Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) (52 page)

Surprise jolted into him along the telepathic link.
*Who is this? I don’t recognize your voice.*

*This is Nickolas.*

*Nickolas! What are you doing here?*

The anxiety he received with the voice alarmed him.
*We’ve been sent on a recovery, why?*

*You’re not going to Bellingham are you?*

*Yes, that’s where we’ve been sent.*

*Can you meet with me before you arrive there? It’s important.*

He disengaged from the conversation for a moment to consider the ramifications. Talking to a sane and human feral Valkyrie had not been something he’d considered possible before a few weeks ago.
But look at me. Technically, I’m a feral Valkyrie now.

*All right. Where?*
he sent. Relief flowed down the mental connection and gave him something to think about.

*There’s a rest area about fifteen miles outside Bellingham. Does that work?*

“Hey, Flynn? How far are we?”

“We still have about half an hour, why?”

“Are there any rest stops coming up? I really need to go.”

“We just passed a sign for one in a few miles. I’ll pull in.”

“Thanks.”
*Yes, that will work. We’re not alone. I have two grounded in my team, so stay out of sight. I’ll fly a little ways into the woods.*

*Gotcha. See you then.*

The connection severed, and he sat back in his chair to wait. Flynn exited the highway and slowed to a stop, pulling into a space near the buildings. Nick popped the door and emerged, stretching his wings. “Hey, Jules, we still have a lot of waiting to do when we get there, don’t we?”

The dark-haired comm tech stuck his head out. “Yep. Everything coming in on the radio says so.”

“Ok. I’m going to take some time to stretch my wings then, before I have to sit in the van for hours. I won’t be too long.”

Chris snapped his wings closed and said, “Hey, Nick, I’m coming with you.”

He shook his head no as he turned away and took off, but Chris took wing behind him. He looked over his shoulder in exasperation.

*You know, Nick, I’m not dumb. I could tell you were talking to someone. Who?*

*I don’t know. But I’m about to find out.*

*Not alone, you’re not.*

He sighed in resignation and circled the trees a few times, looking for a good place to land. A small clearing near a stream flashed by underneath, and he set down, Chris right behind him. He swept the area using his new senses and could feel his brother doing the same.

“Coming in from the north, Nick.”

“Yes, I feel them too.”

Eight Valkyries swept through the trees, landing in formation facing them. Both groups eyed one another for a moment before the leader of the rebels took a step forward. “I’m Robin, Hunter Prime of Aurora.”

Eyeing the Hunter that he had seen talking to Jays at the warehouse, Nickolas shifted his weight. “From your reaction earlier, I take it you know who we are?” he asked.

Robin nodded, and a smile flirted with the corners of his lips. “You’re very well known in Aurora. Your progress has been monitored for years.”

He narrowed his eyes and growled. “Now why does that not surprise me. Everyone’s interested in me.” He looked the Hunter up and down then met the familiar brown eyes. “So, your Jessica’s brother.”

Shock flashed across Robin’s eyes. “Now that does surprise me. Jess told you about me?”

“A little. I haven’t been allowed to see her much for the last few weeks.”

Robin blinked and looked away before he replied, “I’m glad she still thinks about me. I haven’t seen her since I changed.”

“She seemed to miss you.”

The Hunter coughed then looked back at Nickolas; his attitude shifted rapidly and wariness suffused his posture. “You’re walking into a trap.”

Christoff tensed beside him and Nickolas’s hackles rose. The Flight of Valkyries in front of them responded in kind and the tension levels spiraled up.

“Stand down!” Robin snarled to his Flight. “Don’t be stupid, Nickolas. If we meant you any harm, you wouldn’t be standing here.”

“It would take more than the eight of you to take me.”

“Especially with me at his back,” Christoff replied menacingly.

The Flight in front of him loosened their wings, but Nickolas ignored them. Instead he watched Robin’s self-confident expression as he held up his hand, stilling his Flight, before he shrugged and said, “That may well be, but it’s not the issue at the moment. The trap you’re walking into is.”

“What trap?”

Robin shook the hair out of his eyes before he replied. “We just received word that Gabriel is in the region. He’s been hunting us for quite a while. And we’ve been expecting a trap from him. A recovery in this region now is too coincidental. Ian knows this. Why did he send you out here?”

“Well, I have issues with anything Ian has been doing.”

Robin’s sharp eyes looked at him speculatively. “Something’s not right. I would trust my life to Ian. Any of us would. You should think about that. Obviously your trust has been damaged, but there has always been a reason weighed against any decision Ian has made. The lesser of two evils sometimes. He has done the best that he could for all of us.”

Tapping his temple with his finger, Nickolas said quietly, “I see that. It’s just hard to resolve the lies so quickly. My head may say one thing, but my heart says another.”

“Well, you’ll need to figure it out quickly because you’re running out of time.”

“So what do you propose to do about this trap?” Nickolas asked.

“That depends on you. What do you plan to do about the fledgling?”

Nickolas shared a look with Chris. “With how unstable things are becoming at the Facility, I don’t have any desire to bring him in.”

“Her. The fledgling is female. So why don’t we play it this way; you go in first, just like a normal recovery, but earlier than usual, before she passes out. You can get her moving, then we’ll show ourselves, which will hopefully prod Gabriel into showing his hand. He won’t expect any of us to be prepared for him. He especially won’t expect the two of you to fight with us.”

Nodding his head in agreement, Nickolas shook out his wings. “Sounds like a good start. We can play the rest by ear.”

“Be careful sending to us. Gabriel will be able to tell we’re communicating.”

He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the rest area and replied somewhat absentmindedly. “Thanks for the warning. We need to get back. Flynn and Jules are going to have a fit. Good luck.”

“You too, Nickolas.”

Chris launched into the air and he followed. They flew straight back, landing in a flurry of wings beside the van. Flynn leaned against the door, annoyance written plain on his face and barked. “What took you so long? Come on, let’s go.”

“Relax, Flynn, there’s plenty of time,” Christoff drawled.

The old man grumbled and got into the driver’s seat. He started the van and merged back onto the highway, obviously irritated. Ignoring Flynn’s temper, Nickolas swiveled his seat, gaining Jules’s attention. “So, Jules, what do we have to go on?”

Jules typed on his keyboard then spun to the printer when it started spitting out pages, talking as he worked. “It seems we have a female, around the age of thirty. She’s not local, so no one knows much about her. She checked into a motel last night, and this morning when the maids came by, she lost it on them and started trashing the place. She’s registered under the name of Amanda Jones. Blond, blue eyes, average height. That’s about it.”

Nick exchanged a quick look with Christoff before he turned back to Jules. “How long ago was this? About four hours, you think?”

“That sounds right.” He started typing quickly.

“I think we’ll change our usual routine. I don’t want to wait until she passes out; the damage to the business notwithstanding, I don’t like the idea of her in such a public indefensible location. Even if we have to fight her, I want to take her in immediately.”

“Nick, I don’t concur,” Flynn stated from up front. “There are sound reasons for the procedures we follow. We should wait.”

The panic the grounded tried to conceal in his voice made Nick’s suspicions rise. “No. I won’t have a repeat of what happened with Jessica. I’m in charge, we do it my way.”

“We are about six blocks away, Nickolas,” Jules cut in.

“Park on the street not in the lot, that way Chris and I can get a feel for the situation.”

“Nick, I really don’t like this change in procedure,” Flynn said, his voice rising slightly.

He cast a slashing glance at Flynn, who stared mulishly back in the mirror. “Then stay in the van. What about you, Jules? Are you in or out?”

The tech gave him an appraising look before he responded slowly. “You’re the team leader, Nick. I trust your judgment.”

He exhaled then nodded at Jules and followed Chris out the door when the van stopped. “Chris, stay alert. Go to the office and get her room number and a key. I’ll do a quick scan.”

As his brother strode off, Nickolas slowly turned in place, getting a feel for the location. He stretched his senses and reached out, studying the currents around the motel and parking lot. Somewhere to his right, Nick could feel the disturbance from the fledgling, but he bypassed it in favor of looking for more subtle signs of danger.
Robin’s right. They’re close. Something is out of place.
He refined his search, probing deeper.
Why can’t I see them? It’s like there’s a blank space…
He pulled out of the trance when Chris returned and followed his brother to the woman’s room; his eyes scanned the parking lot, still searching. They listened at the door. He could hear her stomping around and then a crash as she threw something against the wall.

Christoff looked at him to make sure he was ready, then he slipped the key into the knob. At his nod, Chris turned the lock and opened the door; both of them entered quickly and got the door shut before she managed to spin around to face them. At her first glance, the blood drained from her face.

 “No!” she moaned. “I thought I was free.” She slumped to the floor and burst into tears.

Shock rippled through him at her unexpected response. He approached her softly and rested his hand on her head then crouched down. “Shhh. It’s all right. It’s going to be all right,” he murmured reassuringly.

“No. It’s not,” the woman sobbed. “I thought I had finally gotten out of that horrible place. Before, I at least had some protection. Now I’ll be one of them.”

Taking a stab at the meaning from her confused babbling, Nickolas asked, “Are you talking about Gabriel and his camp?”

She whimpered and nodded her head. “I wanted out, but they wouldn’t let me leave. Most are military there, but I had seen too much, they said, so they wouldn’t let me return back to my old life. I thought I had found a way to escape. I should have known better.”

She hiccupped then continued with loathing, “A corporal I’d been friendly with offered me a ride out a couple of days ago when he went on leave. I jumped at the chance. That’s how I ended up here. I just let him drive me until he got where he was going. I guess that was a mistake.”

“Maybe not as much of one as you think.” She looked up at him in confusion, and he brushed the tears away with his thumb. “How would you like to go to the mountains? The wild Valkyries are here hoping to get you out. At least it’s a choice.” Hope flared in her eyes and he smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

He stood and held out his hand to help her to her feet. “This is a trap. What kind, I don’t know yet. I want you to stay with Christoff and do whatever he tells you to. He’ll make sure you get to Robin.”

“Nick, I’m not leaving you undefended.”

Raising his eyebrows at his brother’s obstinate tone, Nick shook his head. “Give me a break, Chris. Do what I say for a change. You’re no match for Gabriel.”

Frustration filled Chris’s eyes, and that let Nick know he would do what had been asked, though he wouldn’t like it. He pulled the door open a crack, scanning what he could see as well as doing a quick probe for trouble. That blank spot really worried him. “Chris, I still can’t find them, can you?”

Christoff took Amanda’s hand and they all stepped out of the room. “No, but the inside of my head feels like a bell tower with all the alarms going off in it; they’re definitely here.” His brother grasped Amanda’s hand tighter and loosened his wings.

His own wings shivered, aching to spread and take to the air. To get out of the exposed, open parking lot they crossed. Nickolas stopped and looked around. Where were Flynn and Jules? They should be waiting. Christoff’s back brushed his as they searched, and Amanda started to whimper.

Like the touch of butterfly wings, a mind brushed against his lightly, almost too lightly to notice, and Nickolas’s spine went cold. He responded instinctively as he threw a physical shield up around the three of them; energy flooded him as his power shot a geyser up from his pool. The lightly shimmering barrier rippled a foot or two away from them. Just in time. Three soft puffs that were barely audible were followed immediately by three darts slamming into his shield; the sound of them falling to clatter to the asphalt of the parking lot resounded around them.