system pick up on that?’

  Marus glanced up at her as she joined them. ‘Don’t know.’ He released Sam from the embrace and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then, swiftly, excitedly, he spun away from her and bounded towards the prone form of the giant man. He whistled as he circled the body. ‘How did you manage?’

  Sam didn’t bother answering. She didn’t want to think about it. She’d just killed a man. Gods… Her gut churned.

  ‘Sweetheart,’ Arkron breathed, finally reaching her. ‘Are you okay?’

  Sam nodded, wishing desperately they would stop asking. ‘Fine; he didn’t hurt me.’

  Arkron sat down next to Sam and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Sam tried to regain control of her breathing, surprised by just how quickly it was coming.

  ‘It’s all right, it’s over now,’ she murmured. ‘He may not have hurt you, but you’re going to have an impressive bruise in the morning.’ Arkron’s fingers traced Sam’s cheek.

  Sam miserably, achingly wished Tollin were here.

  ‘How did he get in?’ Marus mused.

  ‘My—’ Sam’s voice broke and she cleared her throat. ‘Through my window. I’m not sure how he got up.’

  Arkron nodded. ‘Must be an expert climber. Knew what he was doing. He does this for a living, I’d wager.’

  Sam avoided looking at the body. ‘He’s from the Myrmidon base; he was there when Tollin was captured.’

  Arkron craned her neck to look at the body. ‘Oh, yes. I’ve seen him before. He was Roth’s little minion who did his bidding since he was stationed on Scrabia. He’d always been a bit of a rogue.’

  ‘They must be getting desperate to get their hands on Sam,’ Marus grumbled, toeing the body.

  ‘We can’t keep doing this,’ Arkron snapped, watching him as he continued to prod at it.

  Marus looked up from the body. ‘What?’

  ‘It’s getting too dangerous to stay here. We need to leave.’

  ‘Leave? Leave where?’ Sam cried.

  ‘I don’t know. Some other Realm.’

  Marus winced. ‘I don’t know…’

  ‘Sam was almost killed!’ Arkron cried.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Sam said again, feeling like a broken record. She ran her hands through her hair to try to disguise just how badly they were trembling. ‘We cannot leave! Tollin is still trapped there and the anniversary is happening this week. We should go to the Myrmidon headquarters and put a stop to them!’

  Arkron gave Sam a soft smile. ‘And just how would we do that? Look, if we leave, then the Myrmidons can’t get hold of your ring. The anniversary would pass by without any significant incidents, and the Myrmidons would be stuck until the next five-hundred years.’

  Sam stood, shakily. ‘If that happens then they’ll kill Tollin. They won’t have a use for him. I am not leaving till he’s back.’

  Arkron glowered. ‘It isn’t your decision to make.’

  Sam looked down at her hands. They were red with blood. She felt ill. ‘I need to be alone,’ she managed to stammer before awkwardly spinning and stumbling back up the stairs. She needed to think. She needed Tollin.

  Sam made it to her room and stripped off her bloody clothes, turning on the shower to as hot as she could stand it. It wasn’t till she was there that she allowed herself to collapse. She wasn’t sure if she was crying or not. It was hard to tell in the spray.

  * * * * *

  Consciousness reluctantly came back to Tollin and with it brought back all sorts of uncomfortable reminders. His mouth was dry, leaving a horrible taste in his mouth he couldn’t rid himself of. The bright white lights of the lab were trying to force their way through his eyelids. His head pounded. All of his muscles ached. Oh, he hated being drugged.

  Slowly the events leading up to his being in such a state started to creep back into his mind. Roth had tried to possess him…the Blaiden man…

  Sam!

  The thought snapped his eyes open.

  She was in danger.

  He glanced round the small lab, as if he might see her there. It was empty.

  How long had he been out? His body gave him a good estimation. Six hours.

  What had happened in six hours? A lot could.

  Misery flooded him. Misery and guilt. He hadn’t been able to warn Sam.

  He tried to mentally reach out to her, but his brain was still too muddled to try to make a connection. He could feel nothing. If she was dead or alive, he was in too much of a dazed state to know.

  Tollin closed his eyes again, feeling ill, and rested his cheek against the sterile cool of the table. He’d been so stupid about the whole thing! Why hadn’t he told her to leave when he had the chance? Arkron could have taken her well away from here. Any Realm…he hadn’t wanted the problem to spread, he’d wanted to keep everything in his control, but if it meant keeping Sam safe…it had been a difficult choice and now he was paying for it.

  His chest clenched up in pain.

  Perhaps part of it had been selfish. There was something comforting about her. Something about lying awake late at night, having someone to talk to, who wanted to listen to him, who was—through nothing more than a fluke—now understood him better than anyone. It had been nice and he hadn’t wanted to give it up. And now Sam might be dead.

  Perhaps Roth’s minion hadn’t killed her. Perhaps Sam was here at the base now. Yet Tollin liked to think that if Sam was in the base he would know. He’d somehow be able to sense her. He couldn’t sense anything. But, considering the mental state he was in, all jumbled and drugged, that didn’t mean much.

  He supposed he’d find out sooner rather than later. If they had the ring in their possession, Tollin wouldn’t have long to wait.

  Well, they weren’t going to get any cooperation out of him. If they’d harmed Sam in any way, then they would pay for it. He’d bring this whole place down on them. He had nothing left to lose. He’d find a way.

  Tollin lifted his head numbly as he heard the metal door slide open. He watched in dull interest as Erikson walked inside. The door closed behind him and the two men studied each other for a quiet moment. Erikson didn’t seem to know what to say, he just looked at Tollin like one might look at a wonder of the world. Tollin kept his face a mask of angry warning.

  At last, Erikson spoke.

  ‘Is it true really true?’ His voice waved slightly.

  Tollin swallowed drily. ‘Is what true?’

  Erikson twisted his hands; he looked like a small child. ‘That you’re…not human?’

  Tollin sighed, already done with the conversation. ‘You already know that from the DNA reports.’

  Erikson took a breath and a step towards Tollin. ‘It’s just that…that I can’t actually believe it! I mean, my whole life all I’ve ever wanted was proof—proof that there was something else out there.’ He let out a sad laugh. ‘And here you are!’

  ‘Yeah,’ Tollin muttered, not giving Erikson the satisfaction of looking him in the eye. He didn’t really care to be a zoo animal on display at the moment.

  Erikson watched him. ‘I don’t approve of this, you know,’ he lowered his voice. ‘What they’re doing to you.’

  A grim smile pulled at Tollin lips. ‘Oh?’

  He didn’t really care to acknowledge him, but if Erikson could give him any information on Samantha, he was willing to go along with it. And, Tollin knew from years of experience, one of the greatest assets in the world was people. Get people on your side, and things became a million times easier. If Erikson was feeling guilty about how Tollin was being treated, then perhaps the two could come to some sort of arrangement. That was why he was here, Tollin had no doubt.

  ‘I turned off the recorder. No-one will know what we say, just so you know.’ Erikson walked past Tollin. He sighed. ‘I joined these people because I wanted to perhaps find a way to prove that the Theory of Dimensions had some truth to it. People thin
k we’re crazy, you know, for believing in other Realms.

  ‘Then Roth showed up and took over everything. He was a genius, and thanks to him we got the plans for the chair, and more amazingly, we actually got it working! We broke through the fabric of this dimension to another one. It was simply a void, but it proved something else was out there. We were all amazed. Me, most of all, I think.

  ‘And then things took a bad turn. Roth started to become power hungry. He went mad. He wanted more than just studying the void; he thought we could actually break through to a different, real dimension, one as thriving as our own. He had been studying the anniversary for years and was sure he could make it happen.

  ‘He started kidnapping people, trying to find someone who might have a quirk in their genes who would allow us to break through to another Realm. The power from the generator burned most of their brains. We killed eighteen people trying to do it!

  He sighed. ‘That was when I realised the Myrmidons weren’t who I thought they were. If an entire organisation could go along with murder without batting an eye…This isn’t what I signed up for. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I’m not a violent man, Traveller. I’m a scientist. I don’t want you strapped down to this table like a lab rat. I want you to know that I’m not like the rest of them.’

  ‘Well,’ Tollin said, unable to help himself. ‘Roth hasn’t gone mad, that’s your first problem. He’s possessed. By a Daemon.’ He lowered his brows in thought. ‘And, tell me, why go with the radical Myrmidons when there’s so many other Realm groups out there?’

  Erikson smiled tightly. ‘The Myrmidons seemed the most legitimate at the time.’

  Tollin nodded. ‘Where’s Roth?’

  Erikson’s expression turned a little ill. ‘In the chair room, I suppose. Last night after he drugged you he went off his head. He injected himself with a phial of your blood and then locked himself in with the chair. He hasn’t left since.’

  Tollin scowled, trying to work out what that was all about. Perhaps Roth really had lost his mind. What was he hoping to accomplish by injecting the wrong type of blood into him?

  ‘About that chair,’ Tollin said, deciding Roth’s actions didn’t do any good to puzzle over at the moment. ‘The anniversary is happening in three days. You have to know that by now; you can feel the tremors. When that hits, this place is going to be the epicentre of massive power. Even without the ring this building and this very reality will be severely altered. That generator you’ve all built isn’t going to be able to handle the pressure. It’s going to blow. And you know what is going to happen then? It will take out the entire coast.’

  Erikson gave Tollin a wild-eyed stare. ‘What are you suggesting?’

  Tollin pressed his lips into a thin, grim line. As much as he didn’t care for the Myrmidons, he couldn’t just keep the information to himself. ‘Warn as many people as you can, get them out. Try to get as many people to evacuate as possible; I don’t know how far the blast will go, but get them out. Out of Druid land, as far as Briston if possible! And warn the city officials! Tell everyone in the path that they’re in danger.’

  Erikson placed his hands to the sides of his head. ‘But there’s no way we can warn everyone!’

  ‘Try!’ Tollin snarled.

  Erikson sucked in a deep breath. ‘Right, and what about Roth?’ He paced back to look at Tollin. ‘He’s possessed. What am I supposed to do?’

  Tollin, used to taking the oddest questions in stride, mused for a moment. ‘You are asking me, your prisoner, what to do? Well, quite simply the answer is release me. Roth needs to be stopped and that generator needs to be turned off and I’m the only one who knows how to do it properly! That’s what I do, you know.’

  Erikson let out a hollow laugh. ‘If only I could! Unfortunately it’s not going to be that easy to get you out of here. They’re guarding you like you’re the Sceptre of the Lost King!’

  Tollin shrugged. ‘Just leave the door open; I’ll take care of the rest.’ He honestly was not sure how capable he was of that. His legs felt like limp noodles thanks to the drug. As for the rest of him? Well, it wasn’t much better.

  Erikson frowned. ‘No. Look, it’s going to take some thought, but I’ll be back. I’ll start sending out the warnings; that should leave this place a bit more unprotected. Once you’re free, do you really promise you’ll help?’

  Tollin grew serious. ‘I swear.’

  Erikson nodded. ‘Don’t worry, friend. I won’t let you down. Just trust me.’

  ‘Erikson,’ Tollin glanced up at the man just as he spun for the door, he turned back slowly. Tollin inwardly told himself to remain calm. To accept whatever he heard. ‘Sam. I need to know about Sam.’ Even as he said the words, her name automatically sent his heart racing a little faster with sentiment.

  An unfathomable emotion flicked across Erikson’s face. ‘We haven’t heard back from Ulvihund since he left. Roth is furious.’

  Tollin nodded slowly and directed his gaze up to the ceiling, away from Erikson. He fought down a ghost of a smile. Samantha Turner was safe. He was sure of it. His heart swelled with pride. She was absolutely brilliant.

  He barely heard as Erikson turned and closed the door behind him, leaving Tollin once again alone with his thoughts.

  Chapter Forty

  It had been a full day since Tollin had spoken with Erikson. Since then, he’d been locked in his cell and had heard nothing. He got the sense that things were degenerating into a sense of dawning panic.

  The base gave another deep tremble as an earthquake shook the ground. He’d been counting. They’d been happening about every two hours, now, and growing in intensity. People were starting to realise that they were going to be at the centre of something powerful and quite possibly dangerous. The base was starting to descend into chaos.

  Erikson’s warnings had clearly done the trick.

  From what Tollin’s sharp ears could pick up, it sounded like a mass exodus was in progress. Give it another day and there probably wouldn’t be anyone left. Besides Roth, of course. Well, and him. Tollin wasn’t seeing much progress on Erikson’s escape plans so far.

  Tollin leaned his head back and closed his eyes. In the darkness of the cell he’d had plenty of time to plot and puzzle over everything of pressing importance—which was just about his entire situation. The generator had to be turned off, that was an absolute. He was fairly certain that would be rather straightforward. The more difficult issues would be how to go about destroying the stones and—most importantly—what to do about Roth.

  Admittedly, Tollin wasn’t looking forward to that confrontation. Roth was a much more dangerous advisory than Tollin had first thought. His demonstration of how easy it had been to penetrate Tollin’s mind was still raw in his memory. He wasn’t sure how to exorcise something like that.

  Deep in his heart, in a place Tollin rarely ever allowed himself to look, he feared Roth. He feared how easily the man had defeated him. Tollin was an enemy even the most powerful Daemons quailed before, and yet Roth had found the whole demonstration childish, easy, and he’d left Tollin broken when it was all over. He hadn’t possessed him, but the display had proven it didn’t intimate him to try.

  Yet, from what Roth said, apparently Tollin had beaten him before, even if he no longer remembered the incident—which was another thing that bothered him, for if Roth were as powerful as he’d shown, certainly that confrontation would have been burned in his mind for ever. Roth hated him for whatever Tollin had that over him. That hatred had to come from some small spot of fear. All Tollin had to do was just remember how exactly he’d accomplished it.

  With everything going on, as occupied as Tollin was, he’d still found himself thinking of Sam, and quite often, too. He’d tried to reach her several times, but was finding it exceedingly hard to calm his mind enough to form a strong enough connection. And any time he’d actually been able to, Sam had been so distracted with her own situation—whatever that was—she hadn’t been aware of him. No
w, however, things were still. It wasn’t that late but perhaps he could find her. Perhaps she was calm enough that he could get through.

  There it was, hovering in his mind, just beneath the conscious surface: Sam’s presence. It would be so easy to tap into and explore if it wasn’t completely off limits. He respected Sam’s privacy. As long as there was nothing in there about Daemon invasions, he did not need to know. He hoped she wasn’t busy.

  ‘Sam?’

  ‘Tollin?’ The force of her excitement was as if she’d physically knocked into him, throwing him in to a tight embrace. It left him grinning, reeling, despite himself. Like a heavy weight he hadn’t been consciously aware of till now had suddenly been lifted. She was safe, she was fine, she was talking to him. And she was happy to hear him. It sent a warm wave of reassuring comfort through him.

  Sam was still talking, and fast. ‘Are you all right? I haven’t heard from you!’

  Tollin rubbed his temple, trying to stop her from spinning his head. ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down! Am I all right? Are you all right? Roth sent his big minion after you—what happened?’

  ‘Oh, right! I’m fine; things have been a bit mad around here. Arkron is trying to get us to leave! Leave the entire Realm! I think she’s serious this time.’

  ‘B—but what about Bruno, uh, I mean Ulvihund?’

  ‘He did manage to break in last night. I was kind of awake because of you…I could tell something was upsetting you and it was keeping me up.’

  Tollin let out a breath. Well, at least he’d managed to get something across to her.

  ‘Had a struggle. Grabbed me right out of bed. I was terrified. Never been so scared in my life…all I could think about was you.’

  The statement made them both go quiet for a moment. It dropped the bottom out in Tollin’s stomach in an unexpected way. He cleared his throat. ‘What happened?’