Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (11 page)

“Actually, I did.” He folded his arms, mimicking her stance as best he could with their size difference. His long blond hair fell forward into his eyes as he peered down at her. “He seems to think there is something going on between the two of you.”

The
statement
hung the air, as palpable as
a
bucket of water would be if it wer
e dangling precariously over her head
.
It also forced her to take a calming breath.

Danielle looked at the ground, and then returned her gaze to his. “We’re friends.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s true,” he said, nodding. “Or, it better be.”

She said nothing in response. It would have taken an idiot to miss the threat in his voice.

“Well, come on,” he said, reaching toward her. “It’s time for training.”

“I don’t want to.” Danielle twisted out of his hold. “I don’t feel
good.”
She still felt sick from what she remembered of the last “experiment,” and that feeling was made all the worse from worry for Garrick.

Pyro reached
for her
, holding her wrist as she pulled away from him.
He
looked down to where their skin met and anger crossed his face. “You’re cutting yourself again.”

She
flicked her gaze to
her wrist as well, seeing the fresh, bright red blood that trickled from her skin. She must have dug at her wrist during Garrick’s beating. She hadn’t even realized she’d done it.

“
B
aby,” he s
aid, his voice softening
. “It’s okay. Yo
u’ll grow out o
f it. I know you will. I mean, do you know how amazing you are? When you’ve changed you’re even more beautiful than you are now. You’ll feel better soon, I promise.”

With that, he gripped Danielle by the arms and led her out of her cell, even while she felt sick from his praise. It was difficult for her to refrain from fighting him. It had been engrained in her since she and Karena had first come to the Institute.

But she’d do it for Garrick. She wouldn’t allow him to be punished because of her. Plus, during one of their silent conversations, she and Garrick had formed a plan. A few of the times that he had been removed from his cell, he’d been conscious and aware of his surroundings, and he’d paid as much attention to the caves as he could. And so he asked her not to fight Pyro.

So, she wouldn’t fight him
as much as she normally did
. She’d pay attention
to where he led her and
see if she could locate anything that resembled an exit, or
if she could see anything that w
ould help them escape. Even now, she looked down the passageways th
at sprung off
from the main hallway that she and Pyro wound through. They reached the lab and, still holding her tightly, Pyro shouldered his way through to where Dr. Shorman, the nurses, and Ekhart were waiting.

****

Garrick fought the blackn
ess that tried to keep him under
. He opened his eyes in time to see Dani leave her cell with Pyro—the bastard—without a fight. Even though it was imperative that they both keep an eye out for any possible escape, watching her leave with him without fighting had caused a sick feeling to swell in his stomach that had nothing to do with the onyx liquid
trying to force him back into unconsciousness. He didn’t wait long before the light overhead was turned on and his door swung open.

“Well
,
well,
Fairy
,” Pyro sneered. “I think it’s time for you to see exactly what you’re getting yourself into. Don’t you?”

Garrick’s eyes narrowed on the blond bastard
as Burly and another guard—one that reminded him of
a long-faced goat—appeared in the room
and hefted him to his feet. Just as he’d discussed with Dani, he wouldn’t fight. He would go with them as calmly as he could so that, between them, they co
uld find a way out of this hell
hole. “Sure, whatever,” he shrugged.
He didn’t have to feign the lethargy; the liquid super-highwaying it through his veins had taken care of that.

“Glad we’re in agreement on this one.” Pyro turned on his heels and led the way out of the cell and down the hall. The other two guards were forced to carry him.

They turned down a passageway, one that Garrick hadn’t been down before.
Pyro
ducked into an opening
,
and
Garrick and the others immediately followed
. The room held four rows of chairs, some of which were already filled, and Garrick was forced to sit down.

Not that he could have argued, as weak as he was.

“What is this?” he asked, looking through a large window. It was bigger than the one separating his and Dani’s room
s
, though the view was completely different. On the other side was a melee of demons milling about. This window was
not
soundproof
, and it looked out over an oversized room probably half a football field long
. He could hear the demons, with their disgusting grunts as they half
-
assedly pushed each other around. Garrick turned a questioning look at Pyro.

“Just wait, Fairy. You’re about to see something truly remarkable.”

“Oh,” another voice said. “You brought him. Wonderful.”

Garrick turned drowsily to see Ekhart enter the room and take a seat a few rows behind him, presumably to stay at a safe distance. His gaze was focused on the window and a loud sound had Garrick looking in the same direction.

What in the fuck
is
that?

His eyes widened as a familiar shape came into view.

No
, he thought.
Not here. One can’t be here.
For the first time since he’d been here, he actually hoped he was dreaming. But no, he wasn’t. In fact, the effects of the shot were wearing off at an astounding rate.

The new creature was tossed into the room, where she easily undid her
binds and flexed full,
knuckled wings. Once they extended, she rose into the air, her naked body curling in
to
what could only be described as an attack stance as she caught sight of the other demons. They each faced her as well, hissing and growling at the new predator.

“This is great,” Ekhart said. “They can all sense her power.”

“Who
can’t
?” Garrick remarked,
both
awed
and horrified at the sight of her
. “Harpies are dangerous.” And he’d never seen one in this realm.

As if his words had been a cue, the Harpy rushed forward, attacking the first row of demons. She dropped to her feet, using every appendage on her body as she fought through them: her feet, her hands and claws—even her wings had little claws of their own. She fought earnestly. All demons were after her as if she were the target, but really she was the one doing the targeting. Every move she made was just another move in her dance. Every spin as though it was carefully calculated, connecting with demons that had planned to take her from the back or side. He hadn’t seen anything like it in years.

She did get a few scratches and cuts,
growling
and hissing at whatever demon had gotten an inch on her.

“She’s getting much better,” Ekhart said gleefully. “She should be fully ready soon.”

“She might already
be
ready,” another voice said. Garrick recognized that one too. He didn’t even have to look to know it was Dr. Shorman.

More demons died at
the H
arpy’s
feet, some flying into a surrounding wall or even against the window that kept them all safe from her wrath. Until she had no more opponents. She shrieked as she turned in the air, checking her surroundings. She caught sight of the onlookers behind the window and flew forward, stopping inches from the glass. Her eyes met each of theirs individually in a sneer.

Pyro leaned close to Garrick’s ear. “I’d like you to meet the Destroyer. Look familiar?”

He glanced at Pyro for a second, a single eyebrow lifting in question before he returned it to the Harpy. She was
completely
bare, her breasts heaving as she breathed heavily, her body shimmering with one of the many colors he’d seen in Harpies skin over his lifetime. Her wings flapped slowly, keeping her suspended in the air as her eyes focused on Garrick. She was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Her small pixie nose turning up at the end gave her that look of innocen
ce. It was just like
…

No.
No!
The Harpy had hair of black and
dark
red, and her skin wasn’t milky white. Not even her eyes held even a trace of the blue color he’d grown to adore over
his time here. But he knew whose
gaze his eyes clashed with. The truth of it stuck in his gut as surely as one of Ash’s corn dogs.

He was looking at Dani.

“Son of a bitch.
”

Pyro laughed and gestured to the others.
Burly and Goatface
lifted him from his seat and
escorted him back to his cell. His guards laughed quietly, but other than that, the caves were silent as they wound down the hallway. He went
with them
, unable to fight them
as stunned as he was
.
What had they done to her?

When Dani had been distracted, hissing at him through the window, someone had entered the battleground and shot her with a dart gun
,
which had been potent enough to knock her on her ass and knock her ass out.

Th
ey pushed Garrick into his cell where he sat on his bed, lost in thought, and watched Dani’s door. Pyro entered her cell shortly after, carrying her unconscious body. He laid
her down on the ground
, opting not to put her on her bed
. She looked
normal again and fully dressed.
Her
natural red hair had returned and so had the color of her fair skin.

Pyro’s gaz
e met his, and the Ignitis
smiled as he left Dani in her room. He immediately came
into Garrick’s cell with a fake
pouty face. “Aw, Guardian, are you sad that my girl is one of the bad guys? Too bad,” he teased. “I’m sure it could have worked out between you, you know. Really.” He laughed as Garrick turned an angry gaze on him. “Oh yes,
and what’s better? You’re
locked in adjoining cells. You a Guardian, one of the pure and true, and her
,
a demon of mass destruction. The Destroyer.”

Garrick fisted his hands, completely over listening to this bastard tease and taunt. He didn’t want to hear any of this from him. He wanted to hear it from her. Dani. The girl he thought was innocence incarnate, except for when she’d writhed under his touch.

Dammit, no! Even then!

He refused to do anything more than sit still, doing his best to ignore Ekhart’s goonies lest Pyro decide to keep talking about Dani. It must have worked though, because the three turned away, laughing and shaking their heads as they retrea
ted from his room. Burly’s
eyes linger
ed
on Garrick before he smiled and finally shut the door behind him.

Garrick turned toward the window that separated him
from
his cellma
te. Both their lights were
on. Garrick found that he couldn’t look away from Dani.
She still slept, though it wasn’t peaceful. He could see her sweat-slicked skin as she tossed and turned. He’d wait, but as soon as she woke, he
was determined to find out who in the hell she really was.

****

No, not again.
Not again.
Danielle sat up, holding her hand over her left eye, applying pressure where she needed it most.
She moaned, and
brought her other hand up to do the same to her right eye. The light overhead was too much, especially after everything she’d just been through.

Everything she’d just done.

All those demons
…
t
hey’d been trying to protect themselves, and she’d just eradicated them. She hadn’t even been in control of herself as she’d killed them all, with only a semblance of her mind returning when she’d spotted Garrick staring at her with that horrified
expression on his face. It had sobered her, in a way.

Looking through the window now, she saw that his expression was much the same as it had been earlier. His warm hazel eyes were wide. Still horrified and still confused.

So was she.

She stood slowly and inched her way to the glass, sitting down in front of Garrick who simply watched her. Danielle shook
her head apologetically. How could she apologize for what he’d just seen? How could she apologize when she wasn’t even aware of what she’d been doing until she saw the
warm
depths of his eyes? It didn’t matter how, she decided, but she knew she needed to. His expression told her as much, and so did the ache in her heart.