Unhidden (The Gatekeeper Chronicles Book 1) (30 page)

W
hen we arrived back at the compound, Jason and Lilly were waiting for us on the front porch of the farmhouse, sitting in rocking chairs and sipping steaming mugs of coffee. They looked like a fucking Maxwell House commercial.

They rose, meeting our SUVs as we pulled up to the house. Jason opened my car door, greeting me with his irresistibly charming smile. I didn’t even realize what a weight I had been carrying around, worrying about his recovery, until it lifted when I laid eyes on his healthy face.

I stepped out of the car and into Jason’s warm embrace. “Do you feel as good you look?” I asked.

“Almost,” he responded with the comforting Texan twang I had missed hearing. “But let’s face it, it’s hard for anyone to feel as good as I look, especially now that I have even more character.” He lifted his arm, his short-sleeved T-shirt showing the burn scars left behind from the chimera’s attack. His skin was smooth and hairless, several shades lighter than the rest of his body, and lumpy, like dripping candle wax. The scars started on the back of his hand and disappeared under the sleeve of his T-shirt.

I must have had a pitying look on my face because he said, “It’s all right, Em. It doesn’t hurt anymore. Lilly took really good care of me. And I don’t mind the way it looks. After all, chicks dig guys with scars.”

“I know I do,” Lilly giggled.

“Thank you, Lilly,” I said. “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t been there to help him.” Lilly dipped her head trying to hide her smile, as a pretty blush bloomed on her cheeks.

Everyone moved into the house and took their customary places at the large trestle table in the kitchen. I had insisted rest could wait until after the debriefing. Lilly’s grandmother was bustling about the kitchen as always, preparing some divine-smelling breakfast for the group. My mouth began to water until someone placed a hot cup of coffee in front me. Dark roast coffee with lots of cream and sugar was enough to satisfy my appetite for the time being.

“Therran, before we begin…um…do you know what happened to Lockien?” I dreaded the answer, not wanting to be the one to tell him his son tried to betray us.

“Yes,” Therran responded. In a reverent tone, he said, “Alex told me of his bravery.”

“He did?” My head snapped to Alex.

“Yes, I did,” Alex said, fixing me with a glare that said,
I’ve got this covered, just play along
. “I let him know how Lockien saved our lives by standing up to those government men, buying me enough time to escape and get help. Lockien’s wish was for us to recover Sharur and use it to help the Elven people.”

Lilly began sobbing lightly, and Jason put his arm around her in consolation.

Therran said, “It brings me some small measure of comfort knowing he died in battle for his people.” Then he pierced me with ice green eyes, his mouth tightening. “But hear this, we shall avenge him.”

“This fight is as much yours as it is mine, but I would be honored to fight beside you,” I replied. Therran bowed his head at my words. “Now, please, tell me what happened on the island after we went into the building.”

“After you entered the building, we held out against the enemy as long as we could, but they sent out some sort of creatures—half man, half …” Therran seemed at a loss for words.

“Squid,” I finished for him. “Yeah, I met one of those guys. They were pretty disgusting.”

“Those monstrosities do not exist on Urusilim. Where could they have come from?” Therran asked.

“I think I know.” I suspected those things were a creation of the government. Why else would they be dissecting bodies and keeping spare parts in jars? It made sense that, once the government had learned of the existence of magical creatures, they would do all in their power to understand them and exploit their capabilities for the government’s benefit. The one unanswered question that I didn’t want to think too hard on was whether they were experimenting on real humans or growing these things in test tubes.

I debriefed the assembled group on what had happened to me on North Brother Island and told them about the government’s plans for opening the rift.

“That only gives us two days to prepare,” Jason said, concerned. “How are two humans and a handful of elves supposed to stop the government with all of its resources?”

“We have resources,” I said. “I have a friend who likes to collect toys.”

“Do you really think you can trust Nathan Anshar?” Jason asked.

“As long as he needs me to recover Sharur, I think he’ll be cooperative.”

“You also have the power of the mages behind you,” Alex said.

“No offense, man, but you are in no shape to be of any help to us at all,” Jason said, eyeing Alex, who sat slumped in his seat, barely able to sit up straight.

“No, I’m not,” Alex admitted. “But I also have friends I can call on. I have contacted the Mage Council and some have agreed to aid us.”

Jason and I exchanged a glance, both questioning the trustworthiness of the Council, although we didn’t have much of a choice. We needed as many allies as possible if we were to stand a chance.

“Okay, then,” I said. “Let’s start planning.”

We spent the next several hours looking over maps while we debated strategies and tactics until we had finally reached an agreement. I then found an empty bedroom and crashed hard for several more hours, awakening only after the sun had already set. I showered and dressed in black Lucky jeans and a Yankees T-shirt. As I was pulling on my favorite black boots, a soft knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” I called.

The door opened a crack, and Lilly’s bright red hair appeared as she peaked into the room. “Hey, Em. Can I come in?”

I frowned. It wasn’t like Lilly to be deferential to others. I would have expected her to burst in, all effervescent and gabby. This quieter, more polite Lilly couldn’t be a good sign.

“Um, yeah, sure,” I said. “What’s up?”

Closing the door behind her, she replied, “Oh, nothing. I just thought I would check in to see how you were feeling.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said, going back to zippering my boots.

I expected Lilly to leave then; instead, she came farther into the room and sat next to me on the bed. I sat up, giving her a questioning look.

“Sooooo,” she said.

I tried to hide the twitch at the corner of my mouth. “
So
?” She clearly wanted to talk about something that she was struggling to bring up.

“You spent the night with Zane,” she said without looking at me.

The half-smile fell from my face. Lilly was right to hesitate bringing up this conversation. It wasn’t really something I wanted to talk about.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t like that,” I lied. “We were wiped and needed a place to crash for the night.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said with a lilt, not sounding convinced. “You expect me to believe you spent the night with a hot bad boy turned temporarily good, who saved you from the evil clutches of a torturer, and nothing happened?” I guessed, when she put it that way, I could understand why she didn’t believe me.

“Look, I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Ah-ha!” she yelled in triumph. “Something did happen. Come on, you can tell me. I swear I won’t breathe a word.”

How the hell was I going to get out of this conversation? I had already said too much. Strangely enough, however, part of me wanted to confide in her. I had never had a girlfriend, never divulged my deepest, darkest secrets to anyone. But could Lilly really be trusted? I didn’t know much about her. True, her family seemed committed to helping me, yet allies didn’t necessarily mean friends.

“Zane and I have a history.”

“Oh? Do you still have feelings for him?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know,” I said sighing heavily.

“Are you confused because of Jason?” she asked, averting her eyes.

“Why? What does Jason have to do with any of this?”

“Well…I guess…I just thought. I assumed you and Jason were…”

“Wow,” I said. “Lilly Alfreda is at a loss for words. I never thought I’d see the day.”

She smirked, but mirth twinkled in her eyes. “So there’s nothing going on between you and Jason?”

“No, not anymore. We used to be together, but it didn’t last long. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an amazing guy and means a lot to me, but only as a friend.”

“Does he feel the same way about you—just friends?”

My hesitation gave her the answer. “Why are you asking me about Jason? Are you interested in him?”

Lilly shrugged. “I’ve spent a lot of time with him these last few days. I think we’ve become good friends, but I’d like for us to be more. I can tell something…or someone…is holding him back.”

“Lilly, Jason knows how I feel about him. I can promise you that I’ve done nothing to encourage him, but I’m not ready for him, or anyone else, to know about Zane.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Lilly winked. “And what exactly is it you don’t want anyone to know about? I bet it’s that he’s in love with you and got you alone while he had his sanity back for a few precious hours. There is no way he kept his distance from you last night.”

I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that Lilly was not going to let go of this. “Okay, maybe something happened, but it doesn’t matter. He’s crazy again and out to get me. And I’ll probably have to kill him,” I finished despondently.

“Oh, shit,” said Lilly, as if she only then understood the implications. “There has to be a cure.”

“Apparently there isn’t. The mages have been trying for years to find a way to reverse Zane’s condition, but instead, they’ve only made it worse.”

“Like they do to everyone,” Lilly muttered. “Listen, I might be naive in the way of relationships, but I do believe that true love conquers all. You’ll find a way; I just know it. And the two of you will live happily ever after.”

I almost laughed out loud until I saw the sincerity in Lilly’s eyes. She actually believed what she was saying. Unfortunately, I wasn’t nearly as innocent in the ways of the world and knew happy endings didn’t exist for most people. One day, someone would come along and shatter her illusions. Until then, I simply gave her a brief hug, surprising both of us at my spontaneous display of affection. I don’t know where it had come from. Maybe I was grateful she had allowed me to open up, even just a little, or maybe it was the type of consolation hug an adult gives a child. Whichever it was, she gave me a broad smile in return.

“Come on, let’s get downstairs. We have a long night ahead of us.”

We walked into the kitchen and found Jason looking as handsome as ever in faded jeans, a blue long-sleeved tee, and worker boots.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“Yup. I rented a U-Haul. It’s out front.”

We piled into the small van and set out for a self-storage facility in Easton, Pennsylvania. It was a long, boring drive through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania along Interstate 78, but at this hour, there was no traffic to slow us down.

A little less than two hours later, we were opening the door to the storage bay where I stored my weapons cache. We loaded the van with rifles, handguns, and automatics before I snagged a spare set of my military body armor.

On the way back to New York, Jason was very conscientious and obeyed the speed limit. Getting pulled over with a van full of guns would not have ended well for anyone. Thankfully, we made our way through the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan without incident.

It was almost midnight when we pulled into the garage beneath Nathan Anshar’s luxury apartment building. There was no point in being sneaky about it. I was sure his security team had alerted him to our arrival the moment we had pulled onto his street. Anyway, I planned on asking nicely for his help, not taking it by force … unless I had to.

“Mr. Smith!” I said with a broad smile. “It’s good to see you again, my friend.” I walked straight up to Nathan’s head of security and gave him a big hug. He reflexively stepped away from me, startled, and I broke contact before he could pull a gun on me. I definitely enjoyed throwing that smug son of a bitch off his game, even if only briefly.

He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “Miss Hayes, Mr. Ryker, come this way, please.” He led us to the private elevator, and we ascended to the penthouse. The doors slid open to reveal the museum-like living room, and without waiting for an invitation, I strode into the back office where I knew I would find Nathan.

He was seated behind his ornate mahogany desk, speaking on the phone. I didn’t wait for him to finish his conversation before striding in and taking a seat in one of the leather chairs facing his desk.

“Uh-huh. Yes, if I was a gambling man, that’s where I would put my money … I know the odds, but everyone loves an underdog … Well, even underdogs need a champion once in a while … Good. Talk to you soon.”

“You always struck me as the type to back the obvious winner,”

“You don’t know me very well, Miss Hayes. All of the greatest moments in history occurred when the little guy overcame all odds: David and Goliath, the Spartans and the Persians, the American Colonies and the British, Rocky and Apollo Creed. Need I go on?”