Grounding Gracus (First Wave Book 6) (18 page)

Gracus tried to hide his concern for his friends, but he couldn’t help but wonder where the hell they were and if they were alright. The last he spoke to Grai, none of them were far from him and Rebecca and there was no reason that they weren’t here yet. Unless, they had run across trouble with the Relians.

He was hoping like hell they were ok, but right now, he needed to find a way out of here. Gracus looked around and squeezed Rebecca’s shoulders one last time before he moved over to the control center for the comm. He ran his hand down the keys on the panel trying to figure out how Fiorn had harnessed the energy of the
Shamatabala
to power it.

Rebecca stood in the middle of the room and folded her arms across her chest. “So, this place was built to protect everyone but me. I get to explode instead. Nice… makes me feel all warm and fuzzy…,” Rebecca said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

She didn’t think that adding fear to the mix of energy building around them was going to help them much. Either way, she didn’t want to see what would find out if they did. Gracus and Gibly just looked at her strangely and she decided to shut up.

Gibly cocked his head to the side and flicked his poofy tail. “It is the heightened energy causing the warmth and… fuzzy inside of you,” Gibly explained, having misunderstood her joke.

Rebecca chuckled. “Yeah, I know Gibly. I made a really bad joke. So, what are we looking for? A power cord? Transformer? Fuse box?” she asked, hoping to change the subject and distract herself.

Gracus laughed. “No, this place doesn’t run on human technology. They’ve harnessed the power of the
Shamatabala
. I just need to figure out how they did it…,” Gracus said as he tried to look behind the back of the control center for an access panel of some kind.

When Rebecca moved over to him to get a closer look, he held his hand up to stop her. “Don’t get close enough to touch anything,” he warned.

Rebecca stopped and threw her hands up dramatically. “I won’t touch anything! Trust me, I’m not going to add to the energy already running rampant through me if I don’t have to. Not really wanting to race toward the ‘pop’. I can think of better ways to die,” she said with a grimace.

Even though she was really wanting to touch that control panel so bad her fingers were itching, Rebecca put her hands in her back pockets. Now she wished she’d touched it when they had first come in this room and hadn’t gone directly to the different doors.

Rebecca turned to Gracus, who was inspecting what he could of the back of the control center. “What if touching that thing can show us how to use it and get out of here?” she asked.

She heard his sigh from behind the control center and watched him slowly stand up, placing his hands on the top wearily. “I’ve thought of that. We can’t take the chance without trying to find something on our own first,” Gracus said, before he ducked back down to inspect the smooth panel, looking for any way to open the damn thing.

As a First Commander, he’d been required to go through a basic training program in all ship duties from medical to engineering. But, he’d never seen anything like the control center he was looking at now. He couldn’t figure out how it was assembled. There were no tool access points, no maintenance door… nothing.

Gracus resisted the urge to kick the damn thing, which was as mysterious as the rest of this forsaken place. He still couldn’t figure out how they were manipulating the
Shamatabala
to illuminate the floors and walls.
Or the cook stove in the dining center…
, he thought as he stood abruptly. Maybe that would tell him how it worked.

“Let’s go. I want to look at the stove and see if I can figure out how the energy works in this place from that,” Gracus said.

Rebecca sighed. “We can go look, but you know it’s going to take me touching that,” she said, gesturing to the control center. “to figure it out. You should take Gibly to the other side of the sleeping quarters, I’ll let you know if I see anything useful.”

Rebecca hoped like hell that he would take her suggestion and go with Gibly as far away from her as they could get in this place, but she knew he wouldn’t. She could feel his denial before she finished speaking. Even Gibly was radiating refusal to leave her side.

Gracus choked out. “I will not leave your side. Nor will I give up. Now let’s go.”

Rebecca watched him stride over to the middle door, the quickest way to the dining center and walk out, expecting her and Gibly to follow. She turned to the uncomfortable looking, poofy cat, who hadn’t moved, to see if he would follow.

Gibly stared at her for a moment before speaking. “I will also remain by your side, no matter the choice you make.”

Rebecca knew the cat somehow figured out that she intended to touch the damn thing anyway and was giving her his permission. Even knowing what could happen if she did.

Rebecca smiled at the cat. “You really are an extraordinary being, Gibly. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, because I would have enjoyed getting to know you better,” she said as she walked over to the control center and raised her hand.

*****

Jacordan heard the shots and the scuffling coming from the trail beneath him and he scurried over to the edge, looking down to try and see what was happening. Some indecipherable shouting followed some more shots and he turned to the three men standing behind him.

He knew that Caden must have engaged Grai or the other group on the trail and he wasn’t going to take a chance on who the winner was going to be. He was happier than ever that he had kept two of Caden’s men with him and only one of his own. At least he knew that two of them would be useful.

“Get back to your positions and be ready to shoot if it’s not someone you know!” Jacordan ordered as he drew his own weapon and hid behind a tree, away from trail entrance.

Several tense minutes later, Jacordan heard Caden shout, “Don’t shoot! We have prisoners!”

Jacordan didn’t believe it and stayed behind the tree, figuring Caden’s own men could be cannon fodder if it was a trick. It wasn’t until he heard his own man say, “Holy shit! They caught Grai!” That he finally moved out from behind the tree and moved to get a better look.

He was stunned to see Grai T’Alq and two Valendrans being led forward with their hands above their heads. Caden and one of his men, who had stayed with him, followed them with weapons drawn. Obviously, the two idiots that Jacordan had sent with Caden hadn’t survived, but that didn’t surprise him at all.

What surprised him was seeing Grai. He’d never expected Caden to actually succeed in capturing the man. At least not alive. Not that Dagog cared if he was killed or not. The only one that bastard wanted alive was the youngest, Traze. Koda and Grai had a price on their heads, dead or alive. And now Jacordan was going to collect on one of them.

He put his weapon behind his back while he strode arrogantly over to the infamous Grai T’Alq. He looked up at the large, intimidating man and smirked. “What were you doing here? How do we get in the cave?” he asked, hoping to find the cave as well.

If he could do that
, he thought,
then Dagog would make him a true leader and he’d command only the finest of first generation clones!
He didn’t even consider sharing the glory with Caden either.
No
, Jacordan thought,
there was no reason to share anything.
Not when he didn’t need Grai alive. Only his body.

He really didn’t even need to find the cave. Just having Grai’s body would be enough to get him a higher position. He put his hands behind his back casually as he paced in front of Grai, his fingers running over the handle of his gun, ready to draw at any moment. He looked over at two clones that he had borrowed from Caden and nodded his head. He grinned as they drew their weapons on former leader, Caden.

Jacordan drew his weapon and aimed it at Caden as well. “Drop your weapons,” he said with a grin at the startled look on the older commander’s face.

Caden turned thunderous. “You dare to try and cross me?”

Jacordan laughed. “I don’t dare, I did. Now throw down your weapons,” he repeated, not willing to ask again.

Grai looked over at Scaden and Niklosi and his eyes urged them to wait for the right moment, still hoping that Amun and Decano weren’t far behind them.

Caden looked furiously at his two men who held their weapons on him and he nodded at the man next to him as he slowly lowered his rifle. “You know damn well that you can’t control them without me,” Caden said.

Jacordan laughed again as he raised his gun. “I won’t need to,” he said as he pointed it at Grai’s head and pulled the trigger.

Chapter Sixteen

Rebecca was staring at Gibly as her hand was just about to make contact with the control center. Seconds later she was flying through the air and ended up looking down into the furious hazel eyes of Gracus.

“What the hell?” Rebecca choked out, surprised that he had not only knocked her off her feet, but he’d made sure that she had landed on top of him.

Her breath caught in her throat as she felt his incredibly hard body beneath hers and she couldn’t help but remember how gorgeous he’d looked as he lay naked in the forest with the bears. Her body felt super-heated and liquid at the same time as she looked into his hazel eyes.

Gracus went from angry to incredibly aroused in seconds. The feeling was so intense he almost panted from it. His hands had a mind of their own and they traveled up her thighs until he cupped her backside and pulled her closer to his throbbing need as she leaned down and groaned near his ear.

Energy exploded around them, sparks crackled and danced in the air, unnoticed by the mates caught in the maelstrom of passionate energy that only built around them.

Gracus moved his hands urgently from her backside to her face, pulling her back from him far enough for him to crush his lips to hers. It was all the encouragement Rebecca needed to mold her body her his, kissing him back with all the passion in her soul. Her mind and body was in agreement that this was the only man she would ever love like this and she didn’t want to waste any more time.

Rebecca’s uninhibited response to him only ignited Gracus’s already enflamed body. He couldn’t think of anything else but finally completing the mating bond with her, possessing her, body and mind, making her his own.

He’d just begun helping her unbutton her shirt when he felt the shock in his mind. He ignored it and continued to fumble with her buttons and her own desperate hands, when he felt the next shock. Gracus tried to ignore it, but the painful shocks became more persistent until he realized that a very poofy Gibly was screaming at him.

“I can feel every bit of what you’re doing! If you’re going to make us go ‘pop’ can you at least let her touch the control center instead?” Gibly screamed through the roar of the sexual energy swirling around them.

The shocks in his head continued until Gracus was able to get control over the intense sexual energy boiling over between him and Rebecca. The hardest thing he ever had to do was push her away and she tried to cling to him, her body undulating provocatively against him.

Gracus gently set her on the floor away from him and quickly stood, moving to the other side of the room to clear his head and control himself. He was real damn close to grabbing her, taking her into Fiorn’s bed and leaving enough sexual energy behind for even the mildest of psychometrist’s to pick up on it.

He stood there and panted, torn between his desire to claim her now and the need to get them out of here. It was the thought of getting them out of here and spending a week in bed with her, that propelled him forward.

He stood in front of a still calming Rebecca and held out his hand to help her up. She looked into his eyes with her passion filled gaze and he struggled with his emotions before choking out, “Later… I promise. Let’s go look at that damn stove.”

Rebecca slowly gained control of herself and shook her head to try and clear the overwhelming fog of passion still lingering in her body. She reached up and took his hand, ignoring the small spark of energy that arced between them when she did. As they started out of the door, she pulled her hand from his, unable to withstand the passion still flowing strongly between them.

Gracus nodded his head in understanding as he followed Gibly out of the room. As they walked towards the dining center, Gracus couldn’t help but feel like he could breathe a little easier, the farther they moved from the control center and the heavy sexual energy they left behind.

He wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead as he entered the dining area behind a very irritated… and very fluffy, Gibly. The static from the energy build up hadn’t become painful, but the intensity was increasing and the beautiful moment of passion he’d just shared with his mate had only made it worse.
He had to get them the hell out of there
, he thought as he yanked the cooking unit away from the wall with more force than he intended, sending it a good five feet across the floor.

He grinned sheepishly at the surprised look on Rebecca and Gibly’s faces. “Sorry…,” he said.

He was a little shocked when Clatz spoke. “Just take a few deep breaths to help you clear it. You need to concentrate on finding how to tap into the energy source to turn on the control center and find a way out. Focus on that.”

Gracus was more than a little taken aback by his beast’s suddenly kind and calm attitude, which told him exactly how much trouble they were in. Clatz’s life hung in the balance as much as his own and his beast wanted to live as much as the rest of them did. Gracus couldn’t fault him for that and appreciated the calm influence on his mind right now.

Rebecca brought him out of his musings. “How the hell does it work if it isn’t plugged in to anything?” she asked, kneeling down to look at the solid sheet of metal on the back.

Gracus moved towards her to look, but when he got within a few feet of her the air between them sparked and crackled and he took another big step back. He watched Rebecca blush adorably as she stood and moved away so that he could look more closely at the appliance.

Gracus could swear he heard Gibly sigh in relief when she moved further away and he kneeled at the back to inspect another piece of solid metal. He felt like banging his head against it. He had no damn idea how this place was using the energy, where it was coming from or how the hell to get out.

He stood and letting his anger overwhelm him, he kicked the stove and watched as it tipped over, exposing the bottom. Which was full of parts.
Parts that may actually help
, he thought, feeling his anger dissipate as his hope rose.

Gracus kneeled down on the floor to get a closer look at the bottom of the appliance, praying there was some clue as to how this place worked so he could open a door out. The layout of the components looked strangely familiar even though he didn’t recognize anything in it. It was like someone had thrown in a bunch crystals, metals and… wait, was that a light stone? He reached inside to see if it was and the moment he touched it, Rebecca yelled out, “You turned on one of the burners!”

Now we’re getting somewhere
, he thought excitedly. Gracus looked around inside and found three more light stones. Touching them all, he discovered that each one turned on a different burner. It was an interesting use of the stones, but it didn’t really tell him how this place was operating.

Wait… the more he looked at it the more he realized that it resembled the armor that Jess had created for Ivint from the components in the conference room on the Adaria. That was exactly why it looked familiar but wasn’t. He stood and looked around the room, the strangely lit walls and floor, the lack of power source, the messages to get here and it finally made sense.

“Damn, he was a smart bastard,” Gracus muttered as he shook his head.

“What?” Rebecca asked, feeling the change in his energy she knew he’d figured something out.

Gracus grinned. “Fiorn built this place using the abilities of the hybrids. With the
Shamatabala
so close it would have expanded their energy and abilities, giving them more than enough power to create this place,” he said, marveling at the possibilities.

Rebecca shook her head. “I don’t get it. You think people like me were able to do this? How? And if so, how the hell does it help us get out of here?”

Gracus groaned.
Yeah, there was that problem to deal with
, he thought, before another struck him. “You’re a hybrid. This place was created to protect you and others like you. There had to be a way for them to know when one of you came here. We just have to find it.”

Rebecca snorted. “Maybe I was a little more than they ever expected. Besides, maybe this Fiorn guy and anyone else who knew about this place is dead,” she said, voicing her fears.

Gracus was going to touch her, comfort her, but the thought of the energy that would crackle between them, stopped him. “Rebecca, they would not have allowed anyone to be locked inside this place. Go back to the control center. There has to be something in there that is still being monitored, by someone. We just have to figure out how to set off the alarms,” he said with charming grin, hoping like hell that he was right.

Gracus couldn’t fathom that someone as imaginative as Fiorn, who could build something like this, wouldn’t have a backup plan for hybrid children who would come here after him. They had to be missing something.

Rebecca rolled her eyes but slid of the table she’d been sitting on and headed back into the room where she wasn’t allowed to touch anything. To find something that may or may not be there, that they may or may not be able to see.
Sounded like a great way to spend their last hours together
, she thought sarcastically.

It wasn’t that she’d lost hope, she just didn’t think they stood much of a chance. Rebecca grinned, yeah that kind of sounded like the same thing in her head too.
Hell
, she thought,
maybe it was just the fact that she felt like her body was on fire
. All this damn energy running through her was beginning to make her feel like her insides were on a slow simmer and it was beginning to get a little uncomfortable.

That was the last thing she wanted Gracus to be worried about though, so she kept her mouth shut. She’d rather see the hope shining in his eyes until her last breath, than see defeat in them.

She watched him stand in front of the control center for long minutes and knew that he was considering trying to kick it over as well. “Go for it. It sure as hell can’t hurt,” she said as she sat in the middle of the floor, far enough away to keep the energy from sparking between them.

Gracus looked back at her and grinned. “I’m really tempted, but I think it’d do more harm than good since I really don’t know how the hybrid energy systems work. But there has to be something here…,” he said as he started running his hands along the walls, looking for anything that might tell them this place is being monitored.

Gracus spent the next hour touching, prodding and pushing almost every available surface in the place and ended up back at the control center where he’d first started. When he turned around, Rebecca and Gibly were gone.

“Rebecca!” he screamed as he ran through the door and into the main living area.

Assuming they went back into the dining area, he ran full out, coming to a stop in the middle of the empty room. He began to panic as he ran back out, heading Fiorn’s room. The moment he saw Gibly sitting on the bed, he sighed in relief.

“Where the hell is she?” he asked.

Gibly cocked his really poofy head to the side and watched Gracus as he spoke. “The energy is beginning to consume her. Her temperature is rising to a dangerous level, one that her beast cannot sustain for much longer. I convinced her to sit under the water to cool her body,” Gibly said, nodding to a door in the room that Gracus hadn’t noticed before. How the hell had they missed that door?

Knowing he needed to think about the door, he told Clatz to remind him of it later, when he knew Rebecca was alright. Gracus entered the large room and barely noticed the rock hewn sink and toilet and headed directly to the large, carved out shower where Rebecca sat in the corner with the water cascading over her upper body.

Gracus kneeled down beside her, his heart feeling strangled as he took one of her limp hands in his own. He sucked in a breath at how hot her hand felt and used his other hand to feel her face.

Rebecca opened glazed eyes and smiled weakly at the beautiful man in front of her. It was hard to think, the heat was beginning to feel like it was suffocating her. But there was one thing she couldn’t stop thinking about, despite the heat.

She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry,” she choked out, knowing she’d be crying right now if she wasn’t so hot there was water left in her body.

Gracus sat cross-legged on the floor and leaned against the wall. “Why would you be sorry?” he asked softly, trying to remain strong.

Rebecca closed her eyes, they were so dry it was painful to keep them open. “If I had taken you back to town, we wouldn’t be ready to go ‘pop’,” she said, then moved her head to drink some of the water for her parched throat.

Gracus gently turned their hands under the water, trying to cool the heat running through her because of the energy building inside of her. “You would have never gotten me out of the forest. With the Relians so close, there was no other choice. You didn’t do this, Rebecca and the only thing I regret is not finding you sooner,” he said, pulling their joined hands out of the water to kiss the back of hers.

His heart sank when he realized that the water hadn’t done much to cool her at all, even though it was frigid. He’d wasted too much time searching the control center, now if she tried to touch anything in there, it would mean certain death.

He reached out to the only other person he could ask for help. “Gibly, what else can we do?” he asked, sensing the cat standing in the doorway.