Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

Which almost sounded like a warning. Shame my hormones weren’t actually listening—not that they were going to get satisfaction anytime soon. Not with Jonas, anyway.

“Meaning there’s a tribe of little Jonases running around in the Broken Mountains right now?”

“They’re not exactly little, given I lost fertility when the rift altered my nature and most of them are now well into their twilight years. But yes, I have children and grandchildren.”

My smile faded. “At least you had the chance to have offspring, even if it has subsequently been taken from you. I never even had the choice.”

The little ones crowded around me at that, all of them hugging me, kissing me, making my skin twitch with their tingly energy. Reminding me that while I was not by birth their mother, I was the only one who’d cared, the only one who’d shown them laughter and happiness. The only one who’d tried to save them when the gas came. If that was what being a mom meant, then I was theirs.

I blinked back tears and gave them all a mental hug. They laughed in pleasure and danced around me, their energy so bright the air sparkled.

Cat and Bear chose that moment to return. They happily joined in the dance for several seconds, then asked the younger ones to quiet down so that they could make their report. Silence didn’t exactly fall, but they did at least tone it down a little.

Images began to scroll through my mind. The first bit of bad news was the fact that the elevator shaft was filled with lights that had been set into concrete at regular levels. The second was that there were sensors along the entire length of the shaft. Any movement beyond that of the elevator would undoubtedly set them off.

And was the exit at ground level or deeper? I asked.

Ground, but it wasn’t in that building, Cat said. It was in the parking area of a Seventh Street building that backs hard up against it. It is hidden from the public who use the area, but a truck arrived when we were there and we saw where the sensor was.

“I’m guessing Cat and Bear just returned?” Jonas said, the sudden question making me jump a little.

I glanced at him and nodded, even as I silently asked, Did you get a chance to look inside the truck?

We did, Bear said, sounding a little smug. We thought you might ask that.

We also stole the sensor thing from the truck, Cat added, dropping the small device into my hand. They didn’t need it to get out. We checked.

I rolled the device around in my hand. It didn’t look any different from the sensors they’d placed in military vehicles during the war. And the truck’s cargo?

Their amusement died. It was two children. They were drugged and they did not look well. Something had been done to their mouths.

The image of the sewn mouths on the five we’d already rescued rose, and my stomach churned. If they were doing that to these two, then maybe they’d outlived their usefulness. Maybe they, like Sal and the guards, were destined for the gleaming dissection tables. But why bring them to Winter Halo in a truck? Why not use either of the false rifts? It would certainly be safer.

Unless, of course, my use of the rifts had forced them to move the children to a more secure position away from the things. I swore and rubbed a hand across my eyes.

“What?” Jonas leaned forward, his expression intent. The warmth and amusement had fled, leaving only the dispassion of a soldier.

I gave him a quick rundown, then said, “I really do have to get in there tonight.”

“Yes.” His expression was slightly distracted. Updating Nuri, no doubt. “You can’t do this alone.”

“We have no other choice, Jonas. Ela has brothel duties, Branna would kill me, and if you show your face in Central after having taken this job, questions will be asked in the wrong quarters.”

“I’m aware of all that. It doesn’t change what I said.” He scrubbed a hand across his jaw. The rough sound echoed lightly in the hush that surrounded us. The younger ghosts had finally fallen silent—perhaps even they realized the gravity of the situation. “Are there cameras in either the parking area or on the thirtieth floor?”

“The kids won’t be on the thirtieth. They’ll be on the twenty-ninth, where the holding cells are.”

If they’d gone there for dissection, that is. It was always possible the scientist working to develop immunity for the wraiths and vamps had another serum ready to test, and had requested the two children brought in to enable that. Though why they’d risk that rather than take the serum to them, I had no idea.

“I’m aware of that,” Jonas said. “Just ask the question.”

No, Bear said. But there’s everything imaginable on the remaining floors.

I repeated what he’d said. “Getting onto the thirtieth is going to be useless if we can’t get onto the other floors.”

“Let Nuri and me worry about that.” He frowned suddenly. “Don’t you have a lunchtime meeting with Charles?”

I looked over at the autocook clock and saw it was just past one. I had less than half an hour to get back into Central and make myself presentable for seduction.