Dark Matter (30 page)

This wasn’t how I had
imagined getting out of here. I had been holding the hope that
Heath would come for me. He didn’t want me, but I was pretty sure
he wouldn’t just leave me here. Every day I had awoken with the
same thought.
Today, he will come for
me.

It was taking him long enough, but to
be fair, time didn’t work the same in the fae realms. For all I
knew, an hour had passed on his end of things.

Even if Heath had decided I was too
much effort for the trouble, Jett wouldn’t let me go so easily. I
just had to play the part and wait. They would come for me
eventually.

I decided to just take a little walk. I
wasn’t going to try to escape, but maybe I could get a better idea
of what I was dealing with.

The compound was more spacious than I
had originally thought. There were about thirty or so buildings in
addition to the main one. Each was the same generic two story box
that oddly reminded me a bit of Regina Hall back at St.
Mary’s.

I cringed at the thought of my old
life. How was Natalie doing? Had Sam been able to save her? Did her
family think she was dead? Was she? Before I had been exposed to
the evil of the Order, I hadn’t thought them capable of killing
her. I wasn’t sure anymore.

I had been so distracted by my thoughts
that I hadn’t noticed the girls until I was surrounded. May blocked
my path with about ten women flanking her like a pack of
dogs.

She picked up a strand of my hair. “I
don’t see anything special about you.” She circled me trailing a
finger over my shoulder. “Where is your mark?”

Again with the mark. “I don’t have
one,” I said softly.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “All
Elementals have a mark.”

“
Well, I don’t,” I
said.

She grabbed my arm before I could walk
away and twisted it behind my back. “We’ll just have to see that
for ourselves. Right girls?”

And just like that they were tearing my
clothes and ripping out my hair. I clutched my head and curled into
a ball. The sharp sound of a whistle cut through the racket and the
group dispersed like a flock of startled birds.

I touched a particularly sore spot on
my scalp and my fingers came away bloody. That was all it took. I
was out.

When I woke up, Lacey was holding my
hand. I wasn’t in my cell. The bed I occupied might as well have
been made of marshmallows. The walls were painted in a pale
lavender. The white curtains were shut but still let in a fair
amount of light.

She gave me a wan smile, patting my
hand. “I’m sorry about May. You shouldn’t go out alone.”

“
Yeah, I kind of figured.” I
pulled myself onto my elbows then sat up. “What’s wrong with her
anyway?”

“
She’s just sore because she
doesn’t have claim to Roger anymore.”

She could have him. “How is that my
fault?”

“
You have to understand
something. May and Roger’s families are tight. They even vacation
together. Once Roger was through with his training, his parents set
out to find a good match for him. May has shown excellent control.
She can even access some of her power now. Well, any place but
here.”

“
Why is that?”

Lacey got a funny look on her face.
“Are you feeling up for a walk?”

I nodded. She gave me some clothes to
change into since mine couldn’t be called that anymore then led me
out the door. She didn’t say much other than to explain what some
of the buildings were used for. I tried to pay attention, but she
wasn’t telling me what I really wanted to know. We approached a
dense bunch of trees, and she motioned for me to be quiet. Looking
around one last time, she stepped into the tiny forest. I didn’t
hesitate to go in after her.

We emerged into a small clearing near
the wall. I would have never guessed it was here from the layers of
vegetation that surrounded it.

The girls I had met on my first day
were sitting in a circle chatting quietly. Hopeful eyes met mine.
Lacey and I joined the circle sitting cross-legged in the
sand.

Lacey smiled at the group. “It didn’t
take.”

The girls grinned at me. I was happy to
know that I wasn’t the only one who had hoped I wouldn’t get
pregnant.

Lacey introduced each one, explaining
that they were all part of the resistance. They had been sent to a
different camp to spy, but the Order must have known because they
were brought here before they could notify their leaders about the
advancement program.

It was absurd if you asked me. These
girls had been promised that they and none of their posterity would
ever have to deal with the fae. The only catch was they had to be
open to genetic testing. From how I understood it, they supposedly
had been given a choice, although Lacey added that she thought they
would have been killed if they declined the offer. They had been
trying to devise an escape plan for more than a year now. Lacey
told me that they had it nearly worked out, but they were waiting
for a specific time to attempt it.

There were ten of us in all. The odds
were definitely against us, but at least we had some chance of
succeeding.

Cybil had overheard some of the other
Elementals discussing what the Order had in store for me. Roger had
been telling the truth. He had been ordered to marry me if I
couldn’t get pregnant through insemination. The thought that he had
been the sperm donor made my stomach churn.

Lacey said that I needed to go along
with the wedding because I would be taken to a cottage in the
mountains for the honeymoon. It was a complicated scenario because
I was supposed to act like I didn’t want to marry him, no problem
there, but I couldn’t fight too hard to stop the ceremony. They
assured me they would never let anything happen to me, but our
escape would go smoother if I was outside the compound
walls.

Lacey had been putting some kind of
herb into my food that was supposed to insure I wouldn’t get
pregnant. I asked what it was, but she wouldn’t tell me. She said
she shouldn’t have mentioned it at all because it was likely
Ainessa could access the information if she tried. I thought it
funny that even these girls wouldn’t use her name. They called her
“the bimbo” and I knew right away who they were referring
to.

She started coming here a few years ago
and had taken over the place immediately. They said it used to be
more like a girls camp before she came along. Now it was nothing
but a military base.

Jackie had been trying to seduce an
Order member into giving her a set of keys to a secret gate that
led to a dock below the cliffs. She told him she wanted to meet him
there to fool around, but the moment she got a hold of them she was
supposed to steal a boat and wait for us on the other side of the
island.

They were hoping for a quick escape
that would give us a few hours head start. No one really knew how
to navigate a boat, but they said I should be able to use my powers
once we were away from the island.

The Order had an evacuation plan in
place if it came down to that, too. There were enough boats for an
escape. They also had helicopters and a couple of jets. Kate had
been the one that learned about the escape plan. There was a
machine somewhere on the island that was responsible for disabling
fae power. They called it a shield, but it was more like an
equalizer. Without the use of their abilities, the fae would be
vulnerable to mortal weapons. I thought about the underlord that
had gotten his ear cut off and winced.

Ainessa had given the technology to the
Order in exchange for a place where her movements wouldn’t be
monitored.

She’d warned Mr. Lambert that once the
fae found out what was happening they would swiftly destroy the
island. That was why they had captured Luke and then Zach. She had
assured them that the fae would not blow up the island if their own
people were on it. They may be immortal, but they wouldn’t risk
losing such important members of the court for the years it would
take for them to regenerate.

We were discussing everyone’s role when
an alarm pulsated through my skull. I covered my ears from the
jolting noise.

Lacey pulled on my elbow. “We need to
get you back.”

“
What is that?”

“
Just a drill. If it was a
real attack, the sound would be constant.”

I followed her to my cell. I had hoped
she would bring me somewhere else. I gave her a pleading
expression.

“
I’m sorry. I would take you
back to my room if I could. Remember you are among friends. Just
sit tight. I’m sure they will give you a better room soon. I’ll
suggest it if you want me to.”

I nodded at her. The lights turned off
when she shut the door. I stumbled around in the darkness until I
felt the edge of my cot. The alarm finally shut off, but I would
never be able to sleep now. I was too excited.

My mind whirled as I thought about
rescuing my family. I didn’t want to think about choosing a mate.
Would I ever be ready for that decision?

I made a mental plan of how I would
greet Aunt Grace and Uncle John. I had a lot to apologize
for.

What if I could open relations between
Elementals and the fae? I was asking for too much, but how could I
choose between two lives I wanted to live? If I went with the fae,
I would be ditching my family. None of them would still be alive by
the time I was brought back to the human realm. Besides, I still
wanted to help my cousins through this mess. I hoped that Aunt
Grace had been more forthcoming with them than she had been with
me.

Although, now that I thought about it,
if I had never escaped the sanctuary that used to be my home, I
would have never seen the amazing things I had.

After a while, my thoughts turned to
more disturbing topics. What if the Order succeeded? What if I had
blown my chance to live with the fae? Even though I didn’t really
want to admit it to myself, I had become attached to a few of
them.

I felt divided in more ways than one
where they were concerned. I began pacing the room hoping someone
would come get me soon or that I would wear myself out.

To my relief the door opened. Roger
waited at the threshold with his hand outstretched toward
me.

That was all the encouragement I
needed. I didn’t care what he wanted to do as long as it wasn’t in
this horrible room.

I took his hand and walked along side
him in a drawn out silence. I glanced at him several times, but he
just looked straight forward. After a while I couldn’t take it
anymore.

“
Where are we going?” I
asked. My voice echoed around me. I raised my fingers to my nose to
diffuse the astringent aroma that would have fit better in a
squeaky clean hospital. We were in a long white corridor. The glare
of the fluorescent lights bouncing off the shiny tiles that lined
the walls and covered the floor made my head pound with a dull
thud. A myriad of doors just like the one we had exited lined the
hallway. There had to be hundreds of cells just like mine. I
shuddered even thinking about it wondering if they were
occupied.

“
I thought you might like
some fresh air,” he answered.

Was he actually offering a kindness to
me? I couldn’t let it influence me at all. Mr. Lambert was one of
the kindest people I had known, but he wasn’t really that person. I
had to remember that. Roger was no different. Everything he did had
a motive. “Thank you,” I said anyway refusing to lose who I was
just because I was around some certifiable nut-jobs.

He glanced at me, a cool expression
slid onto his face. “What, no fighting today?”

I locked gazes with him. “That depends
on what you have planned.”

He laughed, and I found myself disarmed
slightly. I reminded myself that this was just another attempt to
get me to trust him. I couldn’t allow myself to let him in. Cassie
had nearly been seduced by this man and she was no pushover. I had
to keep my guard up at all times.

When he didn’t say anything, I asked,
“So what do you have planned.”

He shook his head. “Nothing spectacular
I’m afraid.”

I wanted to ask him about the whole
marriage thing, but I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.
Somehow asking him when the big day was planned for didn’t seem
prudent. “Where are we going?” I asked again hoping he would give
me a better answer.

“
I thought you might like to
see more of the island. I’ve been told that you are partial to the
tropics. It really is a beautiful place.”

I let a smile curve my lips, ignoring
the part where he revealed that someone had been preparing him to
disarm me. “That sounds nice.” The more I knew about the place, the
easier it would be for us to escape.

Roger stopped dead in his tracks.
“Okay, what gives?”

My eyes went wide and for a second I
wondered if he had the ability to read my mind like Styx had. Where
was he anyway? I couldn’t imagine him ditching Zach like this. Had
they captured him too? I realized I was taking too long to answer
him so I replied hastily, “I don’t know what you mean.”