Emergence (The Primogenitor Chronicles Book 1) (61 page)

“And?” Luther leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on the desk. Jared cocked a hip on the corner.

“Gabriel just took the Facility.”

His eyebrows rose. “Well. I’m sure that hasn’t gone over well with Ian.”

A slight smile flitted across Jared’s face and was gone. “You could say that. Ian got all of the Valkyries out, it appears. Either way, Gabriel has gotten nothing.”

Confused, he stared at the amusement hidden in the depths of Jared’s eyes. “Nothing? What about Ian and his research? Did he finally manage to break the code on the inhibitor?”

Jared shrugged. “I have no idea, General, but I can tell you, Ian was feeling pretty spiteful. The Facility needs to be replaced.”

He sat up slowly, his mind shuffling through all the implications before he asked, “Replaced?”

“He blew it up, sir.”

Blinking, his mind raced. “Well, that sure changes the game, doesn’t it? I wonder what sort of hands the others were dealt with this. Now I’m doubly curious over May’s call this evening. I wish I hadn’t missed it.” The pads of his fingers tapped a staccato on the desk as his thoughts turned inward. “Nickolas is now free, with no leash holding him; this could be good or bad.”

“He’s a wild card.”

“The likeliest assumption for us to make is that Ian will take the Facility Valkyries to Aurora. Step up our surveillance; I want to know what’s happening there.”

“Done. What about Nickolas? Should we try to bring him back into the fold?”

He paused and considered his secretary’s question. The young man’s attention seemed focused on him and their conversation, but Luther knew how deceptive that appearance was. Jared’s awareness of his surroundings made him indispensable.

He chewed his cheek then nodded. “Get the operator set up. If we get the chance to try and convince him to come home, we will, but otherwise let’s see what he does with his newfound freedom.”

Marcus sat back in his chair and tried to suppress his smile. The rest gathered around the large conference room table weren’t quite as successful. Smiles stretched as they listened to Kelley and Robin argue in the doorway. Robin’s cool, clipped tones seemed to infuriate Kelley.

“I’m your Second, Robin,” she yelled.

“Not at the moment, you’re not, and you know it. You’re still Omega, and until you’re flight worthy again, you stay that way. Now get out.”

Marcus winced at the glare she flung at his Hunter Prime, but Robin didn’t seem to notice. He just stared her down. Growling with a promise of threat, she spun, her wings billowing, and stormed off. Robin’s shoulders relaxed, then he turned back to the others in the room and raked them all with cold eyes. All smiles disappeared, except for Marcus’s.

He waved his Hunter Prime into his seat next to Leslie, his acting Second, then did a quick count of the others assembled. “Is everyone here?”

Alex, the Seer Prime’s Second spoke up. “Nathan said he’ll stay up at the tower. He’s called in four more Seers and is stepping up observations. That wave that came through here really has him nervous, Marcus.”

“He’s not the only one, Alex,” Kevin said. Marcus shifted his eyes to the Caster Prime, silently asking him to elaborate, so Kevin turned to face him. “Everyone in the valley’s concerned, Marcus. They’re all congregating, waiting for you to tell them what’s going on.”

Well, that explains the level of noise out in the rest of the longhouse.
He and Beth had retreated straight to the conference room as soon as the wave had passed, leaving Robin to gather all of the Primes and their Seconds for the meeting. “I wish I had answers for them, Kev, but all I know for sure is that the energy wave came from Nickolas and Jessica. What it means?” He shrugged. “I haven’t a clue yet. But whatever happened to them created a backlash large enough to reach us all the way out here; and after needing to flee Dustin’s this morning…. Something big has gone down in the Facility.”

“I don’t think Dustin and his family were compromised,” Kevin added. “I’m pretty sure we got out in time. Do you agree, Robin?”

Robin toyed with a tea cup, stretched his legs out under the table, and nodded. “Yeah. Though whether Dustin’ll stay that way…. If his family can keep his mouth shut and not let him near any of the Facility people. He’s pissed and won’t hesitate to tell them off.”

Marcus shook his head.
He’s almost as much a hothead as his twin.
“Did Amanda know anything?”

“No. She was just bait. I got her settled in the infirmary until a mentor can be assigned to her.” Kevin yawned.

“Right.” Marcus looked at all the ranking Valkyries. “I think it’s safe to assume that Ian has evacuated the Facility. But to where? His escort is no longer at Dustin’s, and we have to assume he’ll know that. Ian knows where we are located, but he’s never actually traversed the distance.”

“Concentrate our search to the south?” Leslie asked.

“Only a couple are off the drugs, so it’ll be like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Kevin added.

“Our best resource will be the Seers,” Marcus said. “Ian will have to have them moving fast. He’s going to have his hands full with that bunch. Plus they’ve got two fledges. We need to get search parties organized, then finish clearing the south quad for refugee housing.”

“What about Gabriel?” Robin asked.

“I guess we’re going to have to hope that he stays focused in the north and they slip by him. But we can’t count on that. The search parties need to watch for signs of pursuit.”

A knock at the door interrupted him. A flick of his eyes had Robin rising to answer it. The woman who entered swiftly searched those assembled at the table and at Alex’s welcoming gesture moved over to him before addressing Marcus.

“Sir, Nathan sent me down. The weather watchers report that we’re about to take a turn for the worse. Snow is anticipated to start falling tomorrow afternoon or evening.”

Closing his eyes, Marcus nodded. “Thank you.”

“Well doesn’t that just make things peachy?” Kevin muttered.

Marcus agreed whole-heartedly with that assessment. “We need to increase our defenses. They could be leading Gabriel straight to us.”

Finishing off his tea, Robin set the empty cup down in front of him. “Kevin and I will go up to the tower and discuss increasing the numbers and rotation of our scouts with Nathan. After we figure out what we’re doing, Marcus, I’ll come let you know what we set up.”

“And I’ll get the infirmary set up for the two new fledges and for Ian and whatever equipment he’s brought with him,” Beth said.

“I’ll come help you, Beth, after I’m done in the tower,” Kevin volunteered. “I wanted to talk to Amanda anyway.”

Raising his hand, Alex asked, “How many people are we looking at?”

Marcus brushed his hand over his mouth as he thought for a moment. “About fifty I think. So the south quad should house them all, I believe.”

“I can help with that part, Marcus,” Leslie said.

“Good. Anything else we need to cover this minute?” he asked, looking around. Everyone shook their heads. “Fine, you all have your assignments, report to me when you’re done. Robin, Kevin, you’re with me. We need to reassure the rest of our people, and you’ll be able to get the search parties set up since everyone is already gathered.”

The meeting broke up. Marcus, flanked by Robin and Kevin, left last. He led the way down the long wall of the common room and stopped in front of the fireplace. He gazed out over the sea of faces.
Kev’s right. I suspect the scouts are the only missing bodies.

Voices quieted. “Sorry, folks. I don’t have a lot of answers. But I’m sure we’ll get some over the next several days. What we have been able to piece together is that Gabriel’s made a move on the Facility.”

Murmurs rose at that announcement, and he raised his hand. “So we expect Ian has evacuated. Robin and Kevin will organize what needs to be done. I’ll leave them to it.”

He backed up and let Robin take center stage. “We have several tasks to start on. It’s going to be a long night, everyone, so start drinking coffee. I want all scouts to gather by the other fireplace. We need to set up search parties to head out and look for the refugees and organize extra patrols because we expect they’ll be pursued and we need the additional security.”

Kevin stepped up next to Robin, and at the Hunter Prime’s nod, started his own set of orders. “Everyone who still lives in the south quad, I want you to gather by the kitchen doors, and anyone else who would like to help. I know everyone’s been slowly relocating from that section, but now we have to clear it out to make room for Ian’s people.”

As the room gained direction and started to shuffle into the asked-for groups, Marcus left them and made his way into his office to begin his own preparations.

Much later, Marcus stepped out into the hall and shut his office door. He rubbed his eyes then walked through the silent longhouse. The exterior door clicked shut as he walked outside into the soft grey mist and stretched his exhausted body. He stopped in the center of the flagstone courtyard and extended his wings out slowly, holding the position for a moment before closing them just as slowly. The cold forest air filled his lungs and he raised his eyes to the top of the mountains on the east side of the valley. The sun had just started to touch the jagged peaks as dawn brought them a new day.

Soft hands slid around his ribs from behind and Beth’s scent drifted to his nostrils. She rested her head between his shoulder blades, nestled in the hollow of his wings. Pressing her hands into his chest with his own, he sighed.

“We should try to get some rest,” her quiet voice whispered. It still sounded loud in the early morning solitude. “I just finished getting the infirmary set up. I hope Ian doesn’t need anything too specific.”

“Don’t worry, Beth. He knows what we have. Probably better than we do.” He chuckled. A yawn caught him by surprise. He took her hand from his chest and pulled her to his side to tuck her under his arm, where she rested her head on his shoulder. They watched the sun crest the mountains. “The first search groups have returned empty-handed. The second have just left.” He could hear the concern in his own voice.

“Like you said to me, don’t worry. Robin will find them.”

“Robin.” He sighed. “That reminds me, I just went over the last message that came in from May. She said that she’s spent the last several weeks packing up the house and putting it into a storage locker. She says that when she’s done, she expects me to come and pick her up. She’s going to join her charges here. I nearly swallowed my tongue when I heard that.”

He felt Beth’s chuckle more than heard it. “Don’t let her scare you so, Marcus.”

“That old harridan. If she were a Valkyrie, she’d be an Alpha.” He shivered.

This time, there was no doubt that Beth was laughing at him. “She was perfect to keep both Robin and Jessica under control while they were young. They were both so strong willed.”

“Were?” Marcus said dryly.

Laughing softly, Beth said, “Point.”

He hugged her tightly as streaks of sunlight flashed past the crags and shot out to illuminate the sky and countryside as the sun rose higher. Marcus tipped his head and placed a soft kiss on the top of Beth’s dark hair. “Just think, my sweet. Our whole family is going to be back together soon.”

“I’m so excited, but I don’t know what to say to the boys, Marcus. I’ve dreamt about this for so long.”

He could hear the joy and the fear in her voice. He understood it well, since he shared it. “We’ll take it one day at a time, love. That’s all anyone can do, one day at a time.” Tucking her tighter under his arm, he turned her, and through the gilded mist, they made their way home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Siana Wineland lives in the beautiful, but soggy, Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. When she is not writing urban fantasy or paranormal romance she is spending her time shepherding her young children, or the goats and sheep she raises on their little farm. For updates on her writing, please visit her website at sianawineland.com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sianawineland.