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Twenty-Six
Riva
The fence with its barbed wire topping doesn’t look as intimidating as I remember. But then, it’s been nearly five years since I was last back here, and I’ve endured a lot in that time.
Andreas picks up a stick from the forest floor behind us and tosses it at the chain-link face. A brief crackle of electricity makes him grimace. “Still electrified.”
The guys around me all look as uncomfortable as I feel. They left this facility not long after I did, under equally traumatic circumstances.
Jacob folds his arms over his chest. “The guardians don’t want anyone stumbling on their secrets even if they’re not using the place anymore.”
Rollick shifts his weight on his feet, his stance all typical smooth confidence but the lines of his own face tauter than usual. None of his shadowkind allies accompanied us this close to the guardians’ territory. The silver and iron protections laid down around the facility are wearing even on the demon’s immense power.
“We haven’t seen any sign of mortals coming and going or patrolling around the place,” he says. “It appears to be abandoned. But I can’t say for sure that no one’s been working inside without leaving during the short time we’ve been able to monitor it.”
Griffin tilts toward the fence, his gaze sharpening with intentness. “I can’t sense any emotions from inside. But I don’t think we should go through with the plan without making sure.”
Rollick glances over at us. “This is the place where you were held for most of your lives.”
I nod. “There’s a lot more to the building than you can see. It goes at least a few floors underground.”
The demon’s tone turns dry. “Ideal for keeping shadowbloods contained. Even by other shadowbloods.”
“Yeah.” I hug myself, my nerves creeping just looking through the fence.
I can’t completely suppress the memories, as much as I’d like to. The small concrete building stands in the middle of the fenced-off clearing, with the solid steel door Griffin and I burst out through when we made our escape attempt all those years ago. The span of asphalt between the gate and the building holds no cars now, but it did back then.
Back then, when I pulled him into our first kiss under the star-flecked sky. When I watched his body jerk with the impact of a bullet from an unseen sniper.
When I thought I watched him die, bleeding out on the pavement while the guardians swarmed me and dragged me away.
Griffin’s memories will be similar to mine. The other four guys have two. The version I told them about, and the one they saw on a tablet’s screen, doctored by the guardians to make it look as if I walked away from Griffin’s crumpled body willingly. As if I’d set him up to die in exchange for my freedom.
The horror rolling through my gut is bad enough. I can’t imagine the clash of emotions that must be gripping them.
On the other side of the building sprawls the field where we had our occasional outdoor training sessions. After so much time out of the guardians’ clutches, it’s strange remembering how much of a novelty it used to be to breathe this fresh air, to take in forest scents rather than the dull, heavily filtered air of the underground rooms.
Zian flexes his shoulders, looking both determined and uncertain. “We’ve got to go in, right? Make sure it’s empty so we can use it.”
I swallow thickly. “Yeah. Where are the controls for the electricity?”
Jacob makes a dismissive sound. “We don’t need to worry about the controls. All I need is the wire…”
He prowls along the edge of the fence with his gaze fixed on the ground. He must be prodding the earth below with his powers, because as he comes around the left side of the facility, he pauses and smiles. “There it is.”
Jake closes his eyes. His arms twitch with the invisible effort he’s extending.
A faint sputter is the only sign that anything has changed. But when he steps back with an air of satisfaction, the next twig Andreas tosses has no effect at all.
As Jacob stalks back to the gate to coax it open, I study Rollick. “Do you want to stay out here?”
His mouth tightens, but he shakes his head. “If we’re going to use this place to make this our last stand, I want to know exactly what we’re working with—and be able to make suggestions to craft that plan as carefully as we can. I think I’ll follow you from the shadows from here on unless I have something to say, though.”
The gate glides open, and the demon fades into the patches of darkness at its foot. The six of us tramp inside, heading across the asphalt toward the sole part of the building above ground.
I’m doing my best to keep my mind entirely focused on the steel door and concrete wall ahead of me, but my pulse still hitches as we pass the exact spot where Griffin and I stood in our one fleeting minute of freedom.
I can’t hide the agony of that memory from him. He slips his hand around mine with a subtle squeeze that says more than any words could.
