Sacrificed (The Ignited Series) (20 page)

The thought left a sour taste in my mouth. Those poor kids. Dumped in an orphanage by their parents so that they could continue to fight this silly war. While that didn’t make any sense to me, something else had me even more confused.

“If it was a Skotadi-run orphanage, why did they let me get adopted by some human family?” It was how they had ultimately lost me after all, when Nathan came along.

“Well,” Alec said slowly, and I knew that he had the answer, but was hesitant to share it with me. “The family that adopted you was apparently one of the many human families that are in alliance with the Skotadi. They do things like this to help the Skotadi out.”

“Humans in alliance with the Skotadi.” I said the words slowly,
digesting them. Ultimately, I decided I didn’t like the sounds of it. “Why would any human want to do that?”

Alec shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s got to be something in it for them, but I can’t guess what. The fact that humans are working with the Skotadi is a heavily guarded secret, too. They don’t want anyone knowing about it.”

I had the nagging suspicion that this had something to do with the kidnapping of humans we had witnessed in West Virginia, and I really didn’t like where my thoughts were headed.

“Alec, those girls they took…”

“I know. I was thinking the same thing.”

“Incantation? Could they be using Incantation to…
” I trailed off, struggling to complete the thought. It was too much, too horrible, to fathom.

“Force them?” Alec paused to read the aghast look on my face. “That’s the only explanation I can come up with.”

Sick, sick bastards…

But was that all? Was that the only reason they were using the humans—to help them raise their
abandoned Skotadi children? Or was there something far worse, far bigger than that going on?

The
Skotadi’s words played over in my head again.

They are our pawns…

Only the beginning…

What were they planning? What were we missing?

“There’s more,” Alec murmured, breaking into my panicked thoughts. I stared at him and waited. “Ninety-nine percent of the Skotadi have gone through that orphanage at one time. They keep records on all the kids. They keep files on everything there. If anyone has the details of your creation, it’s them. If we can find your file, we’ll know exactly who you are, where you come from, and what makes you so different from me.”

“And who my creators were.” If I were really descendent of Hecate. And if I were, maybe I could find clues to help me break the unwanted soul mate connection she’d handed down to me.

Knowing the details of my creation might help us determine how to put an end to everything, once and for all. Explain the link I have to Micah, tell us if his theories were right. While a part of me wanted to continue living in denial, a bigger part of me wanted to get to the bottom of everything, to know who I was and where I came from. Especially if that information might help us.

“We have to find those files, Alec.”

“I was looking into it when you showed up,” Alec said. “I meant to tell you about all of this. I just got distracted, and I guess I didn’t really know how to tell you.”

“It’s fine.” I brushed it off with a wave of my hand. “But we can’t waste any more time.”

Alec nodded hesitantly.

“What’s wrong, Alec?” I asked.

“Aren’t you afraid of what we might find?”

Of course I was. In fact, I was downright terrified. But this was too important to run away from.

Instead of answering Alec, I asked another question of my own. “Where is this orphanage anyway?”

Alec grimaced, and I imagined he was about to tell me that it was in the Himalayas or some impossible location like that. If it was going to take us awhile to get there, we needed to start making plans now. Surely, he realized the importance of that.

“Alec, how far is it?” I pressed.

He sighed heavily and met my gaze with a hint of reluctance. “About an hour outside of Aspen.”

My mouth dropped open. Really? Could it really be that easy?

An hour away. The buried secrets of my past, the truth about who and what I was, were so close. And I was ready to uncover them.

CHAPTER 19

Alec wasn’t exactly eager. Not like I was. In this case, he was the calm, collected, calculating one, and I was the spontaneous daredevil ready to jump into the lion’s den without considering the consequences. It was a little weird—our roles being reversed.

“We’re not doing this tonight,” he repeated for the fifth time since we’d left the house. His hand hesitated over the Tahoe’s door handle, and he looked at me, waiting.

“I know.” He didn’t move, didn’t look away, forcing me to add, “I got it, Alec. We’re just scoping it out. I promise I won’t try to talk you into breaking in tonight…again.”

At my promi
se, he finally got out and rounded the front of the vehicle to meet me on my side. He had pulled off the side of the road half a mile from the orphanage, hiding the Tahoe behind a large snowbank where no one could see it. The road dead ended at a gate. Beyond that lay the orphanage. 

We walked the remaining distance. Not on the road, but rather a few yards inside the line of trees that surrounded the property. The lights of the orphanage supplied us with just enough visibility as we approached. From what I could see, it looked like a small college campus. Five wings branched off of a large central building, like a large star. Each wing branched off into two or three more wings. The place was huge.

“How many kids are housed here?” I whispered to Alec.

He shook his head. “Thousands.”

I scoffed. “Sick, selfish bastards.”

Even in the dim lighting, I could make out Alec’s smile as he glanced down at me. I shrugged as if to say,
well, it’s true!

A
gate kept us from waltzing right up to the front door, not that we were going to do that anyway. However, as I took in the high fence wrapped around the entire property, I was curious as to how he planned to get in. The fence wasn’t something I would want to scale, not with the barbed wiring at the top.

We stopped, still hidden in the trees, several yards from the fence. Alec was looking at the building, placed back from the fence line about a hundred yards.
He was the picture of calm.

“Alec? How are we going to get in?”

He glanced at me. “There are ways.”

“Considering we’re about to do something highly dangerous, with a good probability of getting caught, maybe you should elaborate on these ways.”

His arm shot out in front of me, as he pointed along the fence line behind me. “Down there about fifty yards is a hole in the fence.” His arm moved, directing me to the far left wing of the building. “Right there is a window that will be unlocked.” His arm swung to the large central building. “In there are the administrative offices. The one we need will be the third door on the left.”

I made a face like I might have been impressed. So, he had a plan.

“How do you know there’s a hole in the fence?” I asked.

“Because I made it when I was fourteen,” he answered. “Just like I jimmied the window to never lock.” He smiled smugly at the look of awe on my face, and added, “I made a career out of sneaking out.”

The mental image of a young, rebellious Alec got a laugh out of me. “How do you know the Skotadi didn’t find the hole, or fix the window?”

He looked at me like he took my lack of faith in his plan personally. With a sigh, he grabbed my hand and pulled me after him through the woods, running parallel to the fence. He stopped at a precise location, pulled a heap of foliage away from the fence, revealing the hole he’d known would be there.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “You’re prepared for this. I get it.”

He nodded his head, looking at the building. “Security will be lighter on the weekends. That’s our best chance. I’m thinking middle of the night, when everyone is asleep. We should have only a few security guards to sneak past.”

Sounded easy enough. “Saturday?” Two days from now. 

“Sunday,” he countered. “Sometimes the kids have parties on Saturday nights. We want everyone asleep.”

I nodded as I took in the daunting building before me. In three days, we’d break in. In three days, I would know everything. Who I was, where I came from, what made me different.

I’d learned to expect the unexpected. This time, facing this uncertainty, I wasn’t afraid. I was ready. 

The drive back to Aspen was quiet.

I knew there was a chance of one or both of us getting caught on Sunday. As much as I hated that thought, I hated not knowing the truth about myself even more. Learning the truth could be vital to what we were trying to accomplish. Maybe knowing everything about my creation will help us to help each other. Help us fight our destiny.

We had to go through with it. For both of us. For both of our futures.

And if we both died in the process?
 

“We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?” I asked Alec softly.

He nodded, and I was grateful to have that reassurance from him, but he didn’t add anything. He was quiet, and the usual comfortable silence between us morphed into something awkward and unwelcome. I wished he would say something, anything.

“Alec?” When he glanced at me, I opened my mouth, but nothing formed.

“You know what, Kris?” he pondered. “I think we need to have a little fun.”

I half scoffed, half snorted a laugh. “Fun?”

“Yeah, you know, before we attempt to pull off the world’s dumbest break in.”

“Okay, fun.” His way of m
aking me forget about what we were about to do. For now. “What do you suggest?”

I was a little hesitant to hear what he had in mind. I had learned over time that, with Alec, anything was possible.

He didn’t elaborate, but I found out what he had planned when he turned off the main road a few moments later, and we pulled up to a dark, empty, red-brick building. A sign by the front doors announced a warm welcome to Mountain Ridge Elementary School.

“School? Never thought you were one to consider school fun,” I said.

Alec chuckled as he got out of the car. Reaching into the backseat, he withdrew a small satchel and a flashlight. He tossed me the light. “Don’t turn it on yet. Come on.”

Even in the dark
, he seemed to know exactly where he was going. As I followed him around the side of the building, I had to wonder how many times he’d done this—whatever this was we were doing.

In the distance, I could make out the shadowed shapes of a swing set, jungle gym, and see-saws. For a moment, I thought his plan was to frolic innocently in the playground. But then, Alec was Alec, and he never ceased to surprise me.

He stopped outside a big red door with the words ‘No Trespassing’ painted ominously across the top. Opening the satchel in his hands, he glanced at me. “Flashlight.”

I provided him with light as he withdrew a few small gadgets. He turned and dropped to one knee in front of the door, and motioned for me to redirect the light as he inserted what looked to be a set of tweezers into the keyhole.

“You have a breaking and entering kit?”

“Got to be prepared.”

I laughed. “How many times have you done this?”

“Here? Never, but wanted to.”

“How many other places have you broken in to?” My voice approached hysteria, even if I did find it a little funny.

He shrugged without any indication of answering. I heard a soft click, and Alec shot me a smug smile as he stood and opened the door. He swept an arm out in front of him. “After you.”

“This is wrong in so many ways,” I muttered. With a final nervous glance at the playground—no angry security guard, thank God—I stepped inside.

“You know what, Kris? You’re going to have a real hard time with this turning evil stuff,” Alec said as he let the door swing shut behind us.

“I consider that a good thing.” I spun around to Alec, only to realize I couldn’t see him. With the door shut, we were standing in the dark with zero visibility. I felt his hand brush against mine, and I jumped.

I heard a chuckle. “You want to turn on the flashlight so we can, I don’t know, maybe see? Or we can stand here like this. I don’t care. It’s kind of hot.”

I promptly clicked the rubber tip of the flashlight, and jumped again when I saw how close Alec was standing to me. He grinned as he took my hand in his.

“Come on,” he said, tugging me after him. “We’re supposed to be having fun.”

I shrugged like it was no big deal and let him lead me down the wide hallway. I could let loose and have fun for a little bit. With Alec. Alone, in an empty, dark school. Sure, nothing to it.

Alec pushed through a set of double doors and we entered a room that felt large and open. The faint smell of sweat and rubber kicked me back to Boone, to dodge ball and volleyball games in gym class.  

Alec flipped a switch, turning on a section of overhead lights along the far side of the large gymnasium. It was just enough light for us to see, but left most of the room in shadows.

Finally dropping my hand, Alec crossed to the rack of basketballs along the wall, grabbed one, and turned to me with a smile. “You’re favorite sport.”

I watched as he dribbled to the free throw line, and sunk a basket. It reminded me of the time we’d played HORSE on the playground in Boone. Right before he’d kissed me for the first time, right before Nathan came along and changed everything.

Apparently, Alec remembered too. “How about we finish what we started at that party,” he suggested.

“We did finish,” I said. “I kicked your ass, remember?”

Alec shook his head, his grin growing. “No, not that. I remember you mentioning something about playing for clothes.” He paused, and met my eyes unflinchingly. “We never got to finish that.”

“I’m pretty sure that was a joke.”

Alec chuckled. “You have no idea how serious I was. Here.” He tossed me the ball. “One-on-one. I’ll even let you go first.”

Having possession first had its advantages, and I had Alec shoeless, sockless, and shirtless before he ever got to touch the ball. Perhaps it was the fact that he was shirtless that rattled me enough to let him steal it. Or maybe I was afraid to find out if he was wearing anything under his jeans.

“This is not going the way I had hoped,” Alec admitted as he finally took possession of the ball. “But things are about to change.”

I smiled as I took a defensive stance. “We’ll see about that.”

A few minutes later, Alec was much happier as I was forced to remove my last sock, and we were both barefoot.

“One more shot,” he said with a laugh, “and I get to see some skin.”

I gulped when I realized the tough spot I was in. I didn’t want to take anything else off any more than I wanted Alec to. Either way, no matter who won this next shot, things were about to get a lot more interesting.

I should walk away.
Now
.

“Check.” He bounced the ball to me. I held onto it a second, briefly debating my next move, before I returned it to him with a returned, “Check.”

Alec could play, I had to give him that. I tried, hard, but he beat me to the basket, floated the ball over my head, and scored.

“It’s really not fair considering how much taller you are than me,” I whined. 

Alec ignored my complaints as he dribbled toward me. His mind wasn’t on the logistics of the game at the moment. His eyes wandered over me expectantly. “Well? What’s it going to be?”

I lowered my eyes, unable to meet his. My pulse jumped and a bead of sweat trickled down the back of my neck—and it wasn’t from the physical exertion. Pants or shirt?

Shit. Pants or shirt?

I wasn’t happy with either option. I considered telling Alec I didn’t want to play anymore, and
back out of this game with my clothes on. It was heading in a dangerous direction I wasn’t so sure I was ready to handle. But I was no quitter either, and I wasn’t about to back down to Alec. Not with the way he was looking at me, daring me to continue.

I decided to call his bluff, and force him to back down first…
if
that were even possible.

After considering my choices, I opted to remove my jeans. I was wearing the least sexy panties ever made, and my shirt was long enough to cover them up, so it wasn’t like Alec would get to see much.

Regardless, he raised his eyebrows as I tossed my pants to the side. “Interesting choice.”

I shrugged and took the ball from him. “Check.”

I was on a mission this time, and Alec didn’t stand a chance. It wasn’t difficult, considering how distracted he was now. I easily slapped the ball out of his hands and made a run for the basket, scoring effortlessly. As I turned around triumphantly, Alec was already happily slipping out of his jeans. Luckily, he still had on a pair of boxers.

I kept my eyes on the ball to keep them off him. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t ignore how aware I was of just how little clothing remained between us.

“I’m getting the next one,” he taunted, spreading his arms out wide to block me. “You’re not getting by me.”