Crux (The Aurora Lockette Series) (5 page)

“
Where was he taken?”

She jerked her head towards the kitchen.
“Come on out. Dennis is here and will fill you in.”

I nodded, slowly
rose, and followed her to the kitchen. I glanced down at my rumpled clothes that I’d been wearing for the last twenty-four hours. But I didn’t care. The only the thing I cared about was finding her.

Konstantin and Carmen were
leaning against the bar that divided the kitchen from the living room. Dennis’s handler sat against a wall in the corner. Dennis presided over the table, hands folded in front of him, coffee precisely on the upper right side of his placemat as it always was. He acted like a bloody robot sometimes. My anger churned at his calmness.

He looked up when I walked in.
“How are you holding up?”

“
Not well. Is there news of my missing fiancé? You know, the one that I wanted to stay in L.A. and only came here on your orders?”

Carmen flinched at my tone.
“Please don’t do this right now. We need to stay focused.”

My eyes shifted back to Dennis. He was motionless, hand resting on his coffee cup, pale as a sheet. Good. Glad to know he cared.

Konstantin crossed the kitchen, walked around the bar, and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Son, she’s right. Now is not the time.” He squeezed my shoulder, then dropped his hand. Out of respect for him, I swallowed my anger.

Dennis finally spoke
, “He’s right, though. She was here on my orders. It was a mistake that I take responsibility for. I’m sorry.”

I was surprised that he admitted it so freely. I dipped my head, afraid to speak as my being threatened to rip apart at the realization that she was gone
. I was wasting time.

He took a sip of his coffee, then cleared his throat.
“Your fiancé is a trained fighter, not some helpless princess.” His eyes met mine. “We will get her back, or she will get herself back.”

I sank into one of the chairs as a fatigue and tiredness beyond my years pushed me down.

“We have news, if you are ready,” Dennis said.

“
Please,” I said in the polite tone my mother had taught me to use, even when I didn’t want to.

“
Keith was taken from his home in Houston, along with his hander. His handler was sharp. He managed to activate an emergency beacon that he wears on his watch. We had GPS tracking them.”

Hope gave me energy to sit up in my chair.
“They must be taking him to the same place as Aurora.”

“
Probably,” Dennis said. “Unfortunately, they shot his handler and dumped him on the side of the road, but we were able to talk to him before he died.”

“
Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry he’s gone,” I mumbled, but I wasn’t really. All I could focus on was Aurora. My lack of empathy surprised me. “What did we find out?”

“
They dumped off him almost twenty hours into the trip, near Kingman, Arizona.”

I pulled out my phone and popped open the map application. I searched the map until it showed up on my screen
. It was way up in the northwestern part Arizona. “They were on their way back here.”

“
We think so,” Dennis said.

I stood so fast the chair flew out behind me.
“Okay. She’s here. What do we do to find them?”

“
We’re doing everything we can,” Dennis said. “Before he died, his handler told us they were human. They’re probably using humans to do their dirty work so our seers can’t sense the Shyama presence.”

“
That’s good, right?” I asked. “Because humans leave a trail.”

“
Precisely,” Dennis said. “We’ll find them.”

I tore my hands through my hair,
floundering at my uselessness. “I need to do something. I can’t just sit here.” I stared at my feet. “Aurora is in the city. They could be doing things to her while I sit here doing nothing.”

“
Well...” Carmen glanced at Konstantin. “We can drive around the city. See if any of us pick up on anything.”

“
That’s a long shot,” Konstantin responded.

She picked up the car keys.
“We can’t just sit here. He can’t, at least.”

My nerves tightened. I was so ready to get out of this house and find her.

“You could do research,” Dennis said. “It would probably be more productive then sitting around here.”

I put my hand on the wall and pushed against the wood until my fingers turned white.
“Research?” I asked through clenched teeth. “And how, exactly, will that find her?”

“
The handler overheard the captors say something interesting. It’s worth exploring.”

“
Which is?” Carmen had dropped the keys back in her purse.

“
He called the Shyama ‘rock demons,’” Dennis said. He pushed himself away from the table. “Could be nothing. Could be something.”

“
Rock demons?” Konstantin frowned. “I’ve heard that somewhere before. I just need to remember where.”

Carmen picked up her purse.
“That’s weird and broad, but we should check it out.”

I pushed away from the wall. Carmen watched me with strained
, bright aqua eyes. “I can’t sit here and research demonology.” My voice was loud enough to carry to the others, but I was talking only to her, pleading with her to understand that I needed to get out of here.

“
All right,” she said slowly. “Why don’t we split up? Maybe Gavyn and I can drive around while you guys research?”

Dennis agreed.

I was out the door seconds later, letting the dry air wrap around me. Carmen paused behind me while she dug around in her purse.

The porch lights of the neighborhood were twinkling off, replaced by the lit squares of windows as the homes came to life.

Aurora was out there somewhere. I would find her.

AURORA

I woke up to the murmur of voices. Pain and soreness swept through my body which brought me reluctantly to the here and now.

Oh crap.

I shot up to a sitting position in bed. Everything hurt and felt stiff, like I’d been asleep for a decade instead of just a few hours. I smelled horrible. I touched my face, feeling the swollen, hot flesh. Those bastards. It was getting infected.

I didn’t have too much time to think about
it because heavy, loud footsteps thundered down the hall.
Sounded like Mr. X.

I cringed back into my mattress
, trying to look as pitiful as I could, which didn’t require much effort.

Mr. X opened the wooden door. I strained to see behind him, but could only make out the same dark hallways and the same
cheap table and chair set in the kitchen. He threw a bundle of clothes at me. “These are for you. If you want to shower, come now.”

He stood, door in his hand, waiting for me to get up. I pulled myself up, slowly rolling one vertebra at a time until I was standing. My body screamed at every simple move, but Mr. X didn’t need to know that.

I bent down to pick up the clean clothes. Blood rushed to my head and I swayed on my feet.

Mr. X yanked me roughly back to a standing position.
“I don’t have time for this.”

I screamed as the pain ripped my nerves to their limit.

Something passed over his face.
Compassion?
Probably not, but he let my arm go so I could finish stumbling into the bathroom on my own free will.

I bit my lip to stifle my cries, then limped into the bathroom. My tears almost started again when I saw the stack of clean towels, the unopened tooth brush, and a first aid kit.

Light pushed against the tiny, high window. It was definitely day time again.

He shut the door without another word. He was apparently not concerned about me trying to escape. Hell, I could barely walk.

I wasn’t even going to try. I was going to heal, and watch, and listen, and if I lived long enough…

Mr. X pounded on the door.
“Fifteen minutes starts now.”

I said nothing, but made quick work of peeling off my clothes before I faced the mirror again.

Holy shit. Dried blood coated my face, neck and chest a sickly brown. The gash across my face was swollen, red and angry. Bruises mottled my skin, leaving a trail of horrors down my ribs and back.

But beneath that were strong chords of muscles, ready
to use.

I would escape.

I stepped into the shower with a bar of soap, washing all the dirt, blood, and mud off of my skin. It hurt badly, but I scrubbed the cut on my face. I let the water run through my long hair, which turned the streams of water brown and red with my blood.

The hot water was a miracle. My muscles
moved freely and I was already in less pain.

Once I was done, I wrapped myself in the clean towel. I stepped in front of the mirror again, satisfied to see the cut already looked a little less infected. I carefully cleaned it with antiseptic, then coated it with the antibacterial gel I found in the first aid kit.

“Seven minutes!” Mr. X yelled through the door.

I quickly pulled on the clean clothes
—thin, cheap sweats, probably from a discount store. They were way too short, but clean.

I left the sink running. I had
maybe five minutes left.

I approached the tub again, eyeing the high, small window. I stepped on the edge of the tub, fingers touching the wall for balance.
My leg muscles screamed in protest, so I used my gift to float up to the window.

Nothing. Desert stretched out as far as I could see. Scrubby plants dotted the muted brown sand. Some small, squat shapes loomed in the distance, promising a small building or house.

Where the hell was I?
Probably still in Nevada, or maybe Arizona. They couldn’t have driven me too far.

THUMP
. THUMP. “Three minutes!” Mr. X shouted.

I let my feet touch the rim of the bathtub.
I almost lost my balance, but managed to get back down on my own strength.

I threw open the cupboards, finding nothing but a few
rolls of toilet paper. The first aid kit was more promising—among the bandages and ointments, I found a small pair of scissors and a razor in a plastic sheath.

I slipped those into my bra, underneath my breast. The ends of the scissors pushed in my skin, but it was a small price to pay. Energy moved through me with every beat of my heart. Between the hidden knife and these, I was armed again.

I opened the door slowly, exaggerating the real weakness and soreness I felt.

“
About time,” Mr. X grumbled. He pulled me roughly back into my room. While I’d been gone, the air mattress had disappeared. It was replaced with a cheap, small bed, but at least it was a real bed dressed with crisp white sheets, two pillows and a blue comforter. A nightstand was next to the bed with a stack of worn paperbacks. One solitary, naked light bulb swung from the ceiling.

“
Did your redecorate?” I said. “Nice touch, Mr. X.”

“
Shut your fucking mouth.” He pushed me hard. I fumbled around, slamming sideways into the bed. I recovered before I hit the ground and awkwardly landed in a crouch.

“
Asshole. Do you get off on pushing battered woman around?” I struggled to find my footing and managed to sit on the edge of the bed.
Must look weak.

He moved towards me.
“You little…”

“
Mr. X?” The creepy voice came from down the hallway, followed by the human-looking Shyama. The room was still dark with the window blocked out but the more I saw him, the less human he looked.

“
Yes, sir.” Mr. X stepped back, straightened his posture, and clasped his hands behind his back. Very military.

“
Are we not using this light?” The Shyama stepped into the room, lifted one pale hand, and pulled on the cheap metal string, flooding the room with harsh yellow light. He was even more disgusting in the light. His pale skin gleamed with moisture. Green and purple shadows blossomed under his eyes “How is this, my dear Aurora?”

“
Fine, thank you,” I answered. My instinct was to move away from him, and I did. I cringed back in the bed, looking at him with wide eyes, hoping he thought it was fear he saw in my eyes and not the calculation of how much force it would take for me to snap his thin little neck.

He smiled, and it was creepy. He turned his head to the right, then the left.
“I think this is much more suitable for you, don’t you think.”

“
Are you going to kill me?” I asked.

“
Not today.” He smiled again.

He retreated smoothly to the corner, lowering himself into the chair usually occupied by Mr. X. He nodded once at Mr. X, who made a quick retreat, closing the door behind him as he left.