Nico's Heart (RARE Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter 7

Phoenix and Jaxson stood guard by the door to make sure no one came
back in as everyone else took a seat at the conference table.  Jenna knew it was her turn to talk, and for her daughter she would.  She would dredge up the old memories that gave her night terrors some nights and she would share them, for Lily.  As Jenna sat with her head bowed thinking about that night, she felt a hand gently stroke her hair.  She calmed as she breathed in the scent of her mate.   Would he still want her after all of the nasty, vile things that had been done to her?  Yes, she had to believe that he would.  Fate wouldn’t have given her a mate to just rip him away again.  She sat up, squared her shoulders and looked at all of them as she began.

“About eight
years ago my best friend, Toni, mated with a wolf that lived in California.  I hadn’t seen her for a year or so after the mating, so I decided to take a vacation and fly out there.  I rented a car and stayed in a hotel because I wanted the freedom to go off on my own and do things, too.  I didn’t want to have to depend on her. 

We were having so much fun.  We went shopping, we swam in the ocean, and we even went up to the mountains to let our wolves run wild. 

One night we decided to do a bar crawl in Oceanside with some of Toni’s friends.  We had been up in the mountains that day running for hours, so around midnight I was exhausted.  Toni and her friends were still going strong and wanted to stay, so since I had driven my own car, I decided to head back to the hotel to get some rest.  What I didn’t know was that Walker and his buddies had been stalking me all week waiting for a chance to snatch me.  When I got out to the car, someone came up behind me fast and I felt a hand cover my mouth.  Before I could move, someone shoved a needle in my neck and knocked me out.”  Jenna paused as she tried to get control over the fear that still gripped her every time she thought about what had happened after that.

“When I woke up I was in a small room lying on a bed.  My clothes had been removed and my arms were chained to a heavy metal headboard above my head.  I saw my clothes were thrown on a chair in the corner of the room.  I was so groggy.  I could hardly move.”  Jenna was interrupted by the growling and snarling in the room.  “Stop it,” Angel ordered.  “Let her get this out.”

She looked gratefully at Angel and then continued.  “I heard the door open and closed my eyes quickly trying to act like I was still out of it.  There were three of them.  They were arguing about me.  One of them was saying that they needed to leave me alone because in a few hours I was to be moved to where all of the other test subjects were being held.  But Walker told them that he was going to have fun with me first.  They knew I was a shifter because the other two were telling Walker that he needed to wait.  That the General would want to pair me with someone of his choice.  Something about he liked to match the subjects with whomever he thought would be the best fit with their psychic abilities.  He had never found a shifter before, so I was special to him because my child would have both a wolf and psychic talents, hopefully.  I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about at the time.  They argued for a while, but Walker won.” 

She paused for a moment, tears streaming down her face.  “I fought.  My hands were tied, but my legs weren’t.  I kicked and bit and screamed, but in the end it didn’t matter.  He beat me and raped me while his buddies cheered him on, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

I passed out after an hour or so.  When I woke up, Walker was gone.  They had taken the chains off.  They probably figured I wouldn’t have been able to crawl out of there if I had wanted to.  They underestimated my wolf.  She pushed and pushed at me to get up off that bed and escape.   I was able to get up and get dressed.  My keys, money and license were still in the front pocket of my jeans.  They must not have checked them. 

As I moved towards the door, one of the men came into the room.  I didn’t think, I just grabbed the lamp and beat him over the head with it. Once he was down I just kept hitting him and hitting him until I knew he wouldn’t get back up.  He was human, so I probably killed him.

I ran out of the room and down the hall.  I stopped and listened, but didn’t hear anyone else in the house.  Walker and the other guy must have left for some reason.  I got out of the house and ran and ran until I was a good three to four miles away, running through alleys and back yards trying to stay as hidden as possible. 

As soon as I thought it was safe, I ran out into the street and hailed a cab. 
I had no clue where I was, but the driver took me to my hotel.  I asked him to wait while I ran in and quickly grabbed my purse and suitcase that thank God was already packed because I was leaving the next day.

He dropped me off at the airport and I ran in and went thru all of
the security.  I waited at the gate for hours for my plane to get there. I worried for months that they knew who I was, but after a couple of years I decided they didn’t because they hadn’t come after me.”

Jenna stopped as Nico got up and moved away from her.  He let out a roar as he swung around and put his fist through the wall.  Chase didn’t look much better.  She could see his fangs and his eyes had gone pure wolf.  “Dammit, Jenna,” Chase growled.  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?  Didn’t you trust me?” 

“It had nothing to do with me trusting you, Chase.  It had everything to do with Lily.  Don’t you see?  I had to keep her safe!  I didn’t tell anyone anything until now.  I have no idea who the General is.  I don’t know where Walker is.  I don’t know what they planned to do with Lily after she was born. 

Chase, Lily can do things.  Things no one knows about.  She can talk to me in my head.  She can’t hear me when I try and talk back and we have to be somewhat close to each other, but she can talk to me.  And sometimes she knows things are going to happen before they do.  She picked out her favorite green blanket because she said the color was the same as her Daddy’s eyes.  Walker has brown eyes.  Brown.”  Jenna looked over at Nico, at his green eyes.  “She said that her Daddy would be coming soon.”

“I read up on psychic phenomena before Lily was born so I would know what to expect,” Jenna continued.  “I didn’t know for sure what Walker had meant, but they had talked about psychic abilities and I didn’t know anything at all about it.  I figured I had better be prepared just in case.  I found some training techniques that I have been using to help Lily cope with everything, but it’s getting harder and harder to help her.  I taught her how to build a wall in her mind to try and control the thoughts of others that bombard her and to try and block anyone from getting in her mind that shouldn’t be in there.  She is getting stronger, but she is only six.  I don’t know if she is able to actually keep someone out of her thoughts.  Obviously I didn’t have anyone to test it with.”

“Well,” Angel said, “No time like the present to find out.  Get me the blanket and wolf that belong to Lily.”  As Jenna looked at her in confusion, Nico turned and explained, “Angel is going to try to
connect with Lily.  She is the strongest of us here.  If she actually knows the person it’s easier, but since she’s never met Lily, she needs something of hers to help her connect.” 

“Yes,” Angel said, “but with Lily having abilities of her own, it might be easier to connect with her then I thought it would be.  Unless she blocks me out.  No matter what happens, though, you need to stay away from me and stay quiet.  If you talk to me or touch me, it could break whatever connection we might have.” 

Chapter 8

Lily slowly woke up at a pushing sensation in her mind.  No, she thought.  I can’t let anyone in.  Mommy told me not to.  But as hard as she tried, she just could not maintain the wall that kept everyone out. 
Lily,
she heard a soft voice whisper. 
It’s ok, honey.  I’m not trying to hurt you.  I’m here with your mommy and we are trying to find you. 
Lily sat up in the dark room clutching her knees to her chest and whispered back,
You’re with my mommy? 

Yes, honey, I am
, the voice whispered. 
What’s your name?
Lily asked. 
It’s Angel.  Lily, do you have any idea where you are?  Are you still in Colorado? 

I was on a plane
, Lily said. 
And it’s really cold here now.  There’s snow. Lots and lots of snow.  I’m scared.  I want my mommy.  And my blanky.  I know, sweetheart
, Angel said,
and I’m holding your blanky right now.  I also have your little wolf. 

His name is Shadow
, Lily said. 
My daddy had a puppy named Shadow.  He was all black.

Really?
Angel asked.  Lily smiled faintly,
Yep.  My daddy is coming to get me. 

You better believe he is.  He is
sitting right here beside me and he’s coming with me to find you
, Angel told her.  Lily started to cry. 
Promise? 

Oh yes, I promise,
Angel said. 
I have to go now, sweetheart, but you lay back down and rest.  We will be there just as soon as we can. 

No, don’t leave me!
Lily screamed. 
I’m so sorry, Lily, but I can’t help it.  We will come for you.  I promise.  Now, go to sleep.
  Lily drifted off to sleep at the slight push from Angel dreaming of her daddy and mommy.

Nico watched Angel come back to them with a start.  She looked straight at him and said, “Please tell me you had a black puppy named Shadow.” 

“Yeah, I had him for years.  He passed away right before I went into the Marines.  Why?” he said.  She handed him the wolf, “Meet Shadow, named after Lily’s daddy’s puppy.” 

“Oh my god!  You got through?  You talked to my Lily?” Jenna cried.  “You’re right.  She named him Shadow.” 

“I did.  She’s ok for now.  I got the impression that she’s cold, hungry and scared.  She is alone in a dark room with a cement floor, probably a basement.  Jaxson, she said that she is in a place that has a lot of snow.  She had to fly there.  Get online and look for any flight plans out the day Lily was taken and I want to know of any private planes that went somewhere that has a ton of snow.  I know they may not always file flight plans, but I’m praying we get lucky.  If not, check and see what states just had a bunch of snow dropped and we will go from there.  Nico, contact the hangar and tell them to have our plane fueled and ready for takeoff.  I want to be wheels up yesterday!”  Jaxson grabbed his laptop and got busy as Nico grabbed his cell phone and made the call to the hangar. 

“I want to go,” Chase said.  “No, Chase.  I’m sorry.  I wasn’t kidding when I told you that you had to stay out of it once we took over.  I’m sorry, but it could affect the outcome if you go barreling in.  Besides, you need to be here for Jenna.  She’s going to need someone and I need Nico with me.”  It was obvious that pissed Chase off, but there was nothing he could do about it.   He just nodded and walked over to the window.  It was now just after 9pm and the rain had stopped a long time ago.  It was pitch black outside, but RARE worked best in the dark.  It was easier to get in and out undetected. 

Nico hung up his phone and turned towards Angel.  “The plane will be ready to go in 30.”   

“I got something, boss,” Jaxson hollered as he started packing up his toys and putting them away quickly.  “Let’s move out and I’ll tell you on the way.”  Nico walked over to Jenna and took the blanket and Shadow from her.  He gently cupp
ed her cheek and leaned down to kiss her softly, once on the forehead and then on the lips.  “I will bring her home to you, mate.  No matter what, I will bring her home.”  He gave her a hard hug and turned to follow his teammates out the door. 

Angel walked over to the window where Chase stood.  She placed a hand on his arm as she told him, “We will be back soon, Chase.  Jenna has my number.  Get it from her and text me so I have yours, please.”  He looked down at her and nodded.  As she turned to walk away, he grabbed her and yanked her back.  He buried his head in her neck and breathed in deeply as he growled, “Be safe, my Angel.”  Angel’s eyes widened as she inhaled his scent.  Holy shit, this couldn’t be happening.  Taking one last look at him, Angel turned and ran.

CHAPTER 9

“A flight plan was filed by a small private plane on Monday leaving Denver International at noon headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota,” Jaxson told the team as they sped out of the compound and onto the gravel road that would take them to the highway.  “There was a blizzard in Sioux Falls that day that closed down the airport from 7pm on.  It is the only private plane that landed there before that time.  It has to be it.” 

“How long will it take to get there?” Angel asked.  “A normal private plane, approximately 2 ½ hours or so.  Our jet cruises at around 460 knots so we should be there in just under an hour,” Jaxson answered.  “Make it happen,” Angel told him. 

Nico sat in the passenger seat with a tight hold on Lily’s wolf.  She had named him Shadow after her daddy’s puppy.  She knew him.  I don’t even have a picture of her he thought all of the sudden.  But as he closed his eyes, the vision came to him.  It was of him pushing Lily on a swing.  Her long black hair was flying in the wind, and she was looking back at him laughing.  Her little dimples were peeking out on each cheek with her blue eyes shining.  She was the perfect image of her beautiful mother.  Jenna was sitting under a tree smiling at them.  She had a picnic basket beside her and as he watched, she called out to them to come and eat.  Nico jerked back to the present with a growl.  He was going to have that.  He had never had a vision that didn’t happen, so he knew he was going to have that.  But he was going to have to fight for it.  And he would.

As they pulled up to the airstrip, they all jumped out of the SUV and ran to the plane that was loaded and ready to go.  They quickly got in and tossed their gear down, and Jaxson and Phoenix went up front to pilot the plane.  Normally they had pilots that flew all of them, but Angel was in a hurry, and she didn’t trust anyone else with something this sensitive.  She planned to get to Sioux Falls, find out where Lily was, extract her and get back to Denver before anyone had a clue they were in the area.  Granted they had no clue yet where to look once they got there, but they would.

“Were you able to find out where the plane is being kept?” she hollered up to Jaxson.  “Yeah, it’s in hangar 12,” he yelled. 

“Ok, that’s our first stop.  We will see what Rikki can get off of it and go from there.  Right now I’m going to check in on Lily.”  As the plane coasted down the runway for takeoff, Angel leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.  Right before she went under she heard Nico demand, “You tell Lily I’m coming for her, Angel.  Tell her Daddy will be there soon.”