The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

A footstep. Just one, and then nothing.

The tension within me was becoming so bad I could barely breathe, and part of me just wanted to scream at them, to make them attack and get it all over with.

But I’d never been one to give up, and I wasn’t about to now. I kept the guns raised and my mouth shut.

Stone scraped lightly against stone—not from in front, but rather above. Someone was crawling across the roof, making their way toward the entrance. I scanned the ceiling, but there were no breaks or fissures he could see through, and no way to appraise the situation other than dropping down into the cave’s entrance.

More movement, this time from both the left and the right of the cave’s entrance. They had me surrounded. Time had just run out.

I closed my eyes and contemplated doing the unthinkable. But until there was absolutely no other choice, I would not go down that path.

They didn’t attack.

They didn’t get the chance.

Energy spun around me, energy that was warm, familiar, and filled with a mix of both happiness to see me and concern at my state.

Against all the odds, Cat and Bear had not only heard my call but had brought help in the form of the Broken Mountain shifters.

Relief flooded through me, washing away the last of my resistance and strength.

As the sound of gunfire broke the silence, I asked my two little ghosts to protect Raela, and then finally slipped into the welcoming arms of unconsciousness.

Chapter Four

It was the steady sound of beeping that broke through the layers of darkness and dragged me back to consciousness. I didn’t immediately open my eyes; I wanted to assess the situation before I gave any indication I was awake.

Both the softness of the bed that all but enveloped me and that steady electronic beeping indicated I was lying in a medibed. All trace of pain had fled, but whether that was because I was heavily sedated or because all my wounds had healed, I couldn’t say. IVs had certainly been inserted into my arm, but I didn’t in any way feel hazy or languid. Not that that meant anything, as I’d discovered in Winter Halo that modern drugs could affect me, and they’d surely invented better drugs than the ones my old medibeds still used. I twitched my fingers and toes, and then shifted my leg slightly. No pain, full response. The relief that swept me was almost ridiculous given my body had healed wounds far worse than a shattered leg before. Hell, I’d survived the chemical meltdown of almost my entire being.

But this was the first time since then that healing actually mattered. Not just for me, not just for Raela and my little ghosts, but for our entire world.

What I couldn’t hear was the beeping of a second medibed, and that suggested I was the lone patient in this room. I also couldn’t sense the presence of my two ghosts, and concern instantly surged—until I remembered my last-minute request to protect Raela. They were obviously still with her.

We are, Bear said. She is safe. So are you.

And Jonas? But even as I asked that question, the familiar scent of cat, wind, and evening rain warmed the otherwise sterile air, and I couldn’t help the smile that touched my lips.

He wasn’t only here—wherever “here” actually was—but in the room, sitting beside the bed.

Despite my desperate request for my ghosts to send help, I hadn’t been entirely sure he’d answer. The Broken Mountains were a good distance from Central City, and while he did have kin here—both children and grandchildren—I’d gotten the impression he tended to avoid the place these days.

Besides, he and I were in a rather strange situation. We were situational allies who’d stepped past old enmity to become something more. We weren’t really friends, and certainly weren’t lovers, but there was definitely a spark—an attraction I’d not felt with anyone else ever before—happening between us.

And it was far more than just the instinctive reaction of a lure who’d been b

red to seduce shifters such as him. How much more was something we’d agreed to explore after we’d caught Dream and put an end to the trio’s immunity madness.

And it was an exploration I was looking forward to.

He’s been rather grouchy, Cat said. We’ve avoided both him and his questions.

Which probably made him even grouchier. He was well aware of my deep connection with both Cat and Bear, and I had no doubt his irritation would have stemmed from them thwarting his attempts to gain information. No matter what might be happening between us personally, Jonas was first and foremost a soldier—and in times past, had in fact been a general. And like most good leaders, he was of the belief that while the life of every scout did matter, information retrieval had to be the first and foremost priority.

It was rather odd, though, that he simply hadn’t ferreted the information out of my mind himself. While neither of us was telepathic, the rift that had caught the two of us appeared to have mashed my talent to hear the ghosts with his rift-given ability to mind speak with Nuri, and created a somewhat fragile connection between the two of us. It was a connection that had oddly strengthened in the days after he’d saved my life at Winter Halo, and one that—rather frustratingly—seemed to be stronger on his side than mine. But then, I guess he did have an advantage—he’d been communicating with Nuri that way for decades.

I opened my eyes.

Jonas immediately lowered his feet from the edge of the medibed and leaned forward. “How are you feeling?”