The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

“Oh, good.”

She smiled and patted my arm. “Rest until your meal gets here. I suspect my great-uncle won’t allow much of it once you leave this haven.”

“Probably not,” I agreed, amused.

She smiled, checked the readouts on Raela’s medicot, and then gave me a nod and walked out. I adjusted the bed so that it supported my back in an upright position, and leaned back into its

softness. I was neither sleepy nor tired, and I very much wanted to be doing anything other than simply lying here. There was a growing itch in the back of my mind suggesting I needed to get back to Central and the false life I’d created there—a life that involved being the lover of one Charles Fontaine. Until very recently he’d been the financial director at Winter Halo, and I’d initially hooked up with him in the hope of gaining information about the company. But he’d quit just before all the shit had gone down there in order to take up his family seat in the House of Lords, and as much as part of me might have wanted to end our relationship right there and then, I couldn’t. Not when being his mistress might well provide our only chance of getting anywhere near Dream without raising suspicions.

And though he was little more than a means to an end—just another target in a very long line of them—I couldn’t help but feel some regret over the situation. Charles was a very nice, if somewhat old-fashioned shifter, and he deserved more than the falsehoods I was feeding him.

I thrust the thought away in irritation. This was what I’d been designed to do, and at least this time, I was doing it by choice rather than order.

I reached sideways and carefully drew Raela from her cot. She giggled happily as I flicked aside the sheet and laid her on my chest. After squirming about for several minutes, she fell asleep.

I’m glad she’s going to be living with us, Cat said.

“So am I,” I replied softly, resting my hand protectively on Raela’s back. “So am I.”

There were no tears during our goodbye. Raela might be nothing more than a babe, but the old soul within her seemed to understand the necessity of our parting. I promised I’d be back for her as soon as possible, and followed Jonas from the room. I didn’t look back. I very much suspected those nonexistent tears just might make an appearance in my eyes if I did.

Cat and Bear danced along happily to the quick sound of our footsteps as we made our way through the bright halls of this place. The shifter clans might be nomadic, but the more I saw of this medical center, the more it seemed to be a permanent installation. There was nothing temporary about the concrete walls or floors, and there was a heaviness to the air that spoke of an underground structure.

“That’s because it is.” Jonas cast a quick look my way. “There are three other such places situated across the breadth of these mountains. While every clan does have healers who travel with them, it’s not practical to constantly move the more intensive medical facilities.”

“So this facility is manned full-time?”

“Yes.” He stopped at a door and ran his RFID chip across the sensor. The red light flashed to green and the door opened. It wasn’t an exit, as I’d half expected, but rather a storeroom. “The clans all support the cost of running the four facilities and paying the medical staff. This particular one is currently running with a skeleton crew, as the clans have moved east until the summer solstice.”

I followed him into the bright room. “I’m guessing it’s no coincidence that we’re here, then.”

“Actually, it was, as this just happened to be the closest facility to where you were found.”

He walked to the end of the room and disappeared around a corner. I waited, my gaze sweeping the rows of shelves. There was a fortune’s worth of stock here—the clans certainly weren’t miserly when it came to provisions for these centers.

Jonas reappeared, carrying a small pillow, a blanket, and what looked like a baby sling. I raised my eyebrows and he grinned. “Meet the new Raela.”

He handed me the sling and, as I attached it, wrapped the small pillow in the blanket. “This isn’t going to fool anyone for too long,” I said, even as I tucked the wrapped pillow into the sling and then adjusted the sides so that it looked—at least at first glance—like there was indeed a baby sleeping inside.

“It only has to fool someone long enough for us to get into the waiting ATV and drive out of these mountains.”

My eyebrows rose. “You think someone will be watching?”

“I’d rather err on the side of caution.” He pressed his fingers against my spine and lightly guided me to the door. “If there is, then it’s better they believe we’ve taken Raela with us. It’ll take some of the heat off Tala tomorrow.”

“If she hasn’t got any children, though, suspicions will be raised regardless. And unless you’ve restricted entry into the hospital, it won’t be hard to uncover Raela’s presence here.”

“Except she won’t be here,” he said. “Tala’s taking her across to her sister's place as we speak. Meryn has eight of her own, and trust me when I say no one is ever going to notice one more amongst their number. They simply do not stay still long enough to count. Heaven help Jarren when they all hit his encampment.”

I grinned. “I take it this won’t be the first time they’ve all been there.”

“No—although I think he and his people threw a celebration party when they left the last time.” Amusement tinged Jonas's voice as he held open the next door and ushered me through. “Jarren’s group are relatively young—there’re only a couple of his people who have had children, and they’re all rather well-behaved compared to Meryn’s kids.”

I chuckled softly. “They sound like my little ones.”

“Even your little ones are staid by comparison.” We went through another door and stepped into the twilight. The air was warm and the breeze filled with the scent of wildflowers and eucalyptus. We were in what looked to be some sort of old crater. Rough red-stone walls reared upward on either side of us, and the circular courtyard was ringed with trees and bright blooms that nodded gently in the stirring breeze.

Several all-terrain vehicles were parked to the left of the courtyard, but Jonas guided me to the right, where an older woman waited beside a somewhat decrepit-looking vehicle. She gave me a polite nod before moving her gaze to Jonas. Her expression very much suggested they were more than old friends, and something odd stirred inside me.