Guild of Truth 01 - Silent as the Grave (31 page)

“I don’t care what you do with pictures of those sons of bitches sick enough to attend this, but just stay out of sight. I’ll try and Erase as many parking lot cameras as possible, but that might draw attention in itself.”

“You can leave the cameras in the parking lot. They won’t be able to see us behind here. Focus instead on the ones that will witness your mad dash to the back of the building,” said Joel.

“Will do,” said Felix before looking around to gauge all the faces. “Is everyone ready?”

Cali’s stomach cramped. Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs, and she almost couldn’t hear Felix over the sound of its beating.

Calm down
, she ordered herself. She wasn’t going to be any good to anyone if she couldn’t access her powers.
They’re counting on you. They
need
you.

It was an amazing feeling to be needed, to be accepted, and to know that this group of people would have her back no matter what for the rest of her life.

The beating in her chest calmed. She held her chin just a little higher. “Let’s go get this fucker.”

• • •

“I count four cameras that’ll catch sight of us high-tailing it to the back of the building,” Felix pulled back in behind the safety of the foliage. “What about you?”

“Same, although that one in the far corner has me worried. I can’t tell if it sweeps this far over.”

Felix stared at the camera in question, watching as it made its slow progression from right to left. “We should be good.”

He turned to her, determination and a reckless glee shining in his eyes.

“You ready?” He started to get to his feet but Cali put a hand on his forearm to stop him.

“Felix.” For a moment her courage failed her. She wasn’t good at this sort of thing, but what if they were captured? “When I told you about my time with Vander, there was something I left out.”

“Cali, you don’t have to confess anything to me that you don’t want to.”

She pressed onward. “It was when Collette came to visit me.”

Felix went still. “Did she do something to you?” That dark, murderous look was back in his eyes.

She held his gaze. “No, but she did tell me something. She told me that she and Kevin bonded after having sex.”

She waited for it to sink in. Felix’s forehead slowly creased. “What are you saying?”

Her pulse started to race. Shit, she was fucking this up royally. “What I’m trying to say is that even though we didn’t bond, even though we might not actually be Mirror Mates … I still want to stay with you.”

For a moment she couldn’t read a damn thing from his expression. He was as blank as a fresh canvas. Was this it? Was he going to tell her that if they weren’t Mirror Mates then he wanted nothing to do with her?

She didn’t care. There was only one way to get what you wanted. You had to chase after it. And she’d chase after Felix until the end of time if that was what it took to convince him that she belonged with him.

Finally he smiled. It was a slow, deep curl of his lips that flashed the white of his teeth in such a way that it stole her breath. He grasped her shoulders, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles. “We are meant to be together, Cali.” He kissed her. “And I’m glad you want to stay with me, because I wouldn’t have let you go anyway.”

Warmth enveloped her. Felix wanted her to stay with him. The only obstacle was Kratos.

She kissed him once more — a fast, fierce kiss with a teasing stroke of tongue. “Let’s move.”

They made their way across the dark, deserted parking lot. Felix’s hand waved at his side, taking all the cameras that would have reported their movement.

At the back of the building they found a large driveway sloping down. Joel had been right; there was an underground entrance. One definitely big enough to house cars.

“Think everyone’s already inside?” Cali asked from beside Felix as they debated their next best course of action.

“Let’s hope so,” said Felix. “Because once I Erase this door, it ain’t coming back. Someone might get suspicious that the entrance is gaping open.”

Cali searched for any other way in, but there was nothing that guaranteed access to the basement. “We’ll have to risk it.”

Felix moved his hand. Cali focused her powers, letting them spread out in a wave to suck any unwanted sound away. She didn’t know if there was an alarm attached to that door but either way no one would hear anything.

They made it to a utilitarian type door without any problems. That alone had Cali’s suspicions rising. It was almost too easy. Was security really this lax because of the event?

Felix tried the handle. Cali readied her power again. The door opened.

Felix pushed Cali behind him as he fell into a defensive stance, but there was no one waiting on the other side.

“Something’s wrong,” he whispered to her.

The door shut behind them with a soft hiss. Bright bulbs burned overhead, a startling contrast to the dimness of the garage. Cali blinked to allow her eyes to adjust.

Blue-grey walls and hard, concrete-floored hallways spread out before her like a giant maze. “Which way?”

Felix pulled the blueprint from his pocket. “Where to first? The isolation cells or the ones nearest the living quarters where you think Vander is feeding off them?”

“The second option.”

He tucked the map back into his pocket. “I figured as much.” He raced along ahead of her. Cali focused on their footsteps, Silencing them.

The halls wove left and right so much that Cali found herself lost within seconds. Felix’s directional skills never faltered. “We should be getting close,” he called over his shoulder and took the next right.

He came to an abrupt stop. Cali slammed into him thrusting Felix into the back of a guard who stood before them unaware. There were three of them spread out along the hall.

The man Felix had bumped spun on him. Cali threw her hands up, Silencing his shout of surprise. The other guards remained ignorant.

The man was nearly the same height as Felix. His suit was tailored to emphasize his broad shoulders and muscled frame. He frowned at them, opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out.

Felix didn’t hesitate. He clipped him hard and fast in the side of the head. The man smashed into the wall, crumpling at their feet.

They crept down the sterile-looking hallway. The smell of antiseptic grew the deeper they traveled inward, tickling the back of Cali’s throat.

Felix had the second man in a choke hold before the last guard caught sight of them. He tried to shout for help but it did him no good. He went for the radio on his belt. Cali jumped him, thrusting her elbow as hard and as deep as she could right under his rib cage.

Cali coughed as putrid breath whooshed across her face.

She swung for another hit but the guard was a fast little fucker. He shoved Cali with all the strength of an ox. She stumbled back, nearly tripping over the other fallen guards.

He had his radio out in seconds, one of his hands wrapped tight around his abdomen where Cali had nailed him.

Felix lunged for him. The radio went flying to crash noiselessly to the ground.

“You’re bleeding.” Cali rushed Felix once he’d taken care of the last attacker.

Felix licked his split lip. “Bastard sure packed a punch.”

He swiveled his jaw a few times as if to test that it wasn’t broken. When he was satisfied he pulled her along, down more twists and turns. “We need to get as far away from them as possible. I don’t know how long they’ll stay out, and someone might come across them.”

They maneuvered down a few more hallways before they braked in front of a pair of double doors.

“Is this it?” asked Cali.

Felix nodded, his fists tight at his side. “I think so.”

The doors were locked. No surprise there. Cali scanned the corners for cameras but couldn’t see any. She doubted Vander would have cameras here. If anyone hacked into the system like Joel had, then they’d see the people being held. Vander must either be very cautious or very arrogant to think no one would dare break into his facility.

Felix readied his hand. Cali stopped him. “Wait. Can you Erase the lock? Only the lock?”

That way if anyone happened to walk by, they might not notice quite as quickly what was happening.

“Sure thing.” Felix’s gaze bore into the handle. He flicked his wrist, and the handle vanished along with whatever bolt held the doors closed.

A chill like death itself danced along the nape of Cali’s neck as soon as she set foot past the doorway.

This wing of the basement looked like a hospital, with door upon door lining both sides of the hall. The temperature was cold, the air both stale and crisp. Electronic security locks were attached to every door, buzzing softly. Small windows allowed Cali to look into the rooms, and bile rose in the back of her throat at what she saw.

People were confined to rooms no bigger than eight by eight. Some were sleeping, while others sat on their beds, knees curled up, arms wrapped around themselves. Some rocked back and forth as if the motion comforted them. But what Cali noticed most was the lack of hope that rested in all of their faces. Some of the prisoners looked to be seniors.

Or was that a side effect of being drained by Vander?

Dread settled in her stomach. Was that going to happen to her? Had Vander taken years off her life by doing what he’d done?

She pressed her hands to her face as if she could feel the wrinkles already forming.

Felix scanned the other side of the hall. A new curse left his lips with each window he passed.

“Quite a collection, isn’t it?”

They both whirled.

Vander stood at the head of a large group. “Back so soon?” he asked Cali.

Felix started toward him, his face a dark mask of retribution. Vander’s black gaze shot to him. Vander motioned with his hand, and his own personal army came forward. Terror shot through Cali’s veins.

She went to grab Felix so they could make a run for it, but Vander’s men beat her to it. Felix threw a punch at the closest one, sending him careening into the others. Shouts erupted.

Two men came toward her. The majority joined in to restrain Felix. Cali stayed her racing heart and focused her energy on the shouts and grunts around her. She amplified the sound, pulled it toward her, and shot it forward.

The wave hit the men with a startling burst.

Now what?

Vander carelessly sauntered toward them, his calculating gaze devouring Felix as he fought.

The men at Cali’s feet started to rise. In quick succession she kicked them both swiftly in the jaw. Their teeth snapped shut, their heads flying back.

“Hold him,” Vander ordered as Felix took an especially hard hit to the gut.

Cali rushed toward him, throwing sound left and right. Her concentration wasn’t fully behind it. The men pursuing her only staggered back a few steps.

She had to get to Felix. She knew what that look in Vander’s eyes meant. She knew what he planned to do once he got close enough to touch Felix.

She jumped between two men and got a few more steps before arms grabbed her from behind and wrenched her body backward.

She screamed at them, the sound echoing loud within the enclosed hall. The hands released her as the men went to cover their ears. “Felix!” She was tackled to the ground. Pain erupted in all her joints. “Erase him,” she yelled.

Their eyes locked through the sea of bodies.

She saw the answer plain as day in his eyes.

He wouldn’t do it.

Felix wasn’t that kind of man. He was better than that, better than Vander.

Felix was smothered with guards. They forced him to kneel. The split in his lip bled anew. Vander reached a hand out and touched him with one finger on the forehead.

No!

Cali squirmed for all she was worth. Felix tried to jerk back but too many hands held him.

She watched in horror as she saw the exact moment Vander unleashed his power. Felix’s entire body jerked. A cry tore from his throat.

“Stop!” Cali screamed. She focused her power to resonate through the building but her emotions were too wild.

Vander turned to her with a sickening smile on his face.

The veins in Felix’s neck stood out as he thrashed.

Cali’s whole body went numb. Her vision darkened. “No,” she shouted.

Felix!

Cali!
Felix’s voice sounded clear in her mind. White heat burst from her chest and then everything went dark.

Cali awoke to a sterile-smelling room. Her body was chilled to the bone, and she shot to her feet as memories assailed her.

“Felix.” His name slid from her lips. She could feel him but he was nowhere in sight. She was stuck inside one of the rooms she’d been scouting. She moved to the door and turned her head to look through the small window. The hallway was empty on the other side. She tried the handle. Locked.

She swore and kicked the door. She succeeded in nothing more than making her toe ache.

“Felix?” she called through the door.

There was no answer. But she could
feel
him.

She remembered struggling with Vander’s men. Remembered Felix at the mercy of Vander’s touch. She remembered trying to reach him, protect him. She’d cried out for him.

No. Your soul cried out for him.

No way … But Collette …

Collette was one experience.

That didn’t make her all-knowing.

Cali stepped back from the door, afraid whatever she was feeling could be seen from the outside. Did everyone else know what had happened? Had that been why she’d blacked out?

She shut her eyes and focused inward like all those yoga, hippy types told her to do when she was experiencing a block with her artwork.

The heat that seemed to be radiating inside her was like a mini sun. The warmth was dimmed, as if it knew it was away from Felix. She wondered if this brilliant, indescribable feeling would increase when he was near.

She had to find him. She stepped back up to the window and pushed her face as close to the glass as possible to look out. “Hello?” she yelled. The sound of her voice echoed in her room. Could no one hear her out there?