Crow - The Awakening (65 page)

She gasped, and opened her eyes. They were full of sadness and pain. Asherah looked over at him, but didn't seem to see him. The sedatives had been much too strong and it looked like she was still trying to wake up. The physician handed her a drink and she took it and drank as if on automatic pilot. It was all too much for Tor’eng and he left, angry at the deviant for corrupting his daughter. He departed the cave that they had secluded her in and jumped down the cliff to the grass field below. They had isolated her there as punishment for her activities. But was the punishment too extreme, too much for her to handle? And yet, the fate of the Cooperative hinged on the success of Lohet's mission.

Asherah looked around. She was in her cave, but she was seeing through her bond. Steven had just witnessed the death of the agents and she was tormented at having to show him that. She knew it might happen, but hoped to be able to restrain the vines and plants enough so the agents didn't get killed. He was so innocent and so kind and had already seen so much death. Asherah cried for him and her failure. But what else could she do? He needed to learn the truth about himself and her. It was imperative to his survival. Those chasing him had no idea of just how powerful he really was, and neither did he.

She could feel his terror trying to consume him along with his exhaustion dragging him down and Asherah tried her best to take it in to herself, to lessen his load. But it was wearing her out. Her calf burned and she winced, wondering how Steven had tolerated it without crying out. The pain of all his cuts, scrapes and bruises washed over her as she owned them, freeing Steven from their burden. She cried from the pain, and from the horror Steven was having to endure while she was unconscious and tried so hard to pull it from him until she couldn't bear it any more. And even then she persisted.

The sedative had set her back significantly. She was completely useless for the worst of Steven's experience and she was furious with her father for doing that. But he didn't understand. He doesn't know the depth of their bond. He was unaware that they had become life-mates much like he and her mother had become. Nor was she going to tell him. At least not now. To him, Steven was just a deviant. Like all the other deviants. A threat to be destroyed. But Steven was so much more, so very special, and Asherah cried for the unwarranted hate being directed toward him.

She rolled over, wracked by guilt. Informing her father about Steven in the first place had turned out to be a colossal mistake. Asherah's father seemed to know stuff she was completely ignorant of in her childish naivety and he became so angry with her and Steven. She was banned from the clearing that she had spent so many years playing in. It was the clearing from which her mother embarked through the fracture. It was a special place to her. And now it was beyond her reach.

And yet the bond was not beyond Asherah and even in her cave she still experienced Steven. The fracture was strong in the cave as well. And it was strong in a spot of the forest she liked to go meditate in. But she still tried to remain subdued, to stay behind the scenes. She was often watched by a chaperone. However, they often retreated back to the forest during the day, unable to bear the cave anymore. Living in the cave where there was no life around her to connect with had been a torment of its own, but Asherah weathered it, focusing on Steven and his challenges instead. She had planted one of Steven's favorite plants in a little spot of the cave entrance that had soil. It was now gone, potted up in Steven's greenhouse. Asherah wished it was her he had taken up and away from this place.

She was starting to wake up now. She could feel Steven and as she closed her eyes she could experience him. He was on the run again. He was heading to the forest. Her heart jumped. The other fracture was in that area. If he could just see her again, if she could just touch him, he would believe. She almost had him at the greenhouse, would have if she had just tried. But then she was afraid of disrupting the mission. No longer. She was going to convince him this time. He had to believe her. All it took was a touch. She hoped to pull him to her away from Laurence. But she would have to hide him. Steven would be in danger no matter where he was. Perhaps he could pull her in with him instead. Her mother was there and she was sure she could convince her if just given the chance. The choices raged inside as she pondered the ramifications.

Asherah reached into a bowl of freshly picked mushrooms and nibbled one, concentrating, trying to guide Steven to the spot where the fracture was strongest. Opening her eyes, she looked around. The physician was done and packing her gear to go. She reached out to her arm. "I need to meditate." Her voice was hoarse and she coughed, clearing it.

The physician looked back at her, then she looked at Asherah's chaperone and nodded. He smiled and stood up and to the side, allowing Asherah to exit the cave. She looked down and jumped. It was only about
fourty feet
down so it was an easy jump. Asherah didn't like climbing the rocks back up, however. She landed lightly on the grassy field below, experiencing an involuntary thrill at the feeling of the live grass and plants on her feet. As she walked, the blades of grass nearest her leaned in as if trying to touch her.

Asherah turned and waved at the chaperone then trotted into the forest, taking a circular route to her meditation spot so they wouldn't see exactly where she was going. It wasn't deep in the forest so she had to be careful to keep the spot undiscovered. And especially now, when she didn't want any interruptions. Not when she would be with Steven. Her heart swelled at the prospect of being in his arms, of holding him tight. She knew he would feel the same, that he felt the same. He was just resisting it, unable to accept it because it didn't make sense to him. But it would make sense when they were together again.

She found the part of the forest where the fracture was strong and sat down. Around there was a mixture of her jungles and his forest. Only she could see it, however, because of her bond with Steven. He was keeping them all active without even knowing it. Where the fracture was weaker, her forest dominated but she was still able to stay out of sight and follow Steven. But at this spot, he'll be able to see her clearly and touch her and she him, and she shuddered in anticipation

She found her rock and sat on it while digging her toes in the humus of the forest floor. The air was warm and tropical and the vibrancy of the forest around her was intoxicating. She was excited to be able to go there to rejuvenate. It was as important to her as breathing. The forest missed her too and tendrils curled up her legs where she sat, putting out leaves and flowers at each node. She smiled wistfully and smelled one of the flowers. It was a cruel punishment to make her spend so much time in that cave and she resented her father because of it. But that didn't matter right now. Right now her focus was on Steven. She could feel his heart racing and concentrated to help bring it under control. He was afraid but she could tell that he was also angry too, and feeling empowered. This time he felt the chase was on his terms and he intended to turn the tables on his pursuers.

Laurence checked his scanner and noticed that the blip that represented Steven had disappeared. He could see all of his other men. Furrowing his eyebrows, he tried to adjust the sensitivity. They had at least another twenty minutes with that satellite. "I think he's gone into a safe room," Laurence said into his bluetooth earpiece. All he heard was static so he tapped it. Frustrated, he remembered that it had been a while since that one had been charged. Stepping out of the garage-turned-apartment, he walked toward the front where his car was parked. He could have sent a man to grab his replacement but preferred to be the only one digging through his tools. "I'll be back. I think he's gone to ground in a safe room so bring in the sonar equipment and start scanning for it," Laurence instructed one of the agents as he walked by.

He jumped onto the golf cart and rode it down to the gate that was now manned by his security forces. They had cracked the security codes and were working to maintain the appearance of normalcy by submitting routine security reports to the remote security company. That would basically ensure that they had unfettered access to the property for as long as they needed. Now that all the personnel had been accounted for and eliminated, there would be no further distractions from the search for Steven. He was down several men, however. It had not been a campaign without casualties. And the snipers on the roof were a mystery that they'd have to figure out. They weren't shot to death by security, but were killed in gruesome ways by something else that was very strong and very fast, and from the amount of shells scattered about, bulletproof. Their helmet mounted cameras had been completely wiped, too.

Scratching his head, Laurence approached the gate and parked the golf cart. There were several SUVs parked inside the gate and his car was parked with them, out of sight from any curious eyes. So far they've done a remarkable job not being noticed by law enforcement or nosy neighbors. One of many things that were actually going right on this operation for a change. Just one last thing to go right and they'd all get to go home. He sat in his car and rooted around for his replacement bluetooth earpiece. Finally he found it and he put his current one on the charger and activated the replacement.

"Com check," he said as he adjusted it. One of his agents confirmed that they were receiving him. Satisfied, he checked the scanner again. It still didn't have an indicator of Steven's location. "Have you found the safe room yet?" He tapped his bluetooth earpiece.

"Yes, sir. We're searching it now. But it wasn't used," one of the agents replied.

"Okay, they must have a basement or wine cellar." He was starting to get frustrated. He had hoped to get the kid before he went to ground, but it appeared that he'd found a hole somewhere to hide in.

"We cleared a wine cellar at the main residence, sir, and we're looking for others."

"Double check it. He may have gone around you." Laurence sat back, trying to think of other places he could hide that would interfere with the satellite signal. He pulled up a map and looked at their outbuildings. "There's a garage near the back of the property. I want that cleared. And what looks like a pool house." This is where things get tedious. It was disturbing that he could no longer see Steven on the scanner, but there was nowhere else for him to go. If he tried to leave the property, he'd pop up on the scanner right away. So he was most certainly still there.

"Sir?" One of his agents was addressing him.

"Yeah? Any luck?" Laurence asked, getting ready get leave his car and join the search.

"No, sir." The agent hesitated. "We've been recalled back to base."

Laurence was not expecting that. "Come again?" Did he mishear them? After all, it's been ages since he'd slept and coffee was no longer having much of an effect on him.

"Mr. Bradly has recalled us, sir. We're heading back to base." The agent was apologetic. While they were exhausted, they all felt like they were impossibly close to their quarry, and after all the effort and bloodshed they were being commanded to abandon the search and return to base by Laurence's commander.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Laurence asked, incredulous. Not a peep. Something was definitely wrong here.

"He tried and couldn't get you to answer your phone," the agent responded. "You are supposed to call him ASAP."

Laurence leaned back and groaned as it dawned on him. His battery died and the call must have come in then. If he had had a chance to talk to him first he may have been able to convince him to give him more time to complete the mission. After all, they were a stone's throw from the boy. It's just a matter of minutes when he would be discovered and apprehended.

He saw the crews starting to filter out of the buildings, some of them carrying their casualties. "Hang on a minute. Let me call him." He looked at his phone.

"He said for us not to delay, sir," the agent said. "I'm really sorry."

They started loading up the SUVs quickly while a few went and policed the property to pick up discarded or dropped weapons. The last things to be loaded up were the sonic scanners they used to peer through heavy walls to find the safe rooms. Laurence sat there stunned, watching them getting everything together and ready to go as if he wasn't even there. Everything was starting to fall apart for him and he was powerless to stop it. His men were not going to disobey orders, especially those from his own boss.

As he watched the SUVs starting to pull out, he called Jacob. It was not a call he looked forward to. This entire time he has been hoping to hold off contacting him until he had Steven in his custody. Instead, he's forced to call him in the middle of abject failure, regardless of the fact that Steven could be just yards away.

"Mr. Bradly, you're killing me," Laurence said to Jacob. "I'm on the same property that Steven's on. He could be just feet from us."

"How many times has Steven been mere feet from you, Mr. Johnson?" Jacob asked coolly. Laurence fell silent. Steven had managed to slip through his grasp many times in the past couple of days and even escape actual custody once.

"I'm working to rectify that sir, if you'd just give me a chance," Laurence insisted. "We have him cornered here. There's nowhere for him to run and he knows we know where he is."

"Given recent history, those are assumptions I'm not willing to bet on, Laurence," Jacob stated. "I think we need a fresh perspective on this and you need a break."

"I need to capture my mark and fulfill my mission, sir," Laurence responded, frustrated.

"Don't forget that it's not your mission, Laurence. It's my mission," Jacob said curtly. "It's time for you to go to base for debriefing and reassignment."

"Steven is out there hiding in a hole just waiting for one of us to pluck him out, sir. We are literally feet from him. How can we get this close and just get called away?" Laurence asked, rubbing his face in frustration.

"We have another operation in place to acquire Steven, Laurence. It is imperative that all pressure is removed from him. He needs to feel like he's not being chased anymore. That means you need to return to base." Jacob was sounding more irritated than usual. He wasn't accustomed being argued with.