Fractured Truth (29 page)

“We can do this,” Kiera said.

Liam looked me directly in the eyes. “Are you sure?”

“We leave at nightfall.”

The world looks so different
at night, barren and cruel. I raised my hand and touched the glass window inside the lobby of Chadni Hall. Just beyond was the jagged skyline of the forest. I used to crave the darkness that lay waiting, as if just for me, beneath its thick canopy of trees, but now I longed only to see a sunrise. The sun brought life. The darkness brought death. I was tired of death.

A cool palm pressed on my back. “Are you ready?” Liam asked.

I turned around and nodded, too afraid to speak. If something went wrong—

“We’re going to save them. Don’t think about anything else,” he said, seeming to read my thoughts.

“Are you guys coming?” Kiera called from the door. Mrs. Crawford was standing next to her.

Liam waited for me to go first, then followed behind. Dr. Han and Charlie were outside talking with several Guardians and Lycans. Tessa was with Aaron, holding what looked like a long, coiled rope.

“Just remember,” Charlie was saying, “some of the explosions will be real and others will be illusions. Either way, stay away from them. I’ll be watching from the roof of a nearby building, so make sure you stay in my line of sight so I can see if you get into trouble and need help.”

“We’re not there to engage them,” Dr. Han added. “Only distract. Keep them busy.”

“But if we get a clean shot, we can kill them right?” Arik asked.

“I’m with him,” Petros said. He was standing next to Arik and was almost as tall.

“Fine, but don’t take on too many. We don’t want to lose anyone.”

Petros climbed into the back of a truck. Several more Lycans followed him. The others filled three more cars.

Dr. Han looked through my open passenger window at each of us sitting in a large van with several empty seats reserved for those we brought back. It better be full.

“Be safe,” he said, “We’ll see you soon.”

“You be careful too.” I said.

He nodded and stepped back from the vehicle. Liam, his gaze forward, drove away, his pace slower than usual.

I kept my eyes on Lucent for as long as possible until the forest swallowed the majestic building. It was hard to pretend I didn’t feel sick. The thought of returning to the place where I’d been held captive by my once dead, psycho ex-boyfriend and had nearly been beaten to death terrified me.

Even though Liam was driving slower than usual, the trip ended way too soon. I glanced in the side-view mirror. The other vehicles were no longer behind us. They must be getting into position.

Liam parked next to the canal in an area I wasn’t familiar with. An old railroad station was to my right, graffiti sprayed across several abandoned boxcars. One of them read, “Welcome to the Dark Side.” I shivered and asked, “Where are we?”

“This is where I found you.” Liam opened the door and jumped out. The rest of us followed.

I walked to the edge of the canal’s concrete barrier and stared down into the murky water the color of charcoal. It was barely moving. I glanced up, searching for the warehouse.

“It’s almost a half a mile upriver,” Liam said, coming up behind me.

“I floated all the way down here?”

Tessa stepped up on top of the concrete wall next to me. “It will take too long for us to move in the water. We need to walk up a ways.”

“Can’t we just drive?” Kiera asked.

Liam began walking upstream with Aaron. “It’s better if we don’t risk it. We don’t want Vykens to hear
our
car approaching. We want them to focus on only Charlie and the others who are coming from the other direction.” He looked over at Tessa, who was positioning the rope over her shoulder. “You want me to carry that?”

She shook her head. “It’s light.”

“What is it?” Kiera asked. She reached over and touched it, while continuing to walk forward.

I took up the rear with Mrs. Crawford, who hadn’t said a word since we got into the car. I wondered if she was having doubts about coming.

Tessa said, “It’s sort of like seaweed all woven together. It’s an excellent conductor of our Lizen abilities.”

“But how does it work?” Kiera asked.

And so brought on a slew of questions, one after another, while we followed the canal toward the warehouse. Tessa’s answers became shorter and shorter until finally she said, “Kiera! Relax! You’re driving me crazy.”

“And the rest of us too,” Aaron grumbled from up front.

Kiera huffed. “I’m just curious.”

“You mean nervous,” Tessa said.

I kept my eyes on the water, looking for the best place to get in. The dark silhouette of the warehouse wasn’t far now. Every once in a while, I’d feel Liam’s eyes on me, and I sensed his conflicting emotions. Truly caring about someone can change your motivation, especially when it came to fighting. One of us could get hurt. Or die. It had happened before.

“Stop here,” I said, deliberately interrupting my thoughts. There was a break in the concrete, making it easier for us to get to the water. I was specifically thinking of Mrs. Crawford.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get closer?” Tessa asked.

“This is good.”

Liam came up behind me. His presence both comforted and tore at me. “Are you sure about doing this tonight?”

“Yes.” I didn’t look at him.

Tessa was the first into the water, diving headfirst.

Kiera yelped. “What if she hit her head?”

A second later Tessa reappeared, smiling. “The water feels great! Come on in.”

“This isn’t a water park,” Kiera said, jumping in next to her.

Before I helped Mrs. Crawford, I asked, “Are you okay? You’re awfully quiet.”

She stared down at the water. “I just never thought it would come to this. My whole world has changed.”

“But some of the changes have been good.”

She pressed her palm to my face. “Yes. They have.” Instead of accepting my outstretched hand, she jumped into the water, surprising me. Aaron went in right after. While they treaded water, Tessa ducked under the water and tied the rope around each of their waists.

Liam came to stand in front of me. “We’re going to make it out of there. Both of us.”

“I know.”

“Good.” He jumped in, and I dove. The coolness of the water made me gasp for air when I surfaced.

A minute later we were all tied together, about ten feet of rope between us.

Tessa was dog-paddling in front of us. “When I say three, all of you duck under the water. It might seem frightening at first, but forget about your need for air. You won’t need it.”

“How are we going to keep from floating up?” Mrs. Crawford asked.

“Leave that to me. Once you touch bottom, you’ll be able to walk. Ready?” Tessa counted to three, and we all ducked under the water. The canal’s floor was only a couple of feet down. Poor Aaron had to hunch over to keep the top of his head from showing.

For the most part we all did well. Kiera panicked for a minute, but Tessa hung on to her and kept her calm until she realized that, with Tessa, air was not needed in this place with her. The walk was slow going, but at least the bottom was concrete. There were no fish to distract me, but the water definitely had some sort of chemical in it. I kept my eyes closed as much as possible to keep them from burning.

After what seemed like a long time, Tessa stopped and swam back to me. She motioned me forward and pointed to a round opening in the side of the canal.
This could be it
.

I pointed upward and slowly ascended. My head barely broke the surface, just enough so I could look around, but the canal’s edge was too high. I’d have to climb out. I ducked back under and motioned for Liam to come up. With him by me, I’d have enough slack to get to the top of the bank.

Liam surfaced. “What’s going on?”

“I need to see if this is the right tunnel.” Placing my hands on the concrete edge, I hoisted my body up and was about to look out when Liam pulled me back down.

“There are Vykens up there. I can hear them.”

“How far away?”

“Far, but they’re talking.” He closed his eyes as if concentrating. “They’re all worked up. It seems they discovered Charlie and the others, but they’re not sure where.”

“This is the place then. Let’s hope they stay busy.” I ducked back under the water with Liam and motioned Tessa forward into the round, narrow tunnel.

Kiera went after, followed by Mrs. Crawford. Aaron was next. I was worried he wouldn’t fit, but if he kept his arms forward and near his ears, then he could just barely make it.
His arms were useless to him, but it didn’t matter. Kicking his legs propelled him forward like a torpedo, which easily pulled me along.

The tunnel was pitch black, but only for a second. Both Kiera and Mrs. Crawford produced Light for us to see. The walls of the tunnel were covered in a green slime. I focused on it, specifically not touching it, instead of the time it was taking to get through the tunnel. It wasn’t that long ago when I was in this same tunnel.

Dying.

Before I could stop them, memories of the torture I’d endured flooded my mind. My arms and legs stopped moving, and, as if I was breathing, my chest rose and fell rapidly. All sorts of colors clouded my vision, and my head began to spin.

I was about to mentally call out for Liam, when he swam up to me and spun me to his chest. He held me with one arm, while he swam with the other. I buried my head into his chest and clung to his back.
I can do this
, I thought over and over, letting the words fill me with courage.

A sharp tug on the rope almost yanked me from Liam’s grip. He took me by the waist and turned me around so I could see. We were finally at the end. I moved into a sitting position against the tunnel, careful not to touch my back to the slime, and waited for the others to get out. Liam was next to me, watching me thoughtfully. My Light hovered near his face, reflecting in his green eyes.

The rope jerked again, signaling my turn to go up. I surfaced and crowded my way into the small water closet. There was barely room for Liam when he emerged, even with Aaron pressed as far as he could into the corner.

“I can’t believe you went through there alone,” Kiera said, shivering, but I hushed her and tried to listen to sounds beyond the door. There were a couple of muffled voices, but I couldn’t tell who or how many.

Tessa began to untie the rope from each of us. When she reached me, I whispered to her, “Be ready. We’ll bring you the girls as we find them.”

“Be careful.”

I took a deep breath and reached for the door, but Mrs. Crawford stopped me. “What if we see the Shadow?”

My heart skipped a beat. This was my biggest fear. The Shadow was something we just couldn’t fight. “Let’s hope we don’t,” I said and turned the doorknob. Very slowly I opened it and peeked out. The hallway was empty and the lights on. I slipped out of the closet, followed by the others. I could hear better from here. Two muffled voices came from behind a closed door at the end of the hall. I couldn’t hear anything else, but by Liam’s expression, I knew he could.

“Let’s move fast,” he said.

I gave a small nod to Tessa, who was just inside the closet’s door, and took off, jogging quietly down the nearest hallway. Footsteps followed after me. I turned right, trying to remember which way to go. The place was a giant grid, and every hall looked like the next. I made a few more turns before I finally recognized the hall my room had been on.

“Look in all the doors,” I whispered.

We split up. I went to the one I knew Valerie was behind. The door was locked. I worked quickly, using Light to pick it open. Valerie was lying with her back to me. When I opened the door and she didn’t move, air caught in my chest.
Be okay
.

I gently turned her over. Her eyes opened. The blue in them was a sharp contrast to her pale skin.

“Llona?” she whispered, her voice raspy.

I nodded and smiled. “We’re getting you out of here.”

Mrs. Crawford came in behind me and gave her a big hug. “Go,” she said to me. “I’ll take care of her.”

I nodded and left the room to continue my search. Both Kiera and Aaron had found four other girls and were helping them back to Tessa, but I still hadn’t found May or Sophie. I
turned down a different hallway, one I wasn’t familiar with. Just then a loud explosion from somewhere outside rattled the old warehouse. Dust and small debris fell from the ceiling. I almost turned back to check on the others, when movement caught my eye. I focused on the shadows at the end of the hall but saw nothing. I swallowed and continued forward. It was probably nothing. Just a trick of the light. On a floor above me, hurried footsteps pounded on the floor.

The first room I came to was empty, as was the second. I mentally called out to Liam,
How many have been found?

Six.

May? Sophie?

No.

That was everyone but the two who meant the most to me.

Keep looking.
I glanced through the window of another room. This one had someone. Someone I loved. I picked the lock and opened the door. Sophie looked up at me and smiled, though her eyes were tired. She looked thinner too.

“I knew you’d come back,” she said. She was wearing a different outfit from what I remembered. A maroon skirt and a black top. On a table to her right was a stack of books and a plate of half-eaten food. At least she was being cared for, better than I expected.

“We have to hurry,” I said.

She stood up and clasped her hands together. “I’m so proud of you,” she said.

“Do you know where May is?”

“Christian said he was taking care of her, but I’m not sure where.”

The sound of Christian’s name made my stomach turn. “Come on,” I said and pulled her forward.

Rounding the corner was Mrs. Crawford. When she saw Sophie she rushed forward and threw her arms around her. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“Take her to Tessa,” I said and continued to search the
rooms. Where was May? More explosions went off outside, shaking the warehouse’s frame. When I discovered the rest of the rooms empty, I turned back, anxiety gripping my chest. I had to find her.