“Sorry,” I said automatically. “Nerves.” I stopped my fidgeting. I hadn’t even noticed that I was doing it.
Her hands rested on her own legs, the nails digging into her knees. Bravi often pulled a brave face, so it could be hard to tell when she was upset. But Dorian was her childhood friend, and she was clearly worried about him. I worked up the courage to ask her about her opinions on Vonn being able to take Dorian while we silently scanned the landscape for the dot that might be Dorian’s body.
“Are you nervous about all this?” I asked softly. “Eskra seemed positive Vonn did something sinister to Dorian.”
“I’m more worried about what to do with Team War. Don’t panic. Vonn is a terrible fighter, definitely no match for Dorian, and Dorian has gotten himself out of stickier situations,” Bravi said and paused tensely. “Although Dorian hasn’t fed in a while.”
I peered down in sudden hope but soon realized it was a stunted patch of bushes. “True. I think he’s been spacing out his feedings,” I confessed.
Possibly for my sake. If Vonn had managed to overpower Dorian because Dorian prioritized our relationship over his own strength… I wouldn’t forgive him or myself.
Bravi exhaled forcefully. “We’ll get him to feed after we find him.” Her voice sounded sure, yet it carried a note of unease.
I doubled my efforts surveying the canyons passing beneath us. The redbill flew slowly so as not to miss anything. If Vonn had killed Dorian, would he have hidden his body? It was possible in this complex system of canyons. There must be dozens of smaller caves in the area. Even if Dorian was alive but badly wounded, we might not see him.
“There,” Bravi said sharply, pointing ahead. “A redbill!”
I followed her shaking finger as we descended. The redbill in question flapped its wing, but the movement was jagged. When it flew to greet us, the motion was wobbly.
“Drigar,” Bravi breathed.
“He got hurt during the fight with the shrieking decay,” I said. “Dorian patched him up before we started traveling back to the mountain caves, but he took off to recover in his own time. I didn’t think he would have made it all the way out here yet.”
Drigar squawked as we neared him. He flapped his wings as best he could, flying toward us. His beady eyes focused on me, and he released a chirp of alarm. Had he been looking for people? If Dorian got hurt earlier with Vonn, several hours had passed already. I felt a bead of nervous sweat trickle down my neck. Could Dorian have been too injured to communicate his needs?
“I think he wants to lead us to Dorian,” Bravi said.
I grinned at Drigar, relieved to see him well. He tilted, turning in a wide arc to lead us farther into the canyon. We came to the edge, where the rock formation took a sharp dive. It was an old waterfall that was now completely dried up. The river must have been fast and narrow at one time, as its force had carved a deep, steep-walled gorge out of the red rock. It would have been impossible for a human to climb the sides without equipment and specialized training.
A dark dot moved weakly halfway up the wall. I sucked in a breath. Movement means life. He was alive! I wanted to cheer out loud, but anticipation kept the grateful noise in my throat.
Dorian clung precariously to the cliff. Even with his superior strength and reflexes, the climb must be close to the limits of his ability. Drigar squawked his distress beside us. Bravi leaned forward, her redbill diving in response. She cast me an elated, wild grin as the birds twisted down toward Dorian’s location.
Our redbill pulled up beside Dorian. He arched his neck to get a look at us but stilled suddenly as if the movement pained him. Bravi took one of his arms, and I took the other. We hauled him onto the redbill between us. He collapsed into me with a relieved grunt and a pleased smirk. The redbill wobbled slightly but steadied in the air.
“You found me,” he whispered. His hand wrapped around mine, and he pulled me close. There were streaks of red on his hands and his shirt. He nuzzled my cheek with a grateful sigh. “Both of you. Thank you. I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”
I felt heat rush to my face at the close contact. He had scaled that entire wall even with his injuries. Pleasant warmth filled my limbs as I admired his handsome face.
Bravi averted her gaze and quickly landed the redbill at the bottom of the cliff.
As preoccupied as I was with Dorian, even I noticed her movements had turned stiff and awkward. Strange. I figured she would be happy to see him in one piece and would be mercilessly teasing him for causing trouble or promising revenge on Vonn at this point.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” she said quickly, moving to dismount.
Dorian shook his head, half-dazed from his trek and confused. He grasped her shoulder. “No, Bravi, don’t exclude yourself,” he said. “I need you here right now.” His voice was hoarse, though I imagined this was more from yelling for help or effort than from the heat. Vampire capabilities were truly something.
“Stay,” I said in agreement. “Dorian, tell us what happened.”
Bravi scowled and stayed put, but her body remained stiff. Had Dorian’s affection toward me creeped her out? I saw something familiar in her actions, but I couldn’t identify it and didn’t have time to examine it. Something akin to the expression I’d seen on Halla. If our relationship repulsed her, we would have to deal with it later. Right after the bomb.
Dorian shifted and steadied himself. His arms must have hurt terribly, but I couldn’t see any major wounds—just a few cuts and scrapes on his hands, arms, and face from the rocks. He was safe, and he could tell us about Vonn.
Wait until I get my hands on you, Vonn. You slimy, psychopathic creature…
Drigar landed beside us with a series of chirps and clicks, skidding slightly. His wing hadn’t completely healed, but it looked much better than before.
Dorian grinned at his redbill. “He came when I called, but he couldn’t hold my weight with his injury,” he explained. “I sent him into the canyons, hoping he might come across someone. I told him to look for Lyra. Looks like he understood.”
Thank goodness. Drigar and I had come a long way from our tense encounter in the woods when I tried to escape Dorian after our first meeting.
“Vonn attacked you,” Bravi guessed with a frustrated scowl.
Dorian gave a single grim nod. “He said he saw something down in the ravine and insisted we land. When we did, he waited until I turned my back, then struck me over the head. The blow knocked me out for a few hours.” His eyebrows stitched together in anger. “Whatever he’s doing, I want to stop him. I’m injured, but I can still fight.”
“That’s good to hear since we have unfortunate news,” I said, glancing at Bravi. He would hate what we had to tell him.
“He’s got big plans,” Bravi announced. “Team War is on the literal warpath right now.”
I explained how Vonn had whipped the others into a frenzy. Dorian’s eyes flashed with cold fire upon hearing that Team War had left the other vampires behind to fend for themselves. His face turned stony when I explained they planned to attack the board meeting tomorrow at the Chicago Bureau HQ and how they planned to do it. Our careful preparation for the kidnapping plan had gone up in smoke. His whole body stiffened at the detail about Alan’s threat against my parents.
“We have less than a day,” I pointed out.
Dorian stared. His jaw worked for a moment as he ground his teeth. “Vonn is insane,” he declared bitterly. “Who exactly went with him?”
Bravi’s mouth quirked down at the edges. She was possibly worried he would be upset about the vampires who had switched sides.
“Louise and Laini went along at first because they were afraid Vonn might take them out,” I explained.
“Laini betrayed our side for Vonn’s?” Dorian asked, his eyes burning. “All the vampires completely undermined everything we worked for. They should’ve immediately gone out on scouting missions to verify Vonn’s story about my capture.”
&nbs
p; “They didn’t know what happened to you and assumed the worst. It sounded like Vonn threatened anyone doubtful,” I muttered.
Dorian’s mouth twitched in anger.
“In a way, it was a blessing that Laini and Louise went along with him for a while,” Bravi added quickly, hoping to soothe Dorian. “Now we know their plan.”
“He threatened my last family member,” Dorian said darkly. “He’ll pay for that one. We have to stop this before it becomes a slaughter. I can’t believe Vonn planned this. We can’t afford to lose more people in a half-cocked, rushed assault.” He slammed a fist onto the baked ground, and a spiderweb of cracks spread out from the point of impact.
“Our aims align pretty closely with theirs,” I admitted, startled by the burst of strength. “But our team has no ideas for a plan yet.”
“Let’s head back,” Bravi advised, casting an anxious look at the sky. “We can decide there, with the others.”
We traveled back to the hideout. Despite finding Dorian alive and well, I couldn’t stop the feeling of defeat that weighed heavy on my shoulders. How could we possibly stop Team War’s plan and the Bureau and rescue my parents? Before, our plan had included potentially rescuing my parents to keep them out of the fray and to be bargaining chips, but now Vonn had sabotaged our chances. You couldn’t haggle with the Bureau if you murdered every single one of their board members. Not to mention, Alan had beaten us to that particular move—except, unlike with us, there was no guarantee my parents wouldn’t be harmed while in his possession.
The redbills landed at the entrance of the cave as the sun touched the top of the scarlet horizon. Bryce and Zach waited just inside the overhang.
“Glad to have you back,” Bryce told Dorian with a tight grin. “Sorry, it’s not under better circumstances.”
“We’ve got to move,” Zach said. “The others are back too.”
We packed quickly. Eskra watched us carefully.
“All of you, stay in the cave,” Dorian advised her. “We’ll return as soon as we can. If you hear anything, hide with the children.”
From the expression that flitted across Eskra’s face, part of her was apparently doubtful we would return at all.
Who knew? Maybe we wouldn’t this time. I tried to ignore my tightening ribs and forced myself to hurry.
Halla and Hart said nothing, and Dorian returned the favor. However, considering the way the two older vampires had acted when my team first came back, I found their frowns lighter than before. Were they relieved Dorian was alive but too proud to admit it?
Dorian and I mounted a new redbill. Drigar roosted alone, chirping sadly. He needed time to heal. The journey to Chicago was too far for him, and we needed to move too quickly. We took off into the sky. The Canyonlands grew smaller and smaller behind us in no time.
A few months ago, I would’ve mocked the idea of riding a redbill.
I snuck a look at Dorian. He caught my eye easily.
“Sorry if you were scared when you came back,” he said. “I can’t imagine what you must have thought when you found an empty cave.”
His safety was the most important thing right now, for both personal and professional reasons. It was perhaps the first time he’d gotten into trouble without it being caused by his own recklessness. I shook my head and laughed.
“I can’t even blame you this time,” I teased.
He laughed wearily and scrubbed his tired eyes. I felt his arms encircle my waist, and I leaned into his touch for a moment of relief. We always seemed to spend our moments together amid chaos. Maybe we could find a few more magical moments like the one we shared on the elk, riding through the forest, but right now, we had more pressing matters to address. Stopping Team War was our first priority, and I needed to focus on getting through the next hurdle.
Dorian adjusted himself on the redbill. My heart fluttered, and I focused on the sensation of his body against mine. Despite the complications of our situation, I savored the closeness. However, it soon turned sour as I remembered that while Dorian’s weakened state allowed us to be close without the pain, that same weakness had caused me to almost lose him today.
He needed to regain his strength, even if it meant my pain increased once more. Our biggest fight yet hovered on the horizon, and we needed every scrap of advantage we could get.
Chapter Thirty-One
We managed to find a tiny uninhabited island way out in Lake Michigan, one of the dozens of artificial ones made a decade or so previously to be rented to tourists for day trips. This one had obviously been unused in several years as the little gazebo was beginning to rot and sag.
All of us took the opportunity to wash away the days of dust and sweat and blood in the icy water. Now, sat on the floor in the precarious gazebo, I leaned my chin into my hand. Our unofficial team gathered around in a huddle, and I dragged my gaze over their tired and serious faces.
Across the water, the Chicago cityscape glowed against the darkening sky. It sat like a promise in the distance. Sound occasionally drifted across, carried to our ears by the breath of the water. Our dangerous mission began tomorrow. We had mere hours to plan.
“Glad the other group didn’t find this island, at least,” Bryce said, glancing around and protectively cradling his acid-burned arm as he allowed the bandages to dry after a cursory wash in the lake. “Nobody saw anything when we landed?”
Sike shook his head. “I sensed nothing but a few harmless beasts. We’re okay for now.” His concerned gaze flickered to Louise, who had clambered back atop her redbill several feet away. She seemed to be reflecting deeply on something. Silently, Sike made his way over to her, and they began to talk in low voices.
Maybe they would come up with something. I would be grateful for any ideas at this point.
A cool evening breeze blew across the water, wiping the summer heat from the air. I shivered in my damp clothes. It wouldn’t be long before the Bureau’s scanners caught the tangle of vampire and redbill frequencies out on this patch of an island covered in spindly trees. We needed to move fast.
“We need to stop Team War,” I stressed, making sure everyone was up to speed. “This is also now our only chance to achieve our original goal of kidnapping the board members. And, in a new and unpleasant twist, we also need to make sure Zach and I find our parents. I have no idea if Director Sloane carried through on his threat or plans to do so in the near future. If my parents aren’t at our home in the residential building of the HQ compound, we can use the board members as bargaining chips for their hostage situation. I hope we won’t have to, but it’s something we need to consider.”
The unspoken part of my monologue was the harsh reality of our situation and the odds currently stacked against us. We had little to no equipment. We were wounded, exhausted, and few in number. Apprehension filled me. How would we pull off this impossible mission?
My eyes focused on the city in the distance as if it would offer up answers. It was odd to see Chicago from this vantage point. Although the city was home for us—Zach and I grew up in the Bureau apartments that were part of the Chicago HQ—we rarely had the time or opportunity to stop and take in the sights.
As children, we had juggled school and the plethora of extra classes we were encouraged to take by our parents and Alan to prepare us for the life of Bureau soldiers. We were always told we didn’t have to follow in our family’s footsteps, but when there was so little else in our lives, the gravitational pull toward enrolling in basic training was too strong to resist. From that point onward, we invested every part of our lives into the Occult Bureau. Our few friends from school were told we had both decided to join the specialist but fairly run-of-the-mill security contractor that was the Bureau’s public face, and soon we lost all contact.
I didn’t regret the path I’d chosen to take, but now, sitting here facing yet another seemingly insurmountable crisis with an empty belly and bruised body, I couldn’t help but wish I was out on the open water in a boat with a group of friends
who weren’t on the run from a genocidal government agency.
“Going off the information we have right now, we are assuming our parents are inside as hostages,” Zach said gravely. “While it’s possible Alan might be lying, I’d really rather not take that chance.”
His voice and the mention of our parents pulled me back from my hopeless daydream. Alan’s cold tone came back to me, and I shivered. His ominous warning hung over my brother and me like a storm cloud.
“Our parents are potentially in danger from both Alan and Team War,” I muttered. “I’m not sure which is worse.”
On the one hand, there was familial betrayal that cut to the bone. On the other was a revenge-fueled squad led by a vampire who wholeheartedly believed in cleansing the darkness from human souls by brutally murdering them.
“I’ve only been to this area once,” Dorian said, his sharp gaze on me, no doubt remembering one of our earliest interactions when he came to my balcony in the dead of night. “What kind of layout are we working with?”
“Chicago HQ is actually two buildings, connected via the ground floor,” Gina explained. “The taller building is for administration. That’s where the meetings are held.”
Bryce nodded in confirmation. “The high-level clearance meetings are held on the top floor. The lower levels are mainly for research, teaching, that kind of thing.”
Gina nodded and continued, “Residential quarters are in the smaller tower beneath the helipad the Bureau uses for missions.”
A sudden image of my parents reading calmly on the couch struck me. What if they were simply at home, safe and sound? Alan was calculating enough to know we would likely be planning something involving the board, so was he trying to throw us off balance by telling us to come as fast as possible right before the board would all be gathered together for their meeting?
“We could check our apartment to see if Alan is bluffing,” I suggested. “I remember Dorian snuck up to my balcony one night right under the Bureau’s nose.”
Darklight 2: Darkthirst Page 41