Destined (War of the Covens 2)

Caia pushed open the door as quietly as possible, her eyes sweeping what appeared to be an empty altar. A flicker of movement from the far right of the room caught her attention, and she stared in confusion at the sight of auburn hair disappearing in front of her very eyes. She blinked rapidly. What the …

The front-row pew obstructed much of the view of that area, but Caia rushed forward, sure she’d seen what looked to be the top of Marita’s head disappearing into the ground. She searched the area in front of the pews to the right of the statue of Gaia, scanning the floor. And there, a glitter of metal caught her eye and she hurried closer, dropping to her knees in fear and excitement.

The tiniest stud of gold metal was stuck to the floor, sitting on the edge of one large slab of marble. Tentatively, she reached forward and touched it.

Whoosh!

Caia strangled a startled cry as the slab peeled open in one fluid movement, revealing a secret entrance. She forgot to breathe as she peered inside what she was sure very few people knew even existed. A ladder was attached to the opposite wall, leading down into a brightly lit hallway that was clinical in appearance.

Goddess, Caia, what are you getting yourself into now?

With a bolstering gulp of air, Caia grabbed hold of the first rung and began to descend into an underground hallway, her footsteps light and her breathing restrained as she made her way down.

There wasn’t a sound, only what appeared to be a silent, endless, white-tiled corridor with fluorescent lighting. What was this place? And why didn’t anyone know about it? Or did they? She was down here now, so she might as well get on with it. Caia crept forward in quick little steps, her brain yelling Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! with each one.

And that’s when she heard it. She stopped, wincing at the squeak her Converse made on the tiled floor. Her ears perked up and a chill burst down her spine.

Crying. Children’s cries! Snarling. Hissing. She could make out at least five different voices in the mix. Oh, dear goddess! She hurried forward and stupidly spilled around the corridor as it veered left. A figure disappeared into a door up ahead without noticing her and she continued forward at a quieter but still quickened pace.

The door, marked Laboratory 1: Lykanthrope, sat adjacent to a long window, and cautiously Caia strained, trying to look inside without anyone noticing her.

What she saw …

“Oh my go—”

Marita.

Talking to a tall man dressed in a navy lab coat, their eyes going over whatever information he had on the tablet in his hands. In front of them were five children, their faces contorted with all manner of misery.

Caia felt bile rise in her throat at such a familiar sight.

She had seen this before. With Jaeden.

Each child was locked in a cage surrounded by magik, magik that kept them from changing. Rows of test tubes sat on trays attached to each cage, a variety of liquids in each. Caia felt a rush of anger as her eyes found the face of a small girl—she couldn’t have been more than ten years old. Her huge eyes had a haunted look no person, much less a child, should ever have cause to feel.

White heat shot through Caia’s body, and she gasped, spinning around, her body pressed to the door as she tried to gain control over herself. As she shuddered into some kind of normalcy, she saw another door farther down, another window. More children. Perhaps another race. Vampyre maybe?

At the sound of footsteps drawing closer from the other side of the door, Caia took off, her eyes searching the ceilings and walls for CCTV cameras as she made her way back to the entrance. There was nothing.

No, she thought, her lip curling in rage, Marita wouldn’t want evidence of the existence of her little experiments down here.

Caia clambered up the ladder and shot out of the entrance, thanking the gods for the quiet of the altar as she closed the marble slab. She hurried out of the altar and back into the halls of the Center, desperate to wipe off the invisible filth that now clung to her skin. She had no idea what Marita was doing with those children, what her endgame was. Then Marita’s voice rang in her head like an alarm.

“I wanted you to stay and help me train an elite force of lykans I’m working on.”

Is that what she was doing? Trying to make a stronger army by experimenting on children? Oh Hades, no. It was unthinkable.

And just a theory, she reminded herself.

But theory or no, Marita had crossed the line, and Caia’s plans had instantly changed. She was in no mood to take things slowly now. No. Now she had no compunction whatsoever in destroying the bitch any way she could.