Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three) (30 page)

“Mount up,” Conlon growled. Mattie jumped as he lifted her, extended his wings, and launched. The chimpanzee expression showed raw determination as Conlon circled his house. Then she pointed to the trail he’d been able to follow earlier but couldn’t detect now. The Tellus sense of smell was the most advanced on the planet.

“Shane, I’ve got Mattie and she’s picked up Stacey’s trail. I’m not risking losing it,”
Conlon informed his brother telepathically.

“Go. Warriors are on their way to flank you,”
Shane answered.

They’d barely breached the weave before Eros and Jacob Sicarius shimmered into view, flying alongside. Eros gave Conlon a nod. The two vanished after making Conlon aware of their presence.

“I’ve got your weapons, Uncle.” Irsu flew at his opposite side with a heavy bag hanging from her waist.

Enlil, Umbrae’s bloodmate and Jess’s mentor, followed a few feet behind. He too carried a heavy bag of weapons. Enlil’s ability to siphon psychic energy allowed him to see Eros’s family while they were shadowed. Since Osiris and his sons were also of the Sicarius bloodline and could shadow, the sight of Enlil filled Conlon with gratitude, a gratitude that increased ten-fold when, of all people, Conlon’s mentor Sargon caught up to him. The Tellus tracker Gord rode Sargon’s massive chest.

That Sargon had set aside his duties as warrior leader to the entire western half of North America to be part of the search meant everything to Conlon. Despite his heavily muscled, mammoth proportions, Sargon surged ahead. Between Gord and Mattie, they easily located the deep sand bowl where Stacey had met up with a male. Conlon growled low and deadly at the hint of male scent lingering in the wind-protected area.

Mattie pointed straight up in the air. Conlon followed her indication, on a southern direction again. Whoever the bastard was, he had Stacey flying at over six thousand feet. Without knowing the tricks of flying in reduced oxygen, this height would have been exhausting for Stacey.

Hour after hour they followed the pointing of Gord and Mattie while Conlon’s concern for Stacey’s safety grew. He wasn’t the only one. Jacob Sicarius had hooked a conductive chain to Irsu so the young assassin could shadow Conlon’s niece. The two had dropped to a lower air stream where they could see the land below in case Stacey had dropped out of the sky with fatigue.

At top speed it had taken them ten hours to reach the lime grove. Mattie shook her head. Conlon’s gut clenched. Gord picked up a peeled lime from the ground, held it to his nose and nodded. They flew another half hour to a beach. Within seconds Greyton and other Aquaties started walking out of the Ocean to join them. Mattie and Gord shifted back to their natural form. Mattie discretely adjusted the meager bikini that had shifted during the journey.

Even in the dark of night, Conlon could see where Stacey had crashed into the edge of the surf. He knelt and placed his hand to the indent where she laid to rest. He saw the marks of where someone heavier had sat in the sand beside her, and the footprints of a third person joining them. The trio had ported from here. A whiff of coconut from the tree line had him following Stacey’s footprints. Her urine had long since dried, but her scent was still strong. He saw a disturbed palm leaf and lifted it. In the soft sandy dirt she had written the word “Chile” and an arrow pointing south. Did that mean south to Chile or southern Chile?

“Who’s familiar with Chile?” Some of the others raised hands at Conlon’s question.

Sargon shook his head. “Chile is huge, Conlon. Hell, the Andes mountain range alone would take weeks to search.”

“There’s a chortal not far from here that can get us to Santiago,” Irsu added. “I led a mission to break up a smuggling ring of the enlightened down there a few years ago.”

“If you’re worried about getting Mattie and Gord there, we can transport them by sea,” Greyton offered.

“She left an arrow pointing south. I think we should start at the southern tip and move north.” Conlon knew the chances of finding her at all, let alone quickly, were slim to none.

As the highest-ranked SOSC warrior, Sargon took the lead. His deep, booming voice commanded attention. “Are you both comfortable shifting into sea mammals?” he asked Mattie and Gord.

Gord nodded while Mattie grinned sadly. “I learned to swim in seal form when I was at Meshy Hell.”

Greyton gave her a warning look. “We’ll be doing the swimming. The speed we’ll be traveling cannot be achieved by any other mammal.”

“Volaticus, port to the chortal entrance. We will fly from there to the southern tip. Tellus and Aquatie, I bid you good journey.” Sargon ordered.

Mattie and Gord followed the Aquatie into the waves. Conlon watched his brave partner shimmy out of her swimwear and toss it to the beach. Irsu added it to the weapons bag, waving as Mattie shifted into a small seal and disappeared beneath the water.

Chapter Twenty-Five

DeeAnna swam the North Ocean … again. It had been over a year since the day her paired sibling was netted and snatched from her life. One minute they'd been swimming playfully, having a great day, and the next he'd shoved her out of the way as a harpoon plunged through his stomach, followed by a net that had nearly surrounded her too. Her panicked distress call had brought every warrior from their school to her aid, but it had been too late. Her brother was gone.

Other than the sentries, everyone avoided this area now. DeeAnna felt compelled to come. Dean lived … somewhere. She held to that knowledge like a beacon of hope. If the sibling bond had been severed, she would void her life without hesitation. It was her fault. She'd begged Dean to leave his laboratory and enjoy the last few hours of sunlight with her.

“I'm in the middle of research, DeeAnna.”

“Please.” She had given him a pout, aware he could deny that look nothing.

He'd pulled her hair and conceded just like she knew he would. “You, sister, do not play fair.”

The sound of a human power craft sliding through the slushy surface drew her out of the memory. Why would a boat be navigating these dangerous, rapidly freezing waters at night? Her curiosity overruled caution. Further hidden by the storm descending on the area, she trailed the boat from what she hoped was a safe distance. The motor cut and DeeAnna lifted her head above the surface, keeping to the high waves so she could see clearly. The boat pulled to the iceberg where humans worked sometimes. Three people disembarked onto the man-made platform built just above sea level and the boat pulled away with only the driver. It headed straight at her. She quickly ducked, swam toward the boat until it had passed overhead, and then rose again.

At first she thought the three people were human, but the female … unlike the two males bundled in heavy outer wear, the female wore a simple coat. Long, black waves whipped wildly in the Antarctic wind. A human dressed that lightly would perish in minutes from the cold. Her heart clenched in her chest when they disappeared into the iceberg … somehow.

Roarke would not like other enlightened species in his territory without his knowledge. What if the males where human trappers and the female a victim? What if they had something to do with Dean? Sure, warriors had sunk a boat full of human trappers and there had been no more problems, but still … it was possible. Under interrogation, the humans had sworn they weren't involved in Dean’s capture.

It was rumored that Volaticus had exceptional hearing, and they might hear a sonar call. DeeAnna felt the current beneath the iceberg, so she could find it easily again, and made her way back to her school at top speed.

****

Enraged beyond anything he'd felt in centuries, Osiris stomped through the halls of ice toward his office. While torturing Ten, he'd drunk nearly a full pint of Ten's blood, yet he'd been unable to penetrate the shield protection to gain access into the depths of Ten's psyche. Furthermore, Ten push back, forcing Osiris to retreat or risk revealing secrets to his traitorous offspring. To add insult to injury, Ten refused to acknowledge his name. “My name is Mick.” Tired of hearing the same thing over and over, Osiris had started using Mick's preferred name even though it galled him. Still, his son had not given up a thing.

With the child waking and the female's arrival, he would have additional leverage against Mick. Of course, Osiris would never harm his grandson at this young age, but the mother … and by bond the child …. Oh, yes, Mick would snap. The information Mick had given the SOSC about his organization would be repaid ten-fold.

The acute isolation of the iceberg meant no contact with the outside world. Frank had been entrusted to oversee his organization during Osiris's absence. With a small smile he remembered his last “meeting” with Frank. Somehow Frank had carved a special notch for himself inside Osiris's armor. The sense of yearning for the male did not improve his mood, nor did the darkened screen of his computer as he sat behind his desk. The camera systems he’d installed in the berg were as yet non-operational, though the only person who knew this was the engineer he’d brought along just in case of a problem.

The door burst open with a bang.
What the
… He caught an amused expression on Twelve and Nine's faces a second before the door slammed closed on them with equal force. Stacey stood before him, one hand on her cocked, chunky hip, her gaze irate. “Where is my son, asshole?”

It took Osiris a moment to get over the shock of her arrival and declaration. She was heavier than she appeared in the pictures from five years ago. “You will be reunited soon enough.” He leaned back in his chair. The female had spunk. “I recommend you treat me with a measure of respect in the future.”

Instead of taking the insinuated threat seriously, Stacey's glare became more intense as she plopped uninvited into the chair across from him. “Respect is earned, Osiris. You want mine, you know how to get it.”

Think again, little girl,
he thought. “Before you see Johnny, I will need certain assurances from you, Stacey. You will adhere to every task and test I subject you to. If you don’t, I will have you drained and your body tossed into the sea. Understand.” His tone was calm, in contradiction of her ferocious one.

“You're holding my son. It's not like I have a choice.” She shrugged her pudgy arms, folded defiantly, belaying her words.

Osiris couldn't help but admire her a little. “As long as we understand each other. Follow me.”

He could feel her hostile gaze on the back of his neck as he led her through the halls. Twelve and Nine followed behind her. When he opened the door to Mick's torture chamber, Stacey pushed past him and knelt next to Mick's crumpled, nude form shivering with hypothermia in the corner.

“You're a psychopath,” Stacey hissed over her shoulder at him.

Osiris grinned. “That is a fact. Bear that in mind at all times.”

Mick cringed from her touch, but she persisted, grasping his bruised arm. Amazingly, Mick's shivering calmed. Mick looked at Stacey through eyes nearly swollen shut. “I'm sorry, Stacey. I only took my eye off Johnny for a second. I'm so sorry.”

The snarky female wrapped her arms around Mick with compassion. “All you need to worry about is surviving,” Osiris heard her whisper into Mick’s blood-soaked, frozen-stiff hair.

“Not likely. Come. I will take you to your son now,” Osiris snapped. Mick did not deserve compassion from anyone. He didn't miss the sharp shake of Mick's head in answer to some question Stacey asked, using either her gaze or perhaps mouthed words. Osiris waved in Twelve and Nine to have her physically removed from Mick.

She shrugged them off and slapped at their hands. “I'm going, don't manhandle me, boys.” She brushed past Osiris for a second time before taking the cocked-hand-on-hip pose into the hall.

Osiris decided to give her a few hours with Johnny before he'd show her that there were more ways to get respect than earning it. Fear resembled respect in many ways. Stacey would fear him soon enough.

He opened the door next to Mick’s. Kelly sat wrapped in blankets despite the piped in heat of the room. The stupid wench's teeth still chattered. Johnny sat on the floor surrounded by pots, pans, utensils and whatever else the staff had found for him to play with. Toys hadn't occurred to Osiris when he'd ordered the berg stocked. Neither had diapers. His nose crinkled at the smell of the boy.

This time, instead of brushing past, she shoved him hard out of her way. The slippery floor made Osiris lose his footing, and only the quick act of Twelve and Nine caught him before he fell. “Get out,” she snapped, lifting Johnny into her arms. She twirled and the boy squealed happily. Fates, Osiris hated children. Dirty, drooly, loud, obnoxious things; Osiris held himself back from covering his ears against the grating noise of the child's laughter.

“I will send for you in two hours,” he growled. That shove had sealed his determination to break her. “Remember your assurance to do whatever I say.”

Stacey pursed her lips and nodded once. Twelve tossed Stacey’s bag into the room, and the door shut with the click of a lock behind him. Hopefully the female had thought to bring items for her child.

****

Unlike the sub-zero room where Mick had been, the temperatures of this room, the hallways, and Osiris's office were just below freezing. Holes drilled through the ice funneled air just above the two small sleeping platforms on opposite sides of the room. Stacey laid her coat down on the wood slat floor, pulled a diaper from her bag and changed Johnny. Lifting the lid of the port-a-potty in the corner, she discarded the soiled one.

Across from the doorway was a shelf with an assortment of canned goods, ration packs, a single-burner hot plate … and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Stacey used it to clean her hands before turning her attention to the bundled, shivering female who sat cross-legged on one of the platforms, staring wide-eyed at Stacey.

“Are you human?” The girl shook her head. “Hulven?” The girl nodded. “Then why are you cold?” Volaticus weren’t immune to extreme temperatures, but they could regulate it enough to be comfortable at thirty degrees Fahrenheit easy.