Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (5 page)

Loth and Blayne, two of his guards from the south wing, walked through the door with the Guardian in tow. Boris and Mal, also stationed in the south wing, came in behind him. One couldn’t be too careful when it came to the legendary warriors, as he’d learned in
New Jersey
. Garrick was this one’s name, based on his folder. Ekhart had already read his file from front to back, finding it interesting how much more they’d had to drug him in order to keep him subdued. In fact, he was drugged and chained at this very moment.

Couldn’t be too careful, indeed.

Still, drugged as he was, the Guardian managed to give him the look of
death. Not that it bothered him;
he’d been given that look countless times over the centuries. And here he still was, alive and breathing. Although, if the fairy
weren’t
drugged,
he might feel
somewhat
different. To his knowledge, he’d never stumbled across one of the Fae before—let alone captured one—so he wasn’t one-hundred percent sure what the bastards were capable of.

Eyeing the Guardian, he took in the once-nice suit that was now wrinkled and dirty, likely from the caves. A kindred spirit, this one, dressing in fine clothing and taking care in his appearance—or at least, normally. At the moment, his hair was wildly disheveled, but his face was cleanly shaven, giving him at least some appearance of cleanliness.

“Please sit,” Ekhart said, gesturing to a chair on the other side of his desk. When Garrick didn’t sit, Ekhart gave a quick look to the guards and the Guardian was forcefully shoved into the chair. “Well,” he said, looking at him more closely. “You are quite a treat, aren’t you
,
Guardian?”

“So your mom said,” he replied. A few snickers sounded from the guards, but their reaction was quickly replaced by silence. “And I’m not a Guardian.”

Ekhart smiled, relishing the man’s temper. “So I read. But, I’m sure you can understand why I don’t believe you. You were working with the Guardians when we found you. It was
only by fortunate accident
that we captured you though, you see. We were after the vampire.”

“Which one?”

“Raider was his name, I believe. He was the one we were meant to go after and the one we would have gotten had you not interfered.”

The Guardian said nothing to that. Instead, he changed the subject as if Ekhart hadn’t spoken at all. “I take it you called me in to let me know what the fuck is going on?”

“Oh no. No.” Ekhart shook his head. “This is like a job interview, you could say.” He paused when Garrick’s face screwed up in confusion. “I trust you’re comfortable. Is your room to your liking?”

“Not
remotely
. I can’t say your dark, dank cave is anywhere near as comfortable as my king-sized pillow
-
top mattress. And I can’t speak for the cleanliness of the place either,” Garrick replied briskly, causing Ekhart to laugh once more.

“Oh I
do
like him,” he said to his guards. “I can see why our Nitro was friends with him. He’s got a lot of
…
spirit, this one.” Yes, he had just enough punch to make this work. “He’ll do just fine,” he said out loud, to no one in particular. Looking at his guards, he gave them a quick nod. “Go ahead and take him back.
Let Dr.
Shorman know to keep our new friend on the same schedule until I
inform
him otherwise.”

The guards nodded and hefted Garrick to his feet, forcing him to the door. Despite the if-looks-could-kill expression that Ekhart received, he gave the Guardian a friendly smile and waved goodbye until the door snicked shut behind them.

****

Garrick had gotten a good look at his surroundings while the guards had led him through the caves. And caves
we
re exactly where he was—there was no doubt of that now. From what he’d seen as they meandered through the passages, the place was huge, splitting off at random intervals. Some of the passages appeared man-made. Others, natural. He had no idea which hallway led to an exit, and he had no idea exactly how far in he even was.

Even so, it didn’t stop him from trying to escape. He wrenched his arms apart, his binds breaking from the force. The guards hadn’t even reacted before he took off at a dead run, turning down hallways as he heard sounds of shouting and boots hitting rock. He pumped his arms and legs, ignoring the feel of broken chains as they slapped against him.

Christ, the place was huge. He had no way of losing the guards, who had made enough racket that others had joined in the hunt. There were many after him now, he knew without a doubt. Garrick spotted a familiar passage and increased his speed. This way led to the lab, but a little f
a
rther up, there was a hallway that split off to the right. Garrick took the turn, looking back only briefly to see that there were four guards barreling toward him. Still too close for him to be unseen. His heart pounded, the sound ringing in his ears along with the sounds of his heavy breathing. He faced forward again and plowed into someone, the two of them sprawling on the ground. Garrick s
o
mersaulted and rolled to his feet again. He was up and running again, taking three steps, then four.

That was as far as he got. The chain that hung off his right wrist was wrenched backward, his arm bending with it. He crashed into the wall and faced the bastard just before the guard cannoned into him, sending him to the ground once more. He fought, though still drowsy, damning the fact that he’d been slowed down. Damning it even more as the others caught up to him. He threw punches and kicks, using whatever method he
coul
d to inflict pain on his enemies. But being drugged as he was, he was no match for them. Burly’s massive face came into view, his eyebrows drawn low in a scowl as his lips curved in a sneer. He gripped Garrick’s shoulders and pulled him up, settling him on his feet. He didn’t let go as another guard clapped new shackles around his wrists, another binding his ankles. He closed his eyes, hoping—praying—that he could trace, but to no avail.

The
drugs had started to wear off as the guards led him back to his prison cel
l. He’d wished that they
had worn off a little faster so he could have
an actual go at attempting to
trace out of there. It was damned useless trying to trace out of his cell. He’d gotten a lot of headaches just from trying to force it.

“Ugh,” he groaned, continuing to pace. What was he supposed to do? How in the hell was he supposed to get out? Or even, how could he contact someone for a pick up?
He was sure that the Guardians would come in on an assist based on what he’d seen on the other side of these walls. He
’d seen so many other doors that likely led to more rooms
just like the one he was in now. Just like the one Dani was in. He looked over quickly, seeing the shape of her along the far wall. In her normal hunched position, she faced him,
keeping her eyes rooted to him as though she was scared that we would harm her if he was given the chance
.

Falling into his pacing steps once more, he thought through everything. He’d gotten a good look at the
hardware on the outside of the
doors, and nothing short of
a
tank could break through them—if even that. On top of the hardware, there were also magical wards. He hadn’t picked up on them
right
after he’d been drugged, but on his journey back to his room, he began to sense it. Ekhart had quite an institution going on here. The man knew what he was doing and how t
o keep his prisoners subdued.
They referred to this place as
the Institute, but he’d yet to find out what was taught here. And he didn’t know what part he played in any of it.

Looking through the window again he stopped, frozen, as he saw Dani standing at the glass,
peering
at him. Her hands were up as though she’d been pounding on the pane, but with it being soundproof he hadn’t heard her ministrations. Nearing the window, his eyes locked on hers. She spoke to him, but not being able to hear her
voice
, he shook his head and shrugged. Dani’s shoulders slumped and then finally she pointed to him with her brows raised questioningly.

Garrick brought his finger to the windowpane, dragging it across the glass as he’d done earlier. “Escape plan” was glowing on the surface, backwards for him, but legible for her.

Dani shook her head energetically and brought her hand up to her neck. Making a slit-throat gest
ure she shook her head again
.

So, escape meant death, and she knew it. How long had
the woman
been here? Writing on the glass, he asked how old she was. She shrugged and shook her head. How could she not know
her own age
?

Unless she’d been here her entire life. He hoped that wasn’t the case. This wasn’t a life for anyone, let alone a lady. His finger set to motion once more, and “Kidnapped?” shown on the glass.

She nodded.

“When?” he wrote next, and then groaned. “How old?”

She brought her finger up, and he matched his to hers as she wrote a “1” and then a backwards “5”.

Fifteen? She’d been fifteen when she was taken?

Garrick’s teeth gnashed together and he’d had to trample down the urge to pummel all the rocks into sand.

Which he’d already tried. Bloody hard rocks.

The woman clearly wasn’t fifteen. She was no teenager at all.
Taking a deep breath, he wrote more on the window between them. “When?”

Dani
raised
her hand to the glass
and wrote the date she’d been taken
.

Dear gods, she’d been here for almost ten years? Garrick set into his pacing motions again as his anger spiked. “Gods dammit!” he growled. How in the hell had she survived this for so long? Just from what he’d seen the last few days, she came back in pretty bad shape every time that smug asshole of a guard brought her back from her excursions.

Looking at her again, he noticed that she’d been trying to get his attention. Her hands were clutched, but she released one so she could place her finger to the glass.
Her eyes were big. Questioning.

He knew what she would ask, and he didn’t want to break it to her. Unable to shrug-off her pleading gaze, Garrick mimicked her movements until “What day is it?” illuminated on the glass.

Jaw still clenched, Garrick pulled away from the glass. She’d be twenty-four or twenty-five now, almost a decade of her life wasted away in the dark confines of the caves.
Maybe he’d been wrong earlier, hoping that she hadn’t lived her entire life in this hellhole. It was likely far worse to have started a normal life somewhere only to live a life of torment day in and day out at the hands of scientists and demon bastards like Ekhart.

She stepped forward, inching even closer to the window as though she could walk through it. Garrick caught sight of her expression—one of pain and astounding curiosity. She had to know.

Nearing the glass, he wrote
a date
and then hastily added “+/-” as he didn’t actually know what day it was either, not that the actual day would matter as much as the year. He didn’t move as Dani read the numbers over and over, then looked at him, and then read the date again.

****

Danielle stepped away from the glass, her eyes focusing on the numbers as they slowly started to fade b
etween them. Garrick remained still
, his eyes never leaving her face.

She’d been here over nine years?
Nine years?
How could that be? And how could she be twenty-five?
She had often feared that she’d lost all concept of time,
but nine years was pretty excessive. Had she truly not seen her parents
in nearly a decade
? And if it were truly that long, then how long had it been since Karena’s death?

Her heart pounded, and she sat on the ground quickly, clutching her chest. No, this couldn’t be. They couldn’t have held her in here that long. Tears streamed her cheeks, and although she’d tried to squelch it, a tear-filled moan escaped her, followed by a cry. She cried and cried, drawing the attention of the guards. Her light flicked on and two
entered
as her anger spiked.
Neither said anything, just looked at her as though her pain was a nuisance they’d rather quiet with a syringe than deal with.
She tried to fight them, and had even gotten some purchase with one of them, somehow overpowering him until the other one slammed into her, shoving her face-first against the hard wall. He tweaked her head to the side, bearing her neck for the shot that they gave her.

Danielle gripped the wall as weakness crept through her.
Her breath made a hissing sound as it went through her nose, her face squinched up against the rock from the guard
’
s huge palm. D
izziness grabbed her.
No!
She didn’t want to fall asleep again. The nightmares that plagued her made sleep torture.
The guard
’
s hold eased and she turned to face them.
Her eyes landed on Pyro just as he ran inside, looking mortified at what was happening. Everything around her started to sway: the walls, the floor, even the guards stretched this way and that, morphing and elongating at odd angles. She kept her eyes trained on the guard she knew better than anyone else in this hellhole. “What year is it?” she managed to ask.