Fate of the Alpha: The Complete Bundle (25 page)

C
hapter 4 (Erik
at the mine)

Erik stashed the books in the console of his truck, then entered the site.

The excavation equipment they’d been using yesterday was sitting idle. He passed a vehicle that looked like one of his own front end loaders with an extension like a giant circular saw on the front of it. His guys would love to run something like that.

The blue mountains rose majestically all around the site, making the huge metal winding towers and gravelly ground look all the more unnatural. It was an odd juxtaposition of man and nature. Erik wondered if he would ever get used to it.

A middle aged man approached him. His sandy hair peeked out from under a hard hat

“Can I help you?” the man asked.

“I’m Erik Jensen. I’m here to observe the camera scoping of the mine today.”

“Ah, the psychologist. Royce Fletcher, I’m in charge of this operation. Pleasure to meet you,” Royce extended his hand.

“Good to meet you, Royce,” Erik replied.

They shook hands and Erik noted that Royce’s hand was smooth and soft. Pencil pusher.

“C’mon, we’re about to get started.” Royce gestured toward a plain white trailer with neatly tied bundles of wires feeding in and out of it.

Erik tried not to think about the fact that though the wire could be fed into the mine, the men couldn’t be brought out.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light of the trailer. When they did, he saw a huge site map on the wall. Below it was a large monitor and a console littered in energy drinks. A young black man fiddled with the settings on the monitor.

“Dr. Jensen, this is Grant Woods. Grant is running the set-up for the fiber optic camera we’re sending down into the mine today,” Royce said.

“Hi, Grant, nice to meet you,” Erik said politely.

“Hey, Dr. Jensen,” Grant replied. “We’re just about set here.”

As he spoke, the static on the screen tightened into columns, then cleared to reveal a grainy night vision video. A circle of light bounced off the walls of what Erik knew must be the mine.

He glanced up at the map again. Three channels branched off the main shaft. One had been crossed off.

“So that’s the one?” he asked, pointing at the shaft that was blocked out.

“No, that branch was closed up years ago, it’s the one just below it,” Grant answered, sliding his finger across an iPad to adjust a control.

“So why aren’t they using the old one to access the collapsed shaft?” Erik asked.

“Hmm,” Royce grunted.

“The old shaft had to be closed because of a methane gas build-up,” Grant explained.

“They’re damned lucky they didn’t set the whole mine on fire with this accident,” Royce said.

“The second branch shouldn’t have gone right below it,” Grant agreed.

“So why did they put it there?” Erik asked.

“Who knows? It’s a small operation,” Royce said not without a touch of sarcasm.

“They’re not really using modern technology or practices here. It’s more common than you would think in these small towns. And we see corners cut everywhere to save a buck. But what they were doing here just doesn’t make sense — for safety
or
productivity,” Grant explained.

“What do you mean?” Erik asked.

“Well, take the collapsed branch. They shouldn’t have tunneled there in the first place.
And
they were working on a perfectly good vein off this one over here,” Royce pointed to the third branch, which led in the opposite direction of the other two.

Erik nodded.

“So why did they come back and tunnel under this area when they knew they’d be in danger of hitting methane?” Royce asked.

The three of them stared silently at the map.

A sudden flash drew their attention back to the screen. The camera had hit rubble. The view jumped around as Grant tried to find a small opening to feed the camera through.

After a few minutes, the camera began to make progress again. The tight view on the screen opened wide.

“Oh, wow,” Grant said.

“They must’ve broke through into a cavern,” Royce murmured.

The greenish light of the camera bounced off the cavern walls, illuminating the scene. As the camera continued its descent, Erik caught a glimpse of something familiar.

A symbol.

From the margins of the book — two arrows pointing at each other.

What the hell?

He glanced up at Royce and Grant, but neither of the men seemed to have noticed. He turned his attention back to the screen.

Slowly, the camera continued to sink into the cavern until the area widened enough that the walls were no longer visible on the screen.

That’s when they spotted the first body.

In spite of the grainy green image, Erik knew instantly that the man couldn’t be alive.

He looked young. His light eyes reflected the green of the camera, unblinking. He had been thrown over a jagged boulder like a rag doll, arms hanging limply by his sides, legs turned inward at an unnatural angle. Erik was reminded nonsensically of Icarus, dashed to the rocks.

Royce sucked in air and Grant shook his head and made a note on his iPad.

The camera continued its journey past the boy on the rocks. More bodies came into view, lots of them. Erik noted with revulsion that more than one of them was missing it’s head.

“What the hell?” Royce asked.

“Where’s the blood?” Grant breathed.

He was right. There was no blood anywhere. And when he looked more closely at the bodies they seemed more than dead, they were almost like hollow shells, drained dry.

The camera moved on, mercilessly.

And Erik saw it at last.

On the wall was a symbol, a gigantic symbol. Not exactly the same as the one that took his wolf, but too close to be a coincidence. Just like the one from the book.

A large crack in the stone ran down the center, leaving a gaping hole in the symbol.

As they watched, something pulsed inside it.

“What the hell was that?” Grant asked.

“Are you recording this?” Royce asked. “Nobody is going to believe it.”

“It’s all on the hard drive.” Grant replied without taking his eyes from the screen. “We can upload it later when we hook up to the satellite uplink. This hick town doesn’t have wifi.”

Slowly, the camera descended toward the opening in the wall.

Erik had no idea what lay inside, but he was damned sure these two weren’t ready to see it.

He looked around for a way to stop the proceedings. Could he just pull the plug?

They’d just plug in and continue. Everything would still be there. No good.

He scanned the cluttered workspace.

Bingo.

As surreptitiously as he could, he leaned in as though to look more closely at the screen, and tipped one of the energy drinks onto the console.

An electronic hiss sounded from the machines innards, followed by a sickly whine, then the monitor went black.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Grant squeaked.

“I’m so sorry!” Erik said, suppressing a satisfied smile.

The metallic tang of ozone hung heavy in the air. The thing was fried. He had done more damage than he’d hoped.

“Jesus jumping Christ, man!” Royce yelled, “I keep telling you not to keep your damned Cokes near the equipment!”

“They’re not Cokes—”Grant started.

“No!” Royce cut him off. “Don’t start that again! You’re like a fucking kid with an Xbox and your little snacks. These machines are expensive, they’re fucking
scientific
!”

“Again, so sorry,” Erik said, as he backed to the door of the trailer. “I’m going to get out of the way.”

Grant and Royce were going at each other too hard to notice him.

“You don’t even know how this shit
works!
” Grant shouted as Erik stepped out into the sunlight and pulled the door shut behind him.

He had no idea how long it would take them to get the equipment up and running again. But he knew he needed to figure out what was going on before they did.

J
ulian found
himself minding an unconscious passenger in the backseat of Grace’s car for the second time in a week. He looked around, hoping no one would wander by and see the prone man in the back, while she went into the station to make sure their way was clear.

But Tarker’s Hollow’s small downtown seemed to be empty. The light over the police station door reflected in the wet leaves on the parking lot, as the saplings that had recently been planted in front of the library swayed in the wind.

After a few minutes, a young male officer exited the front door and pulled out of the parking lot in a gray sedan. Julian counted silently to sixty and the door to the police station opened again. Grace stood silhouetted in the doorway for a moment, scanning the lot, then she strode toward him, her small body drawn up as though she were trying to look two feet taller.

He hopped out of the car to join her. Without speaking, they eased Garrett out of the backseat and carried him quickly into the station.

Julian hadn’t been inside Grace’s place of work before. It was smaller than he had expected. A bulletin board behind the large front desk announced three missing cats, a missing bicycle and a found pair of mittens. Also pinned to the board were instructions on CPR and a public service announcement about storm water run-off.

Not so much as a single wanted poster. How disappointing.

Grace slipped a key out of her pocket and opened the door that separated the lobby from the station proper. They brought Garrett around a reception desk covered in Halloween themed knick-knacks, past small conference room, to an area with two holding cells in the back.

Grace indicated with a nod of her head that they should lay Garrett on the floor. Julian was inclined to let him drop hard, but Grace was careful to support his head and neck. Good thing one of them was a professional. Julian was still seeing red.

He stood and wiped his hands on his thighs. He supposed it was silly but he felt dirty just touching the bastard.

Grace straightened and gave him an expectant look. Her tiny body somehow looked more feminine in the uniform than in her civilian clothes. Julian marveled at the way her slender hips seemed to swell against the masculine cut of the trousers.

Grace cleared her throat and he remembered why they were there.

“The wards I’m going to put on this cell will mean no one can make magic in it, not even you.” He turned to catch her eye to be sure she understood.

She nodded once and pursed her lips.

He got to work immediately, murmuring locking spells and tamping enchantments. He began in the deepest corner of the cell and worked his way toward the gate.

“When you do this sort of thing, you never want to mop yourself into a corner,” he joked.

Grace didn’t reply.

Of course, she was still angry at him. And making a lame joke wasn’t going to change her mind. He hadn’t been honest with her about why he was in Tarker’s Hollow to begin with. Maybe she would never forgive him. He probably deserved it.

At last, his work was done. He turned to find Grace staring at him.

He tried to smile, but she turned her back.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Sure,” he replied.

Wordlessly, they pulled Garrett off the ground and moved him into the cell.

The moment they entered, Julian felt the cold loss of that vague tingle of magic that always danced just below the surface of his skin. It was an awful, flat feeling and he had to force himself to take his time depositing Garrett on the cot instead of running out of the cell as fast as he could.

When the door was secure, Grace turned to him.

“It really worked,” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “Could you feel it?”

She nodded.

“Listen, Grace, I...” He found himself at a loss. This young woman didn’t want to hear what he had to say. And perhaps it was best that his infatuation with her came to an end.

She turned to face him and he sensed something in her dark eyes.

Hope filled his heart and loosened his tongue.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you, Grace,” he admitted. “I haven’t had anyone to be honest with in a century. I was afraid I might have forgotten how.”

He wanted to explain everything, but he forced himself to stop speaking, to listen.

“Have you really been alive for a hundred years?” she asked without making eye contact.

“I was barely out of my teens when I was recruited by the Order in 1892,” he replied. “So, I suppose it’s actually closer to 150. But I stopped counting once the candles no longer fit on the cake.”

“What’s it like?” she asked.

“Going from the telegraph to the iPhone? Not as crazy as the movies make it out to be. It’s not like I was frozen for a century and woke up to a brave new world. I adjusted to the changes gradually, just like everyone else.”

“To hear my abuela talk about the old days,” Grace replied, “I think you may be understating things a bit.”

“Living longer than the accepted norm isn’t all its cracked up to be,” he told her. “I’ve been basically transient. When everyone around you grows old and you don’t, they start asking uncomfortable questions.”

“Hmm,” Grace mused. “I never thought about that.”

“Most people wouldn’t,” he said. “Nor about the fact that eventually, you simply stop trying to form relationships, because they all end the same way.”

“Oh,” she said with a look of sad understanding.

Suddenly, the hopelessness of it all didn’t matter to Julian. The flicker of compassion in her eyes was all it took for him throw caution to the wind.

“Which is why,” he said, “after all these years, it is so shocking to feel this way about you.”

“Stop,” she said, looking away.

“I’m serious. You know I am,” he said, trying desperately not to take her chin in his hand and turn her to face him again. If he could just see that warmth in her eyes one more time...

“What are you?” she asked softly.

“Does it really matter?” he asked, praying that he didn’t have to tell her anything more tonight.

She paused, and he watched her pulse thrum in the hollow of her neck. Then she slowly shook her head and turned to face him.

Her open expression took his breath away.

He lost himself instantly in the depths of those coffee brown eyes. Under her gaze, he was his best self, strong and smart and interesting. He hadn’t felt so alive in a hundred years.

Before they could change their minds, he scooped her up in his arms and strode out of the room.

Grace wrapped her arms around his neck instinctively in a warm embrace. He felt cradled and treasured in the circle of her grasp.

She hadn’t done any magic, but he could feel the need pulsing off her in waves. His own body responded instantly.

The hallway outside the holding cell area led back out to reception. He just had to make it out to the car and a few blocks to her apartment. They could do it.

Then Grace leaned forward to nuzzle his neck. She sighed and her tongue darted out to caress the place where his collar opened.

Fuck.

He turned into the conference room and closed the door behind them. Belatedly, he read the sign over the doorway,
Interrogation Room
.

So be it.

He set her on the ground. She tottered, finding her balance, and his heart raced knowing she was dizzy with need for him.

He inhaled slowly and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to keep control.

When she looked up at him again with those luminous eyes he lowered his mouth to kiss her forehead, her cheeks, her nose.

He pulled back to see her smiling up at him and his heart ripped again.

He saw the whole of her before him, now in her twenties, now her thirties, now her forties, now with a bit of extra weight, now with gray hair, now with a cane, now in bed with a book, now without the book, now with her eyes shut, now with labored breath, now without breath, now in the cold ground with nothing but a carved up stone and Julian to remember who she had been.

His soul expanded out a thousand times in love for her and then dissolved down to nothing at her inevitable loss. And it didn’t matter. He would pay and pay and pay, and do it happily.

Her lips parted and he kissed her with a passion born of a lifespan of loneliness. Her lips were soft and he took her face in his hands to hold her still so that he could pour his pent-up love into her.

When she pressed her body closer to his he knew this could be over in minutes. But he wanted it to last. He would have to have discipline enough for both of them.

“Slowly, baby,” he whispered in her ear, and lifted her hands above her head to pin them to the wall.