Cassidy Jones and the Luminous (Cassidy Jones Adventures Book 4) (32 page)

“Sorry, Ester,” Doc apologized, hauling himself out of the water. “See, I told you, Jane. Cleo’s safe and sound.”

“They’re headed toward the elevator,” Emery informed.

“I’m emailing footage,” Gavin whispered to Emery.

My heart sped. Why would Patrick bring Jared here?

Jane scooped her beloved pet off Ester’s lap and cuddled Cleo to her wet bosom, despite the cat’s yowls and struggles.

“Oh, you stop that, missy,” she chided playfully, tapping the cat’s nose. “It’s just water. Our kind likes water. Mama missed you.”

“Well, Thomas,” Ester addressed Doc. She took the arm he’d offered her to help her out of the rocking chair. “You managed to bring another one to their senses. Welcome, Rogue! Did I hear Thomas right? Your name is Jane?”

Jane nodded happily, nestling her cheek into Cleo’s fur. “Jane Charlotte Altman.”

Ester cackled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,
Jane Charlotte Altman
. They’re pleased to see you, too.” Ester gestured behind her.

My eyes followed to where she’d motioned. I couldn’t see around the first tank that held Z, but he waved at Jane, grinning.

Jane waved back. Her smile traveled down the row of tanks. “It’s good to see everyone again,” she said to Doc.

“They exited the elevator,” Emery reported. “A male and female greeted them. Safe to assume the male isn’t the one you’ve taken out of commission.”

Doc placed his hand on Jane’s shoulder. “See? They’re happy. Doing their part, just like I said.”

“You’ll do yours, too, won’t you, Jane?” Ester asked.

I wondered if her
part
entailed being sealed in a tank filled with parasites.

Jane’s face fell. She glanced longingly at the channel that she had emerged from. “But I want to be out there,” she said like a child yearning to go outside and play.

“We all do, dear. It’s where we belong. But we have a job to do.”

“Yes, they told me—in
here
.” Jane touched her temple. “We are to
assimilate
,” she pronounced carefully, looking at Doc for confirmation that she had said the word correctly.

He nodded, smiling.

“That’s right.
Assimilate
,” Ester said. “We must ensure our survival. And it is
you
, dear. Not
they
.”

“Yes. They said—I mean,
I
know Patrick Grimm named us. We didn’t have one before.”

“Not in the human language,” Doc concurred.

“They’re headed your way,” Emery warned.

Gavin stopped filming and emailed the latest footage to Emery.

Pallid, Joe watched Jane stroll down the row of tanks and greet each occupant by their first name. I tried to process everything that we’d heard and witnessed thus far.

Jane had used the word “assimilate,” which I thought meant to incorporate, or absorb, and then touched her temple. Doc referred to the human language as though he were talking about another species.

Gavin put his cell away and freed the semi-automatic rifle from its sling.

“You ain’t hurting nobody,” Joe hissed at him.

“Think again.” Gavin disengaged the safety. “I won’t let anyone
get
hurt. Primarily Jared.”

“They’re almost here,” I whispered, hearing Patrick’s jovial voice.

“They’ve entered the corridor,” Emery concurred.

Gavin motioned for the three of us to duck down lower.

“Now, Jared, don’t let what you’re about to see alarm you,” Patrick said in an easygoing manner. “Your dad and I will explain everything. But brace yourself for a shock.”

“You’ll have to trust me, son,” Owen said, and I pictured him clasping Jared’s shoulder in a fatherly, reassuring way. My fury ignited.

The doors swung open.

“Good evening!” Patrick boomed.

Above us, I saw him throw his arms up animatedly through the landing’s metal grids.

“I’ve prepared Nightcrawler for what he’s about to encounter. He knows you’re close by,” Emery reported as Doc and Ester returned Patrick’s greeting. “He has been instructed to get the entire room on film, especially the
aquariums
.”

Gavin didn’t dare give his standard “copy that,” with Grimm and Co. rattling down the steps. Jared hadn’t uttered a word as he took everything in.

“Jared—” Patrick grasped his shoulder in the way I had pictured his father doing. Watching them, Owen appeared ill at ease. “Please meet Mrs. Ester Burkhart and Tom Granger—”

The woman who owns this building
, I remembered.

Gavin rested his rifle on top of the tank, putting Grimm in its crosshairs.

“—And it appears Tom has brought in another Rogue. My fair lady, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Patrick Grimm.”

The Asian man glanced over his shoulder, giving us the first view of his face. Scrutinizing him, Gavin swore under his breath.

I touched his arm.

He stared at me for a beat, thinking. A resigned expression crossed his face. He’d come to some sort of a resolution.

“Cable,” he whispered, peering through the rifle’s scope again. “Bring in the Mother Ship. ID the Chinese perp.”

I assumed Serena was the “Mother Ship.”

Grimm released Jared’s shoulder in order to offer Jane his hand. Owen moved closer to his son—in case he made a run for it, I guessed. The Chinese man and a young blonde woman appeared ready to tackle him, too.

Jane shook Grimm’s hand eagerly. “Good to finally meet you, Patrick.” Her expression became sheepish, and a blush crawled across her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have said
finally,
like it was your fault. I’m sorry I ran from you.”

Grimm bestowed a warm smile. “None of us want to be cooped up on land. But you are forgiven, pretty lady. And you are?”

“Jane. I’m Jane.”

“Well, Jane, you are home now.” He clasped his other hand over hers. “You’ll never be without one again. And it looks like someone else is happy you’re here, too.”

Patrick released her hand to tickle Cleo under the chin.

All the while, Owen watched Jared with great concern. Constance kept an alert eye on him, too, frowning. Apparently, his calm demeanor had befuddled them.

“Jane, please meet my beautiful wife, Constance.”

Constance pulled her eyes from Jared and smiled at Jane. Patrick gripped his shoulder again. With a plastered-on smile, he shrewdly studied Jared, who stared inscrutably at the captives.

In turn, they observed him as though he were the curiosity.

I willed Jared to show some fear. His composure had triggered suspicion.

“Tell Nightcrawler to look afraid,” I whispered to Emery.

Gavin released a frustrated breath over my talking out loud.

“He is just trying to maintain,” Emery surmised. “Telling him to do anything right now could cause him to unravel.”

“He’s scared out of his wits,” Joe said, confirming Emery’s deduction, even though he hadn’t heard it for himself.

Gavin made a
psst
sound for us to keep quiet.

Of course he’s scared
, I continued in thought
. So is Joe. So am I. And probably even Rambo here next to me is, too.

“I am Dr. Boquin Fan,” the Chinese man introduced himself in a soft voice, bowing his head slightly to Jane.

“Dr. Boquin Fan, chemist and CIA research scientist,” Emery added.

“Criminy,” Gavin muttered. “One of our own.”

“The Mother Ship says reinforcements are on their way. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.” Emery didn’t sound happy at all.

Their? Reinforcements?
Maybe Serena wasn’t the “Mother Ship” after all.

“Try to be in my shoes for once,” Gavin grumbled under his breath. “When?”

“Approximately fifteen minutes.”

Gavin’s eyes flicked to me and then back to the scope.

“Dr. Fan made all of this possible.” Patrick motioned around him with his free hand while keeping Jared’s shoulder hostage with the other.

Constance, Owen, and the blonde woman, who had introduced herself to Jane as Kiera, exchanged looks as though they were communicating telepathically. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they had this ability. Owen nodded and moved his gaze back to his son.

“She-Ra, when I order you to leave,
do it
,” Gavin said between his teeth, tracking Grimm with the rifle. Patrick propelled Jared toward the tanks by the shoulder.

“Copy that,” I whispered, with every intention of doing what
I
thought right, when
ordered
.

“You see, we couldn’t reproduce before Dr. Fan,” Patrick said, touching hands with the captive in the third tank through the glass. “We were dying out.”

Ashlyn had taken Cleo from Jane, and now held the cat face-to-face with the captive in the fourth tank and playfully
meowed
. I had to wonder what planet she was from. Jared shot her a disturbed glance, then his eyes cut back to Grimm.

“We?” Jared’s voice sounded normal, not even the slightest detection of a tremble.

“We were trapped for centuries, beneath miles of rock.” Grimm stared dreamily into the tank, either ignoring or not hearing Jared’s question. “Many of us had died, and we couldn’t procreate, or escape. Our situation was bleak. We were on the verge of extinction, until the drill bit from an oil rig emancipated us. Everything changed in that moment,
and
when a couple of rednecks threw me down an embankment . . .” He chuckled. “My smart mouth always did get me into trouble.” His expression grew reminiscent. “I still remember how beautiful they were that night, in the lake—” His fingertips trailed along the glass as his eyes stared into the past. “They reminded me of forest fairies dancing around my fingertips in that cool water, casting their spell. I was mesmerized and knew that I’d found something special. Or they found me—had
chosen
me. Then I chose Constance.”

He turned his head toward his wife and smiled tenderly.

“As I mentioned, there weren’t many of us left. We couldn’t reproduce, multiply. There’s an organic compound not found on Earth that is essential to our ability to breed. But as mankind has proven, time and time again, nothing is set in stone. If you require a substance that doesn’t exist in nature, find yourself a good chemist.” He gestured toward Dr. Fan. His gaze returned to the tank. “Our second chance flows here, through our brothers and sisters.”

Jared cleared his throat. “So you’re saying—these people are your incubators?”

My hand silently smacked my mouth in horror. Of course, that’s what they were! Hatcheries! These poor people were
breeding
the parasites!

“Jared, you say that as though I’m a villain!” Grimm exclaimed, laughing. “Look at them—” His hand made a sweeping motion to the line of tanks. “Does it look like anyone is here against their will? Our brothers and sisters are not prisoners. See—” He lifted the lid on the tank he was closest to. “It isn’t locked. They can lift the lid and leave any time they want. But they won’t, because they are selflessly giving us the greatest gift of all—life.”

“Why here? Why did you come to Seattle?”

“I fell in love with the area when I visited your mom and dad. You were just a toddler. The majestic mountains, the lush green, the big blue sky when it opens up—it’s breathtaking. And then, these beautiful bodies of water—we can survive in fresh or salt, but we prefer fresh.”

“How did Dr. Fan make this happen?”

Grimm fixed Jared with a stare that caused my blood to run cold. A smug smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

“You have your dad’s smarts.” He flashed a smile at Owen. “And his cunning. You’re asking logical questions, but they are the
wrong
questions.”

I tensed, preparing to spring. Joe prayed under his breath.

“Okay, then,” Jared said, undaunted. “If you want me to ask questions in the right order—What are
they
?” He pointed at the tanks, looking Grimm square in the eye. I couldn’t breathe. “What are
you
?”

“We are
—
” Grimm flipped his palms in the air.

“Luminous,” they all said in unison, even the people in the tanks.

Hair prickled on the back of my neck. I had never been so creeped out in my life. “Dear Lord,” Joe whispered.

Dark silence dropped over the room as Jared backed away from Grimm. Those behind him moved as well, widening the circle, giving him space but keeping him trapped. His horrified gaze snapped from face to face, finally meeting his father’s.

Tears flooded my eyes as I could see the terrible truth slam through Jared’s mind. I watched his shock transform into pure rage.

“What did you do to my dad?” he thundered, launching at Grimm.

Ashlyn pushed her palm toward the channel of clear water. Seeing her move, Owen thrust his palm toward it, too. Water flew from the channel as though struck by a powerful force, rushing toward their extended arms, striking their palms and reforming instantly into high-pressure streams. Ashlyn directed her palm at Jared, blasting her stream at him; Owen aimed his hand at her stream, intercepting it. This all occurred at mind-boggling speed.

“Ashlyn!” Grimm shouted in a reprimanding tone. Ashlyn’s and Owen’s two streams collided, like water discharging from battling fire hoses. The crushing collision forced both streams high into the air over Jared.

Shaking off the surprise, I snapped into action, springing up. Joe threw himself over me, knocking me to the floor. In doing so, the crowbar that he’d held in a death grip struck the tank like a gong.

The sound of pulverizing water ceased.

“It’s not time,” Joe whispered, staring into my eyes. “They can’t see you coming.”

“We know you’re there,” Grimm sang, feet moving our way.

As Joe began to stand, his stern gaze warned me to not interfere.

“Don’t move,” Gavin ordered me under his breath.

I bit my bottom lip and complied, fighting the instinct to yank Joe down and out of harm’s way. But he was right. They couldn’t see Gavin or me coming, not if we wanted to stand a chance. Joe was the logical sacrifice.

“I’m coming out.” Joe moved around the tank slowly, hands up in surrender. “I don’t mean any trouble.”