Last Chance (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 3) (30 page)

Everyone stared at her in silence.

“What?” she asked, laughing softly as she slipped onto the one free stool at the kitchen counter.

“Are you freaking insane?” Lily asked as she got to her feet. Two bright spots on her cheeks revealed how livid she was.

“I’m fine, Lily. I promise. I wouldn’t get out of bed if I wasn’t.”

A number of people in the room snorted, including Logan, and Kai’s expression changed as she studied the faces watching her. Then she looked at Logan and asked, “So what’s the plan?”

Logan got to his feet and walked to her. “The plan is for you to go back to bed and recover.” She lifted her gaze slowly to his face, and Logan saw the warning in her eyes. He hid his smile and slowed his steps.

Kai pushed off the stool and reached for the hem of her T-shirt. She was wearing low-slung yoga pants and a fitted tee, and the sight of her bare hips sent sensations rippling through Logan that shouldn’t really be there when staring at an invalid.

She bared her abdomen, then turned to the right so everyone could see her wound.

No, not a wound.

A scar.

Mel gasped, and Logan knew exactly how she felt. The only people that didn’t look surprised were the Walkers in the room. And Logan, of course, having seen Kai’s healing processes before.

“Kai? Are you sure you’re fine for this?” Mel’s face was still pale with shock as she met Kai’s gaze.

Kai nodded. “Walkers just heal fast, and alphas heal faster.” She shrugged and then sat back down. Logan retreated to his chair as Kai swiveled to face the Tracker. “You up for tracking Mom again?”

Mel nodded. “The key will be fine unless you have something else.”

Kai glanced at Iain and then at Ivy, who both shook their heads and shrugged. “Okay then. The key it is. Do you want to do it in the room?” she asked the Tracker who smiled and followed Kai.

They didn’t close the door, but the room provided a little privacy for Mel. Logan paced while they were busy. Right now, all he wanted to do was shake Kai for giving him such a scare. On the other hand, shaking wasn’t the first thing that came to came to mind when he thought of what he wanted to do to her right now.

Logan shook his head and paced some more.

***

As soon as I entered the room, I headed to the bedside table. Mel sank onto the mattress while I dug Mom’s key out of my bedside drawer. Before I handed it to her, I asked, “Would you rather be alone? Do you need anything?”

She grinned and shook her head, sending her wavy black tresses bouncing all over her shoulders. Her hair looked unruly, as if she’d been running her fingers through it over and over again. My stomach tightened as I realized I must have been the cause of her worries. In fact, I’d worried everyone who sat in my apartment right now.

I handed the key to Mel and sank down beside her. The sun was streaming through the window. How long had I been in a recovery stupor? I listened to Mel’s even breathing as she slipped into her astral projection, and my heart thudded with expectation. Where were they keeping her? Would we be able to get in and out easily?

I tried to distract myself by thinking about those last minutes when Illyria had tried to kill me. I had to admit that even now, even having heard her own admission, I still found it hard to believe. I wasn’t sure if my death had been her goal or if she’d just wished to incapacitate me. The poison on the knife would have killed a human, but she knew very well I was a Walker.

What she didn’t know was that I’d suffered the effects of Wraith obsidian poison before, and it seemed my body had built its own defenses against it. If in fact it was obsidian poison. I wondered if maybe she’d tried the Black Lake waters, but Wren’do would have informed her of my non-deadly swim. The fact that the Wraiths had actively used any poison against me was a concern. Would they advance to using it on humans? I shuddered to think how devastating that would be.

I’d woken briefly when Iain was sitting beside me, and he’d told me what Wren had revealed after the people at Omega had completed their interrogations. Illyria was the illegitimate daughter of Lord Widd’en, a rebellious member of the royal family. Illyria’s mother had kept the secret for years and only revealed it to her husband Lord Wrathyan when the girl was being forced to marry. Apparently, her mother could not bear the thought of her daughter having to go through an arranged marriage the way she had.

Illyria found solace with her natural father, although Wrathyan hadn’t formally denounced her. The marriage proposal still hung over her head, but Illyria had abandoned it all to follow in her father’s footsteps as leader of the Rebels. She idolized her father and had been driven near insane when he’d been killed.

Everything she’d done since had been a means to finding her father’s killer, who until I had revealed myself, had been assumed to be Celeste. I was thankful I’d taken the weight of that responsibility on my own shoulders, but I still feared for my mother’s life. I recalled the Wraith’s words, that my mother was no longer needed. The memory chilled me, brought my attention straight out of my thoughts and back to Mel.

My timing was excellent. Mel stirred, her face pale as she blinked and reconnected her mind with her body. “You all right?” I asked, leaning toward her. Mel nodded, although she looked afraid. “What’s wrong? Did you find her?”

“I’m fine.” But her expression told me otherwise.

Fear spun through my mind, making me lightheaded. I forced myself to maintain some semblance of calm and waited for the tracker to speak. Then Mel sighed and leaned her elbows on her knees.

“We just have a bit of a problem.”

“Which is?” I asked, trying to be patient.

“She’s being held in a secure facility in the Nevada desert.” Her words came out in one breath.

“Area 51?” I asked, my voice dying on an uncomfortably high note.

Mel shook her head, then stopped and met my gaze. “You know, I’m not sure exactly. I was inside, managed to get around the place a little. But it’s not like I had coordinates or anything.”

“Okay, so what do we have to go on?” I asked as I rose. “You want to tell everyone?”

Mel nodded and walked with me back into the dining room. I cleared my throat and said, “Right, let’s do this.”

Mel slid back into her seat beside Drake and took a breath. “So Celeste is being held in a facility out in the Nevada desert. She seems to be healthy and clean. She’s still weak and is being held in a secure room. The facility looks a lot like a hospital or medical center.”

“Guards?” asked Logan, his brows furrowed in concentration.

“Two at her door and two guarding a set of doors entering the wing she’s in. Security is tight, key cards for doors and elevators, cameras everywhere. It’s underground, so one way in one way out. We don’t know what facility it is, so schematics are out of the question.”

“I’m guessing you couldn’t tell the specific location?” asked Logan.

“No. I couldn’t see anything on the surface that would act as a significant landmark. Just desert and cacti.”

“Guards on the surface?”

Mel nodded. “Two in a hut at the entrance to the facility about a mile away. And two in a small office attached to the entrance. You go to the security desk; they check you out and allow you to pass through. Inside is just a single elevator.”

“Then that isn’t the only way out,” I said.

Logan nodded. “Yes. But there should be a maintenance entrance for larger equipment and maybe even supplies.”

“If there is, they didn’t bring her through that way. I tracked her through the top entrance.”

“What if we got in and then tried to find the alternative exit, just in case we need it. If we’re careful, we may not need it.”

Logan pursed his lips and nodded. “I wish I could say it would likely be an easy in-and-out, but I can’t. Not for a facility like this. And especially not for something underground.”

Logan’s words were certainly not designed to make me feel better. I rubbed my forehead. “Okay, so we know she’s fine and not being tortured. She’s alive. That’s a bloody good sign.”

“The problem is exactly who the hell are these guys and what are they doing with her? I didn’t see a single Wraith anywhere I tracked.” Mel sounded frustrated as a frown wrinkled her brow.

The silence in the room was tangible as so many minds considered so many possibilities.

I glanced at Grams. “An experimental facility?”

She frowned, but all the same, the color drained from her already pale features. Her blue eyes had darkened with worry so much that I could have sworn they were black. “You think Widd’en’s men sold Celeste to an experimental lab?” Her voice shivered as she spoke and her gaze flitted to Iain who sat across from me, equally pale. At least he didn’t look like it was so unbelievable.

I glanced back at Grams and nodded. “What else could it be? It’s not as if the Wraiths have the means to build such a thing anyway. A facility like Mel described is so Area 51 it’s either governmental or heavily funded private.”

“What would a governmental agency want with your mother?” asked Anjelo, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe we were even having this conversation. I’d almost forgotten he was there. He and Lily had been strangely silent, and I assumed my injury had taken its toll on them.

I cleared my throat before I said, “Mom is a Hunter. She’s a Mage. She has powers similar to mine, including the glow when killing Wraiths. Any government agency investigating the paranormal would kill to study a paranormal like her.” My voice and my words were harsh, partly to mask the emotion ripping up my insides. The thought of anyone experimenting on my mother made my panther snarl. But I refused to sugarcoat it. Everyone in the room deserved to be made aware of the risks. “It also means that going into a facility like this is more dangerous than anything you’ve ever done. We’re all paranormals here. Each of us would be a scientist’s delight. We have to be well organized. And we can’t get caught.”

“Okay.” Logan got to his feet. “Let me do some digging. Maybe I can find information on similar structures. Perhaps that will give us a good idea of how something like that is built and where the likely emergency exits would be. If anything, at least it will give us a better idea of what to look for once we get inside.”

I slid off the stool again and studied the table full of people who’d come to support me. For a moment, I was overwhelmed and had to swallow back my tears.

“Okay, everyone get some rest. Once Logan gets back with some schematics, we can plan a way inside. I’ll message you all with the time to meet.”

“We’re going as soon as possible, right?” asked Anjelo. He was tossing his phone from one hand to another, and I knew it meant he was worried.

“Yeah. I’d go right now if I could, but yes, we aren’t going to waste any time about this.”

Anjelo sat back, looking satisfied. He’d kept his new look after he returned home, and although I liked it, I missed his super-short crew cut. He nodded and got to his feet. Chairs slid on wood and fabric rustled as everyone took that as their cue to move.

Soon, only Logan and Grams were left, and the apartment felt abandoned. Logan moved toward me, threw an arm around my waist, and gave me a hug. Despite my weakened state, my skin sizzled where he touched me.

“I have to go,” he whispered in my ear. Pots clattered in the kitchen as Grams began dinner. Logan placed a heated kiss on my neck and said, “When I get back, I’m going to make sure you know exactly how you make me feel.”

“And how exactly do I make you feel?” I whispered, our mouths inches from each other.

“Oh, you’ll have to wait until I return. But if you want an idea, its something along the lines that even when you’re weak and broken, you still manage to get my blood burning.”

“Mmm. Is that a good thing?”

“Definitely a good thing.”

“I should get weak and broken more often, then.”

He grabbed my ass and squeezed, simultaneously pressing me against his body, his arousal firm against my hip. “Don’t you get any ideas. I quite like my women in one piece, thank you.”

More clattering from the kitchen made me grin. Logan released my butt and kissed me firmly on the neck before hurrying to the door.

His woman indeed.

***

Logan returned within a few hours with plans he’d found in Omega’s archives. “What are these plans for?” I asked as he set them at the far end of the table.

“If I tell you, I’d have to kill you,” he said, his voice bland. Grams and I both rolled our eyes. We were occupied setting the table with deep plates and tableware. “What’s for dinner?” he asked, staring at the pots on the stove. He looked like a man dying for a meal.

“Spaghetti Bolognese, and don’t change the subject.” I glared at him.

Logan grinned and headed to the kitchen, giving me a light shrug. “I actually have no idea. I didn’t waste time trying to connect the coded number reference on the bottom.”

He washed up, then waited beside the pot for Grams to hand him a deep serving bowl, which he proceeded to fill with the spaghetti sauce. Steam swirled around them as I watched Grams point him to a large colander in the sink. Logan seemed very domesticated as he dropped the pasta into the colander to drain, then tossed it in olive oil as Grams poured. The look on Grams’ face said she approved.