Reckoning (21 page)

I pretended to scratch my neck and slipped the key into my bra. All I needed now was to find someone to take the tracker out of Maisy and I could get the children off the base.

I slid from the bed and grabbed a towel from my locker. “I’m going to shower.”

Nixie got down and sat cross-legged on the floor beside the bunk, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. “When you get back, I have a surprise for you.”

I stepped into the shower, hating the freezing water. I showered as quickly as I could, then toweled off. When I dried my injured leg, I noticed the skin around it looked healthier than it had since the attack.

After I was dressed, I walked back into the barracks, grabbed the thin blanket from my bed, and wrapped it around myself for extra warmth.

“Here.” Nixie motioned for me. I walked to her bed and sat on the floor beside it. She reached under it and pulled out a pillowcase. “I thought maybe you’d like this.”

Reaching her hand in, she removed a worn copy of
Where the Wild Things Are
and passed it to me.

I immediately choked up. I’d read the book to the children when Stone and Chloe had watched over them in the woods before the war. Tracing my hand along the front cover, I said, “It’s Maisy’s favorite.”

“I know. You told me that in the past. You should read it to her.” She beamed.

“I don’t understand.”

“The Supernaturals who’ve been keeping an eye on the children are going to distract the humans guarding the prison sector. You can get in and visit the children.”

“I…um…” I blinked hard, overcome. Not knowing what to say. I put my hand against my chest as gratitude and happiness flowed through my body. This moment of hope, of sunshine in the middle of the storm, made me almost believe that everything was going to turn out okay in the end.

She handed me my shoes. “We need to go now, though.”

I shoved my feet into my shoes and grabbed the key. We left the barracks and stuck to the sides of the buildings as we made our way to the prison sector. There was no one out front. Nixie gave me a little push. “Go. You can have about fifteen minutes.”

I hurried into the prison and walked softly to the cell where the children were. Their voices whispered together, and I heard Maxfield make car crash noises, then laugh.

“Hey,” I whispered.

They jumped up from their positions on the floor, eyes wide with apprehension that was quickly replaced with excitement. I put my finger against my lips and held up the book. “I’ve come to read you a bedtime story.”

I took out the key and pushed it into the lock, giving it a hard turn. The cell door swung open and the children swarmed me, nearly knocking me over in their exuberance. Dropping to my knees, I tried to hug them all at once. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I had to be strong for them. They didn’t need to see me upset.

Annora put her hands on my face, communicating with her bright smile. Tobiah held up his hand for a fist bump, at eleven, going on twelve, no longer interested in a prolonged hug. I ruffled his hair instead and he sighed.

“Settle down. I only have a few minutes.” I moved to sit in the center of the cell. Maisy climbed into my lap and everyone else crowded around me. Opening the book, I cleared my throat and began to read.

* * * *

I couldn’t have been asleep long before Nixie shook me awake. “It’s time to meet Adler.”

“Midnight already?” I started to reach for my uniform so I’d have what little warmth it offered from the cold, but she stopped me. “The humans can see it in the dark, remember?”

Groggy, I nodded and left my pajamas on. I pulled on my sneakers, still feeling emotionally wrung out from having spent time with the children. I’d kissed them all good-bye, and as I’d turned to leave, Tobiah had said, “Don’t worry. I stay awake at night and watch over them.”

I’d cried as I’d left. Using them this way was wrong, and I was supposed to protect the woman who’d done it. My father had taught me that everyone had a redeeming quality. I could think of none when it came to her. I despised the woman who’d locked my sister away to serve her own purposes. After I’d climbed into bed, I’d continued to cry until I’d fallen asleep.

I headed to the window in the back of the barracks with Nixie to avoid the camera positioned at the front of it. I went out first and dropped to the ground, remaining in a crouch long enough to make sure I hadn’t alerted anyone to my presence. When I knew it was safe, I held the window up for Nixie to climb through.

We made it to the back without being seen to find Adler already waiting.

“How’s the pellet wound?” I asked.

“Gave me a scar to impress girls with, so it’s cool.”

“What do you have for me?” I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Some information.”

Nixie huffed out a breath. “Is the information valid?”

“Have I ever disappointed you?” Adler said with a grin, and Nixie practically melted under the look he gave her.

Turning her head, she peeked at the area behind us. “Shh. Thought I heard something.”

I started to say it was her imagination, but then I saw the shadow on the side of the barracks near the window change shape. I turned around and ran toward it grabbing the girl hovering there. I took her to the ground, pressing my knee into her back as I searched her for any sign of a weapon.

Adler knelt beside her, his face dark with anger. “I knew someone was helping them. Are you their informant?”

“Yes.” The girl lifted her head, looked up, and I met Halo’s eyes.

Shocked, I said, “You?”

“They’ll let my parents go. All I have to do is give them some information.”

Adler bowed his head, then raised it. “You trusted the humans.”

“They’re going to kill my parents if I don’t cooperate.”

“Idiot. You think Agent Davis will let your parents go?” Nixie asked. “He won’t. No matter what you tell him.”

“But it’s—”

Adler unfastened his band and pressed his hand over her life force before she could finish. He fired one burst of his power, quick and deadly.

I fell backward, stunned as I scrambled away from his power. The jolt had been close to my face. “What…why…?”

He calmly refastened his band. “She would have told the agent you met with me.”

Furious, I got to my feet. “And tell him what? We were talking? She had nothing on us and you killed her. My God. You killed her.” I turned my back to the scene and pressed my hands against my head. I spun around, suddenly suspicious. “How could you take your bracelet off?”

“Relax. I sawed off the prongs and replaced them with stainless steel ones that don’t affect my power. I did the same to Riley’s. Do you want what I have for you or not?”

I avoided looking at Halo’s body. I wanted to throw up and couldn’t understand how Adler could stand there calmly talking after taking a life. I managed to nod.

“The humans plan to move your sister and the other children to a room in the White House. If you fail to stop the Supernaturals from taking the president, the children will be killed on the spot. So we have to prevent the children from being taken.”

“How do you know this?”

He grinned. “My father is an FBI plant, and the intel passed through his office.”

“What else do you have?” Nixie asked.

“A doctor willing to remove the tracker from Maisy. He can do it tomorrow.”

“How?” I asked.

“Your sister will fake an illness and be rushed to the hospital where the good doctor will be waiting.”

“She needs a Supernatural doctor.”

“He is one. A friend of Henry’s.” He held his hand out. “You have a key I need. Rick gave it to you.”

I hesitated. “How did you know I have the key?”

“Rick told me he gave it to you. He’s on our side, in case you haven’t figured that out yet.”

“What about the other children when Maisy’s with the doctor?”

“They’ll be left behind in the cell. I’ll get them out of the prison sector as soon as your sister’s in the recovery room. We have a place on base to hide them.”

I handed him the key. “If anything happens to my sister, I’m coming for you.”

“It’s all under control. This isn’t my first time at the rodeo.”

Nixie’s teeth started chattering together, and Adler glanced at her. “Go back inside.” He looked at me. “You too. I’ll take care of Halo.”

I started to leave, then paused. “Get her parents out of the prison sector if you can. Tell them she died to free them,” I said.

“I can do that.”

I walked off with Nixie before I had to see him pick up Halo’s body.

Nixie climbed in the window of the barracks first, and when she turned around, I said, “I’m going to meet Riley. Cover for me.” Without waiting for her to respond, I ducked back into the night and made my way to Riley’s barracks.

The second he spotted me, he ran forward. His arms closed around me, and he swung me around, burying his lips against the side of my neck.

“I missed you,” he murmured.

I tugged at his head, moving his face up to kiss him. He dug his fingers gently into my hips and urged me closer against him. My body reacted to his touch. Internal heat sparked, building fast until I was consumed with the urge for more. “Please,” I whispered against his lips.

He lifted his head, eyes dark with desire. “Come with me.”

I tucked my hand into his, and we slipped away to a storage shed close to the first barracks. We would be out of sight of the administration offices.

Riley aimed a quick jolt of his power at the lock, then pried the door open. I stepped inside, expecting to see a jumbled mess of items crammed into the space. Instead, the shed was neat. A bed was against one wall and the light of a pillar candle flickered from a jar on the shelf.

“You did this for me? How?”

He swept me up into his arms and grinned playfully. “I’m the king, baby. You’d be surprised at what I can do.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Why don’t you show me what you can do?”

Riley lowered me to the bed and went back to fuse the door closed. As he walked toward me, he stripped off his shirt. His muscles rippled in the light of the candles. When he reached the bed, he knelt beside it and looked up at me. “Everything I am, everything I have, even my life, I lay at your feet. The kingdom, the crown, it means nothing without you.”

Why did he have to say that?
I buried my face in my hands and started crying. I wanted to beg him to forgive me for the acts I had yet to commit.

“Hey.” He tugged my hands away from my face and kissed the path my tears had taken. “It’s okay. We’ll get through the war, and we’ll be together.”

I flung my arms around his shoulders and cried against the warmth of his skin.

“Juliet?”

I lifted my blotchy face. “I will love you even after my heart stops beating,” I said.

He swallowed hard and moved onto the bed beside me, fitting his body against mine. We undressed each other, and Riley moved into position over me. An ache spread through me. Desire mixed with heartache. Our past slamming up against the future. Afterward, even though I knew we couldn’t stay long, Riley shifted to lay behind me and wrapped his arms across my waist. He gently nipped my shoulder, then pressed a kiss to the spot.

I’d said I would love Riley even after my heart stopped beating. But my fear was would he love me after his heart stopped beating?

RILEY

Adler slipped into the barracks right before I drifted to sleep. I leaned up on one elbow and groggily looked down at him. “Where did you go?”

He pried his shoes off, then set them neatly under his bunk. “Setting things in motion, sir.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “There was an informant. Halo. She spied on me, planning to report back to Agent Davis. I had to kill her. I took care of the body.” He stretched out on the mattress.

“It never gets easier.”

“No. I hate killing.” Pulling the thin blanket up to his chin, Adler said, “My father keeps his hands clean. The deaths he causes are done through orders someone else carries out. He’s removed from the immediate contact, so he never sees the light go out of their eyes. Never has to stand there wondering if there was anything else he could have done.”

“You did what you had to do to protect our people.”

Adler’s sigh filled the darkened room. “Yeah. I have information about the dagger.”

I yawned. “Did you find it in the agent’s office?” I didn’t like the way he hesitated or the pity on his face. His expression woke me fully and my gut clenched. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like his answer.

“No.” Adler licked his lips and cast his gaze to the floor.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

He looked up. “While Juliet and Nixie were occupied talking to me, I had a friend search her things.”

“It was…” I took a second to breathe as my nightmare walked into my waking hours. “There.”

“Yes. It was hidden beneath the floor of her locker, but my friend wasn’t able to remove it.”

Juliet had the dagger? My thoughts ran in a dozen different directions at once. Henry had given it to Agent Davis… Had he given it to Juliet? Was she conspiring with them to kill me? I wanted to reject the thought, but logic wouldn’t let me. A tiny part of me held out hope for a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, I would have to deal with Juliet as I had Henry.