A tech tapped her arm to get her attention, and she managed to steady herself long enough to look over to see what he wanted. His lips moved, but she couldn’t make out the words. Her gaze darted to the machines, which had also gone impossibly silent.
One final jerk—as if the whole room was being pulled out from under her sent her to her knees.
Something patted against her face, and when she opened her eyes, Jonah looked down at her.
“It’s here,” she whispered as he lifted her off the floor.
“It was certainly trying, but you’re safe.”
Kaylyn let her eyes slide closed again until a woman called her name.
The room had gone pitch black, and Jonah’s arms were gone from around her. She felt like she was lost in a pool with no bearings to figure out which way was up or how to get out.
The room lit up and she saw Jonah across the room, leaning over a hospital bed. She took a step forward, trying to see around him, but the woman called to her again. In the doorway to the room stood a middle-aged woman with cropped strawberry-blonde hair.
“You’re too close to the boundary, sweetie,” she spoke with an Irish accent.
“Boundary?” Kaylyn blinked and the hospital morphed into the Teague. Just a dream. Wake up, Kaylyn.
“You’re too weak.”
“Who are you, and what the fuck do you want?” Kaylyn screamed, darting toward the hallway. The floor suddenly became soft beneath her feet. A burgundy carpet stretched down the hallway and dim lights lined the cream-striped walls.
Dream, dream, dream, she repeated to herself. Wake up.
The woman appeared in front of her. “Jonah has you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” She gave up on running since that only seemed to make the dream even wonkier.
“You can’t fight it, Kaylyn. It is pulling you in, and it will succeed.”
Her chest tightened.
“Jonah will come after you,” the woman stepped forward, pushing Kaylyn’s hair back. “But I can’t tell if he can pull you out.”
The woman looked to the side and Kaylyn followed her line of sight, realizing they were back in the hospital room. Wake up.
She felt her body jolt and opened her eyes, waking to her bedroom and her favorite blue comforter. Resting her muddled head on the pillow she looked around—something wasn’t right.
“It already has a grip on you.”
Kaylyn jumped out of the bed, her feet tangled in the comforter and she landed on the rough carpet.
“Every time she makes a connection with you, your resistance is weakened.”
“So, how do we get out of this?”
“It’s your legacy.”
Kaylyn felt something dance down her right arm. They were in the hospital room again, but this time she was standing right across the bed from Jonah. The bed where her motionless body slept.
Jonah stroked her arm again. “Kaylyn. Wake up.”
“What do you mean, it’s my legacy? Am I supposed to die in the hotel?”
“I can’t say.”
Kaylyn’s legs threatened to give out. “How do we stop it?”
“Break the bond. Ni neart go cur le cheile.”
Kaylyn grimaced, wondering if it was the dream creating the jibberish or—
Her chest jerked painfully when she woke. Gasping for breath, she sat upright.
Jonah grabbed her shoulders and eased her back. “I was beginning to worry.”
“Just beginning, huh? Then you haven’t been reading very carefully, because I’ve been past worry for days.”
“Were you having the dream again?”
The dream… “No,” she shook the gunk from her brain. “I don’t remember.”
She started to doze again, then pulled herself up. “We need to do something.”
“Settle back, Kaylyn. I don’t think it was here. It was channeling you. As long as you keep the pendant on, I think we’re all safe.”
“Think? That’s comforting.”
“What part of this whole ordeal has moved past theories?” he mused, but continued talking, as if he didn’t expect a response. “Its connection to you seems to be getting stronger, regardless of where you are and whether or not anyone is in the hotel.”
His words sparked a feeling of familiarity, but Kaylyn’s brain refused to work back to the source.
“Kaylyn?”
“I think I’m okay.” She squinted, continuing to survey the room. Shadows bustled through the hallway and around the room. “I see… shadows, other people. It’s like an old TV trying to pick up more than one signal. The images flicker in and out.”
“You should really—”
“I know, Jonah, rest, but...” She shook her head, her hand moving to the necklace resting gently against her chest.
“Maybe you should leave it alone, Kaylyn.”
“I have the necklace on. Besides, I think they’re all residual. People, doctors, nurses, going about their business. Looks like they’re from the eighties.”
“You’ve seen images like this before?”
“Not like this. It’s so strong, I can’t believe you don’t see anything.”
“Maybe it’s only meant for you.”
Kaylyn hummed, “And everyone says the world doesn’t revolve around me.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“I don’t think your doctors and nurses are going to jump on board with you wandering around.”
“So do your thing and convince them.”
Jonah groaned but helped her out of bed, wrapping a robe around her shoulders. “Are you going somewhere in particular?”
“I don’t know. Do you hear babies crying?” Kaylyn slipped by the nurses and walked down the hall. She stopped in front of the last room and pushed the door open.
“You can’t just barge into people’s rooms.”
“There’s no one in here at the moment. No one living, anyway.” Kaylyn’s voice remained even and low. “This used to be maternity… and it’s her. The brunette I keep seeing.” Kaylyn collapsed into a seat near the door. “It’s hard to focus on anything, like I’m still not entirely on the right channel.”
Jonah squatted next to the chair as Kaylyn’s head snapped around to the door. Jonah followed her gaze, even though he couldn’t see the apparitions. A broad-shouldered man came through the door and walked right through Jonah.
“Did you feel that?” Kaylyn asked.
“What?”
“He just walked through you,” she said, keeping her eyes on the scene unfolding in front of her.
“Anything that will help us?”
“I don’t know.” Kaylyn pulled herself up and walked toward the bed. “It’s a girl,” she mumbled, unsure of what emotion she should be feeling. The man who had walked through Jonah was standing next to the bed, paying far more attention to the little girl than to the woman in the bed. Kaylyn leaned against the wall, feeling Jonah’s eyes on her.
“Today—what if today is the baby’s birthday?”
Kaylyn dropped back into the chair.
You’re too close to the boundary, sweetie. The words echoed in her head, but she couldn’t place where they’d come from.
“Can you help me back to the room?”
Jonah offered an arm, supporting her weary body along the short walk back to her room.
As she climbed under the covers again, something in the closet beeped.
“My phone,” she groaned. “It’s Cole. She’s the only other person who has that number. Perfect timing.”
Jonah pulled the phone out of the bag and tossed it to Kaylyn.
“Hey,” she said trying not to sound like a dusty old record.
“Where are you?”
“Indisposed.”
“Seriously, Kaylyn. I need to show you something.”
Covering the microphone, she whispered, “Any chance I’m getting out of here any time soon?”
Jonah shook his head.
“I’m at
the hospital. For the tests Emerson ordered. It’s room…”
“Three twelve,” Jonah filled in.
“Wha—” Cole said, followed by a clatter indicating she’d dropped the phone. A second later, she came back on. “Do I even want to know why he’s with you?”
Kaylyn closed her eyes. “Later, Cole.”
Jonah
Kaylyn was asleep again by the time Cole arrived—it was no wonder, given the strain the connection with the entity had on her system. And despite the nurses’ promises that Dr. Pierce would be in shortly, there had been no word on her condition or when she would be released.
“She said she was here for tests. Is she okay?” Cole whispered. Her eyes were swollen and rimmed with pink. Kaylyn had warned him, that she’d likely be on a tirade after hearing his voice over the phone, but this was the opposite of what he expected.
“Yeah. We need to figure out what this entity is soon.”
“I might have something, but…” She trailed off, watching her sister sleep. “She told me about the fire, and a bit about your theory. Dad did go to the hotel in 2000, right around the time of the fire.”
She handed Jonah an old envelope, stained yellow with age. He pulled out the small stack of papers. The top sheet was a copy of Kaylyn’s birth certificate, but before he could get any farther, Kaylyn stirred.
“What’s up, guys?” Kaylyn whispered, her voice still crackly with fatigue.
Cole headed across the room to the bed, but Jonah remained a few steps away.
“I talked to Dad for a while after you left.” Cole said. “He told me about the fire. He was subbing for an associate on a case that involved the Teague in 2000. He couldn’t tell me any more.” Cole jammed her hands into her back pockets. “About the hotel, anyway…”
Jonah’s attention fell back to the packet of papers, and he shuffled them around to examine the next page.
Adoption Report
Name of Child Before Adoption: Unknown
Sex: Female
Jonah scanned down the page.
Adoption Finalized: January 17, 1987
Legal Name of Child: Kaylyn Shelby Anderson
Kaylyn must have noticed his face, because she looked ready to crawl out of bed to rip the papers from his hands. “So, what the hell is in the papers?”
Cole took a step away. “You were adopted, Kay.”
“No.” She moved down the bed, reaching for the papers.
“An abandoned baby. No one knew your name.” Cole fought back a sob as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
Kaylyn tore the papers from Jonah’s hand, but kept shaking her head. “You’re saying I was the baby in the hotel. How did I escape the fire?”
“I—I,” Cole stuttered, she had to take a breath before continuing. “I don’t know, but…”
Kaylyn’s body shook with emotion, but from the tight set of her jaw, Jonah figured they were only seeing a sliver of her reaction. She gathered the stack of papers and tossed them to the edge of the bed. “If the brown-haired woman is my mother, maybe we should just ask her what’s going on.”
“No.” Jonah glared in warning. “The only way to do that is for you to take off that necklace. After last time—you’re not pushing it any further. We’ll find another way.”
“I might have something,” Cole said, “The recordings. We caught a baby crying. What would a mother do when a baby cries?”
Kaylyn threw up her hands. “Trivia? Now?”
“Kaylyn.” Jonah put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him away. “The mother would try to soothe the baby. She’d probably say the baby’s name. If you can get me the recording, I have a program on my home computer that should be able to give us a cleaner audio.”
Cole nodded. “It’s in my car.”
Dr. Pierce interrupted. “How are you feeling, Miss Anderson?”
“Dandy,” Kaylyn grumbled.
“I reviewed your tests. There was nothing abnormal until the stress test, when you began showing signs of an anxiety attack.”
“Can you release her?” Jonah asked, eager to get her away from danger.
“She is stable, and if you understand the implications, I can release her under your supervision.”
“Perfect.” Jonah said, grabbing Kaylyn’s bag and dropping it on the foot of the bed. “Get dressed. We’ll sort out the rest of this at my house.”
Kaylyn wasted no time in crawling out of the bed, while Jonah and the others headed out to the hallway to get the paperwork moving.
“Exactly how long has she been staying with you?” Cole asked as soon as the doctor stepped away.
Jonah ran his hand through his hair, but Kaylyn stepped out of the room before he had to answer.
Kaylyn pulled her jacket closed and tugged up the zipper. “You have that flustered look again, boss.”
“Can we discuss everything at my house? Yes,” he looked at Cole, “we’ll explain why she’s been staying with me, but priority number one is getting Kaylyn somewhere out of the entity’s reach.”
“Fine.” Cole shrugged. Her hands formed fists at her sides until she tucked them into her pockets. “Lead the way.”
Jonah took Kaylyn’s bag and threw it over his shoulder. She was still shaky, but managed to navigate through the winding hallways to the elevator without a problem. Avoiding eye contact with Jonah and her sister, Kaylyn pressed the elevator call button at least three times before turning and flopping against the wall.
Jonah wasn’t sure which was worse: watching the girls avoid each other’s gaze in an awkward silence or having them both ranting and bickering. His phone buzzed, putting him at the center of the tension. “It’s Dad. Maybe he got a hit on the symbol.”
“Symbol?” Cole asked, her gaze bouncing between Jonah and Kaylyn. “What all are you two leaving me out of?”
Jonah debated on stepping away to take the call and letting the girls fight it out in the semi-privacy of the hallway. But then, he figured Kaylyn’s revenge for such an action would be worse, so he let the call go to voicemail.
The elevator dinged and the trio stepped on board the half-full car in silence. Cole leaned against the outside of the car, her attention focused on her phone while Kaylyn tucked herself in the corner and stared off at the floor.
Kaylyn was asleep in the passenger seat by the time they arrived at the house. She groaned when the engine cut out, and mindlessly reached for the door handle. “Can I crash on the couch for a while? Preferably with the TV on.”
“Whatever you want.” Jonah pulled her out of the car, as Cole stepped out of her own car. Together, they helped Kaylyn to the living room. “We’ll be in the office behind the stairway. Yell if you need anything.”
“No problem, boss.” Kaylyn stretched out on the couch.
“She is beyond drained,” Cole whispered.
“That’s what happens when you have two entities trying to channel you.” Jonah threw a blanket over Kaylyn.
Cole dragged her fingers through her hair and pulled the length over one shoulder. She kept her face tilted down as she spoke, “Thanks for trying to protect her.”
“Don’t thank me until we figure this out. Come on,” he nodded to the back of the house.
The computer beeped and booted while Jonah listened to the message from his dad and sent back a quick text message. The symbol had appeared in a couple of Aicil cases, including one that was apparently even above his father’s pay grade. However, his father did manage to send over a small collection of files that dated appearances of the symbol back at least a hundred years, always in isolated cases.
“Is that the symbol you two were talking about?”
“Yeah, Kaylyn found it in her house. Please, don’t ask for all the details.” Jonah massaged his temples, he was already exhausted, and the oncoming headache was just another dilemma he didn’t need.
“Wasn’t going to. Just tell me what I need to know.” She handed him a SD card, which he popped into his computer. “The hotel is
the only file on the disk. You’ll want to cue the video to an hour and forty minutes in.”
Jonah pulled up and isolated the audio segment, setting it to run through a program to analyze and isolate the sounds. He pulled out his buzzing phone again, hoping that it was his father with more news, but Emerson’s number flashed on the screen. Probably an inquisition about his spending the evening with Kaylyn at the hospital. He put the phone on silent and tossed it on a nearby shelf.
“Ignoring your boss?” Cole asked, indicating she’d been watching over his shoulder.
“Emerson isn’t my boss. He outranks me and, for some reason, has taken a particular interest in this office—I’m done playing his game. If the council wants to rain down on me for it, then so be it.”
A floorboard creaked in the hallway and Kaylyn stumbled through the door, taking a seat on the floor near the desk. “My brain won’t shut off.”
“You need rest.” Jonah said, watching her eyes flutter and her body slump against the wall. “You two… I swear, after the last week, nothing the Council decides to do to me can compare.”
“Come on, boss,” Kaylyn’s words slurred as she patted him on the knee. “You know we’re growing on you. You’re exhausted, too. And I know I’m not going to be of help, but…”
Cole huffed and headed out of the room. “I’m at least grabbing the blanket and pillow.”
“Kaylyn?” Jonah whispered.
She struggled to keep her eyes open. “I feel like my blood has a static charge. I just want to pass out, but the charge won’t let me until I put everything in the right place.”
“I don’t think your body is going to give you much of a say in the matter.”
Cole reappeared, draping the blanket over Kaylyn’s knees and placing the pillow beside her. “We got this, Kay. At least long enough for you to rest.”
Kaylyn moaned and snuggled against the pillow. Most of the time, Jonah had to force himself to remember that she was only twenty-three; still new to the game. Aicil was trying to force her out just as quickly as they had pulled her in, and there had to be a deeper reason for it all.
“Did you two know about Aicil before you were recruited?”
Fractured Legacy (Darkness Bound / Frqactured Legacy #1) Page 13