Chance: An Action & Adventure Romance Novel (Sacrifice) (3 page)

“Not only can I control things with my mind, but I can also control yours,” exclaimed Liza. “This is not something I like to do, nor is it necessary. Though, having seen your reaction I might have to do it more often.”

His mouth is open and he is staring at her with an expression of pure shock. In all the years that he has worked with Liza he never would have guessed she was a telepath. And not only a telepath, but a seemingly powerful one. “So this is how you always know when to make coffee and stuff.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

Liza nods and smiles at him. “And
stuff
. Those days I’ve been taking off weren’t exactly vacation days. I work for the Order just as you do and often times they will send me elsewhere, usually for interrogation purposes.”

Aiden’s’ eyes narrow as he realizes that she has probably known their thoughts all along.

“It’s difficult to explain,” Liza states, “but I only pick up surface thoughts unless I choose to delve deeper. Which with you and the others, I have not. This I can promise you.”

He knew Liza meant it; she has never given him a reason doubt her so even now he won’t.

“
I have to get going.  Liza, I have to ask... did you pick anything up from the Sapient earlier today?”

Liza slides the bobby pin back into her hair and her expression becomes serious. “I did. From what I could tell the woman you seek is not mortally wounded. Her injuries are flesh wounds but that does not mean you can take your time.  Quite the opposite, actually.
  They’re keeping her in a chamber of sorts.  It isn’t an ordinary prison cell.” Liza’s’ face twists in confusion as she tries to mentally make sense of what she saw. “Underground.” Liza locks eyes with him and there is no doubt in Aiden’s’ mind that she is one-hundred percent sure that they need to search underground areas.

Aiden nods his head in acknowledgment to her and leaves the kitchen.

After Aiden left Liza, he quickly sent Takeo a text of the location they apprehended the Sapient earlier and changes into his gear. The black cargo pants and long sleeved t-shirt he wore weren’t exactly practical but once he strapped on his chest harness and locked his throwing daggers into place he thought his look was pretty bad ass. Shrugging one shoulder at his own thoughts, Aiden heads down into the training room where he knew Angelo would be waiting and probably wondering what was taking so long.

Upon entering the training center, Aiden can hear Angelo and Takeo barking orders at the other men. They were in charge of the forty-five soldiers that were stationed at that compound.  He had to admit that they were given a good group of men. The men always did as they were told and Aiden had yet to have to reprimand one of them for renegading.
  He didn’t have many rules, but the one he lived by was that when an order is given you follow through.

Takeo walks over to Aiden moments later holding an electronic tablet in his hand that they often use for navigation and shoves it in his hands.

Aiden opens the map and scrolls around the screen checking the perimeters. Everything looked good, so he simply nods his head once and hands the device back to Takeo.

Takeo presses a finger to his ear, activating his communication device and orders the men to head to the specified location they were being sent the coordinates for.

“
You ready to fuck some shit up, brother?” Aiden chuckles and smiles up at his insatiable brother. Whenever they were about to go on an assignment Takeo always got like this, adrenaline pumped and dying for a fight.

“You know I am. Let’s find Angelo and get moving.” It crossed his mind that he probably should have told Takeo that they needed to look for an underground entrance, but there would be time for that once they got to their location.

The majority of the men have already left.  When Aiden, Angelo, and Takeo pile into their SUV, the garage is almost completely empty. The drive to the designated location is quiet, each of them preparing in their own way for what it is they might face. There is always the thought in the back of their minds that they might not come back from an assignment, but in their line of work you can’t allow yourself to dwell on such things. What will be, will be.

The location they chose to rendezvous at was a secluded meadow in the dead center of the search area they plotted out. When they arrive the men are all geared and patiently waiting for further orders. Aiden, Angelo, and Takeo exit their vehicle and take their positions at the front of the group.

“
As I’m sure you’ve already noticed you men are broken down into groups of five. You are to fan out and look for any suspicious buildings, landmarks, even caves. When or if you come upon one of these, you are to immediately call it in. The decision to search a particular location thoroughly will be made by me, Aiden or Takeo. Am I clear?”

The men respond immediately in the way they always respond to Angelo “Aye, Luca!”

Angelo turns back to Takeo and Aiden with a smile.  Angelo always liked being in charge but the respect he earned with those men was something that drove him on.

Takeo pulls the tablet out of his side pocket and points to a particular location on the map. “I’m going to go check out this area, the satellite picked up a structure that looks like it could hold at least thirty men. Angelo I think you should head to the northeast, there is a known cave about thirty yards from a body of water.”

Before Takeo gets a chance to tell Aiden which area he should head to one of the men radios in that there is an area to the southwest that has multiple trees cuts down, seemingly in the middle of a forest. That isn’t definitive proof but it’s definitely worth checking out.

“I’ll go check that out, let me know if you two find anything.” Aiden turns on his heel and heads in the direction where his men were waiting for him.

The men are all actively searching the area when he gets to them. One of the older men, probably in his early forties, approaches Aiden and briefs him on what they’ve found. “The trees were obviously cut down with a chainsaw but as you can see the surrounding trees were left untouched. Most of the men are heading over to the cliffs to see if there’s a cave entrance, but that’s all we have so far.”

Aiden dismisses him and starts walking towards the cliffs. Out of the corner of his eye he catches something shimmering in the moonlight. Instinctively, he drops to the ground just
as a shot rings out hitting the ground right behind him. Staying low, but running for the safety of the cliffs, Aiden doesn’t notice that he is not being pursued. Nor does he realize the ground he is standing on is unstable. Until he’s falling, that is.

Chapter Three

There were five hundred and seventy four screws in the walls of her cell, including her door. She knew because she had counted them, repeatedly. Dora wasn’t sure how long she had been a prisoner of these people, but she figured it didn’t matter. She figured she was probably going to die in this cell once they realized she wasn’t going to cooperate. The only time they got anything out of her is when they forced it out. Sometimes she wished they would just kill her and get it over with.

They brought her three meals a day but she usually only ate two of them. It depended on whether or not they left her alone all day. Sometimes they would give her books or magazines to read, but the ones currently in her possession have been read so many times the pages are starting to tear. She could probably quote them if she tried.

Once or twice a day they would speak to her through a speaker in the ceiling. Normally they asked her if she needed anything.  On the bad days they would tell her they would be entering her cell. All Dora really wanted was to be left alone. She knew and understood what she was capable of but wanted no part of it. If she could live the rest of her life and never hurt another person, she would live a happy life.

The clock on the wall read eight fifteen and she knew that her dinner should have been brought fifteen minutes ago. These were bad people but they were punctual. They always have her meals delivered at specific times each day: eight in the morning, one in the afternoon, and eight at night. Every day, except today it seems.

The speaker overhead crackles and a man’s scratchy voice echoes through her cell. “There has been a slight delay in your dinner this evening. Do not worry sweet girl, your food will arrive shortly.” Dora rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out at the speaker. Her form of disobedience wasn’t exactly rebellious, but it made her feel better.

It was twenty more minutes before the little opening in her cell door was opened and her meal was slid through. In the distance she can hear what sounds like an alarm going off.
But it sounds very far away. Disregarding it as a drill or something of that sort she takes her meal back to her bed and sits down. The food they provided her with wasn’t bad. It was a step up from hospital food but not exactly gourmet.  Lucky her today was spaghetti.

Setting her unwanted food aside she leans back against the wall and watches the clock tick the seconds away. Dora’s life had never been easy. She can remember the exact moment her parents were killed. There was a large man, larger then she has ever seen in
her life.  It looked as if he was literally sucking the life from her parents, leaving them lifeless corpses on the floor in front of her.

She cringes at the memory and quickly tries to take her mind off of that horrible night. That was the night she was taken.  She might have been five or six, but ever since then she has been with these people. Dora rarely saw their faces but she heard the same scratchy voice each day. A voice that she was never given a name to go along with. She was named after a girl from Greek mythology, at least she remembers her mother telling her that.

Dora adjusts her hoody and pulls the zipper higher to fight off the chill in her cell. She was always provided with warm clothing, but when her thoughts went down this road there was no stopping the chill that ran down her spine. She was named after Pandora, a stupid girl who unknowingly released true evil into the world. Dora was named after her because she was just that, evil. Even though she promised herself to never use her abilities, the people imprisoning her had other ideas.

Flicking on her CD player she hits the 'repeat' button and let's her favorite song play. It was a little depressing but the truth often is. Black Rose by the band Trapt had struck a
chord in her and now she was practically obsessed with the song. The lyrics hit home for her and some she wished would come true. In many ways she was the black rose with her petals wilting away because of the darkness inside her. She wanted nothing more than to be able to look in the mirror at the darkness and quote the song.

Your thorns are cutting into me, for the last time
.

Sighing to herself she mumbles low to the empty room, “Wilt away.”

Looking down at her ankle she’s reminded that they figured out very quickly how to force her abilities out. If she is caused enough pain her fight or flight instinct kicks in which always triggers her ability. The black cloud that quite literally hangs over her, only this cloud does not affect her; it destroys anything that is living in its path.

There was a period of time she tried to bear the pain of the electric currents pulsing through her, but they only increased the voltage. When they do this, there is always someone in the room that they want her to kill.  No matter how many times she says sorry, her heart will always remain heavy with the knowledge of what she has done.

Just as her thoughts drift towards the terrible depressing realities of her life, there is a loud bang on the roof of her cell as if something heavy was dropped on it. Thinking back as far as she can, she can never remember a time when that has happened. Dora climbs to her feet and stares up at the ceiling as if waiting for it to do something. There’s nothing but silence for a moment and then she hears something strange.

“Fucking shit!” It sounded a lot like a man!

Dora has always thought of herself as a rational person so when the bang sounds several more times it doesn’t take her long to figure out that someone is jumping on the roof of her cell. She has always known the walls around her were steel, but she finds herself wondering if whoever is above her is aware of that. The sound of the alarm grows louder in her ears and now she is very sure that there is an unwanted visitor.

Dora sits patiently on the edge of her bed waiting to hear something from above or even something from outside of her door. She can’t help but find it a little odd that no one has come to get her. Evidently her wardens do not care much for her safety. She is smart enough to know that the likelihood that this intruder is after her is very slim, but she can’t say in all certainty that he isn’t either.

Distracted by her thoughts, Dora is brought back to the now by a strange hissing noise that causes her eyes to immediately shoot to the ceiling. There’s a red glow in the shape of a square appearing in the steel above her. She backs into the corner of her cell not sure what else she can do.