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Damien quickly punched numbers into a keypad, and there was a click as the deadbolt released. He led me inside and closed the door behind us.
Automatic lights came on, illuminating the entry. It was a wide-open room with various chairs, tables, and couches, almost like a lounge area. Just as it had looked in the apartment complex, this place was top of the line. I would have wondered how they afforded something like this, had I not known they served a goddess. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities for a goddess to make sure her servants had what they needed to properly train and fight in her wars.
“This way,” Damien called, beckoning me to the nearby door, and I realized I’d fallen into such a daze that I hadn’t noticed him leave my side. He opened the door, revealing a stairway leading underground.
For a moment, I couldn’t follow him, my feet plastering to the floor as if they refused to take another step. Instead of the stairwell before me, I was looking at the stairwell in Marcus’ hideout, remembering the chamber with chains...
Damien stopped a few steps down when he realized I wasn’t following. “Are you ok, Cas?”
I took a deep breath and pushed back the impending panic that licked at the pit of my stomach.You’re safe. He no longer has you.“Yeah, sorry.”
He eyed me a moment, and his lips parted, but he didn’t ask, and we continued downward. It led down to a hall where there were a few doors. The glimpses of safety locks, security cameras, and the fencing outside made me aware how secure this place was. It was all but a fortress it seemed.
Did darklings wander into the woods? Or did they stick to the city?
Damien’s voice broke the silence as he pointed toward each of the doors. “The armory is through that door, there’s a gym over there, and through here is the training facility.”
“You guys really have an armory?”
“Yeah, it doesn’t get used as much as it did in the past. We changed things up and it now only houses weaponry and gear for new recruits. Warriors keep their equipment with them at all times now,” he explained, opening the door to the training facility and entering.
Black mats lined the concrete floors, the rubber smell filling my nose, and large mirrors stretched out across the walls on both sides. The space was huge, wide-open, housing a few punching bags, benches along the walls, and some racks with various training weapons.
“How many warriors are there in The Order?”
He shook his head. “Not as many as I’d like. There are thirty-five active warriors, including our group, and thirteen new recruits who are still in training right now. Vincent, Zephyr, and Barrett each oversee their own units.”
Those weren’t good numbers. Damien wasn’t kidding when he said that things may get worse before we were fully prepared. How could so few warriors face an army of darklings as large as the one I’d seen? I swallowed, fearful of what a war with the darklings could mean for us all.
Damien walked ahead of me, grabbing a chair, and motioned for me to come. I took a deep breath, nervous to start but eager for it at the same time.
“It was a lot to ask of you when you searched Cole’s mind. I’m sorry you had to endure that.” Damien carried another chair over, the two facing each other. He eased onto one of them and gestured for me to sit across from him. “We aren’t going to do anything like that this time.”
“I’m glad I was at least able to get the information I did.” I hesitated to ask, but I needed to know. “What’s gonna happen to Cole?”
“We’re keeping him in case we can get any further information out of him. I won’t sugar coat it though, Cas. He won’t be leaving that building unless it’s in a body bag.”
The fact that I didn’t have so much as an ounce of sympathy had me questioning myself. When had I become so cold? “Maybe I can get more out of him.”
He leaned forward, his eyes peering into mine. “When you’re ready, yes. He isn’t going anywhere, though. For now, you focus on me.”
My heart lurched. “I don’t want to hurt you, Damien. I know what I did to Cole hurt him. I saw the damage I did and how badly it hurt when Marcus invaded my thoughts. I don’t want to do that to you.”
Pain flashed across Damien’s eyes. “It’s okay,mea luna. You only hurt Cole because you went for a lot in one go, without knowing what you were doing. We’re just going to start with you reading my thoughts. Marcus, what he did... it isn’t supposed to be painful to enter someone’s thoughts.”
I hesitated. “Promise you’ll stop me if it hurts at all.”
He smiled, nodding. “I’ll be fine.”
He took both my hands, the velvet of his skin against mine sending my heart fluttering in my chest. I watched his eyes dance over my hands as he turned them over, his fingers lithely gliding along my skin, and I resisted the urge to shrink back as he viewed the healing bruises and cuts.
“There is a lot you can do with a person’s mind. You can read someone’s thoughts, feel their emotions, see memories, gauge if they are lying or telling the truth. It’s especially helpful in combat to aid in anticipating your opponent’s moves. You used it to communicate with me in the past, though it depends how far apart we are. It came in handy at times.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “There are darker things that you can do. You can instill thoughts and wills into a person, make them see things that aren’t really there.”
My mind immediately sank back into what I’d seen when I’d been held by Marcus. How he manipulated me into seeing Damien. It had been so real that I’d forgotten where I was or that he had me.
“Cas? Are you ok?” he asked, and the worry in his eyes made me realize my anxiety reflected in my expression.
