Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling 14)

The three of them went to the stones without further discussion. As Zaira followed Aden across, she wasn’t sure how exactly he’d done it—it was treacherous even in the light. Heading up the hill once they were all on the bank on the other side, they took care regardless of Angel’s information, but Remi’s packmate had been right. There were no signs of life.

“I don’t scent anything, fresh or otherwise,” Remi confirmed, his eyes gone leopard. “They must’ve cleared out in the chopper before the storm became too bad.” A glance as they walked forward. “Definite scent of blood inside, but nothing fresh.”

“That’s a very useful ability,” Zaira said.

A raised eyebrow. “I think so. Of course, talking mind to mind is also one hell of an advantage.”

“True.” Her eyes went to Aden to see that he was pressing two fingers against his temple while he scanned the area with his eyes.

They hadn’t spoken since the incident in the training room, but she was near certain he was experiencing the same stabbing pains as her. Like a numb foot waking up, except this pain denoted the resurrection of their psychic abilities. Zaira couldn’t predict if she or Aden would be back to full strength once the process was complete or if the damage was permanent. If it was—

She cut off that line of thought almost as soon as it took form. Thinking about the aloneness was a sure path to madness.

The building took shape out of the mist in front of them. A flat, square bunker covered by camouflage netting and dead foliage that had been carefully arranged to obscure it so it’d be invisible from the air. Not a rush job, or one done by amateurs.

They listened intently for any indication of someone within before entering low and quiet.

The bunker was as cold inside as it was outside, rust-colored stains on the walls when they switched on the lights. Those lights flickered weakly but stayed on. “They must be on a localized power source,” Aden murmured. “Precharged battery likely. Our captors probably took the generator.”

He was proven right; the entire place had been stripped. It had to have been done in a rush, but it had been efficient. And they’d taken their dead. All signs of a trained unit.

“You were held here?” Remi asked when they walked into the room with the overturned chair near the doorway. “Caught your scents.”

Aden nodded. Even if Aden’s instincts hadn’t said he could trust the RainFire alpha, there was no reason to hide the facts—and Remi could easily return to the scene alone and do as much investigating as he wanted. “Do you have a problem with us bringing in a forensic team?”

“Not my land, but don’t fly over RainFire territory and don’t come into it without permission.” A hard look. “I’ll give you direct contact lines. Comms should be back up in the next few hours, so next time you want to visit, you call.”

“Understood.” Aden continued to go through the bunker, but there was nothing that pointed to the identity of their captors. He was crouched beside a shelf, checking to see if something might’ve fallen underneath, when the psychic fog that had been thinning in painful stops and starts over the past hour suddenly burned away in a final excruciating blaze of pain.

It was as if he’d been breathing through smog this entire time, and suddenly, he got a clean draft of air, the PsyNet opening up around him in a rolling sweep of data and minds and psychic noise.

A flicker beside him an instant later. “I’m fine,” he said, rising to his feet to meet the ice gray eyes of his best friend. “Zaira—”

“—is also fine,” came another voice, one he didn’t expect.

You brought Krychek into it.

You’d disappeared and I couldn’t ’port to you, Vasic replied. He’s the strongest Tk in the Net. I made a judgment call as your second in command.

At least you’ve finally accepted the role. Aden turned to look at Krychek. “I’ll give you both a briefing shortly. First, I need an Arrow forensics team in here.”

“I’ll get them.” Vasic ’ported out a split second before Remi returned from outside in a rush of cold air.

Folding his arms, the alpha stood with his feet braced apart just inside the doorway. “I guess your pickup’s here,” he said, eyes leopard-bright and dangerous as he took in Krychek.

“Yes.” Aden reached out with his mind at the same time. Zaira? Can you hear me?

Her response was simple and coated in the frost expected of an Arrow. Affirmative.

Walking to Remi, Aden held out his hand in a gesture he knew the changeling male would appreciate. “Thank you for your help. We wouldn’t have survived without it.”

The alpha took it, shook. “You found our cub. We’re even.”

“Regardless, if you ever need Arrow assistance, the line is open. Finn has my contact details.”

An unreadable expression on Remi’s face. “That’s some offer.” Breaking the handclasp, he said, “If you ever find out who owns this land, you tell me. RainFire intends to buy it.” A pause before he headed out, his gaze locking with Aden’s, alpha to alpha. “Stay in touch, Arrow. You haven’t learned everything yet.”

•   •   •

ZAIRA made certain she was alone when she walked into the chamber where she and Aden had been held. Her eyes went immediately to the corner where she’d been thrown. The dried patch of blood was larger than she’d expected. That didn’t concern her. What did concern her was the reaction she’d had to their captor’s threat.