Storm Secrets, page 11
part #4 of Scarlet Jones Series
Next were the dormitories. I screamed their names at the top of my voice while I searched rooms, one by one, until I got to the third floor and my legs gave up on me. Falling against the stairs, I allowed myself a moment to catch my breath. To think.
It was a prank. It had to be. They were all just…just waiting for me in the garden.
Of course!
Gathering my energy, I ran down just as fast as I’d come up. It was a prank, a stupid prank, and they totally had me. I wondered whose idea it was. Maybe Grover? Or Fallon. Yes, definitely Fallon. Oh, I was going to show her for this. I was going to get her good to pay her back for the scare. For convincing everyone—even Sienna!—to play along with her stupid game, just so they could all trick me.
“Guys! Come out, guys! It’s over, I know you’re there!” I shouted as I ran around the building and into the garden.
But there was nobody there.
“Guys! Come on! Don’t play games with me now, okay? That’s enough. Come on out, right now!”
I waited a minute, then two. I held my breath and stretched my ears. Nothing moved, except the wind. Tears welled in my eyes.
“Ax?” I called, my voice breaking. “Ezra? Sienna?” I walked in the garden toward the twenty-one graves we’d dug ourselves to bury our dead, but nobody responded. Emptiness, silence, everywhere I turned.
Suddenly, it felt like someone had taken the ground from under me, and I fell. I fell hard on my ass and didn’t feel the pain. All I felt was hopelessness. All I felt was my heart breaking, my thoughts shattering. The monastery was empty.
Whatever had happened, whenever it had happened, everybody was gone.
Twelve
Two hours later, I sat crosslegged in the front yard, by myself.
“It’s a dream,” I said to the night. “It is. It has to be.”
I checked the time on my old phone. Why wasn’t anybody here yet? I’d figured they’d gone out to grab a bite for dinner and had forgotten to tell me. I called Jimmy’s phone about three hundred times before my battery almost died and I had to recharge. No answer, though I could swear to you that I heard it ring somewhere, like…like in a memory.
“Wake up, Scarlet.” I pinched myself on my arms. I’d done that already until I drew blood, but the wounds had healed. It was time I opened them again.
My nails dug into my skin and the pain sent jolts of electricity to my head, paralyzing me for seconds at a time. More blood. Eyes closed, then open.
Still alone.
But it was okay. I was going to sit there and wait for them to come back. Wherever they’d gone, they had to come back eventually. They couldn’t stay gone forever, and when they walked through those gates, I was going to be right there, and I was never going to leave that monastery again. Screw the ECU. Screw the statement. It might take a while, but eventually, they were going to have to accept that we were part of the world and learn to deal with it. I’d never leave the others’ side again.
More time passed. The wind blew every now and then, keeping me on edge, eyes stuck on the gates, tears rushing down my cheeks. When I could take it no longer, I went out and did a full circle around the fences. I searched the cabin we’d made for Ezra, the one he’d broken by chanting the dark magic spell he couldn’t remember afterward. Nothing.
So I went back and checked everything again. The garden, the buildings, the front yard…every single corner in the monastery. I must have been really slow because the next time I sat down in the front to wait, daylight had begun to lighten up the sky. Clouds were beginning to take shape quickly.
It’s when I realized that the others weren’t coming back. They were taken, most probably by the ECU.
But how was I going to find out where they were being kept? Elisa was gone, and I had nobody else to turn to. Nobody who gave a damn about any of us.
Except…maybe…Wilder.
My poor heart picked up the beating again as I searched my pockets for that piece of paper he’d given me. I didn’t have Wilder’s number, but he’d written down Ricky’s for me. I checked the time. Not even five in the morning. I dialed the number anyway.
Ricky didn’t pick up until the sixth ring, and when he did, he mumbled something through the phone that I thought was supposed to be a hello.
“Ricky, it’s Scarlet Jones, the girl Mad Wilder sent to you today for the bike. I mean yesterday,” I said, swallowing hard.
“Miz Jones? What the hell are you doing, calling me this early? Did somebody die?”
He had no idea how close to home he hit. Pulling my lips inside my mouth, I stopped myself from making a sound. They’re not dead. They’re not dead. Just…gone.
“Listen, Ricky, I’m sorry I woke you up, but it’s an emergency. I need you to call Wilder for me and tell him to come for me at the monastery.”
It was the only way I could talk to him alone. He knew where the monastery was, and out there, all alone, I could make him tell me everything he knew about the others.
“Monastery? Ma’am, have you lost your mind?” Ricky said after a second. In the background, I could hear him pushing sheets away as he struggled to sit up.
“Please, Ricky. I had no one else to call. Please, just call him, and tell him to find me at the monastery. It’s really, really urgent,” I said, my voice shaking. “Please.”
“You okay, Miz Jones?” he mumbled. I almost laughed.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just call him, okay? Call him.”
I hung up the phone.
The waiting continued but not nearly as long as I’d feared. The sky was more light than dark when I heard the car driving toward the gates. My tears had dried by then, and I got up on shaky legs to run out and wait for…for…
A black SUV.
It wasn’t them. Not Ezra, not Ax, not Fallon…
It was just Wilder.
Cursing myself for forgetting that I’d called him, I turned around and walked back to my place in front of the chapel doors and sat down again. What the hell was I thinking, calling him to come here? He was probably in on this, too!
When he came in, Wilder looked wide-awake, as if he’d been having breakfast when Ricky called him. As if he hadn’t even slept at all the night before. Did werewolves sleep?
Maybe they didn’t.
“Scarlet?” he said, almost breathlessly, looking around the three old buildings of the monastery, a hand tucked behind his back underneath his leather jacket, probably holding his gun.
“Save it,” I snapped, wanting him closer so I could look in his eyes when he lied to me.
“What the hell is going on? Ricky called me,” he said when he stopped in front of me, but kept looking behind at the buildings.
“Don’t bother. Nobody’s here.” I hated that my voice shook. I hated that he was seeing me so broken.
“What’s going on?” he asked after a second, then squatted down in front of me. His wide eyes were concerned, but it was just acting. He was good at it, too.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”
“The others! The Storm witches that live here. They’re gone! All of them just disappeared into thin air.” My voice rose with every word. “Tell me, Wilder. How did that happen? When did it happen?”
I’d been here the night before, and all had been well. I’d left everyone there as they should have been. As I should have found them tonight.
Wilder shook his head. “Scarlet, I really don’t know what you mean. How can they be gone? Where did they go?”
The dry laugh scratched my throat and hurt my ears. “Where do you think? It was you. The ECU took them, and don’t you dare try to deny it.”
Raising his brows, he sat down on the ground. “Nobody took anybody anywhere,” he whispered, sounding almost afraid, which made me feel worse. He was going to deny it. The fucker was going to keep playing his stupid game. “Are you sure they haven’t left this place on their own?”
“I saw them the night before last. Don’t you think they would have told me if they planned to leave? Or picked up their damned phones?” I showed him mine, which I kept close to my feet in case it rang. I’d taken it off the charger when the battery got to ten percent. Now, I’d have to go back to the offices for it again.
“Have you checked everywhere?” Wilder asked.
“C’mon, Wilder. Don’t play dumb with me. I know the ECU has them. Tell me where they are.”
“Scarlet, I swear it, the ECU didn’t take anyone,” he whispered, looking into my eyes as if he was willing me to believe in his bullshit.
“Oh, yeah? So where are the guards?”
“What guards?”
“The guards! I asked for guards to guard this place at all times, and they’re not here!” They were gone, just like the others. “Tell me, Wilder. Tell me and I’ll spare you.”
I would. But not Adams. He was in on this, and for it, he was going to die. I should have just killed that piece of shit the night those demons freed me from the research facility. I should have just taken his life then.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Wilder sighed. “Let’s get inside.” And he made an attempt to grab my hand. I jerked away.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I was waiting for the others right there in case they showed up the next minute. “Name your price. I’ll give you anything you want. Anything at all. Just tell me where they are.”
I could find out myself, but who knew how long it would take me now that I was on my own? There were no laptops or phones, or clothes, or anything I could use to find the others with a spell. They and all their belongings were gone.
“I can’t tell you because I don’t know,” he insisted. “You haven’t slept at all, and you need to rest. Like this, you won’t be able to think clearly.”
“What the hell do I need to think for? My…my family is gone, and you know where they are. Why won’t you tell me?”
I could fight him. I could kill him right then and there, but he wasn’t going to be able to tell me anything if he was dead. Angering him would have the opposite effect.
“I don’t know!” he shouted, raising his arms to his sides. “Scarlet, the ECU didn’t take anyone. I would have known if they had.”
So he wasn’t going to budge. I bit my tongue hard and took in a deep breath. This wasn’t working.
“Please, Wilder. Please,” I begged and it was okay. My pride meant nothing to me now. I’d get down on my knees if that’s what it took to find them.
Suddenly, Wilder grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, his face only inches away from mine. I could see every line of his features perfectly, and every changing color of his eyes.
“I swear it on my mother, I don’t know. I don’t know that anybody took anybody anywhere. I swear it.”
Truth. His eyes spoke truth. The word mother meant something different for most. To me, it wasn’t a big deal to swear by mine, but to Wilder, it was. Call it instinct or whatever bullshit, every cell in my body had already believed him.
Which was sad, because if he didn’t know, who would?
“You have friends, don’t you? Can’t you call them, ask them where they’re keeping them?” I sounded defeated, having had another door slammed in my face. Wilder had been my only chance, but…but maybe there was another.
Wilder thought about what I said for a long second. He stared at me, never blinking his eyes, never breaking eye contact, until he finally nodded.
“But only if you come with me.”
***
I had to get them back. Wherever they were, I had to get them back.
Wilder’s living room had a dark red-colored glass door that divided it from the kitchen area. That’s where he’d gone to “make some calls.” It had been five minutes. So where was he?
Putting away the white blanket he’d put around my shoulders, I tiptoed my way to the door and pulled it open, just a bit. Wilder was standing by the sink, looking out the wide window, the phone stuck to his ear. He’d even turned the faucet on, probably to make sure I wouldn’t hear. But I could now. And the running water only served to distract him.
“Are you sure about this?” he whispered just as I slipped through the door and onto the grey kitchen tiles. He had no dining table I could hide behind, but I could use the counter and the stools for that just fine. I wasn’t afraid he’d catch me. Maybe that’s why he didn’t.
“Damn it, man, why am I only hearing about this now? Send word to the team. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
He was angry at something. Maybe he’d finally figured out that the ECU did take the others from the monastery. Maybe he knew where they were.
“Yeah, it’s Wilder. I need a favor. Is this line secure?” he said to whoever he called next. “All right. I need information. The Storms that are living in the monastery, do you know something about that?”
Just the mentioning of that name had my heart racing against my ribs.
“Yeah, well, they’re not there anymore. Did someone send out an order in the last twenty-four hours?” Wilder’s voice lowered and his footsteps said he’d turned around. Dammit. I’d forgotten to close the door. “Yes, I was there myself. The place is empty, and I need to know if the ECU had something to do with it.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I held my breath.
“You sure this isn’t secret ops? I need to know, man. Right now. If something happened…” his voice trailed off. “Yeah, okay. Keep your ear to the ground. Give me a call if you hear something,” Wilder said with a sigh.
My heart fell.
“And Dean? This is between you and me only.”
A second of silence.
“You can come out now.”
Shit. Biting my tongue, I rose to my feet and fell on the stool closest to me. The room kept spinning, and I had to keep my eyes on my hands.
“We’ve got nothing. The ECU didn’t do this.” He stopped on the other side of the counter right in front of me. I swallowed hard and met his eyes.
“What about the guards? There were supposed to be guards there.”
“Everybody was in place until seven in the morning. The guards left at the end of their shift, and when the next ones came, there was nobody there. They hung around for a couple of hours and then left,” Wilder said.
“So why didn’t I hear about it? They were supposed to tell me about everything that happened. This stinks, Wilder. It stinks and you know it.”
“Because they thought you knew!” he said, exasperated. “I’m going to interview all of those guards myself, but if the ECU had something to do with this, Dean would have known. Trust me, he would have known, and he would have told me.”
“I know I don’t mean much to you, but those people mean everything to me,” I said. This was my last option. If I couldn’t fight it out of him, or convince him otherwise, I’d try to be as real as was possible. To give him my whole truth, no matter that he was a werewolf who worked for the ECU. If he was going to sell me out, so be it. Until then…
“I was supposed to protect them. I was supposed to keep them safe, and I’ll do anything I can to find them. Anything at all. So if you’re lying to me, and if those phone calls were just a bluff, please tell me. Just…just tell me the truth.”
Wilder leaned forward. “I am. I’m not lying. The phone calls were real. I don’t know where they are, and the ECU didn’t take them.” He looked down at my hands as if he considered touching me but decided against it. “Scarlet, I’m telling you the truth.”
He was telling me the truth. Did I believe him?
I had no choice.
“So where are they?” My voice broke again. Tears in my eyes but I refused to let them spill. Enough crying. It was time to think.
Wilder paled. “Who else is after Storms?” he asked me.
It was crystal clear to me then. The ECU was only one of our enemies. The others?
“Demons.” A chill ran down my spine.
He nodded. “There’s more. Around three in the morning, they killed a family of six.”
I jumped to my feet, no longer dizzy. “What family?”
“Humans,” he said with a flinch.
“Humans? Are you sure you heard them right?”
“I am,” he said and slammed his hands on the counter.
“Why would demons kill humans? It makes no sense.” Absolutely none.
“Because they were keeping watch around one of our bases, the one in Manhattan,” Wilder said through gritted teeth.
“Keeping watch? And you didn’t notice?”
“It’s hard to keep track of them when they blend in with others, and I’m just guessing here. They were keeping watch, and somehow, in some way, the car must have interrupted them. Or…”
“Or they wanted to send a message.”
He swallowed so hard, I could see his Adam’s apple moving. “They wanted to send a message.”
“But why? If they took everyone at the monastery, what kind of a message would that be?”
“To not mess with them. To leave them be. To not go after them because they aren’t kidding. Who knows?”
“Whatever the reason, we have to stop them. Do you see why we can’t wait? Not even for tomorrow.” His idea of waiting until I was prepared sucked balls, and he could see it now, too.
“We’re not prepared to—” he started, but I cut him off.
“And we’ll never be. How many strong witches do you have on board?”
“I’ve got ten wolves, three witches, and a vamp, plus us.”
“You think that’s going to be enough?”
“We have weapons,” he said, but his voice was weak because he knew how much weapons meant against demons.
“Bullets aren’t going to do shit against them. You need flamethrowers—that might give us a few seconds.” Spells took time to be conjured, but if we could make fire by pressing a button, it could give us some leverage. “How many of you can chant dark magic?”
Wilder’s eyes widened. “What the hell do you need dark magic for?”
Any other day, I would have rolled my eyes. “To fight demons, Wilder. Black magic is stronger. Deadlier. It stops them when normal spells won’t. You’ve done your research, haven’t you?”
