BirthControl (28 page)

“I’m going to find him,” Jasmine said with determination in her voice.

“What if we go look for him? Bring him back,” Tyrese said, watching her closely.

“Then that’ll be two more reason, I’ll go crazy.”

“And me,” Rose added.

“And me,” Thorne said.

Tyrese rolled over on his back. “Mom, Silas wanted you safe no matter what. I’m not mated, so –”

“I am,” Rose said leaning up on her elbow. “If that was Rone out there, you couldn’t stop me from going after him. Logic has no place in this, Rese. Right, honey?” She glanced over her shoulder at her mate.

Tyrone sighed. “She’s right. If that were Rose out there…” His breath hitched. “No. Nothing would stop me from trying to find her.

“Silas will kill us if something happens to mom or his pups,” Tyrese said.

“Silas isn’t the one you have to deal with right now, your mom is,” Rose said. “How can we help you?”

Jasmine patted her daughter-in-law’s shoulder, glad for her support. “I’m not stupid. I know I have to be careful because of the babies. But something inside is pushing me to act, to find him. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t know I could really help him.” She paused, ignored the skepticism on her son’s faces and pushed on.”The cave’s about ten miles from here, aboveground. But I don’t think it’s that far beneath.”

“Beneath? What do you mean?” Tyrone asked.

“If I search for him through the caves, it might be faster. Something tells me he’s not that far.”

“Caves? What caves?” Rose asked, leaning up on her elbow.

“I can access the caves through the bathroom.” She pushed to get up. “I’m going to see if I can get a read on him, it might give me an idea how far away he is.”

“Mom?” Tyrese said, watching her clear the bed.

“Huh?”

“Promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“That you won’t try and take off on your own. You have to do this, okay. Silas will understand. Plus, if you’re mated, he dies, you die. I definitely don’t want that to happen.” Tyrese inhaled. “Just promise me we’ll do this together as a family. I’m not ready to lose you or Silas. I…I couldn’t take it if you just left and I wasn’t with you. I won’t be able to get past that.”

Seeing the moisture in his eyes, she leaned down, cupped his face and kissed his forehead. Sometimes she forgot that these grown men were still her babies and it was a two-way street. “I promise.” She looked over at Tyrone and Rose. “We’ll do this as a family.”

Tyrese nodded and held her tight for a moment before releasing her. Tyrone wiped his eye and pulled Rose close. Thorne nodded and turned away.

She went to the master bedroom, placed her palm on the panel. It slid open and closed behind her. With quick strides, she reached the bathroom door and went inside. The moss-lined walls and fragrant earth smell welcomed her. Placing her hands on the walls, she sought her mate.
I know you are in the belly of the earth. Show me where, how can I reach you from here?
Closing her eyes, she pictured the last place she saw Silas and inhaled.
I need to find you from here, show me.
She focused harder on his face and the cave where she’d lent her energy to him, and it came to her in a burst of light.

“He’s close.” She laughed, giddy with excitement as she saw the path through tunnels and paths. Inhaling, she sent warmth to Silas, assuring him help was on the way. Some of the Alphas were on their way and would deal with the rebels aboveground while she and her family reached him from below.

She spun and searched the closets. There was a pair of boots and a variety of clothes to choose from. She sent thanks to Jacque for his foresight and wished him well. After she changed, she returned to find Tyrone, Tyrese, Rose and Thorne dressed with backpacks. She hadn’t thought of supplies and was glad they were coming with her.

“You got a pack for me?” she asked, looking around.

“Yes.” Thorne handed her a much smaller pack. She looked inside and found bottles of water and a flashlight. “I’m assuming your packs have food and medical supplies.” Her eyes flicked over each of them.

“Yeah, and weapons,” Thorne said.

“I left my gun upstairs,” she said, looking at Tyrese.

“You know we cannot leave the tunnel the same way we came. Only Silas can release us, so no, I’m not going to get your gun.”

“Do you have an extra one I can use?”

“Mom.”

“Do you?” She held out her hand.

He zipped open a pocket on his jacket and handed her a small pistol. She checked to make sure the safety was on and then placed it in her pocket. “Let’s go.” She turned and headed for the master bedroom. At first, she placed her palm on the panel and walked through, but no one else was able to follow her inside.

“Wait. I’ll keep my hand here and each of you walk in.” Tyrese was the first to enter, then Thorne, Rose and Tyrone. She entered last and headed for the bathroom.

There was an audible gasp when they entered the natural spring area of the bath. Armed with directions, Jasmine didn’t allow them to stop and marvel, she continued around the maze of rocks down a steep passageway. No one spoke as they moved at a decent pace until they came to a large boulder blocking their path.

She stared at the large object wondering where it came from. It hadn’t been in her vision when the directions had come to her.

“Mom?” Tyrone walked over to her. “You okay?”

“Huh?”

“You were staring at that wall, everything all right?”

“Yeah. No. No, it’s not supposed to be there. We need to travel that way.” She pointed to the rock.

“You want us to push it out the way?” He and Tyrese headed toward the rock when a sense of wrongness covered her.

“No.” She threw out her hand. “Don’t touch it. You can’t touch it. Come back, over here.” She waved them toward her and didn’t breathe until they had. Bending forward, she exhaled. “I have to do it.”

“What?”

“You heard me, now let’s get moving.” She walked to the boulder, closed her eyes, focused on Silas, and then placed her palms on the rock. A few seconds later her hands warmed.

“Awesome,” Thorne whispered.

Jasmine opened her eyes and a doorway through the rock appeared, and she started to step through.

“Mom, wait for us. This might be like your bedroom door,” Tyrese said as he reached her.

“Okay, go.” She looked at the rest of them. “Come on, we have to hurry. I don’t know why, but we gotta move it.” She entered behind Tyrone and the doorway disappeared. They waited for her to take the lead and followed quietly.

“Dark.” Jasmine pulled out her flashlight and bent low to get through the next series of caves. Her neck and back screamed in pain, but they kept moving. They’d been traveling for over an hour when she held up her hand. She listened. The noise came again. Opening her senses, she heard the familiar hum.

Female breeders? What were they doing underground?

“Jasmine? Is that you?” Julie called.

Jasmine palmed her pistol and sensed the others were doing the same.

“We can’t allow you to go further, the rebels are all over the forest looking for ways inside to find the Patron. It’s only a matter of time before they find and kill him.”

Jasmine gritted her teeth at the delay. Rose tapped her shoulder and pointed toward Tyrese. He made a hand gesture asking if he could take lead.

“No.” she mouthed. The moment Julie showed her face, Jasmine planned to shoot her and keep moving.

“We’re here to help you and the babies. Come, let’s work together and leave this place.”

There was a rustling from behind, and then Thorne ran ahead before anyone could stop him. Shocked, Jasmine didn’t react until she saw Thorne fall to the ground twenty feet in front of her.

“What’s he doing here?” another voice said.

“Quick reload the tranq gun,” Julie said, panicking.

In a blur of speed Tyrone ran around the corner, firing his gun. By the time he was done there was no movement or sound. Jasmine walked forward to meet the women she’d talked to for the past few months. Three women lay on the ground, their eyes open as they stared up at the ceiling. Rose cradled Thorne’s head and then placed it on her lap.

“Is he…” Jasmine asked, looking down on the young man who’d become a part of her family.

“No. he’s breathing. It’ll take a while for him to recover,” Rose said wiping his brow. “Honey, give Rese my bag, he may need those supplies.” Tyrone handed his brother the pack and slapped him on the back.

“Let’s go, Mom,” Tyrese said.

“Are they…”she pointed to the women on the ground.

“No. They’re still alive. Eventually, we’ll take them to the cage in the compound so Silas can question them,” Tyrone said. “I have to stay here with them, make sure they’re okay.” He pointed to his mate and her brother.

Frowning, she drew back and looked up at him. “Of course. I raised you right. Take care of your wife and kids first.” She patted his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The babies protested by kicking back. “Please, please come back safe. I can’t…just come back safe,” he whispered raggedly in her ear.

She patted his back. “I will, son. I will. Take care of your family.” She pushed back slightly and looked him in the eye. “Do you have enough supplies? Food? Water? Weapons?” She ignored the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

“Yes, ma’am. We’re good.”

She patted his face and stepped back. “Love you, Rone.” She looked down at Rose. “Take care of our men, they can’t make it without us.”

Rose gave her a watery smile. “Yes, ma’am. Love you.”

Jasmine sniffed as she waved. “Love you too.”

Tyrese placed his hand on her shoulder as they continued down the path.

Chapter Twenty-One

After the last hour, Jasmine didn’t think she could crawl another inch. The caves had become smaller and the some of the paths didn’t deserve that name. They stopped and ate in silence. She checked on Silas, he was still unconscious but alive.

“We’re close,” she told Tyrese.

He gave her a tired smile. “You said that when we left the bathroom.”

She chuckled. “I know. But I feel his pulse now. I hadn’t felt that before.”

He nodded and pointed to her stomach.

“I think they’re mad I’m moving them around so much, but they come from super stock so they need to suck it up.” She smiled, rubbing her belly.

They sat against the wall to rest. She reached out to Silas and sent waves of love to him. His heartbeat strengthened as she talked to him about any and everything.

“Mom?”

She looked at Tyrese.

“It’s time to move on.”

She nodded and accepted his hand so he could pull her up. “This way.” She pointed right and they moved forward.

“
Jasmine, stop. Go back.”

He hand flew to her neck and she stopped. “He spoke to me.” She whirled around and grabbed Tyrese. “Silas just talked to me.”

Tyrese held onto her. “He wants me to get you away from here. The rebels are close to reaching him. It’ll be another ten minutes before Jayden arrives.”

She looked at the ground. “
I can’t leave you, Silas. If you die, I die and the babies die. We’re in this together.”

“
If they see you, they will kill you.”

“
Don’t they plan to kill you?”
she asked.

“
I don’t know. They may try, but I can hold them off a little while. But not with you as a hostage. Please…please move away. Let Tyrese keep you safe.”
She felt the pain of his words and stopped.

“Let’s go Tyrese. Just far enough that the rebels won’t find me.”

He nodded and backtracked their steps. Tears rolled down her face as Silas’ pain spiked when the rebels jerked him from beneath the rubble. She heard their taunts as they took him away. She sat against the wall and closed her eyes. Silas would need her help and she planned to give her all the energy she could spare. Within seconds she linked with him. “Can you link with him, share your energy?” she asked Tyrese.