“That’s a fairly common name,” Brant said, picking up his tablet from the desk. “We can run it through our system along with similar names, but it could also be an alias. Did Jaro ever see this Charles? Perhaps we can have him watch the security footage.”
Sergei shook his head. “No. He overheard some of our people talking, and one of them mentioned they needed to drop something off for Charles. Jaro thought it was strange because all trading with OmniLab must go through official channels. But if you can acquire the surveillance footage from the night I visited Hayden’s club, I should be able to point out the woman.”
Brant nodded and entered something into his tablet. “I’ll have someone pull the video from that night. Hopefully, we can question her about this Charles.”
“Perhaps I should visit this club and ask around,” Valentina suggested.
Sergei’s hand on her back froze as his gaze flew to hers. “What?”
Yuri nodded. “It’s not a bad idea. People talk to Valentina. If Hayden will allow her access to his club, she can investigate directly. If someone is distributing weapons, it’s unlikely they’ll know who she is. I can also go with her to keep an eye on things, just in case something goes wrong.”
“The club is closed until we finish our investigation,” Brant said with a frown. “I suppose we could expedite things to have it open tonight, but we’ll need to have tighter security. We’ll probably have a lot of curious people wanting to visit and check things out. It’s unlikely this Charles will make an appearance after what happened last night though.”
Valentina nodded. “Perhaps, but it will explain my presence more. I can say I heard some rumors and was curious. That’s the best time to collect gossip.”
“I’ve been to that club,” Sergei began, drawing her attention back to him. “It’s… not a place conducive to an interrogation. It’s far different from anything we have in our camps.”
Valentina frowned and ran her hand down Sergei’s chest. “You don’t think I should go?”
Sergei sighed, wrapping his arms around her a bit tighter. “I think you’ll be very effective there, but I’m not thrilled about it. If you go, I’d like to be there when you do.”
“That somewhat defeats the purpose,” Yuri said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Then I’ll stay in one of the backrooms where I can monitor things through our bond,” Sergei said with a shrug. “I’m not going to sit on the sidelines and let her go into a place like that without remaining close.”
“I can also go to keep an eye on things on the main floor,” Lars offered. “I’m sure Hayden will want to be there to keep watch too. He has a great deal at stake if we can’t get this resolved quickly and his club reopened. There’s a security office with monitors in one of the backrooms where you can stay, Sergei. I saw it earlier tonight when I helped retrieve the surveillance footage.”
Yuri frowned. “How dangerous is this place? Does Valya need this much protection?”
“It’s not exactly dangerous, but there are many Inner Circle members as well as others,” Sergei admitted and turned to Nikolai. “Did you watch the surveillance?”
Nikolai nodded. “I understand and share your concerns. In addition to attracting regular attention, Valentina tends to draw energy channelers to her, but that may be beneficial in eliciting information. We’ve all been practicing suppressing our energy bond to avoid detection, and I believe the potential for exposure will be somewhat limited. I’d feel more comfortable if Hayden allowed both of us in this backroom to monitor things, though, while Yuri stays closer to her and within easy range. Perhaps we can even enlist Alec and Ariana’s assistance.”
Valentina wrinkled her nose. They were being a little too overprotective, but she had the feeling part of that could be attributed to the change in their bond. Ever since she’d pulled energy through Nikolai and Yuri to heal Sergei, it had deepened their connection to each other. It was much more difficult to separate all the threads of energy between them.
Nikolai’s mouth curved in a small smile. “But I’m sure Valentina can handle herself—more so than most of the women there.”
Sergei considered it for a moment and grinned. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ariana dress Valentina for the club.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sergei chuckled and lifted her hand to press a kiss against it. “You’ll see.”
“It’s my understanding this club primarily operates in the evening,” Nikolai said, glancing out the window into the interrogation room where they’d brought in the next detainee. “If we’re going to pursue this line of investigation, it will have to wait until then. In the meantime, Sergei, you’re going to need to finish the interviews. If Valentina and Yuri are going to visit this club, they need to stay away from the rest of the investigation until then. I don’t want their identities to become compromised.”
When Sergei frowned, Valentina placed her hand on his chest again. “Lars has agreed to pretend to hold the truth barrier for you. It should speed everything up.”
Sergei gave Lars a questioning look and the other man nodded. “I doubt I’ll be as effective as Valentina was, but you won’t have to hide your abilities.”
Sergei nodded. “Very well.”
“By the way, Valya,” Yuri began, darting a quick look at Nikolai. “Your former lover is now assigned to a bunk in our camp and will be put on the work roster beginning tomorrow. He somehow managed to survive the trip relatively unharmed.”
“That’s a shame,” Sergei murmured.
“It is,” Yuri agreed. “But whether he continues to survive is up for debate. Accidents have been known to happen.”
“That might have possibilities,” Sergei mused with a wicked grin.
Nikolai’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck is that arrogant prick doing stationed in my camp? Dmitri was supposed to be transferred out and somewhere on the other side of the world so I don’t have to deal with him.”
Valentina bit her lip and took Nikolai’s arm. “I can explain everything on our way back to Lars’s quarters, Kolya. I may have… agreed to certain things.” She glared at Yuri over her shoulder, and he just grinned at her. In a low voice, she hissed, “You are such a pain in the ass, Yuri.”
He blew her a kiss while Sergei laughed. Oh, she’d definitely pay both of them back for this.
Valentina walked into the bedroom Lars had designated as hers during her stay within the towers. She started to pull off her shirt and paused. Her normal routine was usually to shower, absorbing the water energy to rejuvenate herself, but there was another option. She thought back to the pool Ariana had showed her. Once they’d realized she was a water channeler, they’d given her the access codes so she could use the private pool area as often as she wished.
She headed back out of her bedroom, unwilling to fall asleep until Sergei returned to her. In the meantime, the calming water would help focus her thoughts.
Nikolai was still in the common room and frowned at the sight of her. “Are you all right, Valya? I thought you were going to bed.”
She nodded. “I just started thinking about the pool. With everything that’s been going on, I thought some clarity might help.”
“Ah,” Nikolai murmured and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned against him and sighed in contentment. It wasn’t the same as Sergei, but Nikolai was no less comforting. Each of them provided a foundation she’d come to depend upon. He brushed a kiss against her hair. “I’m going to be up for a bit longer. Do you want me to go with you?”
She shook her head, inhaling his rich, earthy scent. “No, I know you’re tired. You’ve been working longer hours than the rest of us. I’m sorry I haven’t been helping you out as much lately.”
He chuckled and ran his hand down her back. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. I’m glad you’ve reconciled with Sergei, and you two have needed some private time to reconnect. Over the past few da
ys, you’ve been happier than I’ve seen you in a long time, but I understand you still need time for yourself. You haven’t gotten much of it lately.”
“You haven’t either,” she said, lifting her gaze to look into his blue eyes. “Sergei said you had another premonition earlier.”
He frowned. “It happened as soon as you left the towers. I don’t know if it was related to you almost getting caught, or if there’s something else that may still happen.”
“What’s it like?”
Nikolai hesitated. “I’m not sure I can explain. Sometimes it’s as obscure as a feeling. Other times, I’ll get a flash of a scene, as though I’m watching a video. I think it affected the timeline when our bond changed. The flashes happen more often now, but it’s harder to understand.”
She bit her lip, sensing his unease. “Is that what happened earlier?”
He absently ran his hand over her back. “Yes. It was only a split second. I saw you, and you were searching for something. I could feel your fear, worry, and a sense of urgency through our connection. But you weren’t in any location I recognized. I couldn’t see anything except a large, rocky outcropping. Your emotion was the strongest part of that particular vision.”
Valentina frowned. “I didn’t feel much fear tonight. Adrenaline, maybe a little bit of fear for you if we were caught, but nothing to that degree. Do you think it’s something that may still happen in the future?”
Nikolai sighed and tightened his arms around her. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. I wish I could have been able to assess the background more closely. If you didn’t experience anything like that tonight, I can only hope the future’s been altered.” He shrugged. “I want you to be happy, Valya. Anytime you’re upset, it affects all of us. More so now than it ever has.”
“It affects me too,” she whispered, leaning against him and hugging him tightly. “This bond between us has changed in more ways than I imagined. I find myself worried about all of you much more than I ever have before. I probably wouldn’t have killed Marek earlier, but I was so focused on Dmitri’s potential threat to you, I didn’t consider another option. My only thought was, if he was interrogated, you would be held responsible for sending a spy into Ivan’s camp. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Nikolai leaned back, studying her. “Do you regret killing him?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted with a frown. “I don’t regret protecting you, but I wish I hadn’t needed to end his life. When you asked me to choose between healing Sergei and killing Viktor, I think it changed something within our bond—within me. I think you were right. If I’m meant to be a healer, killing shouldn’t come so easily to me.”
“You’re too hard on yourself, Valya. Your training taught you to respond in one way, and you’ve always excelled at that. We’re asking you to choose a different path now, and change doesn’t come easily to anyone. Be patient with yourself.”
“I’ve never been patient,” she grumbled.
He chuckled, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. “No, but I have faith in you. We all have a lot to learn about ourselves, each other, and this bond between us. We were brought together for a reason, and I intend to see it through.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Something about Nikolai always grounded her, and she nodded. “You’re right. I think a trip to the pool will help.”
“Good. Will you let me know when you’re back?”
Valentina nodded. “I don’t think I’ll be longer than an hour.” Standing on her toes, she kissed him lightly on the lips. “Talking to you always helps. I love you, Kolya.”
“I love you too, Valya. Enjoy your time to yourself.”
With a smile, she headed out of Lars’s quarters and into the hallway. She’d visited the pool area with Ariana several times for training, but she’d never used it alone. Nikolai was right. A little private time was needed, and part of her was looking forward to the opportunity.
The pool was located on the same level as Lars’s quarters. Based on her exploration over the past few days with Sergei and Yuri, they’d determined most of the residences on this level belonged to the founding families of OmniLab. They were in one of the uppermost levels of the Inner Sanctum, where the family suites were considerably larger.
She hadn’t met many other Inner Circle members, or at least none while claiming herself to be one of them. So far, they’d managed to restrict the knowledge to just a few. Ariana and Alec knew, along with Lars and Brant.
They’d consented to allow Alec to share the information with Seara, the other co-leader of the towers, and also with Kayla, the young woman Sergei had met on the surface. All of them had promised to keep their secret, but once a secret reached this many people, it wasn’t much of a secret anymore. One day soon, they’d need to go public, but she worried about what that would mean to their position within the Coalition.
She sighed and entered in the code to access the pool area. The door slid open, and her footsteps echoed softly in the empty room. The stillness of the water called to her, and she immediately pulled off her shoes and unhooked her pants, dropping them beside her. She pulled off Sergei’s shirt and tossed it on top of her pants, leaving only her undergarments on. She still felt unsure about going into the deeper areas of the pool, but it was impossible to deny the primal call of the water. Pulling off her weapons, she carefully placed them beside the pool within easy reach and took a step into the calming water.
It was even better than she remembered. She moved deeper into the pool until the water swirled around her waist. Taking a deep breath, she submerged herself below the water’s surface and for a moment, her thoughts drifted. A sense of rightness filled her and she reached out, feeling the water’s slight resistance against her fingertips, but at the same time, it was a welcoming embrace. She was displacing the droplets, but she was also part of it… as though every molecule of water within her body was reacting with the water surrounding her. It was a feeling of belonging, but there was something more calling to her from beneath the water’s surface—
She broke the surface with a gasp, unable to hold her breath any longer.
“Are you all right?” Ariana’s voice broke into her reverie.
Valentina turned to find the dark-haired woman standing beside the pool with another woman she didn’t recognize. Valentina frowned, studying the petite newcomer. Something about her was familiar, but she didn’t know what it was.
Valentina focused again on Ariana and nodded. “You mentioned it would be all right if I came to the pool. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Ariana shook her head and smiled. “No, I’m glad you came. Your energy was… unusual just now. I was tempted to reach out, but I didn’t want to disturb you if you were practicing.”
Valentina stiffened, immediately wary about the newcomer and Ariana’s comment about energy. She hadn’t been practicing anything, but she didn’t intend to advertise her abilities. “Who is this?”
Ariana smiled and gestured to the dark-haired woman with vibrant green eyes standing beside her. “This is Kayla. She just arrived from the surface.”
Kayla inclined her head in greeting. “Hey. It’s great to meet you.”
Valentina moved over to the edge of the pool within easy range of her weapons, should they be needed. Even if Ariana claimed Kayla to be honorable, she wasn’t willing to trust anyone without vetting them first. Sergei hadn’t said much either way, but she hadn’t really discussed Kayla with him either. Pulling herself out of the pool, she said, “Sergei mentioned he’s been working with you.”
Kayla studied her for a long time, and Valentina took the opportunity to do the same. Kayla was a few years younger than her, but she carried herself with confidence. It was apparent she wasn’t quite as sheltered as Ariana, which made sense given the brief history she’d gathered about her from a few others.
Finally, Kayla grinned. “Wow. You’re a lot more like Sergei than I expected.”
Ariana laughed. “I thought the
same thing when I first met her.”
Kayla made a sweeping up-and-down gesture in Valentina’s direction. “You’re emanating that whole quiet danger thing like he does. It just screams badass. I need to learn how to do that.”
Valentina blinked at her, but she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Despite her initial reservations, she somehow intuitively knew neither one of these women were threats. Even so, it was always better to remain cautious.
She tilted her head, considering the body language of the younger woman. Whereas Ariana possessed an almost naïve innocence, Kayla appeared to share more similarities with Valentina. At least, on the surface. “You know Sergei well?”
Kayla shrugged. “I’ve worked with him quite a bit on the tower construction, but Sergei’s always been hard to read. Trying to get any real information out of him is next to impossible, unless he wants you to know something. And trust me, I’ve tried from almost the moment I first met him. When Ariana told me you were bonded, I had to meet you.”
Ariana tucked a small braid behind her ear. “I hope you don’t mind me talking about you. We’ve both known Sergei for a while, and he’s always been mysterious. We stopped by Lars’s quarters to see you, but Nikolai said you were here.”
Valentina nodded. “I’ve been curious about Kayla too. Lars said our energy was similar.”
Kayla took a small step toward her. “I heard that, but you’re not a spirit energy channeler?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Ariana said I was a water channeler like her.”
Ariana smiled. “I don’t really understand it. Lars has tested all of our energy and says there’s a quality to it that’s unlike anything else he’s experienced. For some reason, our abilities react differently to Shadows too. None of us seem to have a problem using energy around them.”
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