City of Light (Outcast 1)

The greater nest? That wasn’t something I liked the sound of. “What are the names of the two people who were caught in that rift with you, Sal?”

He opened his mouth, but no sound immediately came out. His chest was bellows-like as he struggled to suck in the air his body and brain was now being deprived of. Death was close, so very close.

“Samuel Cohen.” He paused, then added, his voice little more than a harsh whisper, “Ciara Dream.”

The glint in his eyes had my own narrowing. A second later, I realized what he’d done. “What names are they using in this time?”

Again he opened his mouth, but this time no sound came out. The Sueño had taken full hold. The end was near. I closed my eyes for a moment, then rose and walked over to him, catching his cold, lifeless hands in mine.

“May the goddess forgive your actions against these children, Sal, because I cannot.” There were tears in my eyes and on my cheeks, but fury in my heart. “You had a chance of new beginning at the war’s end, and instead you chose the path of death. I will burn your body and spread your ashes on the wind so that you will never know the peace of the earth mother’s arms around your decaying flesh.”

And with that, I stepped away and watched him die.

It was a bitter, ugly thing to behold, but I nevertheless watched it, until his body gave up the struggle to live and the light of life finally died in his eyes.

Then I sat down, called to the healing state, and carefully chased every drop of the two poisons from my body.

Dawn was rising by the time I was done. I rose, my body stiff and sore from being held in one position for so long, and headed for the door.

I had children to rescue.

It was time to gather the ghosts.

Chapter 14

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sp; Cat and Bear met me at the bunker’s exit, but their greeting was muted, their energy filled with a mix of fear and trepidation. Because of their deeper connection with me, they knew what I intended to do—and were fully aware of the dangers involved.

I’d never called on the adult déchet for help before now, and I really had no idea how they would react—especially given their furious state the last time I’d been in our bunker.

I punched the entry code into the grate and slipped inside before it had fully opened. I hit the CLOSE button as I passed and fought the urge to run down the tunnel. The desire to get under Chaos and rescue those five children might hammer through every part of me, but the last thing I needed was to be caught in my own security measures. I switched off the electro-nets as I approached each one, and only broke into a run once the last was deactivated. My footsteps echoed lightly across the silence and almost felt like a call to arms. I wondered if the adult ghosts were listening. Wondered if they would respond.

I found Nuri and the two men in the medical center. Branna remained fully secured, but he was awake and fighting mad, if the anger that bloomed the minute he spotted me was anything to go by. Jonas was sitting on the bed to the right of Branna’s, and Nuri had dragged in a chair from somewhere and was sitting to Branna’s left.

Only Nuri showed any sort of relief at my arrival. “Did your Sal come looking for you, as you feared?”

“He did.” My voice was clipped, cold. Cat and Bear crowded closer, but I could feel the rest of the children nearby. Their energy stung the air, electrifying it, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

Nuri’s gaze narrowed. She could obviously feel it, too, but all she said was, “And?”

“And I got the location of five of the children.”

“What?” Jonas leapt off the medibed, a mix of disbelief and hope in his eyes. “How?”

I shot him a glance. “By doing what I was bred to do—seduce, drug, and question him.”

The questions I could see in his eyes got no chance to surface, because Nuri cut him off with an abrupt gesture. “And the remaining children? What of them?”

“Sal didn’t know where they were. He wasn’t told.”

“So they did—do—suspect you.” She pushed up from the chair and began to pace, her dark skirts swishing almost angrily around her ankles. “This is not a good development. Where are the five?”

“In the sewers under Chaos.”

Jonas swore, and Branna just looked angrier. Nuri stopped, her face going pale. “Sal told you this? And you believe him?”

“Yes, because the drug I used gave him no option but to tell the truth.” I paused and half shrugged. “It is undoubtedly a trap, but they are nevertheless there.”