Darkness Divides (Sensor #3) (33 page)

The faintest grin touched Bartol’s face. “I’ll do that.”

This time when he spoke, he meant it.

Chapter Thirty-six

We ran into another guard on our way up. He’d just discovered the pair I’d hidden behind some boulders and was about to pull the knife out of one of them. I grabbed my Sig out of my holster.

“No need,” Lucas said, stopping me.

He walked up to the guard—who had a stricken look on his face at seeing the nephilim—and grabbed the man’s neck. It snapped like a twig. He’d been so frozen in fear of Lucas that he hadn’t even tried to defend himself.

“You must have quite the reputation around here,” I said dryly.

Lucas grunted. “He won’t be out long. We need to get going.”

I pulled one of the stakes I’d collected from my pack. “Stick this in his heart and he won’t be a problem for a little longer.”

Lucas didn’t hesitate to use it. I was rather certain he drove that stake all the way through the guard. Even weakened, he was still stronger than me. I also noticed his lash marks were starting to heal up. He took the bottle of water I handed him and we started moving again.

We kept up a steady pace and reached the tunnel entrance before long. The guard there was still out too.

“Huh, I thought for sure someone would find my trail of bodies by now.”

“There’s no way for us to get out except through that barrier.” Lucas nodded at the shimmering shield. “It makes them too complacent to bother with more security. Not that they ever counted on anyone like you coming along who could get around it.”

“Well,” I said, taking my pocket knife out to cut my finger. “I guess they’ll learn their lesson now.”

It took a few drops of my blood to bring the shield down. My eyes were immediately blinded by sunlight as it came pouring into the tunnel. The heat came along with it.

“We will pay for this adventure, Melena. You need to accept that Remiel will come for me. We can only hope he’ll wait until after we’ve dealt with Zoe and found my brother.” He didn’t sound like he thought we’d get that lucky.

I put my knife back in my pocket. “You’re just going to have to trust me that things will work out.”

He gave me a skeptical look. “We’ll see.”

We stepped out of the tunnel and into the direct sunlight. I squinted at the long stretch of sand we had to cross before we’d reach the portal. “Ugh, I hate this place.”

Lucas lifted his brow. “You’re complaining to me?”

“Good point.” I didn’t have room to say much after seeing what he’d been through.

Lucas had recovered enough that he didn’t need my help any more as we trudged through the sand. He still had a lot of wounds, but most of them had closed up and would probably disappear soon. I kept feeding him protein bars and giving him water as we moved along, which seemed to help speed up the process.

When we reached the section where I’d left the pair of guards I’d first encountered, I didn’t see anything except some spots of blood and a couple of singed feathers.

“Shit.”

Lucas looked over at me. “What?”

“I left two guards here, but they’re gone now. They have to have raised the alert with the others on the island.”

His gaze swept the area, stopping somewhere close to the direction of the portal. “It appears they’ve formed a sizeable force to block our path. Can you sense how many are there?”

I shook my head. “We’re not close enough yet.”

I dropped my pack to rummage through it. Most of my arsenal was gone. We’d have to use my last two RPG rounds and hope we scared the crap out of them enough that we could cut through their ranks in the middle. Then toss the last grenade as we passed them by. That was the best plan I could think of.

“Come,” Lucas said. “I won’t let them keep you here. We’ll do whatever it takes to get you out.”

The meaning of his words weren’t lost on me. If he had to give himself up to save me, he would. I couldn’t let him do that. Not after making it this far.

“We fight.” I gave him a determined look. “You and I. I’ve still got a few tricks in this bag and you’ve got the advantage of them being scared of you. We can do this if we work together.”

He pulled me into his arms. I didn’t care that he was naked and dirty. This was the first time he’d touched me in an intimate way since I’d freed him.

“We will fight if we must, but if I negotiate for your freedom and they grant it, you will go. No arguments. It does neither of us any good if we’re both trapped in this place. Emily needs you.” He used the one thing against me he knew would be effective.

“Damn you,” I said into my chest. “That’s fighting dirty.”

“Always, sensor. There’s no other way to fight.” He kissed my head and released me.

We walked toward the force that had been amassed against us. With each step I tried to think of ways to get us both out. But when we reached sensory range of them I stumbled to a halt. Lucas gave me an inquiring look.

“Those aren’t guards.” I nodded at the group ahead. “They’re not anything I’ve ever run into before.”

It was the oddest thing. There was warmth in their auras, but also a sense of power. They felt familiar and yet they didn’t. Twelve supernaturals I’d never encountered before—and somehow I felt close to them all.

“It’s almost as if they’re…” I shook my head. “No they can’t be.”

Lucas’ lips twitched. “They are the nerou. What do they feel like to you?”

I waved my hands helplessly. “They feel like a cross between my race and yours, but they wouldn’t have kept them here, would they?”

“They did and that is what you’re sensing. I only learned about them myself last year. They were always kept hidden from me before in another part of the mountains.”

I gave him a horrified look. “But that’s horrible to bring them to a place like this to grow up. And now they’re setting them up against us. This is like a cruel joke.”

How could I fight them when all I could think of is the orphaned children that had been ripped from their parents after birth? Sure, they were adults now and most of them centuries old, but that didn’t detract from my mental image.

“They won’t fight us. Come, let’s go speak to them.” He took my hand.

I didn’t budge. “You can’t be serious. They’re standing there clearly ready to stop us.”

“Are you sure?” He lifted a brow. “Perhaps it’s time you put a little trust in me.”

I looked into his eyes and saw nothing but confidence in them.

“Fine. But if anything goes wrong, it’s not my fault.”

He tugged on my hand and I followed him across the span of sand between us and the nerou. I was convinced I was walking into my doom. There were about a dozen of them—men and women—standing not more than fifty meters from the portal location. I couldn’t see the portal with it closed—or sense it—but I recognized the odd driftwood I’d almost stumbled on when I’d first arrived in Purgatory.

The man who appeared to be the leader of the group stepped forward. At over six centuries he wasn’t quite the oldest among them, but he did feel the strongest. I saw that he had the same shade of blue eyes that all sensors had, except his glowed in the same strange way that nephilim’s did. The nerou was huge—as in WWF wrestler huge. He had the same kind of heavy muscles and he was just a few inches shorter than Lucas, putting him at a little over six feet. His hair was dark and cut close to his head.

He and the rest of his group wore what looked like buckskin pants and tops. They also carried heavy swords that looked like they were made of the same metal as the chains I’d put in my pack. My mouth almost dropped in shock when the nerou shook Lucas’ hand.

“It is good to see you in the sun, Lucas. You were getting a little too pale,” the big guy said. He didn’t appear the least bit surprised at the nephilim’s undressed state or the dried blood covering his skin.

“Ivan, I could say the same of you as well.” Lucas jutted his chin at me. “This is Melena. She’s busy at the moment getting over the shock of seeing your race for the first time. She’ll find her voice in a moment.”

I kicked him in the leg. “I’m not shocked, I’m just a little surprised.”

“Of course.” Lucas gave me a look that said he didn’t believe me.

Ivan held out his hand toward me and I shook it. “Any woman who belongs to this noble man has my respect. Especially after your activities here today. The entire island is in a panic after several of them witnessed your impressive display of weaponry. While a part of me will resent you for taking Lucas from us, I also wish to see him free of this place. Of all the races here, nephilim suffer the most, by far.”

He spoke such perfect English I had to wonder if they’d taken the time to educate the nerou. It would make me feel a little better if they had.

I adjusted my rifle on my shoulder. “So I take it you’re not here to stop us?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Those are our orders, but we only agreed to them so the guards would not come instead. We’ll watch your backs you as you leave.”

“Really? Why?” I was beginning to think I’d just entered another reality. Oh wait, technically I had.

The man’s blue eyes glowed a little brighter. “When Kerbasi allowed it, Lucas trained us to fight. Whenever our guardians weren’t watching closely he told us stories about the ways of life on Earth. We hope to someday to win our freedom and live there. It is now a dream for us, but before meeting your nephilim we had no idea such a place existed. It is a small thing to help him escape after he’s given us so much hope.”

Wow, now I felt bad I couldn’t take the whole group of nerou with us. First I was forced to leave Bartol to his misery and now these guys. No wonder Ariel had emphasized that I couldn’t take anyone else. I’d have freed half of Purgatory without her dire warnings. They’d have to stay, but I’d start petitioning for their freedom once I was sure we weren’t going to be landing back here as prisoners ourselves.

“I appreciate your helping us.” I nodded at Ivan. “If there’s a chance in the future that I can help your people in return, I’ll gladly do it.”

“You would have our gratitude.” He gave me a slight bow, then pulled his sword from its scabbard and offered it to Lucas. “This is not the same sword I made for you. There was no way for me to get that one in time, but I offer you my personal one. Take this and remember us by it.”

Now that I could see the sword up close, I was amazed at the workmanship. It was beautiful with an intricate design inlaid into the hilt and a wide cross-guard to protect the wielder’s hand. The blade itself had a slight blue tinge in the silver that reflected in the sunlight. Lucas had a large collection of swords at his house in Juneau, but this one was by far the nicest I’d seen.

“I will carry it with pride.” Lucas graciously took the sword from him.

My senses lit up and I looked behind us. “A host of guards and guardians are headed this way. We’ve gotta go if we don’t want this to turn into a big fight.”

“It appears your senses have a much greater reach than ours. I hope someday we can learn more from each other,” Ivan said, stepping out of the way.

“You and me both,” I agreed.

Ivan looked back at the group behind him and they immediately opened a path for us. “Go. We’ll take care of anyone who comes this way.”

Lucas and I thanked the nerou leader once more and rushed toward the portal. I dug the device out of my cargo pants and activated it. A second later the portal opened. It sort of reminded me of a smaller version of the Stargate on that sci-fi television show that used to play a lot. I returned the device to my pocket and took Lucas’ hand. Together we walked through it.

Chapter Thirty-seven

We came tumbling into the men’s locker room at Chena Hot Springs, landing on our hands and knees. It hurt worse to crash into tile than it did water. I looked up and saw we were next to the same red lockers where the portal had opened before. A bathroom might not seem like the ideal place for transporting around, but the owner had remodeled it recently, so at least it looked nice.

“Is it always that rough going through?” I asked Lucas.

“No,” he said, rising to his feet before helping me up. “I suspect the fae device sends a unique signal and the trip is intentionally difficult.”

Somehow that wouldn’t surprise me.

“Well.” I set my pack down. “Why don’t you hop in the shower while I go grab Fallon. He’s got your clothes and some other stuff for you.”

I’d had the vampire pack Lucas’ favorite soap and shampoo, along with a razor and toothbrush so he could at least feel a little more like himself soon after returning. The real trick had been convincing Fallon to stay out of the bathroom while I was coming and going. He was aware I was opening a portal—that much information couldn’t be avoided—but not exactly where it led to other than a sort of angel prison.

Lucas set his sword down. “Don’t take long.”

“I won’t.” I smiled at him and headed out the door.

No one was in the pool this time when I walked by it. They weren’t closed for visitors until midnight and Fallon and I had arrived just before that. The vampire had had the job of clearing people out of the men’s locker room and then standing guard outside it. The portal opened quietly enough he probably hadn’t needed to compel anyone into forgetting they’d heard something strange. Now, though, no one was around to have caught anything.

My senses picked up Fallon pacing just outside the pool house. His agitation and worry reached me even before I got close to him.

I poked my head out the door. “I’m back and I’ve got Lucas.”

He almost bulldozed over me as he headed toward the locker room. I followed close behind. It was almost amusing how excited he was to see his master again.