The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

Yes, Bear said. Dawn has only just risen.

Sunrise was something I would normally feel, so whatever they were using to block psychic abilities was also affecting my vampire soul.

What are Nuri and Jonas currently doing?

Working on getting you out of here, Cat said. But more than that, we do not know. Jonas wanted us here, keeping you safe.

He was decidedly angry when we all lost contact with you so abruptly, Bear added.

That, Cat said, in a superior sort of tone, wasn’t anger but rather fear. Trust me, I can sense these things.

A smile twitched my lips, and I quickly ducked my head so that the cameras didn’t pick it up. And noticed in doing so that I was no longer wearing Nuri’s charms. I guess that was no surprise. I dare say I’d also been internally examined to ensure I’d had no devices and micro-armaments hidden.

Did they give you any idea at all just how they intended to free me?

No, they just said to trust them, even when all seems dire.

I did trust them, even if the statement didn’t overly imbue much confidence. I’m going to try and drop into the healing state. Can you wake me if anyone approaches? But stay in the cell—you both need to rest and regain your strength as well.

As their yeses ran through my thoughts, I closed my eyes and started the deep-breathing exercise that would drop me down into the healing state. It wasn’t easy. In fact, for several minutes it felt like I was swimming through a sea of thick, gelatinous muck—one that rather reminded me of the shielding barriers around the rifts. Maybe Dream had added her own barriers to what was already present.

But as with the rifts, I eventually did push through, and relief stirred as the healing began. Because if I could push through the restrictions to heal, then I could probably do the same when it came to my other skills.

Time passed, though I had little awareness of it given the deepness of the trance.

But as full awareness began to return, I heard the cell door retract. I didn't open my eyes, but flared my nostrils, drawing in a deeper breath to sort through the various scents. The overwhelming stench of my own body hit me first, but underneath that was a scent I was all too familiar with.

It wasn’t Hedda or even Karlinda, as I’d been expecting, but rather Charles. And he was angry—at me, at himself, and at the entire situation.

The door slid shut behind him, and for several minutes, silence reigned. But I could feel his gaze on me. Feel his increasing anger and flare of disgust.

“I know you’re awake,” he said abruptly. “They’re monitoring your movements and life signs in the control center.”

It was only at that moment I realized I was still wearing Catherine’s shape rather than my own. Obviously, despite being knocked out and drugged, I hadn’t reached the point of exhaustion. Instinct, and perhaps even Cat and Bear’s deep connection with me, had helped me maintain form, and thereby the identity lie.

I didn’t move, didn’t look up, and didn’t bother to reply. Everything that needed to be said had been said. I wasn’t even truly mad with him, because from his point of view, with the information he’d been given, he’d done exactly what duty and any clear-thinking individual might have done. And, when it came down to it, I had been using him. In that, he’d been very correct.

But I was annoyed at him. Annoyed that he hadn’t given me the benefit of the doubt—that he hadn’t even offered me the chance to explain.

“Your trial starts at three this afternoon,” he continued. “It is the last order of business for the day.”

I couldn’t help wondering if that was Dream’s doing. Couldn’t help wondering if the lateness of the hour was part of her schemes, and part of the doom Nuri saw rising.

“I have insisted that you be given the chance to bathe before then. However great your crime, it is not right for you to be treated this way.”

I remained silent. He was the reason I was in this place, and I had no intention of making anything easy on him—especially when I suspected his reasons for being here came from a vague sense of uneasiness and guilt.

“They did a search of your apartment,” he said. “They found the guns and the old uniform.”

Again, I refused to respond.

He dragged in a ragged-sounding breath. “For Rhea’s sake, Catherine, talk to me!”

I finally opened my eyes and looked at him “Why? What difference does it make? You’ve already made up your mind about me, so what else needs to be said?”

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I just—” He stopped and shrugged. “I’d hoped there was a good reason for your actions, but I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“It matters, Charles, more than you can ever imagine,” I replied, battling to keep my voice even. “Just not for the reasons you think. And when this is all over, kindly remember that never once did you give me the benefit of the doubt. You believed everything they said about me, even if it contradicted everything you knew about me.”