04 Last (7 page)

“I don’t…” Daniel started to protest at her selection.

“It’s a sound group,” Reaper said. “Spider can get in to areas they have protected against Watchers and you three make a formidable match against anybody looking for a fight. With Serenity’s stealth, your ability to see the future and Jackson’s brute, you can manage anything.”

Daniel wasn’t happy at Reaper’s suggestion. It was logical, but it left Daniel with a problem: me. With everyone occupied, I would have the freedom to do as I pleased – which normally got me in trouble.

“Which leaves Clare free to wander a cave system looking for Alex, who may or may not turn up?” Daniel asked skeptically.

“I’ll go with her,” Reaper offered. “You do trust me to look after Clare, don’t you?”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

Daniel ignored me. He nodded seriously at Reaper’s question. There was no doubt in his mind. He trusted Reaper with his life why not mine?

“Yes,” Daniel replied.

Reaper turned to Sara.

“Would you mind getting River for me?” Reaper asked. “I need her and King to set up a little chaos here. Tell her what’s happened, bring her up to speed. Make sure she’s here for the planning of the attack.”

“Sure,” Sara agreed.

She slid her knife back in to a sheath she had at the small of her back and disappeared without another word. Reaper turned to Preacher when she was gone.

“Preach, I think it’s best if you start creating your illusion. If I remember correctly, it takes a bit of time to make things respectably solid.”

Preacher nodded in wordless agreement and sat down in the dark, away from the others but close enough to know what was going on. He closed his eyes and a group of people appeared. They looked solid, but I sensed him still working to create hardness to the shapes, to make them flesh and blood, instead of a trick of light.

Serenity started talking about the timing of the attack and how they were going to sneak inside without being seen. As she did, Daniel pulled me toward the darkness of the caves. His hand was electric against my skin. The electricity was molded by his heightened worry. It coursed through my veins, letting me know that he didn’t let me go easily. He didn’t seem to care what the others were saying, though I knew he heard every word. He was multitasking with an easy grace. He focused on me, his green eyes full of emotion.

“I can’t see how this turns out,” he admitted in a low voice. “I can’t see it, Clare.”

It was an admission that told me he did not know if any of us would survive. He was operating on hope, the hope of luck and the hope that their combined skills would be enough. He didn’t know what would happen when I walked in to the dark to find Alex. He didn’t know any more than I knew. The idea scared him. It was a reminder of the last time we had been separated.

“Everything is going to be fine,” I said.

I instantly regretted my words. I hated asinine promises I could not keep. It was just the first thing that had sprung to my lips.

“Don’t say that,” he said in a pained voice.

I put a hand on his face. His skin was soft, and his eyes glittered in the light. I wanted to assure him everything would be okay – that there was nothing to be worried about – and mean it. I wanted to tell him that nothing would go wrong. But I couldn’t.

“How about you promise me you’ll be safe, and I’ll promise you the same,” I said. “We both keep our promises, so we know it means something.”

“True,” Daniel agreed.

“So, a promise, then. A promise to get the other guy before he gets you,” I said.

“Count on that,” he said.

He pulled his gun back out of the small of his back.

“I want you to take this,” Daniel said.

“You need it,” I declined.

“I can get another one from one of Saints,” Daniel said. “I’ll feel better if you have it.”

“What’s going to attack me in the caves? Rock monsters?” I asked.

“With you…there’s no telling,” he said.

He took my hand and forced me to take the gun.

“You do know how it works, right?” he asked.

“I think I can figure it out,” I said.

“I’ll see you when we’ve got Han and Beatrice out,” he said.

“Now that’s a promise I like,” I said.

Daniel smiled and, not caring that the others were watching, I put my arms around his neck and pulled him in close. I kissed him, loving the feel of his lips against mine. Through our lips, I tried to tell him all the things I was afraid to speak aloud. He got the message. He kissed me back just as passionately. His own fear transferred through our touch. Then, he gently pushed me away. He held me at arm’s length for a moment and looked me over. He put a hand on my face and smiled his boyish smile.

“Don’t get lost.”

“Me? Never,” I said.

Reaper had finished handing out orders. Everyone was moving; everyone had a plan. Spider had gone back outside to watch the building and to get away from Eli. Margaret had gone outside with him, to stir up weather for the attack. Reaper was checking his gun as he walked over to us, to make sure everything was in working order. He looked a lot more certain with his gun as he stuck in to a holster at his side. He held out his hand for Daniel to shake when he reached us.

“Be careful, old friend,” Reaper said.

“You, too,” Daniel said, shaking Reaper’s hand.

Reaper’s eyes shifted to mine then back to Daniel. It was enough to know that Daniel had asked a silent question through their touch and Reaper had said something back. I didn’t ask what it was, but I knew it was something along the lines of ‘I’ll watch out for her.’

Reaper picked up the lantern and gestured for me to start walking. I hesitated as I looked at Daniel. I was leaving him to a fight I had no control over. I was trusting in Serenity’s plan more than I wanted to. Walking away at such time felt like a betrayal, as if I was abandoning him. It was difficult to leave him under such uncertain circumstances. But he was controlled, skilled and ultimately prepared for what he was about to face. He knew the risks and had the tools to combat them…unlike Alex, who only had primal emotions and a desire to find an outlet from the pain.

The others talked behind Daniel, a mass of noise that I couldn’t find reason to. They planned and plotted. All except Eli – he was watching us. His strange eyes were enigmatic and full of a burning desire. I thought it was the desire to find Alex as well, for different reasons.

With Reaper holding the light up so we could see, I left Daniel to his unknown fate. Daniel watched us walk without moving away; he was another stone in a cave of stones. His eyes followed my every movement. I did not turn around, but I knew if I had turned, I would have seen his dark features marred by a troubled expression.

His doubt haunted my steps.

Chapter 3

The caves were a network of confusion.

They all looked the same. There was nothing to separate one from the other. Nothing except for a trail of white clothing ripped to pieces and claw marks in the stone. They were our first clue to finding Alex.

We followed the trail of clothing down a narrow tunnel as closed-in as the cave. I felt my skin crawl from the sense of the mountain closing in on me, but I hid it from Reaper. Getting freaked out in front of him was a sure-fire way of him turning us around before we had found Alex. I was not eager for that. I could deal with my fear better than I could deal with losing Alex.

The first tunnel went on for a mile. We walked without speaking, our minds trained on hearing and sensing whatever was down in the depths of the mountain. We were in-tune to every shift of the mountain, any sense that Alex was near. Reaper was on the alert for sounds of a person; I was alert for sounds of a Nightstalker.

The tunnel finally intersected with a group of five tunnels that went in five different directions. I stopped walking and took a deep breath at the choices in front of us. Choosing a tunnel at random would not get us anywhere. It would just get us lost and nowhere closer to finding my friend.

I frowned at the tunnels, wondering what would happen if I choose the wrong tunnel. Was there another way? Could I limit our choices? I thought over my connection with Alex. We had always shared a bond, even before I had shared my blood with her. I thought I would be able to feel her, instinctively know where to find her. But all I felt was the sense of rock pressing down and the stench of whatever dead thing had died in the caves. I took a deep breath and tried to figure out the best course of action with the options in front of me.

“What are you doing?” Reaper asked as I took my breath.

“I’m thinking.”

“Will thinking find Alex?” he asked.

“Wandering around won’t,” I said.

I gave him the gun Daniel had forced in to my hand and took the lantern from his to illuminate my path. He put the gun in to his belt, at his back, and made a face at me as I held up the lantern. It was a face that showcased his skepticism.

“It’s not likely she went far. She’s bound to get tired and stop soon,” he pointed out. “We’ll catch her.”

“Yeah, in a week or two,” I said.

“A week or two?” he asked in a shocked voice.

He could tell I wasn’t kidding with him. There was no limit to how far Alex could run in her changed state. She could be in Mexico before we were even done searching the caves for her.

“Mmmhhhmmm,” I said.

“Clare, I know you have secrets, we all do, but you have to tell me what’s going on here,” Reaper said.

“No, I don’t,” I said.

“I’m helping you…” he pointed out. “I volunteered to help you search for her, when I could be shooting at Seekers and helping Daniel to get his parents back.”

“That makes you a good person…helping me without knowing what’s going on,” I said. “You should feel proud of yourself for being so dang nice… If I could just feel her, I could find her,” I fretted.

“Feel her?” Reaper asked, not following my change of subject.

“Alex…feel Alex. Maybe I just need to focus,” I said.

“Is focusing better than thinking?” he asked.

“You sound like Daniel,” I said.

“Must be spending too much time with him lately…” Reaper said. “He does have a way about him.”

“Yeah, he does. Shut up a minute,” I said.

“Shutting up,” Reaper said amicably.

I stretched my arm up high, to cast the light of the lantern out further. It didn’t cast the light very far; it was enough to see that our choices were unlimited. All of the tunnels were the same – there was nothing to separate one from the other. There were no claw marks, no clothing. Alex’s trail had gone cold. It was easy to feel intimidated. But intimidation was nothing more than an enemy in my head. It would not do to listen to it.

I shut my eyes. They were just distracting me from the task in front of me. With my eyes shut, a memory came to me. It was a memory of finding a different person under different circumstances. It was the time when I had gone searching for a missing Forest Ranger named Susan. I had found her by searching with my mind and nothing else. I had searched for her, until I felt her heartbeat ringing through the forest above all other sounds. I could do the same thing now. All I had to do was stretch my mind out and let the feeling of Alex guide me.

It was easier in theory.

My eyes still closed, I imagined a tentacle of thought reaching out around me. For one agonizing moment there was nothing, only the resounding sound of my skeptical thoughts then I felt movement. My thoughts moved beyond my head to search out the caves. The first thing I felt was Reaper. His heartbeat was strong, though slow. His mind was closed off, but it was easy to feel the power of his thoughts. He was a strong presence, a light in the dark. His light was strange though, tainted with silver. It was energy unlike any I had felt when searching for Susan. Perhaps, the light was the difference between a Watcher and a human.

I moved beyond him and searched the tunnels for a spark. I felt insects and smaller creatures, but nothing as bright as Alex’s energy. The feeling of my thought got further away from my body. I was about to give up hope when a brush of energy crossed my path. It was a moving wave of energy, fierce and fast in the dark, but there was no mistaking it. There was a light mixed in with the heartbeat. It was the sturdy, dependable light of a person cursed with darkness, when they spent their whole life bringing light to others. I opened my eyes and pointed at the tunnel directly in front of us.

“That way,” I said.

Reaper didn’t question my choice. He started forward, expecting I would follow. He had done his own thinking as he had waited for me to pick a path.

“This thing with Alex obviously has something to do with you,” he said as we walked. “It has to be…you keep acting all guilty.”

“Are you still trying to figure it out?” I asked. “I thought we were off that…had moved on to greener pastures.”

“Do you not trust me with the secret?” he asked. “I already know that Marcus is after you, because of your blood. That’s a pretty massive secret. One I could sell to anybody and get rich off very easily. You trusted me with that.”